Yay for Sunflower seeds!

[helend]

well, it may be a combination of sunflower seeds, beet pulp, and MSM... this is a story about a goat..a lovely lil goat named Tim. She was born a runt and without back hooves a couple of years ago and over the winter she came down with the wasting disease (Jone's disease?) that had already claimed four male goats at the stable.

Tim wasn't doing to well during the coldest days, but my trainer had dressed her up in old sweat shirts and blankets to keep her warm. She talked about putting Tim down within the next few weeks. We all felt pretty sad about losing lil Tim and decided to feed her some of Jiggs beetpulp/sunnies/MSM/ mix since she would try to pick up bits Jiggs would slobber onto the floor. I figured it couldn't make her any worse...

It's now almost April and Tim seems to be bouncing back. Her coat is shiny, her eyes are alert, she's wandering around again where three weeks prior she couldn't stand up and had to be helped to the water, and she's putting on weight.

She was a particularily cheeky goat today, getting into my brush box while I was grooming Jiggs. I hope she keeps getting better and fatter.

[niaru]

It's so nice to read such upbeat stories. Do you think it might be the MSM more than the sunnies?

I've been giving a cup of sunnies a day to Charm, for a few weeks, and she is definitely shinier than she was, even tho she's shedding like crazy. She looks like she is gaining weight, too. She is also getting Grand Complete, which has all the good stuff (glucosamine, MSM, biotin, methionine, zinc etc etc). I'm hoping it will help her feet, too!

[chrisnstar]

Sunflower seeds are very rich in vitamin E.. this contributes to the shiny coats and clear eyes, and is very good for the central nervous system, also... one vet friend recommends vit. E as a way to help horses fend off EPM...

chris

[ClaireLV]

Niaru - how do you find the Grand Complete value for money wise? How long does it last you? I was looking at that supplement, but I never can work out how much its costing per day / month in reality (not just what they tell you lol!). Would be interested to know what you think.

[helend]

I didn't realize sunnies had all those attributes to them ^_^ I think it may be the combination of things that's helped Tim, but isn't it amazing how something as simply as feed can make such a difference.

[niaru]

Claire, I thought it was a good value for all the good stuff it contains, and I've been very satisfied with Grand Flex in the past.
After using Grand Complete for a while (with Rita) I realized the dose was 2oz/day and I'd been giving 1 oz/day, so of course it lasted much longer than it should have ;D.
I *think* if you give 2oz a day it comes at about $1 per day or less.
ValleyVet Supply offers the cheapest price on it that I could find.
For a while I did the SmartPack thing, but I discontinued it when Rita died. Now I'm back to little baggies filled with sunnies, Grand Complete and a handful of Pacer for good measure.
I don't know if this is any help to you !