(352) 472-1620 vets@springhillequine.com
Things This Cat Wants You To Know

Things This Cat Wants You To Know

Oct 17, 2022 | Colic, Diet, Disaster Preparedness, trailering

Tuesdays with Tony

As the resident King of The Countertop at Springhill Equine, I listen to a whole lot of conversations. Some are unique, but there are some very, very frequent repeats. As a cat who is constantly trying to make the world a better place for horses… Wait, that’s not true at all. I write this blog for the fame, fortune, and adulation of my fans, not for the horses. I am a cat, after all.

The real reason for me to go over these frequent topics is so my Docs have more time to scratch all my favorite spots in the proper way, as I have trained them. So, strap in and let’s visit some things you should know.

Colic

Stop walking them. For the love of all that is cat, please, please, please stop walking colics. It only exhausts you and the horse and doesn’t help the colic at all.

While we’re on the topic of colics, let’s talk about causes. The #1 cause of colic is not enough water in the system. Now I know there can be a whole lot of reasons for this, but taking the time to work on a plan for water consumption for your horse can prevent a lot of unwanted visits with my Docs. We all know you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. Using strategies like added salt in the grain, or, even better, adding lots of water to the grain, can dramatically increase water consumption without your horse even realizing it! Making sure your horse has access to and is drinking water when they’re working hard, or when it’s really hot out helps reduce impactions, too. When it’s cold out, again adding salt or water to the food puts water where it’s needed most. 

The #2 cause of colic in this area of Florida (and now’s the season) is the sudden appearance of coastal hay in front of your horse. Putting out a round bale of hay and turning your horse loose on it is like sending me to the all-you-can-eat Friskies buffett. It’s not going to end well for anyone! Coastal hay is a good roughage option as long as it’s managed well. Start with small amounts of hay, and gradually increase over 10-14 days until your horse is leaving some hay. Then you can put a round bale out. Along with that coastal hay, feed at least ½ flake of alfalfa or peanut hay daily. It helps keep the system moving smoothly. It also drives thirst, which makes them drink, and, well, we’ve gone full circle.

Horse Trailers

You should have one, or have very, very rapid access to one. Oh, and your horse should know how to load. Just this morning Dr. Lacher was speaking with someone with a horse emergency too far away for us to drive to. This area doesn’t have any veterinarians. This owner doesn’t have a horse trailer. I wish I could say this wasn’t a common scenario, but it’s nearly daily here. There are a myriad of reasons why your horse may need to trailer somewhere. From bad lacerations, to colics, to hurricane evacuation. Having a trailer, or a solid plan with your neighbor, is really, really important. 

Now that you know why you should have a trailer, make sure your horse loads in that trailer. This takes practice. Often it takes two people to get the process going the right way. Even more often it takes a professional to help you teach your horse to load. And despite your desire to yell, scream, and swear at your horse due to the insane stress levels you are experiencing due to their extreme commitment to not loading on the trailer, calmness is the answer. You can trust me on this. I specialize in naps. I know calm. 

Having a Plan

I’ve got two scenarios here. 

Scenario #1: Disaster Plan. You need one. You need one in general, but you really, really need one if you have animals. Horses drink a lot of water, and eat a lot of food. When the power goes out, water gets tricky if you’re on a well. If there’s a significant disaster, like Hurricane Ian, it can take a bit to get supply chains of feed and hay running back into an area. Think about what disasters are likely to hit your area, and make a plan.

Scenario #2: You die. I know, I know, no one likes to think about this part, but if you’ve got animals, you need to. Cats and dogs are hard enough to find good homes for, let alone horses. Take the time to do some estate planning so your family (who may not even be horse people) know what to do with them. Set aside some money in that estate plan to help with this, or to help your family find the right person to re-home them. There are so many animals who find themselves in a bad situation because their owners suddenly passed away. This is easily avoided with a modicum of effort on your part, and now that I’ve cat-splained it to you, you have no excuses. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Your Horse’s Diet

A much lighter topic than the previous one. Your horse’s diet should start with roughage, meaning pasture or hay. Concentrates should be an add-on from there. Those concentrates will balance all of the shortfalls of the roughage. You do NOT need supplements. I feel like you humans think supplements = love. Not true. Time spent with you grazing, or getting favorite itchy spots scratched, or a nice trail ride, these things are love. Not supplements. And when it comes to concentrates, the least expensive bag of feed is NEVER the cheapest way to feed your horse. 

Let me elaborate. A bag of ration balancer, which is what 90% of horses should be eating, is fed at 1 pound per day. It’s all nutrition, low on calories, and while the 40# bag might be $30, you only feed 1 pound per day. Sweet feed, which is a terrible plan for horses, needs to be fed at 10-15 pounds per day to meet the basic nutritional needs of the horse. It might only be $15 a bag, but you’re either feeding 1 bag every three days or you’re short-changing your horse on nutrition, which you’re then trying to make up for by feeding a bunch of supplements. 

So: good nutrition/ration balancer at less than $1 a day, or junk food and supplements for $5 – $10 a day. Make sense now? 

I hope this weekly drop of insane cat wisdom helps you make good horse decisions. Need help with colic prevention, disaster planning, trailer loading, or good nutrition? Give my Docs a call. They may not be able to estate plan with you, but they generally know someone who can help. And make sure you take a minute to scratch my back the next time you’re at the Clinic.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. If you really want to download a ton of high-quality horse knowledge into your brain, start listening to the podcast my minions produce while you’re driving to the feed store to get that ration balancer. It’s called Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth and you can listen to it right from your phone. You can find it over on the Podcast Page of my website, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. I promise it will make you a better horse owner. Now, before you go down that rabbit hole, if you would just scroll down to the purple box and subscribe, I’ll email you my blog every Monday. That’s right, early access. Just for you. Enjoy the podcast.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Subscribe to Whinny's Wisdoms

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband
Feline Litter Box Issues

Feline Litter Box Issues

Oct 10, 2022 | Cats, Litter Box

Tuesdays with Tony

While litter boxes aren’t always considered “polite” conversation, they are a very important consideration in your feline guardians’ lives. And really, if you can talk about horse poop (and I hear those conversations all day long) then you can talk about cat poop. Work with me here!

ISO 5 bed/5 bath Cat Condo…

A good rule of thumb (or paw, as it were) is to have one more litter box location than the number of cats in the home. Notice I said location; that means that three litter boxes in the garage right next to each other don’t count! If you have one cat, they should have at least two different rooms they can go in to answer nature’s call. Ideally, litter boxes should be in open areas with multiple exit routes. And litter boxes should be cleaned daily. Maybe you think that’s a lot, but just imagine your only toilet option was one that was only flushed every other day–and imagine you had to stand barefoot in it!  

In general, cats prefer large, uncovered, unlined boxes with 2-3 inches of unscented, clumping litter. If your cat doesn’t fall into this preference category, try offering them a “Litter Box Buffet” where you place different combinations of box and litter type all arranged next to each other and let your cat tell you what their preferences are. Avoid putting litter boxes next to loud appliances such as water heaters and dryers, or in dead end areas like linen closets.

Indications of Problems

Oftentimes, the first sign of stress or illness in a normally fastidious feline is “inappropriate” litter box behavior. If you have a cat that starts using other areas of the house instead of the litter box, it’s very important to schedule a veterinary visit to rule out a medical issue before just assuming spite or malice.

If you have a male neutered cat between the ages of 1 and 10, a very important condition to be aware of is feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), also called feline idiopathic cystitis. Cystitis means inflammation of the bladder, and idiopathic means unknown cause. While the important research humans don’t have a definitive cause pinned down, they do know that stress and inadequate water intake are two major players in FLUTD. There is some research to show that cats affected with FLUTD have physiological differences in their stress response.

Cat Stress 

Stress can be hard to assess in my feline brethren. We train from a young age to appear unbothered and aloof on the outside, but it is true that we don’t handle change very well as a species (sound familiar?). A change in routine, new people or pets in the home, or unfamiliar environments (even rearranging the furniture) can all lead to stress which will manifest as litter box issues. Hey, it’s not perfect, but it gets your attention!

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

The best thing you can do for your cats, even before you notice litter box issues, is try to prevent and mitigate stress in the environment. Provide plenty of resources: multiple litter box locations, multiple clean fresh water bowls, scratching posts and other vertical locations, and play.

Another helpful tool is a product called Feliway. Have you ever seen one of your cats rubbing their cheek on a wall, coffee table, or you? Well, it’s not just because scritches feel nice. We have scent glands on our cheeks that release a pheromone that sort of marks things as “safe.” It’s a good way to mark our territory (you should feel quite honored if your cat marks you like that). Feliway is a synthetic version of that pheromone and helps extra-anxious cats feel a little less worried. It is an over-the-counter product and comes in a spray, collar, and room diffuser. The room diffuser works great in the rooms where litter boxes are, and the collar stays with the cat so it helps keep any area feeling safer.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Urethral Blockage

Especially in male cats, FLUTD can progress to a life-threatening condition called urethral blockage, or urinary obstruction. I know humans aren’t as intelligent as cats so I will spell it out very clearly:

If at any time your cat attempts to urinate in the litter box and is unable, they need to go to the emergency vet as soon as possible.

In this condition, the bladder becomes inflamed (remember that cystitis word?) and the inflammation travels down to the urethra. The inflammation and other factors can also lead to the formation of crystals and/or stones. Both of these components can lead to the urethral diameter decreasing to the point of blockage. This prevents the cat from peeing, and when that happens, toxins build up in the body and cause very serious disease.

This is more likely in a male cat because we have longer, narrower urethras compared to female cats. If blockage occurs, your cat must go to an emergency veterinarian and be sedated or anesthetized to have a urinary catheter passed to allow the bladder to empty. He will also likely need at least a day or two of hospitalized care and diagnostics to determine if his kidneys were impacted by the blockage or if he has urinary stones that must be dealt with.

Urinary Stones

The two most common types of stones that we see in the urinary tract are struvite stones and calcium oxalate stones. There are diets that can attempt to dissolve struvite stones, but calcium oxalate stones cannot be dissolved and may need to be removed surgically. These special diets mostly act by acidifying the urine and can also be used to decrease the risk of new stone formation along with increasing water intake.

You Can Lead a Cat to Water

Increasing water intake is an important measure used to prevent stones from recurring. Canned food has a higher water content compared to dry food, plus it tends to be way tastier. Many of us will even allow you to add water to our canned food. Some of us also love a good water fountain, and we absolutely need our bowls kept clean. Our whiskers are quite sensitive, so we prefer they don’t brush the sides of a bowl overly much. Getting wide diameter bowls lets us drink without a sensory overload. If you have a particularly finicky feline, flavoring one of the water bowls with water drained from canned tuna or with a tiny bit of canned food can also encourage water consumption.

I hope I’ve imparted to you the importance of a litter box in your cat’s life. While you may only think about it when you clean it out, we think about it many times a day when we have to use it. Pay attention to your cat’s urinary habits. If you notice a change, it’s because they don’t feel well, and they need to go to the doctor. And if you notice your feline friend completely unable to urinate, it is absolutely vital that they get to an emergency veterinarian, even if it’s a Saturday night and you had plans. After all, what’s more important than your cat? And don’t you dare say your horse…

Until next time,

~ Tony

P.S. Are you subscribed to my blog, or do you rely on Facebook to maybe show you that it’s here? If you aren’t subscribed, all you have to do it scroll down a bit more to the big purple box. Once you’re signed up, you’ll get an email every week with a link to my latest blog. All the very best humans are subscribed. I’m just saying. Scroll down. Purple box. Good human.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Subscribe to Whinny's Wisdoms

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband
EMM/Chiro for Horses

EMM/Chiro for Horses

Oct 3, 2022 | Chiro, Equine Medical Manipulation (EMM)

Tuesdays with Tony

As the Springhill Clinic Cat (i.e. an Intellectual), my day involves sleeping, eating, and monitoring my minions, but a lot of horses have physical jobs to do. Joint problems can really get in the way of that stick jumping, barrel turning, or trail rambling stuff. When joints malfunction, the neurological balance is affected, causing pain, muscle tension and restricted joint motion. None of that is good for your horse’s ability to do his job.

My Docs are great at keeping horses healthy, and they’ve got all sorts of ways to do it. One of my Springhill Docs is always going around bending horses in weird ways….and what’s weirder is they seem to like it. What’s up with this purr-plexing treatment? Well, you’d call it chiropractic if it was being done on a human. In Europe, you might hear it called Veterinary Physiotherapy. For horses in the US, we call it Equine Medical Manipulation (EMM). Same thing, basically. Whatever you call it, the goal is to improve the mobility and function of the joints, reduce pain, and ease muscle tension.

What Happens During a Session?

Since my Doc is, well, a Doc, she’ll do a thorough exam of your horse. She’ll look at his posture and how he moves, then do a whole lot of poking and prodding to feel his joints through their range of motion. She’ll feel for muscles that are tight and check your horse’s flexibility. She can tell from all that what joints aren’t working like they should, and then she’ll perform specific adjustments to improve them.

Horses usually get more and more relaxed as it goes on, and most will show their approval during the adjustment. They may lick and chew, take deep breaths, or shake their head around after a particularly good release of tension. I think the horses should just try purring, but my Doc says they don’t know how, and the licking is just as good. Anyway, the horses look like they really like the adjustment. I tried to get the Doc to give me an adjustment by weaving around her ankles, but she doesn’t seem to get my message.

What Does it Treat?

EMM treatment doesn’t replace traditional veterinary medicine, but it gives my Doc an additional way to diagnose and treat a variety of musculoskeletal problems. Here are some things it’s useful for:

  • Treating chronic musculoskeletal problems
  • Treating acute problems such as tension or stiffness
  • Maintaining fitness and performance, whether your horse is a sport horse or a weekend warrior
  • Maintaining comfort in older horses

The number of EMM sessions your horse needs depends on the condition being treated, how long the problem has been going on, and his age. Conditions that have been going on for a long time usually require more sessions and newer conditions can require fewer sessions.

Mythbusters!

Let’s talk about some misconceptions that get my fur in a knot!

  • The bones aren’t “out”. You’ve got to be kitten me! Can you see the bone sticking out of the horse? (If yes, you have a whole other problem) If not, the bone is not out. It’s still in! So, let’s stop saying things like that. My Doc will talk about “restrictions”, she won’t say things like “his hip is out”. What really happens is that reduced joint mobility causes negative effects on the joint itself, the nervous system, and the muscles and tendons surrounding the joint. These things lead to your horse having pain, abnormal posture, or poorly coordinated movement.
  • They’re not cracking Cracking would actually be really bad! What my Doc does is clear the restrictions around a “motion unit”, which is the bones of the joint and the soft tissues that surround them. That means she does a manipulation to help the bones, muscles, and other stuff move the way they are supposed to. Sometimes, you hear an audible sound when air pressure in the joint is released.
  • You don’t need a lot of force to adjust a horse. It shouldn’t look dramatic. In fact, good adjustments look kinda boring. Like, the horse is usually falling asleep by the end of it, and I’d be ready for a cat nap too. The adjustments are called high velocity, low amplitude, which means they are quick and precise, not rough. They are done in a very specific location at a specific angle. It takes a lot of training to learn this. You should be careful who you hire to adjust your horse.

Would EMM Be Good for Your Horse?

So how do you know if your horse could benefit from EMM? Horses can show lots of signs that indicate pain or discomfort. Deep breath, and here we go…. reduced performance, incoordination or uneven gait, poor attitude, tense muscles, abnormal posture, pinning the ears when saddled or mounted, hollowing the back, swishing the tail, behavior changes, sensitivity to touch, stiffness when bending, muscle wasting, decreased stride length, difficulty engaging the hindquarters, pulling against one rein, lack of flexibility, trouble flexing the poll, difficulty with collected gaits, lateral movements, or turning, and bucking. Wow, that’s a long list. How annoying.

My Doc tells me that unlike us cats (superior beings), horses don’t usually act like jerks just for fun – they’re not that creative. Sometimes they just hurt and don’t know how to tell us. When they act up, there’s usually a reason. It may be a training issue, but pretty frequently bad behavior is due to pain or discomfort.

One really common thing my Doc sees is tension lines in the neck. Horses should have smooth necks, even really well-muscled horses. If your horse’s neck has creases in the muscle, that’s a sign of a serious muscle spasm!

If you see any of those issues, it’s definitely time to call the Clinic. But the best thing for your horse is to have him checked out before there’s a major problem. It’s always better to keep him comfortable and working well than to wait until issues arise!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Do you know about Spa Day at Springhill? You can drop your horse off here at the Clinic, and she’ll get EMM, acupuncture, and an FES session. She might even get her nails painted (no promises, but it has happened!). We recommend that you go get a massage and a petticure while you wait. Then you can pick her up and enjoy the both of you being calm and relaxed. At least for a little while tongue-out Call me to schedule it at 352-472-1620.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Subscribe to Whinny's Wisdoms

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband
Neuro Behavior in Horses

Neuro Behavior in Horses

Sep 26, 2022 | Neuro Behavior

Tuesdays with Tony

Being a Clinic Cat will make you a bit paranoid. I spend a lot of time seeing not-normal horses, and only a small slice of my day seeing normal horses. The hardest not-normal horses we see are the ones my Docs call neurologic. My understanding of the word neurologic is that the connection from the brain to the body parts isn’t working correctly. This can come in many forms, from none of the legs working, to tripping when walking downhill. Let’s talk about how my Docs figure out if your horse is neurologic vs. lame, and what they do about it!

The Nervous System Superhighway

Let’s start with how the system works. (If you’re a neurologist, yes, I know I simplified things a bit. I’m a cat [superior being] explaining things to humans [inferior beings]) Okay: your horse looks at a flake of hay on the ground and thinks, “I’d like to eat that.” The brain sends a signal down the spinal cord to the limbs to say “Move forward towards the delicious food.” There’s another signal that says, “Put your head down so you can reach the food,” and yet another group that instructs the mouth on how best to move the food from the outside to the inside. 

All of this happens via nerves coming out of the brain and talking to other nerves in the spinal cord who send the signal on to the proper part of the body. Honestly, it’s a miracle any of this works on any of us. You can see how there’s ample opportunity for this entire system to go wrong at so many different places. It can go wrong at the brain, at the nerve going to the spinal cord, in the spinal cord, in the one that goes from the spinal cord to the body part, and all the places where there’s a connection between all those things. Like I said, it’s amazing it works at all. 

The Brain

This is going to be a short section. When the brain is the problem, you know. In rare cases like brain tumors, it may start subtle, but within a very short time (think days, not weeks) it’s obvious there’s something very not right with the brain. The more common way my Docs see the brain as the problem are with viruses like Eastern Encephalitis and West Nile virus. These horses have no idea where they are or what they’re doing. It’s awful. Vaccinate your horses for these diseases. Anyway, you know when the brain is the problem. It’s bad. End of section.

The Rest of the System

This is where things get harder. One of the hardest questions my Docs have to answer is, “Is it lame or is it neurologic?” When you have a critter who can’t answer questions, this can be very difficult to determine. If you went to the doctor, they would ask you questions about walking up and down stairs, can you feel it when I poke here, close your eyes and do this task, etc. All of these things help determine if you as a human have a neurologic component to your problem. They can also then do things like x-ray or MRI of your spine, but more on that later. 

My Docs have to come up with all sorts of different tests to ask horses those same questions. A few examples are walking over poles, walking up and down hills, walking with the head up or down, and turning fast. These all set up conditions where the signal has to smoothly and quickly travel from the brain to the body part. Based on responses to these tests, my Docs then work to determine if this a nerve (roadway) problem, or maybe a connection (stoplight) problem, or is it a problem at the destination (the parking lot). Usually it’s the roadway, so my Docs generally start there. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

The Roadway and its Issues

The spinal cord in a horse is pretty dang long. It goes from the ears to the tail. That’s a lot of real estate to have problems with. The most common issue my Docs see is arthritis of the joints that make up the bones of the spinal column. The problem is the nerves have to come from the spinal cord out into the body to carry the signal. This means they have to travel through the bones at strategic points. Those strategic points can get cut off by arthritis causing bony growth to close the hole. In the early stages, this can be tripping, having trouble doing movements like lateral work or transitions, and can even show up as a lameness. There may be good days and bad days, making it difficult on you humans to determine if it’s even real. It can also make it tough for my Docs to see since it may not be happening on the day they’re looking at your horse. Being patient and allowing repeat evaluations is key to figuring out these horses. 

If my Docs are suspicious of a neurological issue based on talking with you and evaluating your horse, they will likely suggest x-rays and ultrasound of the neck, and maybe moving on down the back. This will largely depend on how your horse is showing neurological symptoms. Here’s where things get tricky. Horses are really big. If you want to know what my back looks like, you can plop this entire cat in an MRI or CT scanner and have a very thorough picture of what it all looks like. You will also have a sleepy cat, because you’re going to have to give me some drugs to get that done. No such luck with horses. 

CT can now be done on most of the neck, MRI can be done on the head and some of the neck, but get down low and on into the back and it’s a no-go zone. First off, horses have to be able to fit inside the CT or MRI scanner. It’s basically a donut they have to go through. You need a really, really big donut hole to get an entire horse through, especially when you factor in those long skinny legs. Once you make the donut hole big enough, you can’t beam the signal all the way across the hole, so you can’t make an image of everything. Physics is the problem, and there’s very little you humans can do to overcome the Laws of Physics. This means there may be lots of combining x-rays and ultrasound to attempt to determine what the 3D structure of the back looks like. There’s also likely to be lots of testing of movement and head scratching on the way to a diagnosis. As you’re realizing, it’s not an easy or straightforward process.

Treatment

I’m being a less-than-upbeat cat today, but treatment for many of these things can be difficult. Arthritis can be managed with stretches, strengthening exercises, and targeted injections. However, it’s an advancing problem and eventually it will get ahead of what my Docs can manage. Knowing what’s normal for your horse can be key to identifying problems early! 

For many of the other neurological issues seen with horses, it can be tricky to come up with good treatment options. Working closely with my Docs to figure out the exact problem will help narrow down potential treatments. 

Neurological disease is tough. It’s tough to identify, and tough to treat. If your horse is doing something weird, be sure to check in with my Docs sooner rather than later. Finding the cause of the weirdness early goes a long way to better treatment options. If you want to learn how to test your horse for signs of neurological behavior, check out this video on my YouTube channel. It will help you rule out some things.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. While you’re watching that video, make sure and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. It’s got a lot of great content, and subscribing will get YouTube to tell you when I post a new video. It also makes me feel good to see how many adoring fans I have. Hey, I’m a cat! Collecting fans is mostly what we do. That, and sleeping, which I’m off to do now.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Subscribe to Whinny's Wisdoms

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband
Wet Weather and Mushy Feet

Wet Weather and Mushy Feet

Sep 19, 2022 | Abscesses, Feet, Hoof Care

Tuesdays with Tony

We sure have been getting a lot of rain around here lately. As you know, we cats are not fond of rain, and now all my favorite sunbathing spots in the clinic parking lot have become puddles! Yeah, yeah we need the rain to grow grass, but the daily thunderstorms and high humidity can wreak havoc on your horse’s feet.

Horses evolved on dry, grassy steppes… not a lot of swampland or rain there, so their feet didn’t evolve a good water management system. The repeated wet-dry cycles (or sometimes just wet) we have here cause the tubules that make up the hoof wall to suck up water and swell. When they release that water, the tubules shrink again, leaving empty space between the inter-tubular material and the tubules. This repeated cycle causes hoof walls to crack and split, and the soles to erode away. If your horse has shoes on, it makes those pesky nails loosen way before the next scheduled farrier visit. Let’s talk about the various moisture-induced hoof conditions my docs are seeing a TON of lately, and what you can do about them.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Thrush

You know the smell. That rotting, nasty smell that you notice while picking your horse’s feet. You may also see some dark black or gray gunk oozing from your horse’s soft frog, or the deep sulci (clefts) around the frog. Thrush is caused by a mixture of several bacteria that love wet, oxygen-poor environments, like the deep grooves in your horse’s muddy feet. Horses aren’t usually very lame unless it gets really bad, but you’ll want to treat it before that happens. Luckily, with daily cleaning and application of a topical treatment, you can control thrush.

There are a variety of commercial products you can buy at the tack store to treat it. One of my doc’s favorite home-made treatments is a mixture of copper sulfate crystals and either wax or Desitin cream. My doc buys a toilet bowl wax ring from the hardware store (or Amazon) and uses bits of that mixed with the copper sulfate. It’s cheap, and it sticks to the foot like a cat to a tuna can. It’s important to pick out the feet so the treatment can contact the damaged tissue really well. Whatever product or treatment you’re using, apply it all over the frog and into the deep cleft in the center of the frog. Repeat once a day in the beginning, and as you get it under control, you can space it out.

Mushy Foot

This is a disorder that my docs see regularly here in Florida in times of wet weather. The entire sole gets soft, thin, and crumbly. You may see a depression just behind the toe where the sole compresses (it can even hold a small pocket of dirt). If you press the sole with your fingers, you may be able to slightly move it. Soles like that aren’t nearly strong enough to take the weight of a horse and protect the bones inside his foot. Mushy foot can be really painful for your horse and can look as bad as laminitis. 

During this season of frequent rainfall, your horse may need to spend some time every day in a dry area like a clean, bedded stall, to allow his feet some time off the moist grass. Remember that even if it’s not actively raining, a grassy pasture can keep the feet wet from the dew and rain it holds on to. You’ll want to pick your horse’s feet out every day.

The best topical treatment out there for “Mushy Foot” is daily application of Durasole (my docs carry it in their vehicles). Durasole contains drying and strengthening agents that thicken and harden the sole in a short period of time. Apply it every day until the sole is harder and the horse is more comfortable, then you should be able to decrease to 2-3 times a week. Work with your farrier to make sure your horse’s feet are trimmed on a 4-6 week schedule to promote healthy soles and hoof walls. If your horse is really sore, my doc may suggest he wear padded boots to temporarily cushion his feet until they start to improve. She won’t want him to stay in the boots for too long though, since the inside of a boot can be a moist environment as well.

Hoof Cracks and Abscesses

Another foot problem my docs see in this weather is cracked, crumbling hoof walls. As always, the first line of defense in keeping your horse’s hooves intact is regular trimming by a knowledgeable farrier. Too-long or unbalanced hoof walls put extra pressure on hooves that are already weakened by wet weather, and can cause those cracks to start or chunks to flake off.  Along with avoiding muddy pastures, be careful how often you wash your horse, as that’s just additional moisture he’s standing in.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Abscesses are also common this time of year since soft, mushy feet allow easier entry for bacteria. A sudden onset of severe lameness is the most common presentation, but since that could mean other problems too, you’ll want to have my docs out to examine your horse. Also check out their YouTube video on how to make a hoof bandage so you’re prepared to manage this common problem!

Proper Diagnosis, Proper Treatment

If you suspect your horse may have any of these foot problems, give one of my docs a call for an exam. There are more serious conditions (such as laminitis) that can masquerade as one of these conditions, and an expert evaluation is highly recommended. You can even come find me here at the clinic for a “Cat-Scan”… but if it’s raining, don’t expect me to greet you outside!

Until next week,

~ Tony

P.S. If you want more, the humans have a podcast called Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth, and they have several episodes on feet. I highly recommend you check that out, which you can do over on the Podcast Page of my website, or you can subscribe to it on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Subscribe to Whinny's Wisdoms

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband