Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 13:35:15 +0100
From: Linda Andrews <linda.andrews@which.net>  
To: GRETCHEN FATHAUER <gretchenfathauer@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: D-Tox

Hi Gretchen,

3 yrs ago I was given a 12 YO welsh pony suffering chronic laminitis. Having
had a great deal to do with this problem I was certain I could keep her
sound. (She had it in all 4 and was shod with heartbars at that time.) This
was October, so there should be no winter problem! (Or so I thought.) She was soon
showing mild signs, so was stopped hay and fed oat straw; very limited
grazing and regular exercise kept her comfortable and sound. Spring, and
when the grass started, off we went again. At this point, although she was
not fat, she had a large crest, fat pads over the loins and eyes. She also
held onto her winter coat, and was drinking and urinating excessively. All
of which are symptoms of Cushing's disease. This was confirmed with blood
tests, and she was started on Periactin. This helped significantly with the
above symptoms, but not the laminitis. January this year I was so desperate
that I had tried everything from herbal to homeopathic - everything on the
market. Her diet was very strict, my farrier was trimming her feet every 4
weeks, taking both the heels and the toe right back, but she was not at all 
happy. There were signs of necrosis in all 4 every trim, and she hated having 
to stand on 3 legs.

At this time I had another young racehorse on D-tox for a totally different
problem. I had spoken many times with Nick Larkin, the vet who 'designed'
D-tox, re the pony (Rain), and all that he had mentioned had failed. To cut a
long story short Rain was given a dose of D-tox by mistake in her breakfast
feed. Rather than take it out, I left it (being lazy).  ( Her 'feed' was a
handful of chaffed oat straw and meadow hay so she would eat her
medication). 20 minutes later I went to turn her out with the other pony,
and instead of dragging back and taking 5 mins to walk up the yard, she was
jogging alongside me, and when loosed, shot off across the paddock. I was
pleased to see she was having a good day! That night, I let down the fence,
the other pony would go ahead and into his stable, I would bring in the
brood mares and anything else, by which time Rain would have reached the yard!
That night she raced down the concrete and beat Sponcer to his stable. The
only thing I could think of was the D-tox, but it could not have worked so
quickly or effectively after one dose of 15ml.

I gave her no more the next day, and although she walked out better, was not
so keen. That night it was back to normal. Needless to say, I have kept her
on it ever since. She is having all day out at grass - admittedly on a
'short' paddock, but has remained 100% sound. She is still on Periactin for
the Cushing's. During this summer I have increased the D-tox to 2 measures
daily, as we have had such a great deal of grass and I do not want things to
flare up again. The other astounding thing was that when the farrier trimmed
her 2 weeks after she straightened up, there was no sign of necrosis whatsoever,
nor has there been since. This pony has competed jumping classes this
summer, has been charging about the fields with my niece, and trotting along
the roads with no discomfort at all. She is 19 going on 5!

A friend had a Shire mare have a very difficult foaling. She retained the
placenta until the next morning and immediately suffered laminitis. She had
been down for 48 hours and showed no signs of standing. The vet had said that
if she wasn't on her feet that morning there was only one thing to do. Chris
rang me, and I told her to try the D-tox. She gave her 5 measures as a
loading dose when the vet arrived. By the time they had a coffee, the mare was
on her feet. They gave her 2 more high doses that day, and Chris was woken by
her banging her door to go out. Evidently she was 'footy' across the yard,
but sound in the field. The farrier came next day to put on shoes to aid her
but, again, no necrosis. This vet still says it is a coincidence!

My own vet has recommended it for anything and everything that has suffered
this summer--including another Cushing's that was much the same as Rain--all
to an exceedingly high success rate.

It was made to help with infectious pathogens and trauma injuries. It has been
proven that free radical scavengers and anti-oxidants lessen the clinical
signs of these problems. What they did not realise is the effect on
laminitics! It is entirely natural, so no problems in any sphere of riding!
At the moment they are trying to gather information from people that are
using it for this. Not easy, as I wrote a letter to a weekly magazine, and
although it was rubbished by the resident vet, several people have phoned to
inquire about the effects.

I have nothing to do with the company, other than the vet who makes their
products used to live next door to me before he moved to Spain!
The address is:

Natural Animal Feeds, Ltd.,    Penrhos,    Raglan,
Monmouthshire NP5 2DJ. UK.
Tel:01600 780 256    Fax: 01600 780 536   

Note:  To direct dial from USA
011-44-1600-780-256   Phone
011-44-1600-780-536   Fax

The cost is ?40 plus ?20 for p&p. This is a good month's supply, and after a
load dose should last 6 weeks.

(Note:  They also take Visa.)

If you would like I will mail you the latest data when it is finished. All
that I have written is as I have found, and although I have reported all
that I know to the company, this is nothing to do with them!
Should you wish to telephone / fax them please tell them that you saw it
from Linda's posting on the net!

Good luck with your horse, I look forward to reading you page later.

Yours truly,
Linda Andrews.