Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Cali update

I thought I'd post an update about Cali's eyes, since several of you have asked about them.  My vet came out last week, sedated Cali, and scraped out the area under her right eye, where fly larvae were deposited.  She's had drippy eyes for a few weeks and when we were on vacation, Scout and the two horses next to her would rip off and tear her fly masks each night.  I went through 4 fly masks!  And, I mean, they completely ripped them apart...I'd come up the next morning and see Cali standing without her mask, flies all over her eyes.  My vet thinks her immune system can't fight them off, like Scout's can.  Anyway, he cleaned out her eyes, put an antibacterial cream on them, gave her some penicillin ointment, and put a sealant on the wound, and suggested I start her on garlic pellets.  Unfortunately, two of the horse supply stores in nearby Temecula are completely out of pellets until next week...I finally, in desperation, put on my last fly mask that I had, put a halter OVER IT, and the next morning, it was still on.  I checked her eyes today and they are dry and healing.  No more runny eyes and no more flies!  I always take the mask off, put some SWAT around her eyes, put some Neosporin on the sores, and then put the fly mask back on and then her halter.  I'll probably have to do this for the rest of the summer.  None of my other horses have a fly problem like Cali's!  Do any of you use garlic pellets?  Do they keep the flies away?  I notice they are pretty expensive...Do they work?  I may have to order some online as nobody around here has them.

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