 |
Re: [RC] beet pulp and shots - Susan Garlinghouse1. I'm getting ready for spring shots. Was concerned >about giving all the vaccines at the same time. Especially This isn't based on clinical experience, just on what they taught us in vet school, that yes, ideally it's better to spread vaccinations out over a few weeks or whatever to get a better response from the immune system. However, you have to balance that against the animal actually getting everything he's supposed to---better that the vet come and vaccinate for (almost) everything all at once, than have to schedule several trips and much higher expense, and a good possibility that some corners will be skipped somewhere and vaccines not actually be given. If you give the vaccines yourself, and if your record keeping and self-reminders are good, then spacing them out is fine. You also want to be sure NOT to give the intranasal strangles within a few days of an intramuscular vaccine---the IN strangles is modified live and will cause a nasty abscess if any gets into an injection site or other boo-boo. Just a good practice to keep all those needles entirely separate so there's less chance of that. 2. Regarding beet pulp. Any record of it being >responsible for colics? Sure. Same as for hay, grain, grass, parasites, a change in the wind and bad karma. Like anything else, you have to feed beet pulp with a good helping of education and common sense, eh? :-) And will it help rid the intestinal tract if there is any >possible sand in there? I think I remember reading >somewhere that beet pulp was more effective than >pslium? Not sure. No data to support the theory, but I think it does. The idea is that the soluble fiber in psyllium swells and either a) causes enough postprandial peristalsis (gut motility after eating) that sand is moved out along with an almighty bowel movement, or b) somehow preferentially picks up the sand in the hindgut on its way through and transports it onward. I vote for the former rather than the latter, especially since results are obtained when feeding a fairly large amount of the stuff. IMO, beet pulp works about the same because it too has a very high soluble fiber content, plus is generally fed in larger and more frequent amounts than psyllium. So, does it work *better* than psyllium, dunno. No clinical trials to ellucidate either way. I think it works pretty well, has some other nifty benefits and is alot cheaper for what you get, and that's good enough for me. Susan G Anyway, any insight would be greatly appreciated...thanks. kathieGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|