Healing swamp cancer with herbal medicine
With Denise Farrugia, Equine Herbalist
Joanne Taylor from Miriam Vale in Qld contacted me early in February this year for urgent help with her lovely mare Lunar. She had developed a severe case of swamp cancer which had just been operated on to remove it.
The swamp cancer was the size of a large dinner plate under her belly across the girth area. This was so large and painful Lunar could not put her head down to eat or drink. Joanne had to hold her bucket up to her or sit them on top of a drum. She was also very lethargic , dull in her coat and had a very sad look in her eyes. This mare I thought was not going to make it, but we had nothing to lose by treating her with herbal medicine.
The site was bandaged over vet prescribed DMSO + anti-fungal ointment, but the mare was chewing through the bandages and ripping out the dressing. She was agitated and in pain and there was lots of swelling around the wound. Joanne said Lunar seemed itchy all over and the yellow cunkers were protruding from the weeping wound indicating the infection was already returning.
I discussed Lunar’s case with my colleague Victoria Ferguson.
We immediately provided a herbal formula to relieve the pain, prescription medicine to defeat the swamp cancer and to build Lunar’s immune system and a herbal wash to cleanse the wound and stop the weeping. Joanne continue to apply the ointment which the vet had prescribed.
The mare did not like having the herbs syringed over her tongue, so I asked Joanne to put them in a bowl so Lunar could lick them out which she did happily. Even though swamp cancer is considered to be a fungal infection, it spreads like a tumour, so we selected herbs with anti-tumour properties such as Clivers, Dandelion, Elderberry , Gotu Kola, Red Clover and Violet, plus Echinacea angustifolia to boost her immune system. The liquid herbs also contained Bach Flower Rescue Remedy to help her get over the shock and trauma. The herbal wash consisted of Calendula which is anti-septic and anti-fungal and Yarrow to stop the weeping.
Lunar, a seven year old Quarab, had the will to survive and as soon as she started to take the herbs she started to improve in herself and regained her appetite.
However the swamp cancer was not reducing so I decided to prescribe my own anti-tumour salve, which I have used successfully in many cases. So Joanne used this daily under a bandage. The growth slowly started to shrink.
Over several months of our topical and systemic herbal treatment, the growth and the swelling decreased to a tenth of the size and eventually cleared up altogether with the hair growing back over the area.
I kept in contact with Joanne on a regular basis and she was so excited when after only a month of treatment Lunar was out of pain and could put her head to the ground again and was able to move around her paddock and graze.
This was an incredible outcome and Lunar is now a picture of health. We are all delighted about this herbal healing story and give great credit to Joanne for her diligent and caring nursing of her mare, which was essential to the success of the treatment.
Walkenny Park’s Equi-Vital All Natural Supplement was added to Lunar’s feed and she remains on it to keep her immune system in good working order.
Benefits of a Consultation
The benefits of a consultation are customised herbal prescriptions specially tailored to your horse’s unique requirements. There is only a one off fee which covers maintaining contact with the owner so that herbal treatments are revised whenever needed, a diet plan which works in concert with herbal treatments and the horse is maintained on that diet after herbal treatments are complete to maintain good health.
If you would like a consultation with Denise, visit our Consultation Page for more details.
