building up a horses immune system?

[chaz666]

hi all

i posted a little while back about my boy not recovering from injuries.

the vet has suggested he has little immune system so cant naturaly recover, and hes not absorbing the anti biotics so each tiny little scratch is infecting and taking weeks/months to heal. and vet has suggest i consider having him put to sleep (thats not going to happen)

is there anything i can do? obviously ill be doing everything i can to stop injuries in the futue (even if it means him living in his own little paddock) but is there anything i can do to build up his immune system?

[Chwarae Teg]

Sorry to hear this about your horse Chaz666,

I have heard that Noni is the best fruit for boosting the immune system.

I do not have experience of having a horse whose immune system needs a kick start, but a friend of mine has used Noni fruit for her ailing equine.
Another friend uses Manuka Honey on cuts and grazes. It is amazing stuff.
There should be plenty of info. on Noni and Manuka out there in the ether.
meantime google " boost immune system" and some helpful tips may be found.

Stress free environment for the horse and plenty of vitamins is beneficial.
Pity he may have to go out on his own. Maybe a sheep or goat for company might reduce his stress ?
.
Hope you find the solution soon,
Teg

[zoeee]

echinacea is really good for building the immune system. it's definitely worked for me!
with humans you have to take it for a couple of weeks at a time and then have a break, because if its used constantly long-term, it stops working - so would probably be the same kind of thing for horses. it's anti-inflammatory and good for the skin too.
there are quite a lot of echinacea horsie supplements about - i know wendals herbs & dodson and horrell do one, global herbs do one thats called immuplus. equine america do something with echinacea in too, but i can't remember the name of it.


i've spent far too much time staring at supplement pages recently! :ashamed:

[chaz666]

thank you both, very helpful! have just ordered the dodson and horrell one so will give it a go!