Monday, May 31, 2010

Another Silver Bullet - the reply I didn't post

In early May, I was introduced by a Veterinarian to Steadfast, by Arenus. He offered me a 30 day money back guarantee to try it on my horse's DSLD. It costs about $2. per day.

My horse started Steadfast on May 25. I was told, if there is no improvement within 25 days, I could notify the company for a full refund. I thought it was worth a try since I don't think my horse is a responder to the AAKG/J protocol (although I am using it on him) since it can't hurt.


When I saw this on the DSLD group, my immediate reaction was "another magic supplement". I don't get to that group often enough and don't want Bunny and Terry to kick me off so I felt I should take my response off-list.

I am so tempted at times to create and sell a silver bullet supplement - I'll mix a little poly copper and poly zinc with some selenium yeast, dry and grind up some eggshells, add a little flax and yeast as a base. Maybe I'll include some "natural" herbs.
Some innovative packaging - I like the idea of single serving cups with peel off tops. I'll write and publish a few supporting articles on how copper contributes to soft tissue repair and zinc and
methionine support hoof integrity and at least one on joint health. Of course, I'll mention the importance of Omega-3 and use lots of relevant citations. Frequent references to "organic" and "natural", pictures of shiny well-bred working and free-roaming horses, and I'm in business. I won't have to reveal the active ingredients as they are "proprietary" - after I think of a catchy trademark name. Testimonials from a few horse owners - it should be easy to find a few copper-starved horses that will bloom when given this magical stuff.

When I reviewed the website for the mentioned product, it seemed to me like an expensive form of chelated minerals and known (even if they do come from a novel source) joint supporting nutrients in a pretty "this will save your horse" package.
Did this veterinarian state what the "improvements" would be? The only actual claims made on the website for Telafirm® and NEM® are reduction in arthritis-related pain - the rest is standard boilerplate related to the effects of certain minerals and nutrients in the body. Nothing is said about the amount of minerals and which ones are in the product though the implication is there that it can make up for circumstances where minerals are deficient. I even considered the possibility of Telafirm® simply being a relabeled combination of Zin-Pro minerals and selenium yeast.

You can take a look at the Arenus site and decide for yourself.

If you really have that kind of money to spend on silver bullets, why not try a mineral balanced diet based on hay analysis for a third of the cost and send the rest to your favorite equine research or rescue.


7 comments:

  1. Excellent! Would you mind if I rePublish this (with attributes and link to your blog of course) on the "My Horse has DSLD-ESPA" blog?
    http://marimbatlb.blogspot.com/

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  2. That would be fine.
    I'd like to clarify - my concern is with "silver bullets" and undisclosed ingredients which may or may not be helpful - not with quality supplements with ingredients that are disclosed and well researched. We are responsible for what we put in our horses and if someone won't tell me how much of what is there, I won't use it.

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  3. Hi Patty - I certainly agree about "silver bullets". We take every horse on our place as a unique case. While we are huge proponents of chelated minerals and biologically appropriate diets for DSLD-ESPA and other serious metabolic diseases, we focus as much on detoxifying the body and bringing the energetic body back into balance as well. We muscle test every day to see what the horse can handle right then - they direct their therapy.

    Good post - Thanks!

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  4. Another excellent, sensible and fact based post.

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  5. "and don't want Bunny and Terry to kick me off"

    Patti! I hope you know that people are never "kicked off" the list for opinions or any desire to find a different - possibly better! - treatment.

    The only time we actually remove a person is if they are there to spam or specifically to sell something.

    If a person's posts are inappropriate, and that means nasty, contain foul language or involve personal attacks, they are warned and monitored.

    Just so ya know!

    Terry B :-)

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  6. Wow - hearing from Terry four years later : ) Anyone reading this, if you suspect your horse has DSLD/EPSA, do go to the excellent DSLD group - http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DSLD-equine/

    With proper diet and trimming, Dr. Kellon's AAKG protocol and the fantastic support from the group mods and members, your horse can remain more comfortable than you might think.

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  7. "...four years later"

    Lol. I know! I was doing a search for veterinarians who made a reference about DSLD and diagnosis or level of understanding of the disease when I saw this.

    Looking forward to a future fundraising effort, I hoped to find some reputable, knowledgeable veterinarians who were interested in endorsing raising funds.

    If you have any suggestions, I would love if you could contact me via email or a private message on Facebook.

    Thanks for all your good work, Patti. You help a LOT of horses and their owners.

    T

    ReplyDelete