Oct 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Thank you Hurricane Matthew. No, really, thank you for veering a little bit east instead of west. It made all the difference to us. It meant some rescheduling, it meant Dr. Lacher couldn’t go to the Purina Research Facility, it meant some inconvenience, but overall we made it through another storm. I said it last time and I’m going to say it again: go write down what you wish you had done differently and what you did right so you are even more prepared for the next storm. I’m also going to mention microchipping again. It’s quick, easy, and ensures your horse can be identified. Now for the aftermath: abscesses and skin funk.
After spending hours getting rained on, or just hanging out in 100% humidity in the barn, your horse’s feet and skin will be primed for great things. When feet get wet they allow bacteria to wiggle their way up between the hoof wall and the lamina. This area is the Velcro that holds the hoof capsule on. The bacteria find this to be a warm, comfortable place to set up shop. The body sends in the troops to fight and pus is the result. All that pus causes pressure inside the hoof capsule. As discussed before horses have a very stupid design which involves them walking on their finger tip. Which means all that pressure has nowhere to go and it hurts. It hurts a lot. I really should have been consulted in the design phase of horses. I really could have come up with a better plan. Anyway, if your horse is suddenly very, very lame on one foot in a few days the chances are pretty good an abscess is brewing. I do recommend you check in with our Docs to be sure they think an abscess is brewing. Sometimes, especially with horses, what you think is going on isn’t really what’s going on. I recommend a cat scan, but then I always recommend a cat scan for everything.
Ugh, the skin. I can relate to this one as a sensitive skinned guy. All this weather wreaks havoc on my skin and luxurious, panther-like coat. Oh wait this is about horses. Well it’s the same for them. Giving them a bath in an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal shampoo like Equishield CK as soon as possible will help reduce the skin funk. If you see spots that have crusts or bumps, wash those daily until they clear. If you aren’t seeing improvement after 3-4 days, let the Docs know. They have a bunch of stuff to help with skin funk. And if all else fails, antibiotics are brought in. I hate the antibiotics, and like to come up with new and creative ways to be downright evil about getting the pills!
Hope you all fared Hurricane Matthew well. I hated the extra day locked inside but I suppose it was for my own good. Until next week, may your litter box be clean and your food bowl full!
Oct 4, 2016 | Allergies, Coughing, Hay
Yes we all know I’m not the most athletic critter on the planet. But heck I’m management; I don’t have to exert myself too often. When I do decide to chase off after a squirrel, I find I need to take a moment to catch my breath. After a brief respite in the sun, I am ready to chase that pesky squirrel again. It doesn’t work that way for some cats, horses, or people. Yep, I finally found something us cats have in common with horses (and people but I’m trying to ignore that part). We all get asthma and we all get it because of allergies.
Walk in the barn at feed time and listen for a cough. Horses with asthma will nearly always cough when they are eating grain, especially if it’s dry. Even the smallest amount of dust triggers their over reactive airways making them cough a dry, hacking cough. Cats experience a similar cough when they have asthma. Also there is no hairball after the cough. Another clue it’s asthma in cats anyway. I’ve never seen a horse cough up a hairball. Anyway back to asthma. Other clues your horse may have asthma are sudden poor performance for no good reason and really fast breathing after exercise that takes forever to slow down. Some horses will get so bad you can hear them wheeze when breathing without a stethoscope. On other horses you need a stethoscope to hear wheezes and crackles. Our Docs are happy to show you how to listen for lung sounds. I have never heard these sounds, since they don’t make cat stethoscopes but I have a request in to the manufacturer. How am I supposed to do a proper Cat Scan without a stethoscope?
What are we going to do about the asthma? Well I’m not going to do anything because that’s what I do. My Docs are going to treat the allergies that lead to asthma. Asthma happens when the tubes the air goes through in the lungs gets clogged with mucous. The lungs release the mucous to try to get rid of pollen and dust. So the Docs try to reduce the mucous produced in response to pollen and dust, decrease the amount of pollen/dust in the environment, and help that mucous get out. The easiest, most economical, and most effective treatment is dexamethasone. This is a steroid which is given by mouth. Dexamethasone tells the immune system to quit worrying about the dust and pollen. Unfortunately, dexamethasone can have some nasty side effects when used at high doses for a long time so we have to be careful. Other steroids can be inhaled. This minimizes side effects but can be very expensive. There are a couple treatment options to help get the mucous out, such as Ventipulmin. Our Docs usually use these early in the treatment process then slowly taper them.
Management changes are really important for horses with asthma. The only way to change the pollen is to move far away but dust is a different story. Remember how I said that coughing happens around feed time? Wetting down feed and, more importantly, soaking hay reduces this source of dust. In fact some humans did a study about hay and found a 25% reduction in symptoms just be removing dry hay from these horses diets! Bedding is another important source of dust. Using the pelleted type bedding reduces mold and frequent wetting down decreases dust. The effects of pollen can be minimized by keeping your horse in the barn with a fan on them. Sure it doesn’t work great but it’s about the only option we have here in Florida short of moving to Arizona.
Since asthma is an allergy problem identifying what your horse is allergic to is very important. Our Docs do this skin thing that helps figure out what is causing the worst response. They call it allergy testing. A small amount of a potential allergen is injected under the skin. The Docs come back in a few hours and see if there is any swelling around the allergen. Based on what causes the most swelling, they make a super special shot to help the horse learn to tolerate those things. It’s pretty cool.
Our Docs are seeing lots of horses with asthma right now. If your horse suddenly isn’t right, give them a call and see if asthma is the problem. And put our 8th Annual Open House and See Tony Event on your calendar for October 22nd. Food, fun, prizes, learning, and you get to see me in cat!
Sep 20, 2016 | Disaster Preparedness, Modernized barn, Mosquitos, Safety
Let me just start off by saying that despite it being the 21st century and all, a barn cat is still the best way to keep the rodent population down. But there are areas where the fancy gizmos and gadgets of 2016 can really benefit the modern horse farm. I had always thought that most of this stuff wasn’t anywhere near affordable until I crunched the numbers myself and converted Kitty Coin currency to American Dollars.
Everyone likes barn work (I guess?), but what are the jobs that you just wish were a little bit easier? Do you get tired of dragging out the garden hose, standing in the sun filling up the buckets, and rolling the hose back up twice a day? Well for one, I don’t know why you don’t have the water spigot closer to the buckets, but secondly, you could have the water monitored by a ‘smart’ watering and monitoring system. BTW, calling these automated devices ‘smart’ is just as brilliant as calling an owl wise. Again, it’s your feline friend that is the master mouse hunter. But regardless of what we are calling it, smart watering systems are only the beginning.
Ever heard the bang of thunder at 2am and are fighting the inner conflict of laziness verse desire to check on your horses? Well, you could stay in bed and look at the barn cameras right on your ‘smart’ phone or tablet.
Did your horse miss an afternoon shower and need to cool off? You can have a misting area in your barn or paddock to cool down your equine friend.
Wondering if that mosquito that just bit you was carrying the Zika virus? Worry not because you didn’t get bitten, you had an automated fly repellent system.
Traveling the national show circuit but concerned about the retired horse back home who doesn’t like the heat? Install some new high-efficiency paddle fans. Don’t want to leave them on and run up the electric bill? I did say “high-efficiency”, but still you can have them turn on and off automatically when horses are present through occupancy sensors.
Have you ever walked into your tack room and thought you entered a walk-in-freezer? Or worse, a sauna? No problem, you can monitor and control the room temperature remotely and prevent anybody but you from making any adjustments.
Kept up at night by the thought of a barn fire or other natural disaster? That’s why there are smoke, fire, gas, and unfriendly tomcat detection systems that can alert you, as well as fire suppression systems and breakaway gates to minimize damage in such a tragic event.
You left the barn lights on and already got into your kitty print PJs? No problem. You have a lighting control system and have a button to shut the whole barn down right in your bedroom.
You have to walk all the way to the corner of the paddock to call one of our veterinarians because your horse cut himself and you don’t get good service at the barn? Why not install a cell phone booster? Or hey! Bring WiFi out to the barn then you can use WiFi calling (check your carrier for rates and compatibility) or browse FaceBook because you still haven’t gotten an automated water bucket and are standing there with a hose!
Ah, the 21st century. I think I’ve only scratched the surface with the many things we can do that my parents sure couldn’t in their day. Now if I can just convince the doctors we need a 4K TV in the office….
– Tony
Sep 13, 2016 | Mosquitos, Vaccines
No surprise, my vaccine seminar last Thursday was a huge success! You’re welcome. My chosen speaker, Dr. Hancock from Boehringer Ingelheim, was excellent. I was there, which of course was the best part. I conveniently positioned myself in the entryway so each attendee would have to either pet me or step over me on their way in.
If you missed it, you better have a darn good excuse for me. But, since I am a forgiving Tony, I will give you a quick recap:
There was a time not too long ago when we didn’t have vaccines. Then, some brilliant people in black and white photos came along and figured out you could inoculate (that’s a fancy doctor word for vaccinate) a person or animal to protect them against a given disease. Things like Smallpox, Rinderpest, and Polio were all virtually eradicated by this method.
The same technology has been used by the government to develop vaccines against biowarfare agents, like botulism. Dr. Hancock was part of a top-secret mission using draft horses to develop and mass-produce such a vaccine in case of a bio-terrorist attack. Sometimes when I’m bored on the weekends, I pretend I am part of a top-secret government mission to take down the enemy (Teanie).
Anywho, back to vaccines. Some viruses that we vaccinate against are tricky little buggers. West Nile Virus, for example, wasn’t a very big deal until about 15 years ago when it underwent a mutation that enabled it to spread much faster. The flu virus in humans mutates to different strains about once every 8 months! Lucky for horses, equine flu only mutates about once every 10 years.
Also lucky for horses, their humans, and veterinarians, we have smart researchers like the people at Boehringer Ingelheim (that’s the company that produces most of our vaccines). They are constantly monitoring new and established diseases, and updating their vaccines accordingly, to make sure your horses have the best protection possible. This is what makes the vaccines given by our veterinarians superior to, say, ones you could buy at the feed store. (Not that any of our clients would even THINK of doing such a foolish thing!)
Dr. Hancock wasn’t afraid to say it, and neither am I: being anti-vaccination is just stupid! There is ZERO evidence to show that vaccines have any serious negative health effects, and PLENTY of evidence to show how well they work at preventing horrible and deadly diseases. The cost of vaccination is peanuts compared to the cost of treating any of the many diseases they protect against.
If you have any questions about why to vaccinate, when to vaccinate, or what to vaccinate against, I happen to know two pretty brilliant women who also happened to go to veterinary school that would be happy to answer your questions! Tis the season for fall shots, so call early to schedule your appointment. If I am unavailable (I spend a large part of my day sunbathing, self-grooming, and patrolling the perimeter), Stephanie or Mallie will be happy to help you.
Until next time!
-Tony
Aug 30, 2016 | Disaster Preparedness, Injuries
Before I get in to the informational section of my weekly discussions, I want to extend an invitation to each of you for our latest Come See Tony Event. It will be next Thursday September 8th, 6:30 pm at the Clinic. You will be allowed to talk with me and pet me. I will tolerate selfies as long as they are appropriately hashtagged on social media. There will also be some talk on the science behind vaccines. Oh and good food. You are crazy if you don’t come. Please RSVP with one of the lovely office ladies, or confirm that you’re going on the Facebook Event here https://business.facebook.com/events/289817458052174/
I know we have gone over disaster stuff recently but Mother Nature has provided me with another opportunity. It’s been raining in Louisiana. It’s been raining so much there’s massive flooding. With massive flooding comes a lot of need for veterinarians since, as expected, us animals don’t do so well with all that water. Luckily (or unluckily) the wonderful folks at LSU College of Veterinary Medicine got loads of practice during Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath.
There are two parts to flooding and each has its own set of issues. Let’s start with the rainy part since it comes first. During the initial rain storms, horses may freak out since it’s one of their best responses to disaster. Freaked out horses do some pretty crazy stuff like run through fences, kick through walls, and generally figure out a way to injure themselves. I can’t really throw stones here as freaked out cats aren’t a whole lot better.
On to the no longer rainy part. During this phase the veterinarians are kept busy fixing the injuries horses did freaking themselves out and dealing with the aftermath of high water. Common things they see are lacerations to legs and faces, eye injuries from debris, and skin and hoof problems from standing in water for long periods. Horse parts don’t take to being immersed in water for days at a time. Flood water often has chemicals and sewage in it as well make it even worse than plain old water. To make things worse, it is often difficult to get supplies in to affected areas and horses out to hospitals.
The veterinarians at LSU and surrounding clinics have sent out a call for help. They can always use grain and hay donations, but most important is monetary donations. M
oney lets them buy supplies and equipment for the situations they are facing. What we may think they need isn’t always what they need. You can go here: http://lvma.org/LVMA/LSART_Donations.aspx or here: http://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/disaster_preparedness/donations.php to donate.
I’m going to get up on my kitty soap box here for just a moment and remind you humans to be prepared. Look at your farm and your animals. What do you need to do to be prepared for a hurricane, a flood, a tornado? Are your animals microchipped? We are running a microchip special this month because of hurricane season. Our Docs want you ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at you! We are all sure it will never happen to us until it happens.
Tony
go write down what you wish you had done differently and what you did right so you are even more prepared for the next storm. I’m also going to mention microchipping again. It’s quick, easy, and ensures your horse can be identified. Now for the aftermath: abscesses and skin funk.
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