Tuesdays with Tony – Recap of this hectic week

First of all, don’t forget to get out there and VOTE today! I would, but they have this weird policy against cats voting…

Boy did I have a busy week here at the clinic! First, I had to share my favorite cat bed with a pig named Tank, who was boarding here for the week. Then, early Sunday morning I had to supervise the foaling of a mare with Dr. Lacher, and later help teach her colt to nurse for the first time. He’s lucky he’s cute, because usually I sleep until at least 11 hours on Sundays. Thank goodness we got an “extra hour” with the time change this past weekend, or my delicate sleep schedule would be all out of whack!

The doctors were running all over the area this past week, from Lake City to Ocala. Dr. Lacher stopped by Lynn Palm’s Open House on Saturday to demonstrate our awesome FES machine. If you haven’t tried it on your horse yet, you really have to! At $65 per treatment, it’s way less expensive than a chiropractor, masseuse, joint injections, or other treatments for performance horses. FES has helped dozens of our patients to run faster, jump higher, and move more comfortably than ever before. I have even used it on myself, and let me tell you, it feels awesome.

In addition to lameness exams, foal watch, and routine appointments, Dr. Vurgason and Dr. Lacher treated a nasty, infected corneal ulcer in a horse’s eye. It’s amazing what a difference the right medications, administered effectively, can do for a horse!

I invited almost-Dr. Chloe here for an externship last week, and she was great. She let me in the front door whenever I asked, even if I had just asked to go out 30 seconds prior. She hasn’t decided if she wants to be a horse-vet or a cat-vet yet. Personally, I don’t understand why everybody doesn’t want to be a cat vet…we are all so cute and soft and cuddly! Amongst other things, Chloe helped Dr. Vurgason extract 2 teeth from an aged gelding with a painful condition called Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH). Say that 5 times fast! We don’t know why this happens to certain horses, but we know it causes the body to attack its own teeth, dissolving bone in some spots, and thickening the tooth in others. Unlike infections of the molars in the back of the mouth, EOTRH affects the incisors, and often causes horses to go off their feed due to pain. The gelding, Fortune, is able to eat much more comfortably now.

In addition to Tank who was as healthy as, well…a pig, Dr. Vurgason treated 3 sick piglets this week. I like the pig patients, because they usually come to the clinic to see me. Although I must say, they can be pretty loud! There is nothing pigs hate more than being restrained. This makes things like taking a temperature, listening to heart and lung sounds, and giving any medication quite a challenge. With pigs, veterinarians rely heavily on observation and asking their owners questions to determine the correct diagnosis.

Between horses, pigs, and the docs, my managerial duties have been in full force! I think I need a nap. And anyway, with the time  change and the days getting shorter, 5:00 feels more like 8:00, which is my bedtime. I’ll catch you cats next week!

-Tony