Gwyneth P made a return to the workouts yesterday at Pukekohe after a 16 month hiatus with a winning run in the learners pace. She had been off the scene due to a fistulas whither, which took longer than expected to resolve due to antibiotic resistance of the bacteria involved.
After several months of trying different antibiotics from the vet, and the fistulas whither clearing up then recurring just as fast after antibiotics stopped, as a last resort when all else had failed, we tried Tea Tree Oil, and much to our delight it worked! Within a week of treating with Tea Tree Oil, the infection cleared up and Gwyneth was finally on the mend.
It’s hard to believe what seemed to be such a minor thing to begin with, could end up being such a big problem. After spending over $1200 on vet bills, which failed to resolve the problem, a $20 bottle of Tea Tree Oil killed the bacteria and the fistula receded within a couple of days, and fully healed within a month after that.
Gwyneth ended up being out of work for 10 months, and has been back in work for 6 months now. We have built her back up slowly to make sure the whither didn’t flare up again. We suspect her bursa (just in front of the whither) had been ruptured by the bacteria also, so it was important to be careful not to put too much pressure on her in the cart as the saddle and movement of the cart puts pressure on the bursa. So far so good, touch wood. To try and help her as much as possible, she has learned to go at speed with no overcheck, to keep the pressure away from the shoulder and whither area. She took a while to get confident at speed with no overcheck, but is happy as now 🙂
Gwyneth P will continue her preparation at the workouts for another month or so in anticipation of her first race day start. We will keep her in the learners for one more start since she had been off the scene for so long, then give her a couple of maiden trials before making her race debut.