Every summer the same donkeys have skin problems. I'm sure it has something to do with poor immune systems. Not all the sores are the same, some are big dried scabs on their legs and shoulders, generally. Some are oozy serum wounds, that grow as the serum drips down the leg. Some don't bother the hair, others make the hair fall out in patches. And right now I have 3 of them with dried black hairless areas on their lower legs. I've always thought the stable flies caused the sores, but am beginning to wonder if the sore starts and the flies follow. I know stable flies are vicious whether it's before or after.
It would be great if you could take them to a vet and they say, it's this or that and here's what will fix it. Of course that doesn't happen. Since there are so many different looking situations, they generally have to do a biopsy or scraping for analysis and a lot of times it comes back without a definitive answer. So they throw something at it, if it works great, if not, we'll try something else..........Very frustrating. Sun does seem to make it worse, that's just my theory.
Years ago we had to take a donkey to a vet in Tucson, no local vet available for a skin condition. The vet gave me a homemade remedy of nitrofurazone and DMSO. Nitrofurazone has been out of favor the last few years, because of it's reputation as a cancer causing substance. And DMSO has been used for years by people with arthritis without the backing of the FDA.
In this case the two were mixed together, using the DMSO as a carrier to help the nitrofurazone be readily absorb into the skin.
The vet that came out earlier this summer for Boaz's legs that had sloughed off most of the skin, did a biopsy, and it came back as bacteria infection. She gave me a salve that looked suspiciously like what I used years ago. So I asked her if it was nitrofurazone and DMSO and she said yes, with a couple of other things added. I don't know what the other stuff was, but I am trying these two things as of this morning to see if it works.
Other than skin problems, everyone else seems to be doing great. Although I'm afraid my fly masks aren't going to make it to the end of fly season at the rate the "fur" kids are tearing them up. It's bad enough when the geldings get to playing, of course the fly masks are the 1st thing to get grabbed. But now Saddik, the dog likes to join in the fun. He thinks of Pancho as his personal friend and takes his mask off almost every day.
The mesquite beans aren't all gone, but almost......!!! They are back to having access to Burroland all the time except at feeding time. There's a lot of desert grass over there they really like, but it's getting pretty depleted too. They have been on starvation rations for weeks and haven't really cared, it was almost more effort to get them to come in for feeding, than it was worth. But the last few days they've been a lot more interested in hay, and some of them are running the pens when John lets them out, to see if anyone left anything to eat. For the most part no one is leaving anything and John has upped everyone by 1/2 a pound of hay. He's not going to be in any hurry to get them back up to normal. As long as they don't start getting frantic, which I don't think they will, he'll just slowly start adding hay.
In this case the two were mixed together, using the DMSO as a carrier to help the nitrofurazone be readily absorb into the skin.
The vet that came out earlier this summer for Boaz's legs that had sloughed off most of the skin, did a biopsy, and it came back as bacteria infection. She gave me a salve that looked suspiciously like what I used years ago. So I asked her if it was nitrofurazone and DMSO and she said yes, with a couple of other things added. I don't know what the other stuff was, but I am trying these two things as of this morning to see if it works.
Other than skin problems, everyone else seems to be doing great. Although I'm afraid my fly masks aren't going to make it to the end of fly season at the rate the "fur" kids are tearing them up. It's bad enough when the geldings get to playing, of course the fly masks are the 1st thing to get grabbed. But now Saddik, the dog likes to join in the fun. He thinks of Pancho as his personal friend and takes his mask off almost every day.
The mesquite beans aren't all gone, but almost......!!! They are back to having access to Burroland all the time except at feeding time. There's a lot of desert grass over there they really like, but it's getting pretty depleted too. They have been on starvation rations for weeks and haven't really cared, it was almost more effort to get them to come in for feeding, than it was worth. But the last few days they've been a lot more interested in hay, and some of them are running the pens when John lets them out, to see if anyone left anything to eat. For the most part no one is leaving anything and John has upped everyone by 1/2 a pound of hay. He's not going to be in any hurry to get them back up to normal. As long as they don't start getting frantic, which I don't think they will, he'll just slowly start adding hay.
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