Whinny, Author at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

What’s in Dr. Lacher’s feed room??

Feb 26, 2012 | Feed

This was an exciting weekend at Springhill Equine. We had a crew at the Climb for Cancer at San Felasco and then did a fundraiser for our Relay for Life team with Gentle Carousel at Tractor Supply in Jonesville. Teeney and I stayed at the clinic and made sure our new cat beds were well loved.

Before all the weekend excitement, I got Dr. Lacher to sit down and talk with me about what’s in her feed room. I got interested in this while listening to Dr. David talk about Senior horses at our Seminar last week and from a chat with Beth at Midwest Feed when she came by the office. I am a very busy cat some weeks!

Let’s start with what type of horses Dr. Lacher has at her house. She has one of every type, as far as I could tell. Don’t ask her how many horses she has. She refuses to count them so she can be in denial. That said there is one hard keeper six year old Thoroughbred, an older easy keeper and an older hard keeper, some young horses, a pregnant horse and some mid to high level performance horses.

So what’s in her feed bins? A 12% pellet, Equine Senior, beet pulp and Equalizer. Supplements: Myristol and Cool Calories 100 and during the summer Solitude. Each horse has a plain and mineral salt block available to them. She said she does feed Seminole Feed but thinks Purina and Triple Crown also make excellent feeds.

Let’s start with the 12% pellet, Gold Chance 12+. This pellet is fortified with extra amounts of the amino acid Lysine. Amino acids make up proteins and Lysine is the most commonly used one in the horse. Adding Lysine to a 12% protein feed makes it very similar to a 14% feed without the added costs of adding more protein. This is the feed most of the horses get at her house. The performance horses, pregnant mare, young horses and easy keeper senior horses are all happy on this feed with no added supplements. The most any of them get is 6 lbs per day and the easy keepers are on the minimum necessary amount of 2lbs per day.

Equine Senior is fed to the hard keeper thoroughbred and senior horse and a horse with shivers. Shivers is a muscle disorder which requires low starch, high fat diets and Equine Senior is the base for his diet. Both the thoroughbred and shivers horse also receive Cool Calories 100 every day as an easy and palatable fat supplement to their diet. Fat is a fantastic way to add a whole lot of calories to a diet and keep grain to a minimum. The thoroughbred eats 10 pounds of senior per day, the shivers horse 2 pounds and the hard keeper senior horse 6 pounds daily. Dr. Lacher said she has had the best luck with Equine Senior for hard keepers. It is a balanced diet for any horse over 3 years of age and is easily digestible. It is also an excellent choice for horses with dental problems (which her hard keeper senior has) because they don’t need to chew the food the release the nutrition.

Seminole’s Equalizer is a ration balancer. Dr. Lacher explained to me this is like Centrum for horses. It is a complete vitamin/mineral/protein in a small package with as few added calories as possible. These feeds are an excellent choice for the very easy keeper because it ensures they are getting what they need without adding calories. Beet pulp is added to increase fiber and bulk in the diet since the recommended amount of Equalizer is 1 pound per day.

Dr. Lacher feeds Equalizer for a completely different reason: she has a horse who is allergic to corn. One of her horses has an insect allergy but her symptoms persisted last year when it was 20 degrees out for 10 days straight. This led her to believe that there was more to the problem than gnats… She began with a single ingredient diet food trial. Her horse started on oats and alfalfa only. After 30 days she was no longer itching her tail or mane. She then added some soybean meal with no return of symptoms. She went through this with barley as well. Since no symptoms were seen, she decided to find a corn free feed and see how her horse responded. Equalizer fit the bill and one year later she continues to itch from bugs only.

What are Myristol and Solitude? Myristol is a joint supplement based on research showing that some fatty acids are powerful anti-inflammatories in the joint. This product contains cetyl myristoleate which was shown to be particularly powerful in studies at Colorado State’s Equine Orthopedic Center. All of her performance horses are on this supplement. She said joint supplements aren’t for every horse in every job but can be an important addition to some horse’s diets. She chooses Myristol instead of regular Adequan or Legend injections and feels that on her horses it has decreased joint injections.

Solitude is a feed through fly control. It is inactive in the horse and is not absorbed by their GI tract. Instead it is passed in the manure and kills fly larvae. She said she started it last year and noticed she had NO flies. She also used it at her trainer’s facility beginning in the height of fly season and noticed a dramatic drop in flies after about 2 weeks. She starts her horses once temperatures are consistently above 75 degrees which is usually the end of March. She said the only fly spray she used last year was at horse shows!

I asked about hay even though that’s not technically in the feed room and she said she would chat with me about that subject next week since the horses needed to be fed. So tune in next week for what’s in Dr. Lacher’s hay room. In the meantime, may your food bowl be full and your litter box clean.

Equine Dentistry – The Anesthetic Plan

Feb 19, 2012 | Uncategorized

Hello there! Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend – I know I am, still cast-free and finally without a limp! A couple weeks ago we offered a cat’s eye view of equine dentistry. This week, I thought it would be important to discuss a little bit further about everything that goes into forming what we call “the anesthetic plan” for your horse’s dental. While your horse is nowhere close to being under general anesthesia, there are anesthetic considerations for every situation involving an equine dental. The first and foremost is safety – for you, the veterinary staff, and your horse. This is the primary reason we ask you to take a step back during your horse’s dental, and let us do the work! Some of the sedatives we use can easily kill a human in fractions of the doses used for the dental, and should only be handled by a veterinarian. The vets are prepared with emergency drugs in case of an accidental overdose or human exposure.

The first thing the Springhill vets do about your horse’s dental happens before your appointment time even arrives. This happens when your horse is already a patient of Springhill Equine, or if you have taken the time to provide complete information about your horse by filling out our new client form and sending it back to us before your appointment (also earning you $5 off your bill!). The vets look at the age, breed, sex, and size of your horse to the best of their ability, and begin to consider what type of sedation would best suit your horse’s physiology. We examine relevant past medical history in our records, and if a dental was performed by Springhill in the past, we consult the last dose used. Between these records, and communication between Dr. Lacher and Dr. King, any past known behavior of the horse (such as needle phobias) or response to sedation (‘He’s a cheap date!’) is taken into account. The doctors arrive on the farm with the foundation of an anesthetic plan in their head – prepared to reconsider our anesthetic approach at every step.

Knowledge of your horse’s behavior is crucial due to another important anesthetic principle called “windup”. Many horses (understandably!) experience anxiety surrounding a dental experience. Stress experienced prior to, during, and in the minutes following sedation causes physiologic responses that can make the horse require more sedation (sometimes A LOT more). We work to minimize that. From the start, we try to move calmly and quietly while sedating the horse, and may give your horse treats to make it a more pleasant experience. Some horses can be very difficult or fearful of intravenous injections, therefore, sometimes more restraint is required to keep everyone involved out of harm’s way. It is important during this time that you let our staff handle the horse. Accidental injection of these drugs into the carotid artery (instead of the jugular vein) will result in the horse experience immediate and profound seizures. We are prepared to deal with these scenarios, however rare. Should this happen, the horse recovers completely with time, except in cases of catastrophic injury. In horses, catastrophic injury is considered a risk with absolutely ANY anesthetic plan – even “acing” your horse for the farrier!

An important part of the anesthetic plan is using the lowest possible dose of each drug, while providing adequate depth of sedation, length of time to complete the dental, and comfort to the horse during the process. Our arsenal contains five main sedatives – xylazine (a.k.a. “Rompun”), Sedivet (romifidine, similar to xylazine), butorphanol (“torb” or Torbugesic), acepromazine (Ace), and detomidine (Dormosedan or “Dorm”). Each of these drugs has its own profile of safety, efficacy and side effects. Before these drugs are even drawn into a syringe for your horse, everything discussed above is considered, as well as an assessment of the horse’s attitude, personality, and comfort level with our presence that day. Environmental factors that may arouse the horse such as wind, temperature, lawn mowers, small children, etc. are also part of the consideration. We listen to the horse’s heart to make sure there are no significant murmurs or arrhythmia’s that could cause an adverse event. Finally, we use the power of synergy to minimize the volume of each drug used by making a cocktail.

I’ll explain by example. When used alone, a whole ml of detomidine may be required to complete a dental on a particular horse. However, Springhill Equine most often uses a triple-threat combination using a “base dose” of xylazine or Sedivet, and add small volumes of the more potent detomidine (Dorm) and Torb. By doing this, we reduce that 1 ml to often 0.2 or 0.3 ml instead. This keeps the dose for this particular drug well within the margin of safety, minimizing its side effects. Likewise for the others in the cocktail (ingredients may vary – e.g. Tennessee Walkers often are better with ace and xylazine cocktails). By using what is termed a “balanced anesthetic technique,” synergy of the sedatives further reduces the required dose. If more sedation is required midway to complete the dental, we try to use the lowest volume of what we feel will be the most effective to finish our work. The next time, we will take into account any “top ups” that were required. The less sedation required for a balanced plane, the more money and time you save!

In summary, there is an enormous amount of thought put into that little syringe that we pull out during your horse’s dental. There are hundreds of thoughts behind it in our doctor’s heads, from possible safety concerns, potential side effects, quality of anesthesia and the plan for next time! If you ever have questions about the sedatives used, you need only ask them and they will happily explain it to you! May your litter box be clean and your food bowl full, until next week!

West Nile Virus

Feb 11, 2012 | Uncategorized

In line with our continued discussion of basic vaccinations and horse health upkeep, I wanted to complete our discussion of what we consider “core” vaccines. Core vaccines are those that every equine (and equid for that matter!) should receive – they include EWT, Rabies, and West Nile Virus. We will continue our blogs with discussion of diseases whose vaccines are not considered part of a core program. Today, we will close with the newest member of the core group – West Nile Virus.

West Nile Virus (WNV), like EEE and WEE, causes encephalitis (inflammation of the central nervous system) and results in neurological symptoms. Humans and other species can acquire this disease as well. West Nile was not found in the United States prior to its introduction to New York in 1999. Clinical signs usually progress back-to-front, meaning the hind-limbs are often affected first, then the forelimbs and so on forward. Early symptoms include inappetance, fever, hind-limb weakness and ataxia. Often the muscles of the muzzle twitch erratically, and they become hyper-excitable. Many horses with West Nile Virus are seen in a dog-sitting position early in the course of the disease, and it progresses to recumbency (lying down) and death. Other neurological signs seen with WNV include blindness, difficulty swallowing, head pressing, seizures, and aimless wandering.

Like EEE, birds keep the source of West Nile Virus alive in the United States, and mosquitoes feeding on the infected birds are the vectors that transmit it to the horse. There is no specific treatment for West Nile, other than supportive care for vital body functions. Recumbent horses must be supported in a sling or turned over every four hours until recovery occurs (if it does). Like with other neurological diseases, when the horse becomes recumbent, euthanasia is generally recommended. Vaccination is recommended once yearly, but it is not a guarantee against infection. The goal of vaccination is to reduce the likelihood of infection, and minimize the clinical signs should infection occur. It is also crucial that you do your part in minimizing mosquito exposure for you and your horse!

You can minimize mosquito populations on your property by eliminating sources of stagnant water (or stocking them with fish), and cleaning out your clogged gutters! Mosquitoes breed in any puddle that is left for more than four days. Keep your barn lights out at night – mosquitoes are attracted by yellow incandescent bulbs. Placing these bulbs at sites away from your barn can draw them away from your horses. Report any dead birds you find on your property to the Alachua County Health Department (DO NOT pick up a carcass without gloves!), and eliminate roosting areas in your barn.

As you are probably wondering, my foot is doing well – the atrophied muscles are starting to come back and my limp is almost gone! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be prowling around the office again, inspecting your trailers and your horses. And it was fortunate my recovery happened at such an opportune moment – there’s a new stray lurking around the office that I must defend against! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day, and we hope you can make it to our Senior Horse Seminar this Thursday at 6PM at Canterbury! May your litter box be clean and your food bowl full!

Equine Dentistry. A cat’s eye view.

Feb 4, 2012 | Ailments, Feed

So this week Danielle, one of our technicians, brought her horses into the clinic for their annual dentals. She sat down and told me afterwards all about how Dr. Lacher let her practice using the power tools on her own horses’ teeth and my was it fascinating! Danielle reports that even though she was nervous about practicing, she felt safe that she was in an equine clinic with access to state of the art equipment and facilities and most importantly, our veterinarian’s expertise!

Danielle brought her horses into the clinic early that morning and kept them in a paddock until Dr. Lacher and she had a free moment from their appointments. Once they were ready, they led her first horse “Bumper” into the shade of the barn and then inside the stocks. It was slightly warm that day, so they decided to turn on the fans not only for themselves but for the horse’s comfort. Dr. Lacher calculated the correct dose of sedation for Bumper, which Danielle explained to me, here at Springhill we use just enough sedation to make horses manageable enough to work on their mouths but not too much to make them sleepy for a long time. While sedated, the horse can also lean on the stocks all they like without moving away from us while we are trying to work inside their mouth, which is different in the field because we can’t carry that luxury with us.

While they were waiting for Bumper to get sleepy, they rinsed her mouth with an antiseptic agent which got rid of loose feed material in her mouth and minimized any bacteria. They also gave Bumper her vaccines and drew blood for a Coggins test while she was unaware.

“That’s one of the nice things about sedating a horse for dentals too,” Erica told Danielle, “we can take opportunities to vaccinate, draw blood, and clean a horse’s sheath and not only are they unaware at the time, they won’t remember anything once they are awake.”

After Bumper was sleepy enough, they placed the dental speculum in her mouth and opened it just wide enough to see in the back of her mouth. Then her head was rested on the head loop hanging from the ceiling, after which Danielle adjusted its height so it was comfortable for her to see in Bumper’s mouth. Even with Bumper’s mouth open it was still mighty dark inside her mouth, so Danielle donned a headlamp and looked around while Erica explained what steps she would take to correct Bumper’s mouth.

Bumper’s mouth didn’t need a lot of correcting because Danielle gets her teeth done every year, which she explained makes Bumper more comfortable and will ultimately prolong her life. After Erica inspected Bumper’s mouth with a mirror and pick she determined there weren’t any cavities or cracks in any of Bumper’s teeth. Then, she had Danielle grab the battery operated Makita and told her to take off the sharp points on the outside of Bumper’s top rows of teeth.

“To hold the tool parallel to her teeth, you need to lift up on the back of the Makita” Erica informed Danielle.

“Wow this is gonna work my shoulders for sure!” Danielle exclaimed.

Danielle told me that it was extremely difficult to keep the skinny tool on the side of her horse’s teeth because Bumper was moving her mouth the whole time and her cheeks kept pushing her tool away.

“That’s why we use a skinny tool for that area of her mouth, it’s hard enough already to get in there. Can you imagine not being able to see where that tool was going?” Erica said.

After this step Danielle was instructed to use the diamond burr power tool to work on the rest of Bumper’s mouth. She explained that it was difficult to keep the tool on her teeth, again because Bumper was moving her mouth so much.

“This takes some real skill!” she remarked “I don’t know how you and Dr. King make this look so easy!!”

“You have to learn to stabilize” Erica said, “Otherwise you’ll get pushed off her tooth every time.”

At this point Danielle’s arms were tired, “I feel like I’m not doing a very good job at getting all the way to the back of her mouth cause it’s so hard to see!”

Dr. Lacher then took over and polished up Bumper’s mouth. After making some corrections, Erica changed out power tools again to a smaller one with another diamond burr.

“We use that tool,” Danielle said “to place a bit seat in a horse’s mouth so pulling on the bit doesn’t pinch their gums. We also use that tool to make corrections to a horse’s incisors or front teeth.”

After releasing the speculum from Bumper’s mouth they checked to make sure her incisors were straight and then checked lateral excursion. Dr. Lacher uses lateral excursion to make sure the molars are working just right. Since all looked good, they rinsed her mouth once more to drain the tooth dust out and then waited a few minutes to lead her out of the stocks and back to the shade of her paddock while they grabbed her other horse to repeat the same process.

After all was done I had a new respect for our veterinarians doing dentals. Being able to see in a horse’s mouth makes all the difference for knowing the job was done right and using the power tools is faster and more accurate for sure. I feel confident my horse’s teeth are being done properly because my vets have all the tools they need to thoroughly examine their teeth and prevent small problems from becoming big ones.

Wow, now I’m wondering if I need to go to Newberry Animal Hospital for a kitty dental!

May your food bowl always be full and your litter box clean!

So what’s with that EWT vaccine?

Jan 28, 2012 | Ailments, Leg issues

SO I know everyone is dying to know, so I have to announce to the world that MY CAST IS FINALLY OFF!! I am feeling free and happy, and can go outside again!! I’m still limping a little bit, but since I really haven’t stopped my usual routine of jumping on my front counter, I don’t see that slowing me down now. Thanks to everyone again for all of your sweet rubs, pets and encouraging words that got me through this miserable period of my life!! Next time bring more tuna, words don’t fill my stomach.

OK – so we’re supposed to be talking about this so-called EWT vaccine that you have to give your horse twice a year. Let’s start with the basics – the E represents Eastern Equine Encephalitis (also known as EEE). The W represents Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), and the T represents Tetanus, which was discussed in our last blog. There is another in the EE group, Venezuelan Encephalitis (VEE), which has not been reported in the U.S. since 1971, and is not routinely vaccinated against in this country. So what is with EEE and WEE, and why do I have to give my horse a vaccine for this twice a year??

Both EEE and WEE are viral diseases causing severe neurological disease, and are carried from horse to horse by mosquito’s. As with West Nile virus, birds are crucial to maintaining the cycle of virus activity from year to year. While EEE occurs more frequently in the eastern U.S., and WEE is generally associated with the western part of the country, each has occurred in Florida. Administration of the vaccine two to three times a year here in Florida is directly a function of our never-ending mosquito season. In the northern parts of the country, EWT vaccination is generally performed once yearly in the spring, as hard freezes cause a break in the disease season. The vaccine appears to be effective at preventing disease for 4 to 6 months, so it is crucial to keep up with this schedule. The vaccine product is killed virus, meaning it has no ability to cause disease, and reactions are rare. Mortality associated with EEE is 75% to 95%, so it is a disease certainly worth preventing.

Horses affected by EEE initially show signs of fever and depression, and symptoms transition into neurological disease about 5 days after infection. The horse often dies 2-3 days after neurological signs set in. The first sign is often a change in behavior, which can be in either direction. Normally calm horses can become irritable and easily excited, attacking owners or themselves. Others may seem “sleepy,” or even ‘forget’ how to lead, in any case, the horse usually refuses feed and water. As the dementia progresses, the horse may compulsively walk in circles, press its head against things, grind his teeth, and develop blindness. Unsteadiness or clumsiness will begin to manifest, as can areas of paralysis (face, tongue, etc.). The horse will eventually go down, which more often than not signifies the end of the battle – a down horse with this disease has a grave outlook. WEE manifests similarly, although generally more slowly and less severely (mortality ranges from about 20 to 50%). It is important to remember that a horse with signs of encephalitis (brain inflammation) is not himself – so be extremely careful around these horses, and stay out of the stall until the vet arrives!

Horses are considered “dead end hosts” of the EE’s – meaning a horse with this disease is of no risk to infect other horses, mosquito’s or birds. Diagnosis involves a CSF tap, so a diagnosis may be presumed if vaccination was >4 months prior, and it occurs in an area where this disease is prevalent (like Florida). Treatment of this disease is supportive, and often ineffective (especially with EEE). It is aimed at symptomatically reducing the inflammation in the central nervous system – there is no cure. Euthanasia is recommended with horses that are down and unable to stand. Horses that do manage to recover often have lasting signs of brain damage. The staff at Springhill Equine firmly believe that every horse deserves at least twice a year EWT vaccination to prevent the devastating effects of these diseases! Check on your horse’s vaccination status, and schedule with us today if you are overdue! May your litter box be clean, and your food bowl full!