May 24, 2016 | Abscesses, Lameness, Leg issues
Ah May…It’s hot and dry, then we get rain, then it’s beautiful out but dry. Last year was weird with all the rain. This year seems more like the days I remember as a young kitten. Turns out this weather is fantastic for making hoof abscesses. And while those are fun for the Docs (they have an unnatural love for pus), they are no fun for you or your horse.
I realize I talk about the stupid design of horses a lot, and here I go again. That hard hoof wall is great for walking on but it makes it extremely painful if there is any swelling of the soft tissues inside. Hoof abscesses form when a tiny bit of bacteria get between the hoof wall and those soft tissues. The body reacts to the bacteria by sending white blood cells to kill the bacteria, and, Voila!, pus. The white blood cells also release some chemicals which cause swelling and pain all on their own. All that extra stuff stuck underneath the hoof wall hurts worse than whacking your thumb with a hammer. I do love when humans do that. I laugh every time.
Abscesses usually make their presence very well known. Much like when I sleep on the computer keyboard, you can’t help but notice your horse is not right. It may start as a limp on one leg, however, they always progress to “Holy Cow I can’t stand on my foot!” Once they reach the Holy Cow stage they are ready to be opened. You can get them to this stage faster by soaking the foot daily in warm Epsom salts for 5-10 minutes. This often goes about as well as bathing a cat so may I suggest the baby diaper method. Take one baby diaper (Newborn – size 3 depending on the size of your horses hoof), place a small amount of Epsom salts in the baby butt area, add enough water to make it pasty, place diaper on foot, securing convenient tabs around the pastern while you grab duct tape, run duct tape across the bottom and around the hoof to secure the diaper. Change this daily.
Our Docs can help the whole abscess process get done and over quicker. The closer your horse is to the Holy Cow it hurts stage the more likely they are to open the abscess. Dr. Lacher or Dr. Vurgason will start by cleaning the bottom of the hoof, then applying hoof testers. Hoof testers are these incredibly barbaric pinchy things that help the Docs find the sorest spot on the hoof. Once they find it they will use a hoof knife to pare the hoof away and open up the affected area. They will dig a bit but don’t be surprised if they stop before they open up the abscess. This can be tricky thing. If you dig too deep you can create more problems so the Docs tend to be very conservative. Like I said earlier, they do love to pop an abscess so rest assured they are going to try as hard as they can to get it opened.
The good news with abscesses is that, almost always, once they are opened and drained your horse will return to happy and comfortable. And now back to napping in the sun in the handicapped parking spot. Pretty sure they put that there for me.
May 17, 2016 | Vaccines
Brief activity announcement to start this week: There will be a meet Tony opportunity on Thursday beginning at 6:30pm at the Clinic. Once everyone has seen me, there will be a talk on horse food. You may continue to pet me during the talk, in fact I encourage it.
This is a cat on a soap box. Literally, and figuratively. A report came out this week about a horse with Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). This was a young, happy, healthy horse that never got vaccinated. Now it is a dead horse. Horses look for expensive ways to die every day. They get their feet caught in wires and require thousands of dollars in repair and bandaging. They colic and need surgery. They decide to become lame for no apparent reason.
EEE is not one of these things. This vaccine costs $20. I went on the internet (thank you again to Aaron Vurgason and Oakridge Electric. It’s very quick!!) and looked up some things I could buy for $20. Amazon had a label maker for $15.99, a gun and target alarm clock for $19.62, bacon toothpaste for $6.61 so I could get three of those, a Lifestraw that lets you drink nasty water safely for $19.99, and a pop up hot dog AND bun toaster for $19.99. While all these things are amazing, the only one that might save your life is the straw. So $20 to keep your horse alive and well! It’s a no-brainer.
Now we all know you can find vaccines and give them yourself. Here’s my top 5 reasons that’s not a great plan:
- Our vaccines are carefully managed from the time they leave the manufacturer to the time they arrive in your horse. Our distributers are very careful to follow all label directions for temperature management of the vaccines, our staff does the same once it arrives at our door, and we carefully monitor vaccine handling while drawing up and waiting to give them. This is especially important in the summer around these parts.
- More than just a vaccine happens when one of our esteemed Docs shows up. They are doing WAY more than you realize. From the moment they pull in they are evaluating your farm and your horse for any potential health issues you may not even know about. Just having them look at your horse is totally worth $20.
- The vaccine maker will stand behind any vaccine given by our Docs. Nothing is 100%. If you horse does get sick or has an unusual reaction to the vaccine, the manufacturer will pay for treatment if we give the vaccine.
- Is your horse bad about shots? There is no one better than our Docs and technicians at making shots an enjoyable experience for your horse. We go through 50 pounds of horse treats every 2 weeks around here!
- Our vets will choose the right combination of vaccines for your horse’s lifestyle.
Horses in Florida are particularly susceptible to EEE and West Nile Virus since we have mosquitoes all the time. Foals can be even more vulnerable since their immune system depends on mom’s milk for the first 4-5 months. Once they reach 5 months of age foals should start on a series of vaccines to get them well protected. Trust me when I say you really, really want Springhill Equine to give your foals their vaccines. They are squirrely little suckers!
Get those horses vaccinated! Until next week…..
Apr 19, 2016 | Regular Vet
Wow, we sure have been busy around here! This week I supervised the docs as they stuck their arms in many mares’ butts. I watched Dr. Vurgason run a camera up a horse’s nose, and Dr. Lacher put stitches in a mini’s eyelid. Also, I enjoyed plenty of attention from the Alachua County 4-H members at our hands-on Fecal Egg Count Seminar this weekend! With the docs running around like kittens chasing catnip, they barely have time to use the litter box, let alone add emergencies into their busy days. However, if you have been using Springhill Equine as your Regular Vet, the docs are much more inclined to find a way to work you into the schedule.
When our docs get a call from someone they don’t know for an emergency, it is understandable that they like to ask a few questions before cancelling all of their scheduled appointments for that day. Question 1: Is this a horse? (You would be surprised how many times we get called for dog, cat, sheep, even parakeet emergencies.) Question 2: Where do you live? (Just because we are Springhill Equine does not mean we are located in Spring Hill, Florida. FYI, Spring Hill is a lovely little town north of Tampa and just west of Brooksville. However it is 2 HOURS away from here.) Question 3: Who is your Regular Vet?
There are a few common answers to this question. Most often, “I don’t have a regular vet, because I haven’t needed one.” This answer baffles me. Who gives your horses their vaccines? Who floats their teeth? Who oversees your deworming protocol and does your horses’ fecal egg counts? Who do you get medications from when you need them? Who do you call for advice when you have questions about your horses’ skin, feet, diet, allergies, etc? If I didn’t have my Regular Vet, I would be in rough shape. He protects me from diseases with vaccines, prescribes a special diet food for me to eat (although this is NOT appreciated by yours truly), keeps me free from fleas and ticks, and gives me that shot to make me stop itching when my skin is driving me crazy.
The second most common answer to that question is, “My Regular Vet is Dr. SoandSo, but I always use you for emergencies!” Believe it or not, this is NOT a compliment. Emergencies are not very lucrative when you consider that all other productivity has to stop in the meantime. I’m not a business cat, but I do know that the bulk of our income is generated through wellness visits during business hours.
Also, why is Dr. SoandSo not coming to see your emergency? Do you owe him money? Is he out of town with no plan for another vet to cover his clients? Is he unreliable about picking up his phone? Perhaps you should consider another vet that is more reliable and consistently available for your horses (and I happen to know two pretty cool ones).
At Springhill Equine, we promise 24/7 emergency coverage for OUR CLIENTS. When you call you will reach a DOCTOR, anytime, day or night. And if Springhill Equine is your Regular Vet, one of our docs will throw on their boots and hurry over to save your horse! I will stay here and guard the cat food until they get back.
Heck, I might even drive them to you!
-Tony
Mar 30, 2016 | Ailments, Colic, Hay, Uncategorized
March is almost over, and you've all heard the saying, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Personally I prefer lions because they are really just big, less cuddly cats. Anyway, all this weather fluctuation has made for a bunch of colics!
In horses, colic is just a general term for signs of GI pain. Colic may be due to an impaction, a twist (the fancy doctor word for this is volvulus), gas, stomach ulcers, or inflammation (doctor word enteritis). Colic may even be due to something non-GI like a urinary obstruction, although that is more of a cat thing. Luckily I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing one yet.
About 90% of the colics we see are termed "mild colics." Less than 10% of colics are severe or "surgical colics," so named because they would require surgery to correct. So what makes a colic a mild or severe one?
In many cases, the answer is time. Most colics, when treated early with pain medication, laxatives, and electrolytes, will improve. There are some cases where a really big impaction will require rehydration with IV fluids to get it to pass.
When a mild colic is left untreated, it has the potential to become a bad colic. In the case of gas colics, the gas-filled intestine can float to the top and cause the large colon to twist. An impaction due to long-term dehydration can get worse and worse until it would need to be cut into and flushed out with a hose to get rid of it (yes, that is literally what they do during colic surgery).
Unfortunately, some horses are very stoic and don't tell you their belly hurts until it hurts really, really bad! Also, some people have jobs and can't stay home watching their horses all day to see if they colic. So if your horse colics at 8am and you don't get home until 5:30pm, it might already be a bad colic.
There is also something fat horses can get called a lipoma, basically a fatty tumor, that wraps itself around the small intestine and cuts off the blood supply. Nobody can do anything about that without surgery. Just one more reason I chose not to be a horse!
Luckily our docs are well trained to tell whether your horse has a mild colic or a bad colic, and they will know what to do either way! So the next time your horse has a bit of a bellyache, give us a call. The sooner the better! Odds are in your favor that it will be mild, but I wouldn't want to take my chances. Maybe that ball of yarn doesn't look so tasty after all...I'll just continue my nap.
Until next week, may the odds be ever in your favor!
-Tony
Mar 15, 2016 | Allergies, Events, Infections, Pests, Skin Funk
Last week me and about 60 of my closest human friends learned just about everything there is to know on the topic of skin funk! I almost wish I were a horse just so I could try out these products on myself…but I’ll stick with being a cat for the superior intelligence. Thank you to MaryLu from Kinetic Vet for her excellent talk, and the folks at HorseSox for their demonstration. They really should start making CatSox tho…less knitting.
For those of you who didn’t come out to see me on Thursday: ouch. That really hurt my feline feelings. But I’ll be the bigger cat, let it go, and tell you what you missed!
There are several types of skin funk that horses can get. There is itchy skin funk, scratchy skin funk, buggy skin funk, sunny skin funk, fungus-y skin funk, and bacterial skin funk. Lucky us, we live in Florida, so most of these are going to be exaggerated by our awesome warm weather! The first step is recognizing when your horse has a skin problem. Skin funk can show up as hair loss, hives, welts, crusties, scabs, redness, or abnormal hair growth. The second step is calling me! Well, more specifically, Dr. Lacher or Dr. Vurgason. With their experience, they will be able to tell what type of skin funk you are dealing with, what the cause is, and how to treat it. The third step is using one of Kintetic Vet’s awesome products (plus HorseSox for lower leg skin funk) to get your horse’s skin back under control!
Dr. Vurgason’s favorite KineticVet product is the IBH salve. This is great for horses with Insect Bite Hypersensitivity (“I.B.H.”), and a little bit of salve goes a long way! Did you know there are 89 species of gnats (that’s not counting horse flies, mosquitoes, house flies, etc) that are probably going after your horse’s eyes, ears, mane, and tail!? Dr. Lacher’s favorite product from KineticVet is CK shampoo. This stuff is amazing for treating scratches, rain rot, and any other bacterial or fungal skin funk. Only a few treatments and the results are amazing! My favorite product is KineticVet’s new SB (sunblock). Not only does it provide sun protection for my delicate skin, but it also repels insects and contains aloe vera which makes it feel really good.
There was definitely a little something for everybody at Thursday’s seminar. Most notably, there was plenty of me! Stay tuned for our next “Come See Tony” event on Equine Nutrition, coming up in May. Until then, take care of that skin!
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