Copper is the KEY!

Major excitement here!  Big News!

Some of you may remember that Elvis developed a persistent case of scratches early this Autumn. For those who don’t, the history is as follows…

We’ve had many floods, including a 500 year flood, after years of drought. Apparently many horses in this area are developing scratches when they never have in the past, and the cases are worse than they have been in the past. Elvis’s was pretty bad, the scabs were painful enough that they were cracking and causing temporary lameness. It was at this point that I got the vet involved and, due to the location of the scabs and their effect on Elvis’s ability to do anything, I was advised to scrub the scabs off, completely dry the leg, and keep him away from mud. That last part was impossible, as everything is muddy, even my neighborhood’s landscaped lawns here inside the city. We were making minimal progress, and Elvis’s leg began to swell. I called the vet, got a different one (there are about six in the practice), and he prescribed Uniprim. I picked up the antibiotic that day and began a 10 day treatment. I saw changes within two days, but by the 10th day it wasn’t completely healed. Another boarder needed the vet, so we decided to split a call. Elvis’s regular vet came out from this practice (she hadn’t seen his scratches to date though), and she explained the scratches dilemma better than anyone else: Your main goal is to remove one of the three causes which are broken skin, dirt, and moisture. If you can manage two and remove one, the body can begin to heal. She prescribed another round of antibiotics (This time Aniprin -spelling?- but I’ve been told it’s basically the same thing as Uniprim). Improvement was much more noticeable at this point, and I credit some of it due to the simultaneous arrival of his mud boots – they keep the leg dry and mud free, removing two of the causes.

He finished that round of antibiotic (on the heels of the first round), and things were looking up. That was about two months ago? His leg hasn’t completely healed though. It got to the point where the ulcers turned into pink skin, and then the pink skin started to sprout hair. Then it kind of stopped. Since then, the patches of pink skin (that were distinctive ulcers before) have somewhat melded together, so now there is a pretty large pink skin area with hair trying to grow through. I honestly can’t tell if the hair is continuing to sprout through, or if it’s just in a holding pattern.

So, over the past six weeks or so I was noticing that occasionally I’d collect Elvis in the morning and he’d be kind of puffy (once I’d say he was actually swollen). He wasn’t lame, and not even tender, so I worked him like normal (partly to see if he was off) and the puffyness went down. These instances have been increasing noticeably though over the past two weeks, and especially the last week. He’s still what I’d consider ‘puffy’ as opposed to ‘swollen’, but it’s starting to worry me. The past two days were different in that when I rode him the puffyness didn’t go down. Yesterday the temperature after riding was normal, but today it was warm (not raging hot). For what it’s worth, the boot has not been used every day the past two weeks. Some days weren’t too muddy, and some days the boot didn’t dry after it’s cleaning due to the cold (I’m in a stupid barn without electricity, and didn’t expect them not to dry).

Logically, warmth and swelling tell me that there is an infection, which makes sense. He had a larger infection when he was put on the antibiotics, and that’s really what scratches is all about: infection. I’m really upset though. I’ve done everything under the sun for this case, including just letting it go. I let it go and it affected our riding, I put a number of treatments on it and they only ever removed the scab, I have scrubbed with all sorts of things, I have sprayed with Micro Tek, I’ve towel dried, I’ve kept it away from mud, I’ve done an aggressive deworming program, I’ve done the antibiotic treatment which from my understanding was the most aggressive way to treat scratches, etc. I’ve given each treatment time to work, as well.

My collective total at the vet is over $400 for this stupid case of scratches. That includes vet trips, countless jars of special ointments ordered by Franck’s in Ocala (reported to be the best on the market), two rounds of 10 day antibiotics, and the ulcer preventative stuff to counter act the antibiotics (and heavy dewormer dosage given around the same time). This does not include the money spent on boots, betadine scrub, other ointments, etc etc (that is just horse ownership though, hahaha!).

At this point, it’s important to note that I’ve tried every course of action from over the counter treatments, home treatments, prescription treatments, antibiotics, and environmental control.  Elvis has only minimally responded.  It seemed as though I was the only person feeling as though there were a deeper issue at hand.  In exasperation, I posted on horse forum I visit regularly.  I didn’t expect to gain much new information, but as it turned out, one person’s comment about treatments in New Zealand led me on a research journey that just may have revealed the problem, and a solution…

As it turns out, copper sulfide is regularly given to horses in New Zealand and Australia in an attempt to prevent scratches (among other things, I imagine).  This was the comment that was made to me.  Naturally, I began researching copper sulfide; it is copper compounds bonded to sulfuric acid.  It’s used in many industries and is highly toxic, requiring special care when giving to animals.  I wasn’t sure why this was the case, but it is widely used.  Then I started digging for information and learned that copper sulfide is used to control bacteria and fungus in many systems: everything from water systems to living systems.  Further digging revealed that Aus and NZ are the only places on the planet that are deficient in copper.  This led me to believe that it was the copper that was an important component.

At this point though, I wasn’t sure how this applied to Elvis’s situation.  First, I don’t feel comfortable giving copper sulfide.  What if I gave him too much?  Also, he’s already getting copper, presumably the necessary requirement, through his Platinum Performance.  Then it hit me!  He doesn’t get the full amount of Platinum Performance!  When he arrived in May, I opted feed him only one scoop per day (their dose for “young horses”, which I’m now thinking constitutes babies sitting in a field).  So, I looked up what he has been receiving per scoop, and it was 13.2mg.  Another bit of research found a report by the Natl’ Centers for Research and the Kentucky Equine Research groups released information saying that a 1100lb TB in medium work requires between 0.1g – 0.2g per day of copper – a heck of a lot less than what Elvis has been consuming!

Then, I realized that Elvis lives in an environment rich in iron oxides, and iron competes for absorption with copper and zinc.  So, often horses who live in iron rich areas can’t maintain on just a regular baseline of copper that is provided in feeds and/or supplements.  Elvis is most definitely losing this copper battle.

Further research revealed that one of the biggest indicators of copper deficiency is scratches!  Horses also often have less healthy frogs (about four weeks ago I started noticing that Elvis’s frogs were getting icky, especially in two out of four feet, which seemed like more than just his wet environment).  Furthermore, copper is necessary for the maintenance of a healthy immune system, and it’s deficiency seems related to persistent ‘immune type’ issues.  Also, chestnuts and bays are reportedly more likely to suffer with copper deficiencies than other colored horses.

This information truly points to copper deficiency as a real possibility with Elvis.  At the very least, it is something that needs to be addressed.. I have a feeling though that this might just be our hidden problem.

Armed with my new knowledge, I ordered a copper poly blend (it’s one of the forms of ‘organic copper’, which is what horses need) from here.  When combined with the amount of copper Elvis is getting in his platinum performance, he should be consuming .2882 grams per day of copper.  If the copper is the issue, this should help him a lot.  For now, while we wait for its arrival, I’ve upped Elvis’s Platinum Performance to the appropriate amount.  Boy, do I feel like a dim-witted horse owner!  I can’t believe I didn’t review his feeding regime, if only for the sake of being pro active.  I’ve learned my lesson though, and I’m working hard to redeem myself.

I will most definitely be documenting any changes here on the blog in the coming days and weeks.

Update: 4 days of doubling his copper intake through the Platinum Performance have shown a noticeable difference!  His scratches-patches are no longer raw and wet looking, but are drying up!  Swelling has gone down!  His progress under other treatments hadn’t come close to matching the progress made in the past few days.

Update: 10 days in and the skin is clearly healing!  He’s been on the Poly Copper supplement for about five days now.  The swelling has not come back and Elvis is not tender to the touch.  I’d say that the skin is 90% healed.  AMAZING!