I thought common sense would dictate: if you are not a horse, do not take horse medicine.
Silly me!
But apparently it needs to be S-P-E-L-L-E-D out.
Today’s post is inspired by all the “horses” out there who think that taking horse dewormer will cure them of Covid-19. Or prevent them from getting the coronavirus.
Maybe if you’ve got parasite worms infesting your body, you might be desperate enough to try taking a horse wormer.
Hmm, I don’t know. I think that would be a last resort for me.
I’m sure my doctor could prescribe a better medicine for me to get rid of those parasites!
And here’s the other thing. Getting a Covid vaccine is free. The government is paying for this.
Getting a horse dewormer runs $15 to $25 depending on the brand you buy.
Which one of these choices makes better economical sense?
JOE ROGAN CLAIMS
TV shows in the early 2000s were dominated by reality TV following the success of Survivor.
I’m a huge Survivor fan, by the way! I’ve been suffering from Survivor withdrawal for the past year. I am looking forward to September 22, 2021 when the new season starts – yippee!
Anyway, Fear Factor was another reality show that I enjoyed watching. Six constestants – usually three men and three women – competed to win a $50,000 prize. They had to do some pretty creepy stuff like lying down in a tub full of rats, and scary stunts like escaping from a car that’s underwater.
Fear Factor was hosted by Joe Rogan, a man I’d never heard of before the show started. And I’ve never heard much about him since, until recently.
He has a podcast (I think) and recently spoke about getting Covid-19 and Ivermectin was part of the treatment and helped cure him. This totally fits with the whole Fear Factor thing where contestants often had to eat gross things. No problem for him chowing down on some horse wormer!
Here’s an article on Rolling Stone magazine about how Joe Rogan became a cheerleader for Ivermectin.
HORSE DEWORMERS
Ivermectin is an active ingredient in Eqvalan, a dewormer I give my horses in the fall.
I usually buy it at Greenhawk, trying to grab it when they have customer appreciation days and most of their stock is on sale. Two years ago I had a little kerfuffle with Greenhawk and false advertising. The problem is complaining to low level staff who don’t give a crap, and then decide to see if I’m bluffing when I say I’ll report them to a governing agency if they don’t make things right.
I rotate other dewormers throughout the year. Usually Strongid. When I had more horses and ran a small horse boarding stable, I bought wormers online from a company called wormers.com. No longer operating! Rats!
It was a veterinary clinic on Vancouver Island with very good prices compared against Greenhawk or other retailers selling wormers, so I saved a lot of money. Unfortunately, their website closed down and I remember asking why and getting an answer, something about licensing. But they could sell wormers to us with phone orders or email. Their website never came back.
Horse dewormers come in a plastic syringe that is squeezed into the horse’s mouth. Hopefully the horse swallows it. Or most of it. I usually end up wearing wormer because horses like to spit it back out.
DOG TAKES HORSE DEWORMER
One day I was worming my horses, and a short time later I noticed my Dalmatian, Tessa, licking the barn floor.
Horses tend to slobber out dewormer and Tessa was snacking on it. Maybe. I can not say for sure what she was licking on the floor. Wormer? Sawdust? Horse feed? By the time I noticed, there was none left on the floor, so I had no idea how much (if any) she consumed.
An hour or two later she was acting like she was having stomach pains, so we took her to the vet. I brought along an empty box of the dewormer I’d given the horse.
The vet checked Tessa over, went in the back office, and returned with a veterinary book. He opened it to the page that showed the ingredients in dog dewormer and pointed out the active ingredients on the box of horse wormer were the same. The dog had not ingested anything that would be lethal or otherwise ring up a big vet bill for us.
BUTAZONE
Butazone, often referred to as Bute, is an anti-inflamatory and painkiller for horses. It’s like aspirin for horses. I buy it from the vet in a little tub that costs $20. It’s a white powder and comes with a measuring scoop.
Horses do not take Bute willingly. If you put Bute in their feed, they know it’s spiked, and won’t eat it.
Except for my horse, Cajun. He’s the only horse I’ve ever owned who will eat his dinner with a scoop of Bute. He’s probably thinking: “Hmm, the food tastes a little different tonight. Oh well, yum yum.”
With my other horses, all I can do is open up their mouth, dump in a scoop of Bute, and hope they swallow most of it.
It’s for your own good, buddies! Honest.
The main reason I give Bute is usually due to a limping horse. And not always. I have to evaluate if I think the horse is in pain or if the limping hasn’t gotten any better from the day before. It’s powerful stuff. Bute can be given five days in a row and then a day off. If needed, another rotation of Bute can be given. Usually I cut back on the Bute when I notice a good improvement. Sometimes that’ll happen after one dose. Other times three or four days of dosing.
Even though I administer bute from time to time to horses, I wouldn’t take this horse medicine if I’m having pain or swelling.
BUTE AND WEIGHT LOSS (FOR HUMANS)
One of my former boarders at a horse boarding stable I ran was a police officer.
She told me about a time she was interviewing a witness, a woman who worked as an exotic dancer.
Oh, just call it like it is! A stripper.
She asked the woman if she could ask her a personal question that had nothing to do with the investigation.
Her question?
“How do you stay so skinny?”
“It’s something you’ve probably never heard of,” answered the woman. “I take a spoonful of horse medicine called Bute.”
The cop responded that she was well aware of Bute because she owns horses but had never heard of it being used for human consumption.
Taking Bute as a weight loss aid was an interesting concept that I used in Un-Neigh-Borly Behavior. Kind of a black market weight loss aid with a fictional peppermint-like Bute being flogged by a disreputable horseman.
And now we all know how the stripper who takes Bute story ended up in a novel!
HORSE MEDICINE
Whether it’s a horse dewormer or a horse painkiller, they’re not made for human consumption.
It’s really crazy that feed stores are running out of horse dewormers because people are believing this myth that it will prevent or cure Covid.
Check out this story about Buckerfield’s on Vancouver Island running out of stock! https://www.cheknews.ca/ivermectin-sells-out-at-feed-stores-on-vancouver-island-due-to-false-claims-that-it-can-treat-covid-19-876011/
These panic shoppers did the same thing 18 months ago clearing the shelves of Vitamin C. Another product that won’t cure or prevent the coronavirus. But it makes it darned inconvenient for those of us who use Vitamin C to assist with other health issues.
I’ll be pretty annoyed if I can’t find Eqvalan when I’m ready to worm Cajun around Halloween.
Moral of this story:
If you’re not buying dewormer to worm your horse – leave it alone for those of us who need it!
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on September 6, 2021.
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