Luna is a shetland pony mare about 10 years old. For most of her life she has had chewing mites and as a result she has no hair all along her spinal column and in certain areas on either side of the spine. Her skin was inflamed, dry, cracked and extremely itchy as a result of which she was constantly scratching against trees and posts. The itch was aggravated by the flies which would swarm all over her back in a black mass.
The owners had consulted with a number of professionals and spent a small fortune but Luna’s woes continued and so they came to me to find out whether there was anything which could help. I could make no promises as this situation had been going on for such a long time but it was worth a try.
Treatments began two months ago. The first treatment involved washing the entire affected area with tepid water and cider vinegar. After this aloe vera gel was applied with calendula mother tincture, essential oil of dittany and German chamomile. Finally the whole area was covered with diatomaceous earth.
The initial and immediate result was that the earth prevented the flies from bothering Luna and with the oils her itchiness disappeared.
As the owners committed to continuing with the treatments twice a week I prepared a mixture of substances to be added to the aloe vera which the lady prepared from the plants on their property. The mixture was neem, cider vinegar, Rosemary hydrolat, Calendula mother tincture and essential oils of Geranium, German chamomile, Dittany, Rosemary, Myrrh, Seaweed extract and Thyme. Neem oil can help eliminate the mites by interfering with their reproductive system. They continued to apply diatomaceous earth.
Two months later Luna’s skin is now much softer and free of cracks except in some small patches. Her hair has also begun to grow. It began to grow first on the bald patches on the sides and then along the spinal column. Of course, particularly along the spine, it is still a little fuzz but some individual hairs are around 4cm long. As she has not had any hair in this area for the past 10 years this is a small success. She may never have normal hair growth as some hair follicles may have been damaged, but we must value every little step forward
The treatment will continue twice weekly with some modifications in the mixture depending on how things develop.
Of course, this is not zoopharmacognosy as I, not Luna, am making the choices about which substances to use, but I thought it was worth sharing.
