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Why Equine Vaccines Are Only Good For Six Months

Why Equine Vaccines Are Only Good For Six Months

Mar 26, 2018 | Vaccines

Tuesdays with Tony

Yeah yeah, I know I just talked about this, but today I want to answer the question I get ALL THE TIME: Do I really have to give vaccines every every 6 months? Yes. Yes you do. If you need more than my assurance, then read on.

When the immune system attacks

That’s exactly how the horse immune system works. My Docs give vaccines, and your horse’s immune system responds great. By that, I mean it makes antibodies to the diseases the vaccines were for. Those antibodies roam around the body 24/7/365 looking for their target (like Eastern Equine Encephalitis, EEE for short). When they find their target, they attack and fight to the death. When something like EEE attacks, it doesn’t attack with two or three little viruses. It attacks with millions of viruses, which means the body needs millions of antibodies. Even more important in a state like Florida with EEE out there all the time, the body needs to have millions more antibodies ready for the next attack.

There’s something I was supposed to be doing…

That last part is where horses have trouble. You see, the immune system needs to remember what viruses it’s supposed to make antibodies to. The equine immune system suffers from short term memory loss. My Docs give a vaccine, those millions of antibodies get made for a while, then the body starts to forget. That time frame is about 6 months. In some horses, it’s as short as 4 months! A bunch of researchers have vaccinated horses, then checked the blood every month for 6 months to see how many antibodies there are floating around. Turns out that number drops in a big way at 2 months, then does a slow decline over the next few months. Here’s a link to one of these papers, in case you need to read it for yourself. The important thing to note in this paper is that these horses were routinely vaccinated every 6 months for YEARS before this study came out. ← And that’s why horses have to get vaccinated all the time, even when they’ve had them for years.

Can’t you do a blood test?

My Docs often get asked, What if we run a blood test to see if there are enough antibodies? You may not realize it, but that’s a super-complicated question. Until recently, it was tough to find a lab that would run these blood tests, called titers. We do now have a lab at Kansas State University where Eastern Encephalitis, West Nile, and Rabies titers can be run. Next tricky part is deciding how many antibodies are enough. No one really knows. There was some work done many, many years ago to look at how much was enough. However, by today’s standards, the answers they got give us an OK answer, but not a very definitive one.

So yes, for some diseases, a titer can be done, but the answer may still be a big question mark.

Is this true for all equine vaccines?

Pretty much, yep. Horses just don’t respond well to vaccines. They do about the best with Rabies, but even then those antibody numbers drop hard and fast at about 14 months. Rhinopneumonitis (also called Herpes, Rhino, or EHV-1) is weird and will get its very own blog, but suffice it to say the vaccine doesn’t work very well, and it follows different rules anyway.

The influenza vaccine has two different versions: an intranasal one and an intramuscular one. The intranasal one is tough to get antibody levels on. Most of the antibodies hang out in the mucosa lining the nose and mouth so a blood test doesn’t work very well. However, in studies it does a great job preventing the flu for at least 6 months (and really more like 12). The intramuscular vaccine makes antibodies, we can measure them, and they seem to help make the flu less icky, but when compared to the intranasal, it’s no contest.  

Strangles also comes in an intranasal and intramuscular variety. This is another tough vaccine to sum up in a sentence. Tell you what, I’ll write a future blog about Strangles too, just for you guys.

So to answer your questions: When it comes to Eastern Encephalitis, West Nile Virus, and Tetanus, your horse definitely needs to be vaccinated every 6 months at a minimum. Rabies needs to happen at least yearly. The intranasal flu can happen every year. Strangles and Rhino are complicated. If you prefer, a blood test can be done for EEE, West Nile, and Rabies, but knowing what the results mean is tough.

Don’t want to worry about any of this? Leave it all to my crack staff of minions. They’ll take excellent care of your horse so you can worry about how that pesky outside rein works.

Now show this cat some love: scroll down a little further, just below that beautiful green virus, and hit that subscribe button.

Springhill Equine vaccines blog

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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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Why You Should Microchip Your Animals

Why You Should Microchip Your Animals

Mar 20, 2018 | Microchips

Tuesdays with Tony

Why Microchip?

This morning sucked. That’s the only way to put it. Around 6:30 am I was rousted from a sound sleep by a flash of light, followed by an earth-shaking boom. Then the power went out. When the power goes out around here, it’s followed by a whole lot of things beeping, loudly and insistently rather like those puppies you humans think are cute. All this beeping was followed by the sharp rattle of hail against the windows, the roar of wind, and the splatter of rain. I’m not going to lie: Teannie and I were hunkered down together under a desk. Once my minions arrived, I heard the world outside was even worse. Trees were down everywhere, and power was out. There was even discussion of a tornado.

Out of nowhere

Sure, we had a bit of a heads up from the weather folks that a line of thunderstorms was going to come through, but, heck, we live in Florida. That’s every day during the summer. I know Dr. Lacher had at least two trees down near fences and spent 30 minutes chainsawing her way out of the driveway. Luckily, all her outside fencelines were intact, but what if they hadn’t been?

With hurricanes we have agonizing days of watching it track towards us. Will it hit? Will it veer away? You have time to write your name on your horse’s side, braid ID tags into manes and tails, put leather halters on, and have a plan. I don’t know about you, but I was snoozing at 6:29 am, not figuring out how to save my butt if I got lost.

If only there was a way

To permanently identify a horse, that didn’t wash off, was always with them, and never needed to be charged or have its batteries changed. Ah but there is: the microchip. And yes, you’ve heard this from me before. That’s because microchips are a really good idea. Every horse, dog, cat, and family members you don’t want to lose should be microchipped, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Microchips are there 24/7/365. If there’s a sudden storm, the fence goes down, or someone leaves a gate open accidentally, the microchip is there ready to let law enforcement or veterinarians know who this horse is and how to contact you.

Is it difficult to microchip a horse?

Putting in a microchip is super easy. If you don’t believe me, watch this video. My Docs scrub a spot, put a dollop of novocaine under the skin, and inject the microchip.  The hardest part is filling out the paperwork. Even that’s not super-difficult. Pro tip from the cat: there are slots for four phone numbers. Pick one that belongs to someone who lives far away from you. This way if you get hit by a natural disaster, there’s still a working phone number rescuers can reach. For example, if you live in Newberry (like me), pick your friend in Atlanta. Both of those areas are unlikely to be hit by hurricanes at the same time.

Now you know how easy it is to keep your horse identifiable all the time. Next step is to call 352-472-1620, email, or live chat from the website with my minions to set up an appointment. Oh and be a good human: scroll down a little farther and subscribe to my blog!

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Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

How to Have A Smart Deworming Protocol

How to Have A Smart Deworming Protocol

Mar 12, 2018 | Deworming

Tuesdays with Tony

For those of you who missed my Deworming Seminar on Thursday- you have offended me down to my kitty core. I understand it was chilly and those were the days when it got dark at 6:30 pm, but all I wanted was to tell you my secrets about evil worms that like to live inside horse’s guts. Well, my secrets are out now, so I may as well share them with all of you.

Resistance

   Back in the day when Zimectrin, the first oral paste dewormer, stepped onto the scene, it seemed like a good idea to deworm your horse every 6 weeks or so. After all, more is better, right? Then, some different dewormers came on the market, and it seemed like an even better idea to rotate between these products, and use a different one every 6 weeks. Heck, vets even recommended this.
    Well, it turns out this wasn’t such a good plan. You know how antibiotic resistance develops when antibiotics are over-used or used improperly? The same thing is now happening with dewormers. By rotating between deworming medications, we have shown the parasites every drug in our arsenal. This has given the parasites the ability to become resistant to every one of our deworming products. And that, folks, is terrifying.
    So why can’t they just come up with a new deworming medication? Well, unfortunately it’s not a simple process. And “they” (the drug companies) aren’t too inclined to invest a bunch of time and money into research and development of a new product when people are still buying their available products like hot-cakes. (Mmm, hot-cakes…) Also, even if somebody decided today to start developing a new dewormer, it would be about 10 years before we would see it on the shelves. That’s just how long the whole process of drug development, clinical trials, and FDA approval takes.
   So basically this leaves us with a handful of equine deworming medications, and a population of parasites that is anywhere from a little bit resistant to completely resistant to them. Dewormers that used to work for 4-5 months are now only effective for 4-5 weeks. Deworming your foal with one product as a baby essentially means that product will not work the next time you go to use it. Depending on what type of worms you are trying to target (roundworms vs strongyles) you may as well be giving your horse apple-flavored toothpaste rather than some of our available dewormers.

Our Plan to Fight Back

   Even though the outlook is dismal right now, vets (with the help of some very smart researchers) have come up with a plan to fight back.
   So, we all agree that showing the parasites every dewormer multiple times is a bad plan, right? Instead, let’s only show the parasites ONE dewormer (Equimax), ONCE a year (in the fall). Fall is the best time of year to do this because that’s the peak season for parasite breeding here in Florida. Equimax is the product we recommend because it has Ivermectin to get the problematic small strongyles, as well as Praziquantel to take care of the tapeworms that don’t show up reliably on fecal checks.
   But Tony, you may ask, what if my horse is a high shedder? Well, let’s first remember that only 20% of horses carry 80% of the worm burden. This means that the chances your horse is a high shedder are slim. That being said, we are happy to do a fecal egg count on your horse in the spring, and IF he comes back as a high shedder, we will give you special permission to deworm him a second time.

What about Foals?

    Ok, foals are entirely different creatures when it comes to parasites. As babies, they are still susceptible to Ascarids (roundworms), plus they haven’t developed their own immunity against strongyles yet. For this reason, I have developed a unique protocol for these special ones, we’ll call it the ‘Tony protocol’. Step 1: Deworm your foal at 2-3 months with Panacur. Step 2: Bring us a fecal sample to check at 5-6 months…we will tell you what to do. Step 3: Bring us another fecal sample at 9 months; we will tell you if your foal is a high shedder. Step 4: Deworm at 1 year with Equimax.
     Yearlings to 3 year olds still get special treatment as they continue to develop their natural immunity to parasites. You may deworm them once in the spring with plain Ivermectin and once in the fall with Equimax. It’s a good idea to bring us a fecal sample in the summer for your 1-3 year-olds to see if they require a 3rd deworming.

What else can I do?

  Since you are going to be saving a bunch of money by NOT buying dewormer every 6 weeks, why not invest in a nice pitchfork and wheelbarrow, and maybe a fancy composting system at your farm? It’s a fact that removing fresh manure from your pastures drastically reduces worm burdens in grazing horses. Plus, it’s a great way to get a lifetime supply of high-quality fertilizer! Just remember to never spread fresh manure on pastures where horses will be grazing. Manure has to go through the composting process in order to reach high enough internal temperatures to kill parasite larvae.
     It’s important to remember that 80% of horses are only carrying 20% of the parasites, so there’s a good chance that your horse does not need to be dewormed at all. A simple fecal analysis will tell you if you need to or not. Out of the 30-something fecal analyses we did for those that came to the seminar last week, only 4 of them were high shedders. 4! That’s pretty solid reasoning as far as this cat is concerned.
    Now that you know my secrets, I need you to make me a promise. I need 100% cooperation for this once-a-year deworming master plan to succeed. We can defeat the parasites, but we need your help! So, promise me that you will tell all of your horse friends THE PLAN. If you came to my seminar, or read my blog, you are now an honorary expert on deworming horses. And if any of your friends have questions, tell them to call me….at which point I will direct them to the nearest doctor.
    Thank you for your attention. *APPLAUSE*
     -Tony
P.S. As a special gift from me to you, here’s a link to the video of the seminar. You will really have expert status with facts to quote after you watch this! Parasites and Deworming Seminar

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Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Sugar, Starch, and Horse Diets

Sugar, Starch, and Horse Diets

Mar 5, 2018 | Diet, Feed

Tuesdays with Tony

Two weeks ago we talked about grass and laminitis. Boy, were you guys excited about that topic. I’m going to be super-generous (we cats can be generous, you know) and give you more information on sugar. Come with me on a journey through the weird, wacky world of sugar and starch.

Sugar is sugar, isn’t it?

Nope. There’s sugar and there’s starch. These two things combined are the important number for your horse’s diet. That number is called NSC, or Non-Structural Carbohydrates, by feed companies. NSCs are things that don’t need to be broken down by fermentation in the hind gut, and are rapidly absorbed by the small intestine. Know how you get a kid to run around like a maniac by giving them a lollipop? That’s NSC. In general, you horse people are not looking for your horses to run around like maniacs.

The other problem with NSCs is they turn into fat deposits really quickly. Same thing happens in humans and cats. The body says, oh hey, I have excess food right now, I should store that away in case something bad happens and I need food later. In horses (and humans and cats) some individuals and breeds are better at storing than others. In general, the working breeds (like ponies) and the desert breeds (like Arabians) are really, really good at storage. If you apply some thinking to this, it will make a whole lot of sense. Deserts are not noted for a large amount of food laying around. Working breeds shared food with their owners. The more food either of these types needed, the less desirable they were. As a result, they have been bred for many, many, many generations to be “easy keepers.” On the other hand, think about Thoroughbreds. Historically, no one has cared how much their Thoroughbred ate. They were sports cars. And no one buys a Lamborghini for the gas mileage.

Sugar is bad, then?

It depends. It’s the ultimate answer, really. Appropriate in every circumstance.

NSC’s over 18-20% are less than ideal for the insulin-resistant horse. However, if that insulin-resistant horse is performing, they will need some sugar to perform at their best. You see, sugar is the best readily available energy source. Ever known a crazy human who runs marathons? That carb-loading they do the night before is to make sure they have plenty of quick energy on hand the next morning when they need it. Now, I’m not saying go carb-load your horses, but getting sugar levels too low in a horse who needs to do some serious work can cause them to fizzle when you need them to sizzle. Jumping, bursts of speed, quick starts and stops, all of these require carbs. This means a carefully controlled diet may be needed to get the best performance out of your horse. I will once again mention: Call my minions for help with this. Diet balancing is hard!

What the heck am I supposed to feed then?!?

A lot of factors go into the right choice of feeds for these horses. In general, look for a feed that is pretty low NSC. Triple Crown Senior and ration balancers like Nutrena Topline Balance are good places to start. Forages can be tricky. Alfalfa and peanut are lower in sugar, but lots higher in calories. My minions often work hardest to help you humans come up with a good forage plan for these horses. Luckily they have loads of experience. For extra calories, if they are needed, add fats like vegetable oils. I know, seems weird, but fat doesn’t cause insulin to be released so it’s very, very safe for these horses.

Weather obsession

During the craziness that is Florida Spring and Fall, be very aware of the weather. As I type this, it’s 39 degrees. Last week it was 89 degrees. That beautiful green grass that was high in sugar last week is SUPER high in sugar this morning. This little cold snap has all the grass freaking out. To be sure the plant saves all it’s hard earned sugar, it’s sending it down to the roots. When your horse grabs that grass down close to the ground, he’s getting a delicious bite of grass-flavored lollipop. The schizophrenic weather makes grazing muzzles an absolute must this time of year.

What’s a human to do?

Luckily, we have options! Start by controlling what you can control. Hay analysis will let you know how much sugar is in your hay. Check with your feed manufacturer to find out what the sugar levels are in your horse’s grain. Now you know where you stand on the things you give your horse. By keeping these sugar levels in check, you can allow your horse to graze as much as possible. Diet analysis is not easy. There’s lots of acronyms like EDF and NDF, and starch, and sugar, and fructans, and, on and on. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do any of this alone. I’ve got a minion to help! Call, text, or, live chat from our website and they’ll get you the answers you seek.

Once again, I’m going to tell you to be a good human. Scroll down a wee tiny bit further and click subscribe, right under those two horses in the purple box. Then you’ll see my blog every week no matter where Facebook decides to put it in your news feed. If you’ve already subscribed, then thank you! You get a treat next time you come see me, which should be Thursday at our Parasites and Deworming Seminar.

Until next week ~

Tony

sugar and starch

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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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The Inside Scoop on Vaccines

The Inside Scoop on Vaccines

Feb 26, 2018 | Vaccines

Tuesdays with Tony

The Inside Scoop on Vaccines

Ahh, spring is in the air! I hope all you humans are taking advantage of the beautiful weather and getting some saddle time in. I personally have extended the duration of my naps in the parking lot, interrupted only by the occasional horse trailer or UPS truck. Hopefully that lovely scent of spring blooming (mixed with a little pollen of course) also reminds you that it’s time for your horse’s spring shots! Let me take this opportunity to refresh your memory on why the best person to administer those vaccines is your veterinarian.

Handling

I love Tractor Supply as much as the next cat. I mean, who can make it down those aisles at the checkout counter without grabbing one of their irresistible impulse-buy gifts, snacks, or nick-nacks? But one thing I wouldn’t trust Tractor Supply for is handling the vaccines I plan to give my beloved horse. Did you know that vaccines must be maintained within a very narrow temperature range from manufacture all the way up until they are administered?

At Springhill, we will not accept a shipment of vaccines if the ice has melted during transport; we unpack all cold boxes immediately upon receipt; the docs carry the vaccines in coolers in their trucks; the techs don’t draw up vaccines into syringes until they arrive at your farm; and the docs keep the vaccines on ice until immediately before administering them to your horse. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust the high school kid working at your local feed store to be this careful.

Knowledge

Do you know which vaccines your horse needs? Do you know how often your horse needs a booster for each vaccine to maintain immunity? Do you know what’s really in a 5-way? If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, you should probably have a veterinarian vaccinate your horses. Vaccines are not one-size-fits-all. A horse’s disease risk varies by geographic location, age, and lifestyle. Depending on your horse’s prior vaccination history, what you are vaccinating against, and which brand of vaccine you are using, your horse may need a booster anywhere from 6 weeks to 1 year later.

I didn’t go to vet school, but I know 2 kinda awesome women who did. I highly recommend you take advantage of their education when it comes to vaccinating your horses! Not to mention, they literally vaccinate horses every day, so they have the system pretty down pat. Young horse? Needle-shy horse? Sensitive horse? No worries. Our docs can handle it, and will probably turn it into a positive experience that they look forward to next time.

Quality

Everybody thinks the pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines are “in the pocket” of veterinarians, or that there are “kick-backs” for using their vaccine versus another brand. Here’s the inside baseball: I get visits from the representatives of the major companies we buy medications from (including vaccines) about once or twice a year. They always scratch me behind the ears and comment on how handsome I am. Sometimes they bring lunch and I may get a pepperoni off a slice of pizza or a bit of tuna from someone’s sandwich. They talk about their vaccines, the extensive research behind them, the newest changes they have made to decrease the incidence of vaccine reactions from 0.02 to 0.01 percent. They may leave us with some pens, hats, notepads, or keychains. One time a pharmaceutical rep gave us drawstring bags, which I found amusing to play with for about 5 minutes.

However, if you think our docs are choosing which vaccines to carry based on who gave out the coolest pens this year, you are sadly mistaken! They look at the research. They choose the vaccine that has the best combination of disease prevention and lowest reaction rate. That sometimes means carrying a Flu vaccine from one company and a West Nile vaccine from another. Our doctors don’t have their own interests or the interests of some major pharmaceutical company in mind- they only care about what is best for your horse!

I’ll leave you with 2 reminders: 1) Schedule your horse’s spring shots. 2) Make sure you have my next See Tony event, the Deworming Seminar, marked on your calendar for Thursday, March 8th at 6:30pm.

Happy Tuesday! -Tony

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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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