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Insulin and Laminitis

Insulin and Laminitis

Mar 11, 2019 | Cushings, Diet, Exercise, Insulin Resistance, Laminitis

Tuesdays with Tony

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic Today has been a good day so far. I wandered around outside, slept in a sunny spot, then moved to a shady spot when it got too warm, enjoyed the sound of birds chirping, and just generally enjoyed the weather! Meanwhile, I have seen pictures from adoring fans around country buried in snow. That’s a hard no from this cat! I have seen as many as 12 flakes of snow at one time, and that was plenty, thank you very much. I have no desire to see more of that cold, wet, white stuff. There’s one small problem with this time of year. All that warm sunshine makes the grass grow, and if you’re a horse with an insulin issue, that grass is going to get you in more trouble than I get in when catnip is involved.

 

Insulin: Can’t live without it, too much will kill you slowly

 

Let’s review insulin, and what it does. When you eat anything containing sugar, even small amounts, your pancreas releases insulin. This insulin attaches to cells to tell them, “Hey, there’s sugar here. Come absorb it!” The cells do just that, and either store that sugar for later, or use it right away to power their little cell manufacturing facilities. All this works great until there is way, way more sugar than the cells need, then the body switches to hardcore storage. And that’s where this week’s blog really gets interesting. A vicious circle, not unlike Teanie Cat chasing her tail, is set up with the body releasing insulin so the cells will soak up the sugar, the cells ignoring the insulin, so the body releases more, and the cells ignore the signal even more. This is how we get to what’s known as Insulin Resistance (IR).

 

All that Insulin floating around

 

It turns out insulin does way more than just tell the cells of the body to suck up the sugar in the bloodstream. It also gets the growth machinery, mostly a thing called IGF-1, geared up. You see, when there’s extra sugar around, it’s a good time to grow some stuff. Lay down some bone, grow some skin, you know, spruce the body up a bit. Our bodies, cat, human, horse, all of them, aren’t designed for this system to be switched on for long periods of time. We all evolved to handle long periods of, gasp, scarcity of food. The system would experience excess sugar, lay down a lot of fat for the future lean times, fix some stuff that needed fixing, and then use all that fat when food got hard to get. Enter the modern age. We never get to that food is hard to come by period of the year. I will argue this point since I can’t get food whenever I want, and I’m often sure I’m starving, but I will say I get two to three solid meals a day, so there’s that. The growth machinery never, ever shuts down. The insulin just keeps getting pumped out. The cells say no more, even louder. The growth machinery keeps trying to grow stuff. And this is how we get to laminitis.

 

The L word

 

I have learned that no one in the horse world likes the word laminitis. For a long time, no one quite understood how or why fat horses got laminitis. For a while it was thought the thyroid gland wasn’t working quite right since other species with bad thyroid glands get fat, and have issues similar to laminitis. The problem was horses with low thyroid levels got skinny, not fat. Back to the drawing board. That drawing board was especially confusing because these fat horses improved on thyroid medications. Eventually the wise humans of the world got a better understanding of what was going on. This would have been figured out long ago if anyone had allowed cats to be involved. We know everything.

 

It turns out that growth machinery, and the cells ignoring insulin are both to blame for laminitis. The laminae are finger-like projections that come off the hoof capsule side of things, and the bone side of things. They hold each other tight to keep the hoof attached to the leg. In the picture below you can see that normally these are short, rounded fingers with long projections on their sides. On the abnormal side you see they turn long and skinny with short, squat projection along the sides. You can imagine those abnormal lamellae don’t hold on very well.

 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

 

How to make Insulin go down in three easy steps

 

The good news is insulin can go down, but it ain’t easy! Ask this fat cat how he knows…. No, don’t. I get a little testy when talking about my diet and exercise routine.

 

Step 1. Increase exercise. Even a little bit. Make sure your horse is exercising more each week than they were the week before. This can be as simple as walking for 10-15 minutes 3-4 times per week to start. Now if you already have laminitis going on, be sure you get one of my Docs to help you with an exercise plan.

 

Step 2. Decrease calories. Ration balancers, grazing muzzles, and slow feed hay bags are all excellent decrease-food-going-in options. The problem seems to be with you humans applying them. Got questions about the best way to do it? Ask my Docs!

 

Step 3. Medications to help. Sometimes even with diet and exercise, we need a little help to get things going the right direction. There are some great short term drug and supplement options to help get the diet and exercise going. Guess what? Ask my Docs for help!

 

It’s a tough time of year to be an easy keeper! Keep on top of your horse’s diet and exercise program, and know my minions are here to help!

 

Until next week,

 

~Tony

P.S. Make sure you scroll down and subscribe if you haven’t already. Don’t rely on Facebook to deliver my blog to you. They’re terribly unreliable about things like that, and my blog is far too important to risk missing!

 

Also, have you made it to one of my seminars lately? They are a fantastic resource for all you horse people out there. Free food, free information, and free selfies with Your’s Truly. You can’t beat it! You can see the list of upcoming seminars on the front page of my website at SpringhillEquine.com .

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!

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Allergy Testing

Allergy Testing

Mar 4, 2019 | Allergies

Tuesdays with Tony

If you’ve been by the clinic lately, you may have noticed my fancy new hairdo. If you haven’t, I’ve provided a picture for you all to admire. A few weeks ago, my staff felt the need to show me off to all the lovely people at the University of Florida Veterinary School. Of course, I was happy to oblige to my adoring fans.

Springhill Equine

 

My staff explained to me that the reason for my visit was not just to get scratches and loves from the veterinarians, technicians, and students at UF, but it was important that I get checked out for allergies. The dermatology department at UF spent the day checking me out and performing intradermal skin allergy testing (IDAT) on me, hence my fancy new haircut. Did you know that horses can have allergies too? And did you know, my doctors here at Springhill Equine can perform allergy testing on your horse to help figure out why he/she likes to itch his/her mane off every spring, or why they tend to have trouble breathing during certain times of year?

 

What is Allergy Testing?

You may be asking yourself the question, what is allergy testing? Luckily for you, I have firsthand experience on this matter and can give you the lowdown on what exactly allergy testing is. There are two different types of test available. One is a blood test that measures certain protein antibody levels in the blood that may be causing your horse’s allergic symptoms. While sometimes this is a good starting point for allergy testing, intradermal testing is much more specific. Allergy blood testing can occasionally cause horses (and cats) to test positive to allergens that they are not actually allergic to. This is why my doctors choose to test your horse with the intradermal method. Using intradermal testing, my docs can test multiple different allergens that may be causing your horse’s discomfort. In order to provide you all with a play-by-play of what occurs during intradermal testing, I had this testing done during my visit at UF.

 

Why do we perform Allergy Testing?

The main reason we perform allergy testing is for the comfort of your horse. The goal of allergy testing is to identify specific allergens that your horse is reactive to so immunotherapy can be developed and your horse can be treated.

 

How do the docs perform intradermal testing?

The first step of intradermal allergy testing in to discontinue all allergy medications. I know that up until my appointment at UF, I spent way too many valuable napping hours scratching. I suppose it was the price to pay to figure out just what was causing all my discomfort. Horses also must be off all allergy medications. This means steroids, antihistamines, etc., for at least 14 days prior to testing. After your horse has been off his/her medication, the next step is to bring them into the clinic to see my docs.  While you’re here you might even get a personal “cat” scan from yours truly. You’ll leave your horse with me for the day for monitoring, while my docs do the heavy lifting and perform the tests.

 

So, now you’re probably wondering what will happen while your horse is in my care.  First, the staff here will clip a rectangular pattern on one side of your horse’s neck. I keep a watchful eye on this part. I wouldn’t dare let a horse leave my clinic without an awesome new hairdo like mine. Next the staff will make a 6 by 6 grid in the clipped area with a permanent marker. This grid serves as a guideline to where the allergens will be injected to your horse’s neck. Next, 36 different allergens are injected just under the skin using a very small needle. This was my least favorite part of my visit at UF, though thankfully it was followed by lots of scratches and treats.

 Equine Allergy testing

A positive control (something we know your horse will react to) and a negative control (something we know your horse will not react to) are also injected under the skin, so my docs have something to compare the test allergens to. One hour after initial injection, the docs will compare the test allergens to the controls and mark those allergens which have any kind of reaction. Your horse will be looked at again three hours after initial injection and the reactions will be recorded. For the rest of the day, I will hang out with your horse and keep him/her company while he/she enjoys some tasty hay and my staff ensures no further reactions are going to occur.

 

What does all this mean?

So, you’re probably starting to think this whole allergy testing thing is sounding pretty cool, and you would be right.  You’re also probably wondering what the next step is after my docs have identified the allergens behind your horse’s discomfort. Now that reactive allergens have been identified, the docs will work with laboratories to develop immunotherapy specific to your horse. I too, got my own special immunotherapy developed specifically to treat the allergens my body was reactive to. I guess that makes me a pretty special cat, but of course we already knew that.

 

The goal of the immunotherapy is to slowly expose your horse’s immune system to low doses of allergens and gradually increase the dose. This will desensitize the immune system to the allergen so when your horse is exposed to it, it no longer reacts. And that means no more itching, no more mane ruined by rubbing, no more tails rubbed raw, and no more trouble breathing. Fortunately, once your horse’s immune system has been desensitized to the most reactive allergens, immunotherapy will no longer be needed.  A few shots for a few weeks/months seem well worth a life without scratching, if you ask me.

 

So next time you’re at the clinic, feel free to check on me and see how my immunotherapy is going. Actually, I’d be happy if you just give me pets and love. But, while you’re here, talk to my staff about setting up allergy testing for your itchy horse.

 

Until next week,

 

Tony

 

P.S. I listened to a particularly intriguing episode of Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth this week. If you haven’t listened to it yet, make sure you put it on your list. It’s all about dentals, and I guarantee you will learn something you didn’t know!

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!

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Training Horses (and pigs!)

Training Horses (and pigs!)

Feb 25, 2019 | Training

Tuesdays with Tony

Last weekend we had a professional animal trainer, Carolyn Rice, come to the clinic to help us work with a pig who is here for boarding. Carolyn has experience working with all types of animals, from zebras to camels, even ducks! While every animal is different in terms of how their brain works, any animal has the potential to learn. I’ve even managed to teach Teanie a trick or two. So, from one of those animals who is notoriously difficult to train, here are some tips on where to start with your unruly horse, pig, dog, cat, chicken, or other beloved pet. 

 

Know your animal

   
Regardless of which species you are working with, you need to have a basic understanding of how their brain works before you can teach them anything. 
Since this is an equine clinic, we will talk about horses first. Horses are prey animals, and as such, their fight-or-flight instinct is quite strong. This means that most horses will respond to you simply moving into their space, raising your arms to head-level, or driving them forward with your body position. Many horses are also food motivated, and will do just about anything for a small treat. 
    In a herd, all of the other horses will look to the dominant stallion to know whether or not something is a threat. Similarly, whether you are training on the ground or under saddle, your horse should look to you as the leader. If you say it’s okay, they need to trust you that there’s nothing to worry about. 
    As a prey species, horses have a point of balance, a pressure zone, and a flight zone. When a human, or other predator, stands in the horse’s flight zone, the horse will move away from the predator. The more tame a horse, the smaller its flight zone. This knowledge can be useful when trying to catch a horse in the field, moving a group of horses, or teaching a horse to work on a longe line. 
Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic
     Dogs, on the other hand, are predators who have been bred for centuries to be loyal to humans, almost to a fault. Dogs have a strong play drive, and love to be close to their people. Rather than flee away, most dogs will go toward a human who is running. If you’ve ever played fetch or tug-of-war with a dog, you know they love the thrill of winning.
     Different species, and even different breeds, have a different assortment of talents. Dogs use their mouths to solve problems, whereas pigs use their snouts. If horses are faced with a problem, they will normally use their long legs and enormous lungs to run away quickly!
     So, do some research on the animal you are working with. What is their history? What are they bred to be good at? How big is their brain? How well can they see, or smell? Can they learn words? Once you truly understand your pet, training will be a breeze. 
 

Command respect

     One of the best places to start in training your pet is with basic obedience, or ground manners. Respecting personal space is an important lesson for any young animal to learn. In the wild, other animals in a pack or a herd will teach personal space by biting, kicking, barking, or squealing when another animal gets too close. In a domestic setting, however, it is your job as the owner to teach your pet these ground rules. 
     Animals can actually push the boundaries of respect without you even realizing what they are doing. Does your horse ever use you as a scratching post? Does your dog put his paw on your leg when he wants attention? Does your pig root at your shoe when he wants to be fed? These are all actually subtle acts of defiance and insubordination which, over time, can make your pet believe that he or she is in charge.    
     An easy place to begin in terms of commanding respect is at feeding time. Pets depend on humans to provide for their basic needs, including food, water, and shelter. Every day at feeding time is an opportunity for you to work on that respect. For example, you can teach your dog or pig to sit and wait before you give him his food bowl. You can teach your horse or donkey to let you put their halter on before you dump their grain in their bucket. Working on these simple skills for just 5-10 minutes twice a day will go a long way.
 

Use positive reinforcement 

    In animal behavior, there are four types of reinforcement/punishment. There is positive reinforcement- for example when I get a piece of lunch meat for raising my paw. Negative reinforcement occurs when I walk outside to avoid the screaming pig in the barn (as soon as I step outside, the negative stimulus stops, which encourages me to go outside). I experience positive punishment whenever one of the techs swats me off the hood of the truck for scratching the paint and getting muddy footprints everywhere. Negative punishment happens when I am getting scritches from a client in the office, but they stop when I bite their hand. 
    My favorite of these options is positive reinforcement. I learn best and fastest when I am rewarded for performing a desired behavior. This is true for most animals, regardless of breed, species, or what behavior you are trying to teach. If you can figure out a way to use positive reinforcement in your training, you will be impressed with the results. 
      Here at Springhill Equine, the docs and techs also like to use clicker training as a form of positive reinforcement. Clickers can be used on any animals, even humans, to train a desired behavior. Too bad I don’t have opposable thumbs!
 
     I hope these training tips have given you a starting point towards making your pet the productive member of society he was meant to be. If you ever have any questions about animal behavior, or need recommendations for a trainer, the humans at my office are always a great resource. 
 
Sit. Stay. Good human. Now, scroll down and subscribe to this blog. Click!
   
       -Tony
Springhill Equine foal check

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!

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What Coggins Testing Is All About

What Coggins Testing Is All About

Feb 18, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

From my view at the front desk, and extensive inspection of trailers as they arrive and depart, I have determined that an awful lot of you are here for something called a Coggins. I have concluded that this is a test of the ability of my minions to take a picture of a horse with their ears forward. The shenanigans that go on to try to get three (or sometimes even just one) decent photographs of a horse amaze me on a daily basis. Apparently there is also a blood test involved, but that seems to be the easy part of this process. It seems these tests are always negative, so why are they necessary? Read on for words of wisdom from this wise cat.

 

What’s a Coggins test testing for?

 

Equine Infectious Anemia is a nasty, nasty bugger. This virus gets spread by insect bites. Usually it’s horseflies, but mosquitoes have been known to get involved, too. Here’s the annoying thing about this virus: it can float around a horse for years without any symptoms. All that time it’s busily infecting any willing horsefly or mosquito, and spreading itself to other horses. Equine Infectious Anemia is what’s known as a lentivirus. Another famous lentivirus: HIV. Just like HIV, Equine Infectious Anemia eventually destroys the immune system of an infected horse, leaving them susceptible to infections. All this sounds awful! I was horrified to learn there is a cat version of this virus called FIV.

Springhill Equine veterinary Clinic

 

How do you fight what you can’t find?

 

Prior to the late 1960s there was no way to even test for Equine Infectious Anemia. The Docs of that era (mine weren’t born yet), were left worrying if any horse with a fever had this dreaded disease, or a simple cold. There was no way to tell other than time. Outbreaks were tough to control because horses could be normal for so long before showing symptoms, and even then those symptoms were the same as many other much less serious viruses. From the first report of the disease in the United States in 1888, there were frequent outbreaks. Racetracks and breeding farms were often hit hard since it took time to recognize the presence of the disease. An outbreak at a racetrack in 1947 caused the death of 77 horses before it could be brought under control! This all sounded awful to me! Then came Dr. Coggins.

 

A way to test

 

Around 1968 Dr. Coggins worked out a way to test horses for Equine Infectious Anemia. And thus the Coggins test was born! That’s right, there’s a Dr. Coggins. Now horses could be tested to determine if their fever was Equine Infectious Anemia. By 1973, the State of Florida was the first State to make a negative Coggins test mandatory for horses being sold, or raced. Many of the Gulf Coast States were quick to follow, since the lovely hot, humid weather in these parts is great for the spread of Equine Infectious Anemia. It quickly became mandatory for horses traveling anywhere, for any reason.

 

Test, Test, Test

 

The Coggins test has caused a massive reduction in the incidence of Equine Infectious Anemia! In 2017, there were 80 positive horses in the United States. In 1975 that number was 10,371. That’s a huge difference!

There are other hidden things that happen as a result of Coggins tests. First, a veterinarian gets at least a brief look at your horse. This is so important, and I’m often appalled at the number of people who don’t value it. Having my Docs take a look and evaluate your horse yearly can help you head off major issues by addressing them when they’re minor. From teeth, to feet, to nutrition, to skin problems, the Docs can often offer quick, simple fixes in the early stages. Second, governments look at Coggins test numbers to estimate the number of horses in an area. This is how they help decide to spend money on local horse projects. Need an upgrade to your local State Park’s horse trails? Use Coggins numbers to show how many horses are around to use those facilities!

I know Coggins tests can be a bit of a pain. Who hasn’t been ready to go somewhere only to realize their Coggins expired yesterday? It’s always yesterday, never tomorrow. But if it means your horses get to live longer, happier lives, it’s a very small price to pay.

Until next week,

~ Tony

P.S. You should click over to the home page and check out all the upcoming seminars! If you haven’t been to one lately, you’ve been missing out on a great opportunity to hang out with me. And learn stuff about horses, of course.

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!

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How To Buy A Horse

How To Buy A Horse

Feb 11, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

So you wanna buy a horse. What kind of horse do you want? Oh wait I know, because this is what all the humans say: a gelding who is 16.2, black with some white (but not too much), must be ready to go Grand Prix (dressage, and show jumping, in the same weekend), oh and must be able to trail ride on the buckle despite deer and turkey making a ruckus, and, finally, must poop in one spot in the stall so it’s easy to clean.

Sure, I might have taken the description a bit far there, but you get the idea. Cats do love hyperbole. Let’s talk about what you really, really want in a horse, and how to find it.

 

Step 1: Write down some stuff

 

What do you currently do with your horse? If it’s take a lesson once a week on someone else’s horse, that’s great! If it’s walk and trot for 15-20 minutes, that’s good, too. If it’s compete at the National level in Western Pleasure, that’s fantastic! Start with where you are now. Then, and only then, move on to where you want to go next. You can dream a bit, don’t go too wild. If you’re doing Intro Dressage, maybe you want a horse that can take you up through 4th level. Maybe it’s a horse you can trailer to out-of-state parks to camp and ride. Be careful to stay within what’s reasonable for the next few years. For example, if you just started taking lessons last month, and now you want an Olympic-level show jumper, this is not a good plan. An even worse plan is now I want a 2 year old so we can “grow” together. You humans are really good at dreaming a little too big during this phase of the process. Not sure what a good future goal would be? Find a professional who can help you with that!!! Pay them for this knowledge. It’s totally worth it!

 

Step 2: See what’s out there

 

This does not mean call up McLain Ward and see if HH Azur is available to try. This means check out the ads on Facebook, and all the horse-for-sale sites to see what’s around. Use your goals list to find horses actually doing what you want to do. Now, and here’s the tricky part, how much do those horses cost? Sure, Dr. Lacher wants a horse that will take her around the International Hunter Derby, but until she gets adopted by Bill Gates, that’s not likely to happen. You get the idea. Let this portion of our activity be the check on your wishes. It’s also why I said don’t dream too big in your goals in Step 1. Again, know who else can help you with this phase? A good professional. Oh, and pay them for this knowledge, too. It’s still totally worth it.

 

Step 3. Now go look at what’s out there

 

Alright, you know what you want, and you have a reasonable price range. Go try some horses. This is really, really, really where you want to have a professional helping you. You know why? Because you humans will fall in love with the wrong thing every time. From other humans to horses, you just don’t pick well. You need someone with an objective eye. Sure, that chestnut mare with the white stockings is beautiful, but she pinned her ears and tried to buck you off every time you asked her to lope off. Now maybe that’s something you have the skills to work through, maybe it isn’t. Having someone else’s thoughts on the matter is really important! After you’ve tried each horse, use those opposable thumbs, and write some stuff down. What did you like? What did you hate?

 Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Step 4. Get a pre-purchase exam

 

You knew I was going to get to the doctor stuff at some point. I do live in a veterinary clinic, after all. When you decide which horse, get a thorough pre-purchase exam done. The key part of that is PRE. Yes, before you buy the horse.

 

A pre-purchase exam is an incredibly thorough evaluation of a horse. My Docs look very closely at every part of them from the whiskers on their nose, to the hair on their tail. They do a full lameness and neurological evaluation as well. In other words, they check for all the things. Now, these are horses, and no one can 100% predict the future, especially when it comes to horses. However, they will know the most they can for you about this horse, on this particular day.

 

After the exam, the Docs usually recommend some x-rays. X-rays help them evaluate what’s going on inside. In particular, front feet, hocks, and stifles can be future problem areas. Knowing what they look like on this day can give them an idea about the future. Pre-purchase exams can get very expensive, very quickly. I’m not saying everyone needs to take x-rays of the entire horse. I am saying don’t skip the exam part of things!

 

A horse is a major expense, whether you’re spending $5,000 or $500,000. Spending a few hundred dollars to check it out first is called being a Smart Buyer. Be a Smart Buyer. If you’ll read my blog on nutrition, you can pay for your pre-purchase exam with the money you save on all those unnecessary supplements!

 

Step 5. Put it all together

 

Each one of these steps is important. Don’t pick the horse that won’t meet your goals, because it passed the pre-purchase. At the same time, don’t pick the horse that is perfect in every way, except it’s lame in three legs on the pre-purchase. Take everything in consideration.

 

The most important final step

 

Scroll down a little bit further, and subscribe to this blog. Then go subscribe to the podcast the humans do called Straight From The Horse Doctor’s Mouth. The more you know about horses, the better-prepared you will be as a horse owner. And seriously, I’m giving you all my cat knowledge for free. Where else can you get that kind of love?

 

Until next week,

 

~ Tony

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!

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