Miss Home Alone aka "Krickett" - PLACED

[falseimpression]

So sorry to hear dbd... hugs to you... I am sure the welcoming committee met her at the bridge.

[sbhr]

dbd said:

I am going to trry to do my promised pay pal this am.
Want to donate it in the name of my beloved Friend and Part MOm Teresa, who is a human who always wanted a horse but never got the chance. She past away this Mon. AM. I Pray she will meet her special horse over the rainbow bridge !

O my gosh dbd
(((((((((hugs))))))))) to you !!

I am so sorry. You and your friend are in my thoughts today. I wish you both peace.

[zjaraam]

dbd, I am truly sorry for your loss. I'm sure she has found her special horse and is as happy as can be.

[gwenrowdy]

dbd said:

I am going to trry to do my promised pay pal this am.
Want to donate it in the name of my beloved Friend and Part MOm Teresa, who is a human who always wanted a horse but never got the chance. She past away this Mon. AM. I Pray she will meet her special horse over the rainbow bridge !

You have my condolences, dbd, and I'm sure your friend would be very pleased and proud of the way you've chosen to honor her.

[lildunhorse]

Miss Home Alone is on her way to her new temporary home in the beautiful Skagit Valley this morning, folks!!
I'm not sure we'll ever be the same! ;D This girl just oozes fun and personality!

[jaybird]

just a quick note to say that Cricket arrived safe and sound at her new home today. Nice place! I'm sure she'll like it. We just have to find an adopter for her before it floods...in January, possibly...

[lildunhorse]

Well, nothing like a little motivation, eh?

[schwung]

I put her up on Dreamhorse. We need to get some good photos of her.

[lildunhorse]

I will go out on Saturday and take some pics. That's the only day when I will actually have some daylight.

[Supaloma]

The guys who werre out to meet her yesterday took a bunch of photos and offerred to share. I will contact them tonight.

[sbhr]

I have some pics that I can resize (of Sarah and MHA) and put on photobucket of her that are really nice. I will photobucket all the ones that I have so you can choose from there if you like.

I'm glad all went well today - thank you Jaybird and Supaloma!! I was worried....working with so many variables (people ) sometimes gets a little crazy. I am happy to know that she is safe and sound.

GOOD NEWS HERE TODAY: Christina my trimmer was here today - Rutger and Gabby have improved by leaps and bounds since their last trim 2 weeks ago.

We had been waiting (impatiently) for them to decide to move forward and truly begin healing. Well, sometime between the last trim and today that change occurred. ;D ;D. Don't get me wrong...they were getting better....slowly.....Their old soles finally ( ! ) came off and a beautiful new sole shone thru. Old blown abscess holes are closed up, the bull-nosing on Rutgers rear feet is almost imperceptible. Go figure, I don't have pictures of the last trim. So the photo documentation will show a huge leap in foot health. Both horses have a viable (albeit tiny) frog. Gabby no longer gushes blood when you bump her frog !! YEA !!

Doing the dance of joy next to my stove (where my puter is)

BAD NEWS HERE TODAY: Christina trims for a lady who has 2 or 3 (Christina couldn't remember) CBER horses that she rescued in April. She is going thru an ugly divorce and can't keep them. I will try and find out what their Feedlot names were so maybe we can identify them. I suggested (in a note) that she post on the CBER BB and here as well. I just dread how she will be flamed on their board though. Sigh.....

Thanks for listening....there is just so much to be happy about today.

kim

[rainydayride]

Did MHA's old owner bring over any photos of her driving?

[schwung]

Geri has some paper photos of her in driving gear. I meant to stop by and pick them up on my way home so I could scan them, but was distracted by the wind and impending snowstorm, I wanted to get my horses in. Maybe tomorrow I'll grab them.

[sbhr]

You guys ROCK !!!!

RDR..........................=48.25
Gwenrowdy............... =50.19
FalseImpression.......... =39.29
SBHR.........................=25.47
CardiCorgi...................=28.83
CertifiedGirl.................=29.80
Diamondindykin............=24.70
Critterseverywhere.......=23.97
Slackreins...................=41.45
FalseImpression.......... =47.75 yeah !!
LDH...........................=72.52
Jonquil ......................=48.25
Namaste....................=99.71
LessonLearned............=26.89
SafeHorses.................=48.25
Supaloma...................=25.00
Zjaraam.....................=20.00
Schwung....................=25.00
Sharonb.....................=48.25
DBD...........................=23.97
$797.81 DONATION Total:


EXPENSES:
$400.00.......Miss Home Alone
41.39..........Coggins test (nw vet clinic stanwood )
15.00..........Board thru Sunday (marysville livestock )

$456.39 TOTAL Expenses:


BALANCE:
+ 341.42 This will go towards xrays and vet evaluations.


Wow!!!!


kim ;D

[schwung]

Some info on gray horse Melanomas:

Menacing Melanomas

I realize this article is a bit one-sided. I am catering more to the needs of my gray horse owners in this article; however, if you don’t own a gray horse I would read on for two very important reasons. 1. You may someday own or look to buy a gray horse and this information would be helpful and 2. It is not completely isolated to gray horses, although they are the most commonly afflicted. That said, let’s discuss our main topic, melanomas.

A melanoma is a type of skin tumor and one of the most common forms of skin tumors found in horses. Most every owner of a gray horse knows what they are and has seen them if they have just done a quick look under their horse’s tail. No one knows quite for sure why gray horses are more susceptible to this affliction. We do know that unlike humans (who develop melanomas from over exposure to the sun) the fact that their skin is black in color which should help shield ultraviolet radiation as well as the fact that most of these tumors occur in areas shielded from the sun (e.g. under the tail head) it does not appear true for horses. Whatever the case, it is estimated that over 80% of gray horses over the age of 15 years will develop at least one melanoma during their lifetime.

The breed of horse isn’t specific, although Arabians, Percherons, and Andalusians seem to be over represented (likely due to the fact that a majority of them happen to be gray). So, all you gray horse owners, let’s do a run through. Pick a time when you can do a thorough evaluation of your horse’s skin and bring a small notebook with you to jot spots down for future reference. Melanomas can be hard or soft (most of the ones I see are firm) and they can be single or appear in clusters. At first, most melanomas are subcutaneous (which means they are right under the skin) but covered by normal hair-covered skin. But over time as melanomas grow they become more obvious. As they grow they are often times not covered by normal hair-covered skin but appear to be dark brown, gray, or black in color. As they continue to grow some even can be ulcerated on top and exude (drain) a dark black substance. The ones that tend to become ulcerated are often under the tail head and become irritated from constant tail wishing especially in the summer when the flies are bad. The most common places to find melanomas on horses include under the tail head or surrounding the rectum (and vulva in mares) and within the opening to the sheath (in males). They can also be located on the ear margins, on the head, on the neck and around the salivary gland (under the tongue). So carefully (some horses don’t like some of those areas “checked out”) check out your horse, intensifying your search on the most common areas and mark down what you find.

The word melanoma can strike fear into most humans and rightly so. In humans, melanomas have a nasty habit of metastasizing (or spreading) to other parts of the body, especially internally. However, horses with melanomas have a distinct advantage over us since the large majority of melanomas in horses develop slowly over a number of years without metastasis and can remain benign (noncancerous) for 10-20 years. In this case, the melanomas tend to be more unpleasing to the eye more than problematic for the horse. If a benign tumor gets large enough it can “functionally” be a problem e.g. a large tumor not allowing the sheath to drop when urinating, or one pressing next to the rectum causing problems with defecation or even with breeding if down next to the vulva.

Not going into all of the different gradations of melanoma classifications, equine melanomas can generally be broken down into three categories. 1. Slow development over several years, benign, without metastasis – the category we alluded to in the preceding paragraph. 2. Benign tumors that have been present for years and then suddenly turn malignant and begin to metastasize. 3. Tumors that are malignant from the first appearance and metastasize quickly. Category 3 also contains a very rare incidence of foals actually being born with malignant tumors. Although we are lucky that most of the horses fall into the first category, we unfortunately never know when they may enter the second category. Malignant (aggressive cancerous) melanoma characteristics can include rapidly spreading series of lumps or nodules that can sometimes resemble vast, rippling sheets of masses across the tissue. Obvious or dramatic changes in tumors that have been the same for quite a while may also be a sign that a tumor may be turning malignant.

Since the majority of the horses have Category 1, the general treatment for melanomas is usually what I like to call “aggressive benign neglect” i.e. keep an eye on it and call me if there is any quick change in the size or the appearance of the mass. Most gray horses continue to live very happily with benign melanomas that cause little to no discomfort. For those horses in Category 1 with large tumors that are causing “functional problems” there are some treatment options as well. For those that are in surgically accessible locations, we can surgically remove them but recurrence is common. Other treatment options include cryosurgery (freezing) the area and chemotherapy (usually injecting the lesions themselves) with chemotherapy agents such as cisplatnin. The major problem with most of these therapies is that recurrence is common within a few months to a year.

As for the other Categories that include malignant tumors, generally by their very nature it is more difficult to treat with conventional therapies. The large sheets of tumors or large bundles make it difficult for removal, freezing or injections since they are often times too numerous for those types of therapy. However, there are some “systemic” (whole body) therapies available now as well. One of these is treatment with cimetidine (trade name Tagamet®). Although success can vary upon several factors, the drug is often able to reduce the size and number of a horse’s tumors. A good response to cimetidine is a 50% reduction in the size and / or number of the tumors with no progression of the disease for several years, and it is estimated that 30-50% of horses treated do respond to some degree. Now for all of you out there with horse with Category 1 tumors, the therapy will not likely work as well. Why? Because this therapy works much better on “active” melanomas by boosting the body’s natural defense system against the actively dividing cells. In the case of Category 1 tumors; however, the cells usually aren’t “actively” dividing since it is such a slow progress so the therapy doesn’t work as well.

The other systemic therapy is a vaccine. Not the normal type of vaccine that we vaccinate horses for annually, but an actual “custom made” vaccine created from one of your own horse’s melanomas. A tumor is removed from your horse surgically; the melanoma is then packed on ice and overnighted to an oncology laboratory where they will produce a vaccine designed to boost your horse’s immune system to recognize and attack the tumor cells. According to the laboratory, most clients report some success and some have reported complete regression of the disease.

Although the systemic treatments are promising, they aren’t cheap or for that matter convenient to administer. Cimetidine is best given by mouth three times a day, and yes we actually mean eight hours apart, three times a day—not just whenever you get time to run out and give it. Most treatment protocols consist of continuing until you see no further improvement for 2-3 weeks, usually at a minimum of 3 months of therapy and sometimes for several more months after. Therefore, at the current recommended dose you will likely spend approximately $35.00 a month on medication along with the dedication of treating your horse every eight hours. Likewise, the vaccine as you can imagine is not the most economical route as well. I have an email to the doctor that was listed as an expert on the subject for updates on statistical data as well as pricing, but from previous information I could find on the subject, the cost was over $500.00 for the vaccine, which would not include surgical removal of the tumor, overnight shipping of the tumor to the laboratory and administration of the vaccine every 2-4 weeks in conjunction with an intravenous immunostimulant product. For those who are possibly interested in this melanoma vaccine, I can give you further information as I receive it and we could get a better idea on a cost estimate.

So in the end, there is no single magic cure for melanomas. As long as your horse stays in Category 1 we will likely continue to monitor the areas for growth and change and treat with “benign neglect”. If you feel that your “old gray horse ain’t what he used to be” and that he may be at risk of Category 2, please call the office for an evaluation. As more research is gathered on the topic of equine melanomas, hopefully further medical therapies will be available that may actually completely cure the disease. For further information, please contact us.