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What to do with Horse Remains

What to do with Horse Remains

Oct 29, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

There’s a problem in equine veterinary medicine that rarely gets discussed. The bodies. The reality is that horses are really big, and it’s going to take a decent amount of work to manage the body after they pass. It’s not a pleasant topic, but it’s an important one. And since it’s Halloween week, and I’ve got this bad cat sense of humor, I felt it would be a good time to talk about this grave topic. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

The Elephant in the Room

Let’s start with the obvious problem: the size. Horses are, generally, pretty darn big. When they pass, we are left with a very large body to manage. The goldfish option is definitely no good. Then there’s the pet cemetery in the back yard, but unless you have a really big backyard, that’s not going to work. There’s cremation, but you need to find a crematorium that’s big enough. And finally, there’s the someone who picks them up and takes them away option. Even in Marion County, where a lot of horses live, this last option has long been the most used option. However, a few things have happened to make this option more and more expensive.

 

Residues

 

One of the primary ways horses have been euthanized for many, many years is with an overdose of a drug called pentobarbital. This an anesthetic which has many nice properties for humane euthanasia. First, because it’s an anesthetic, the horse falls asleep first, then gently passes away over a very short time frame. Next, it is relatively inexpensive in large quantities, because again, being the realistic cat I am, you need large quantities of anything for horses because they’re big. Finally, while pentobarbital is a controlled drug, which means it has special paperwork to go with it, most humans don’t really want to use it to get high so my Docs don’t have to worry too much about that. 

Here comes the but. But, pentobarbital residues have shown up in some places they weren’t supposed to, namely pet food. Personally, I was horrified by this. Anything that jeopardizes my food supply is very not OK with this fat cat. Pentobarbital also stays in the environment a really, really long time. This means those horses that are buried are contaminating groundwater near their bodies. The environment can handle this if you have one or two buried on a large property, but get three or four in a small area, and it’s not so good. Here in Florida we are especially sensitive to this, since our groundwater level is so high you can find standing water in a hole 6” deep. That’s the water we drink.

 

Are there good options?

 

Yes! Many really smart people have been working on this issue, and have come up with very humane euthanasia methods that don’t require drugs which leave bad residues. Now, these people aren’t as smart as a cat, but I do think they’ve done a pretty good job. Veterinarians the world over have also been discussing what to do with the bodies, even without the residue, and have a few options. Some readily available, some needing a little more work. Let’s start with cremation. Step one is to find a crematorium which can handle something as large as a horse. They are out there. However, it is really pricey at around $1500. Cremation also carries its own environmental issues. 

Composting of the remains is possible, but requires a large volume of compostable material like wood mulch to go under and over the body. This is being explored in many horse-dense areas like Marion County, but this cat doesn’t know of any commercial-level horse composting facilities. The other option is burial, but with one of the alternative euthanasia methods. Finally, there is the county landfill option. While this one doesn’t sound very good to you horse owners, it is often the best, most cost-effective option available. In north central Florida, this option has been the go-to, but now it’s getting harder and harder to find as many landfills have stopped accepting them.

 

Want to help come up with better options? Check with my Docs, or your veterinarian, to see what alternatives are being explored in your area. I will say I learn some interesting things sitting at the front desk. I never thought of this issue until the price to pick up a body recently went up $200 in one day because of increased landfill fees. That makes euthanasia and removal cost about $800. That’s a big bill on a tough day, that no one wants to make harder. Rest assured my Docs are trying their hardest to work with options in the area to come up with the best solutions possible.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Did you know that Dr. Lacher’s husband wrote a book? It’s called Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband. It’s been the #1 best selling book on Amazon in the horse care category for a few months now. Apparently that’s a big deal, so I thought I would mention it. You can click on the banner below to learn more about it. Okay, I’m going to take a nap.

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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Horse Nutrition 101

Horse Nutrition 101

Oct 21, 2019 | Nutrition

Tuesdays with Tony

I had a special treat here at the clinic on Friday night. A nice man and several trays of Italian food were set up in the barn aisle, and the humans got some continuing education on nutrition from one of the leading experts in the country! Dr. Marty Adams gave everyone a refresher in general equine nutrition, as well as some goals for feeding horses with specific problems. I was mostly there for the table scraps, but I did manage to learn a thing or two about feeding horses while I was hanging out.

Feeding the healthy horse

 

The way we feed horses has changed a lot over the last few decades. Back in the day, most people would feed their horses some combination of oats, corn, and barley. While these big 3 are still utilized as ingredients in many horse feeds, we now know a lot more about how to provide a balanced and complete feed ration for horses.
      When choosing a feed for your horse, there are some general guidelines you want to follow. Unless your horse is performing at the highest level of work such as racing, endurance, or Grand Prix jumping, your feed should be less than 20% NSC. NSC stands for “non-structural carbohydrates,” and involves a tricky calculation to figure out. NSCs are basically your white bread and pasta…those dreaded “carbs” we are all told by our doctors to keep an eye on.
     Other than carbs (which are often not even listed on your feed tag for…reasons) the 3 main values you want to pay attention to in your feed are protein, fat, and fiber. Just like in humans (and cats who are trying to bulk up, such as myself) protein is going to be key for building muscle. Your horse’s topline will never improve with any amount of exercise if you’re not providing the building blocks his body needs. Fat is good if you want your horse to gain weight; bad if you want your horse to lose weight. Fat also has other hidden benefits such as healthy skin and a shiny coat. Fiber is good for providing bulk and maintaining gut health.
    With all that in mind, let’s forge ahead!

Feeding the horse with insulin resistance

 As a diabetic cat, I place myself in this category. However, all of my food comes in a convenient little can. If you own a fat horse, you have probably heard these recommendations from one of my docs before. Overweight horses with equine metabolic syndrome/ insulin resistance/ insulin dysregulation are very sensitive to sugar spikes. A rapid burst of glucose causes an excessive rise in insulin in these horses, which can even be dangerous and result in a laminitic episode. For this reason, we need to limit sugars and starches (those ‘carbs’ we warned about earlier). We also would like most of these horses to lose a couple pounds, so we need to limit calories as well.
      A good place to start is with a low-starch, low-calorie feed such as Nutrena SafeChoice Special Care or Purina WellSolve W/C. Now, if you are feeding your tubby pony less than the minimum feeding amount recommended on the bag, you will want to round out his or her diet with 1lb of a ration balancer daily, such as Purina Enrich Plus, Nutrena Empower Topline Balance, or ProElite Topline Advantage. This will ensure that your horse is still getting all of the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals he needs.
      In terms of hay, you are going to want something low carb, but also low calorie (aka Digestible Energy). The only way to truly know if your hay fits these criteria is to have it tested. Let one of my minions know if you are interested in this service, and they can make it happen!

Feeding the horse with a muscle disorder

     Do you have a horse that has been diagnosed with PSSM, or that has a history of tying up? Horses with these sort of muscle conditions have trouble storing and breaking down glycogen (a metabolite of glucose) to utilize it for energy. For this reason, we need to provide the majority of their calories in the form of fat instead of carbs (glucose).
      Again, you will want to start with a low- starch feed such as Purina WellSolve L/S, or ProElite Starch Wise. If your horse is underweight or in moderate to heavy work, you may also consider Nutrena ProForce XTN. Next, you will want to add in as much fat as possible. A great way to do this is with a supplement such as Nutrena Empower Boost, Purina Amplify, Legends Rice Bran, or ProElite Omega Advantage. You can also add pure fat in the form of Corn Oil, but some horses don’t like the taste.
       Alfalfa is a great hay choice for these horses, being consistently low starch yet higher calorie. By providing a high fat/low starch diet, you are effectively shifting your horse’s metabolism to avoid the pathways that lead to him or her tying up.
Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Feeding the performance horse that needs more “oomph”

    I wish I could say I were a performance animal…but alas the most exercise you will see me doing on a daily basis is swatting a dying moth around the floor with my paw. Horses in moderate to heavy work need enough carbs AND fats to meet their high energy demands, in addition to plenty of protein to allow them to develop muscle through exercise.
     In my humble cat opinion, there are way more feed options than necessary in this category relative to the number of horses that actually exercise enough to require them, but here are my top Tony picks for performance horse feeds: ProElite Performance, Nutrena ProForce XTN, Purina Strategy, Nutrena ProForce Fuel, or Purina Ultium. As far as hay goes, you really can’t beat alfalfa for keeping up with the protein and calorie demands of a horse who exercises 5-7 days per week.
     If you’re already feeding one of these at the recommended amount and still not getting the results you wanted, consider adding in a protein supplement such as Purina SuperSport or an electrolyte supplement such as Progressive Nutrition Aqua-Aide. You can also top-dress your horse’s feed with one of the ration balancers I mentioned earlier (Purina Enrich Plus or Nutrena Empower Topline Balance).
     I could really blubber on about equine nutrition all day long… there is so much to this topic. But your best bet is probably to pick the brain of one of my handy dandy horse docs the next time they are out at your farm. They can address any specific nutrition questions or concerns you may have within the context of your horse’s particular situation. They know the feeds, the brands, where to get them, and how to decipher those tricky little bag tags. So, be sure to chat about nutrition at your next wellness visit, and when doc is impressed with how much you already know, tell her you learned it from Tony!
      Yours truly,
  Tony the overfed cat
P.S. Have you been listening to the podcast that the humans do? It’s one of the most popular podcasts in the Pets and Animals category in the United States! If you’re not sure what a podcast is, that’s okay. No, it’s not a video. Just click here to go to the podcast page. I promise you’ll understand once you get there. It’s okay if you’re on your phone, it will work on any device. Trust me, I’m a cat 🙂

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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The Deal with Dentals

The Deal with Dentals

Oct 14, 2019 | Dentals

Tuesdays with Tony

As you all know, my docs and techs have been doing some traveling this time of year to different continuing education seminars. But did you know, this is a requirement for my docs? They have to go for 30 hours of continuing education every 2 years to stay up to date to the most recent research and talk to other docs about all things equine. They happily oblige as they usually get to go somewhere different, catch up with old friends and colleagues, and learn some pretty neat stuff to bring back to all you lovely folks.

A couple weeks ago, Dr. Abbott went jet setting off to the frigid tundra that is Wisconsin. They asked me to go, but I don’t leave the comfort of my Florida warmth. Since Dr. Abbott has been back, all I have heard about is teeth this and teeth that. Goodness, who cares about teeth that much? I am sure I could eat my canned food just fine even if I did not have any teeth. In fact, I bet I could eat it even faster! Nonetheless, the docs all seem to think your horse’s teeth are pretty important and now they expect me to teach you all about them.

Unlike the superior species that is the cat, horses have hypsodont teeth. This means that their teeth continue to erupt after forming and will do so for most of the horse’s life. This also means that the length of their teeth is limited and therefore so is the lifespan of their teeth. Why is this important, you ask? Well, since their teeth are continuously erupting, this means they are also continuously developing wear patterns as they grind their feed. Horses eat even more than I do, so that’s a lot of wear.

 Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Oral Examination

Horses grind their feed in a circular pattern, and they have the tendency to develop dental problems as they age.  You all have heard about floating horse’s teeth and the importance of the yearly dental. But did you know the bigger part of the yearly dental is actually the oral exam? This is why it’s so important to have your horse’s teeth examined at least yearly by a licensed veterinarian. Luckily, you have my docs at your fingertips. When you call to have a dental performed on your horse, one of my docs will come out and do a thorough physical examination on your horse to make sure he is healthy for sedation. Then they will sedate your horse, place a speculum, and open your horse’s mouth. One of my techs will then place your horse’s head in a head loop and my docs will go to work.

First, they will shine a bright light in your horse’s mouth (and likely in their tech’s eyes, but not on purpose, of course) to inspect all of your horse’s teeth for any abnormalities, including cavities, open roots, fractures, and any other dental problems horses can have. They will also use a mirror or camera to look at the very back of your horse’s mouth and they will probe any areas of concern.  While performing the oral examination they are also looking for any evidence of ulceration, foreign material and abnormalities in the wear of your horse’s teeth.

 

The Float

Since you all have your horses signed up on my wellness plans, you have been through this process before. But for you slackers out there, I will explain what happens during the dental float. Once my docs have assessed your horse’s mouth and made note of any problem areas, they will grab their float and get to work. During this time, they file down any sharp points that may be causing discomfort to your horse’s soft tissue. They also make sure that your horse’s teeth line up appropriately so they can continue to chew efficiently.

Horses often have conformational challenges that cause their teeth to wear incorrectly, where some teeth grow longer than others or sharp points called hooks develop. Most of the time my docs can correct abnormalities in one float, but sometimes they can’t make full corrections without compromising the integrity of your horse’s tooth. At this point they will likely suggest that your horse be seen again in 4-6 months to continue addressing the abnormality. Most often, however, they will recommend another dental examination with float in 1 year.

 

Radiographs

One of the best diagnostic tools my docs have on hand is the x-ray machine. Radiographs are great if your horse has nasal discharge, a foul odor from his mouth, or if your horse has been involved in any kind of trauma. If, during your horse’s oral examination, my docs find any concerning areas such as an open root, a fracture, or severe gingivitis, it is likely they will recommend dental radiographs. When my docs take radiographs, they will be able to look at the roots of your horse’s teeth to determine if there is an infection or abscess, if there is a tooth root fracture, and/or if any of your horse’s teeth need to be extracted. As horses age their tooth root becomes shorter and shorter and it is never a bad idea for my docs to shoot some radiographs of your older horse to assess how much tooth root remains and so they can take any preventative measures to maintain what teeth are left. Lucky for you, I had the bright idea to offer a dental radiograph package, so call the girls in the office for more information.

 

Incisors

During the final part of your horse’s dental examination and float my docs will look at the front teeth, or incisors. They will check for any abnormalities, overbite, underbite, non-viable teeth or disease, or other conformational changes. At times they may recommend radiographs of the incisors or floating of the enamel points to adjust their bite.  They will also remove any excess calculus that may be on your horse’s canines. For some reason, the docs and techs find this to be the best part of the dental. I, however, find it disgusting.  Either way, it is an important part of the dental as calculus build up can lead to gingivitis and other oral diseases.

You all go to the dentist every year, and you would not let your children skip the dentist, so don’t let your horse skip their yearly dental. Having a thorough oral examination and dental float performed will help keep your horse in tip top shape and prevent the spread of disease, weight loss, and keep them happy and healthy for years to come.

If you desire more information regarding your horse’s teeth and dental requirements, I expect to see you at my open house this Saturday, October 19th from 10am-2pm. Dr. Abbott will be doing a live dental demonstration including the oral examination and floating of sharp enamel points. If you don’t have any questions about dentals, that’s ok, I still expect to see you at the open house. You can pet me, you can get a signed copy of the best-selling book in the horse world, and you can be entered to win a free wellness plan! It’s a triple bonus.

 

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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Dry Weather and Colic

Dry Weather and Colic

Oct 7, 2019 | Colic, Sand colic

Tuesdays with Tony

This weather sucks. I know you’re shocked to get my honest opinion, but as a cat I feel I owe it to my adoring fans to be true to my nature, and my nature doesn’t like this weather. It’s true that I also don’t like rainy days, but I do like rain often enough that the grass doesn’t prick my paws as I walk around the Clinic property ensuring all is as it should be in my kingdom. The horses aren’t loving it either, but they have different reasons. 

 

Bits of grass, and lots of sand

 

Out in the pasture right now there are tiny bits of grass hanging on for dear life, just hoping for something resembling rain. The best we’ve gotten lately are some really foggy mornings. Those tiny bits of grass are looking really, really tasty to your horse. When your horse goes to grab that tiniest morsel of green goodness, they also pull up the roots. Those sad roots have nothing to hold onto right now, and give up the fight easily. With the roots comes sand, and you should know sand is less than ideal for the equine GI tract. If you don’t, you need to evaluate your reading habits because you aren’t reading my blog often enough. Right now horses are spending all their time looking hard for those tiny morsels, which means lots of sand is going in their GI tracts. It also means some green stuff (weeds) that isn’t grass looks better now than it normally would. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

A Rain Dance would be nice

 

Sure, a rain dance would be nice, but in the meantime what’s a horse owner to do to try to help their horses make good decisions? HaHa! Horses never make good decisions. Just kidding (sort of). Anyway, real help. Look at your pasture set up to see if you can rotate the heck out of your pastures. Using the plastic step-in T-posts and electric tape is an easy way to block off areas of pasture to let them recuperate. Give pastures at least 10 days, and 14 days if possible, before putting horses back on them. While you won’t grow amazing grass this way, you will keep things at a tolerable level. If you can’t block off pastures, consider putting hay out. Now we normally talk about this at the first freeze, but with no grass, now’s a good time to start with hay. To avoid unscheduled visits from one of my Docs, be sure to slowly increase the amount of hay you’re putting out over 7-10 days. Don’t put a roll of coastal out until they are walking away from flakes, and be sure to add ½-1 flake of alfalfa or peanut hay daily to their diets. If you really want to minimize the risk of colic from hay, go with alfalfa or orchard/alfalfa pasture bales. Lots of horses can’t eat these without packing on the pounds, and for those coastal hay is a great option. 

 

Other ways to avoid Unscheduled Visits

 

This drought has been very noticeable for one thing around the Clinic: more colics. Let me tell you what my Docs don’t want to see you for: A Colic. They don’t like them any more than you do!!! Here’s my step-by-step process to avoid unscheduled visits thanks to the dreaded C word:

  1. Give your horse at least ½ flake peanut or alfalfa hay daily. One flake would be even better. These hays are high in natural salt content so they get your horse to head to the water trough, and they both have a natural laxative effect to help prevent impactions.
  2. Add water to your horse’s grain. This is the easiest way to get horses to “drink” more water. The soupier the better! It’s all added hydration.
  3. Be aware of how much sand they can consume. If you live on a sandy property, your horse is eating tons of it right now. If you don’t live on a sandy property, your horse is eating some right now. Feeding lots and lots of hay is the best way to move sand through the system! If in doubt, add in one of the sand clearing products for one week out of every month to really clean the pipes. My Docs can also x-ray or ultrasound for sand to help you have an idea how much sand is in there. 

We are all holding out hope for a lovely rainy week or two, but until that comes, I hope the cat wisdom helps you keep the colic away!

Now be a good human: 1. Scroll down a tiny bit farther 2. Subscribe to my blog 3. Never miss a bit of Tony wisdom.  It’s good stuff!

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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Herpes, AKA Rhino

Herpes, AKA Rhino

Sep 30, 2019 | Rhinopneumonitis

Tuesdays with Tony

This week let’s talk Herpes. We’ve all got it in some form, and we all got it the day we were born from our mothers. Why, you ask, am I discussing herpes on a horse blog? Well you horse people have to make things complicated, and instead of calling it herpes, you call it rhinopneumonitis. As a straightforward kind of cat, I never understand why you humans make the world more complicated. Speaking of complicated: rhinopneumonitis is really, really complicated! Read on for some Tony Truth.

 

The Wide World of Herpes

 

There are a whole lot of strains of herpes. There’s at least eight human strains, seven horse versions, and apparently cats are weird since I could only find one version we get. I think cats stop at perfection, so that’s why we only get one version. Anyway, back to horses. Why does it matter that there’s a bunch of strains? Because they all do something a little different. In horses, most of the versions cause short-lived respiratory signs. Fever, runny nose and eyes, and not feeling so good. One strain is just an immune suppressor as far as scientists can tell, and a couple strains are still unsolved mysteries. 

 

The gift that sticks around

 

All herpes, cat, dogs, human, horse, pig, you name it, stay forever. Once you get them, you got them, and there’s no making them go away. “WHAT?” you say. That’s right. Herpes is a master of immune system trickery. Through ways not completely understood, these viruses hang out in nerves undetected by the host’s immune system. They can stay that way for years!! What triggers it? Stress. Now that’s a vague word, stress. You may wonder what a cat (or horse) has to stress about. Will our staff be on time to feed us? Will our accommodations be up to our standards? Will I get to sleep the appropriate 18 hours today? Turns out these types of stresses can make herpes rear its ugly head. Know when all those stresses happen in the horse world? At a horse show. Really, anytime your horse gets on a trailer for longer than 2 hours. You heard that right, 2 hours. There’s a scary statistic for you!

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

What’s Rhino do?

 

Yeah, yeah I switched the name from herpes to rhino. That’s because you horse people call it rhino. I guess I can’t throw stones too far (but I’m a cat, so I’ll try) since the cat herpes is called feline viral rhinotracheitis. Cats and horses share the most common symptoms of a herpes viremia (that’s the scientific name for herpes coming out of its nerve hibernation). Fevers, runny noses and eyes, and not feeling so hot are the most common signs of rhino. It lasts 2-3 days, the immune system says “Whoa, I let that rhino get a little wild,” and then it works to corral them back in the nerves. However, sometimes the strain is particularly good at making lots of copies of itself very quickly, or causing havoc to the lining of the blood vessels. When that happens, it can cause abortions in pregnant mares, and/or severe, even life threatening neurologic disease.

 

Great. How do I make it go away?

Vaccinate. I can hear you humans now. You’re asking your computer screen, “Tony said the virus never goes away, so why should I vaccinate?” Because I’m a cat, and I said so, and humans should do as I say. Also, vaccination for rhino helps protect all the other horses your horse comes in contact with. Let’s say your horse gets stressed. I’m being hypothetical here. I know your horse would never get stressed, but follow me. The rhino virus takes advantage of this to come out of hibernation, and replicate like crazy. If your horse is appropriately vaccinated, the immune system quickly identifies the virus, and stops the party. Viola! Lots less virus to infect other horses with. Now, being a human, you are thinking selfish thoughts. “I’m not giving this vaccine. It won’t even help MY horse.” If everyone thought that way, you guys would have a world full of feverish, runny-nose horses. Don’t be selfish. Vaccinate. 

Rhinopneumonitis isn’t a straight-forward vaccine schedule. Lots of things depend on your horse, your farm, and your horse’s lifestyle. Know who’s the best in the entire world at getting your vaccine schedule right? My Docs. Listen to the schedule they set up for you. It’s a good plan.

Not enough info for you? Subscribe to my blog below, and I’ll drop wisdom straight into your Inbox every week. Still need more? Check out the human’s podcast: Straight From the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. It’s loaded with horse knowledge! 

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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Pain Management

Pain Management

Sep 24, 2019 | Banamine, Drugs, Pain

Tuesdays with Tony

     Sometimes, in between cat naps, I pay attention to what medications you humans are picking up at the front desk. Names like ‘Bute’ ‘Banamine’ and ‘Equioxx’ have become pretty familiar to me. So this week I asked the docs what some of these frequently used medications were for. They explained to me that these are all different drugs used to manage pain in horses. Their explanation was fascinating. I never knew how much was involved in choosing the right drugs to control a horse’s pain!
      The ideal pain medication would be one that worked great, lasted all day, had zero side effects, and cost next to nothing. Unfortunately, this medication does not yet exist. So, we have to compromise somewhere. You are either going to have to pay a little more for a medication that has fewer side effects, be willing to administer doses more frequently- up to every few hours, or choose the cheapest option, realizing it has a downside.

NSAIDs

   When you think about managing pain in horses, Bute (generic for phenylbutazone) or Banamine (generic for flunixin meglumine) is probably the first drug to come to mind. These medications both fall into the category of NSAIDs, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. As the name implies, they are great at knocking out inflammation anywhere in the body. They also come in an easy-to-administer paste formulation, and they will keep working anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, which is super convenient. These drugs are both relatively inexpensive, with Bute being slightly more affordable than Banamine.
     The downside to Bute and Banamine, however, is the side effects. When given at a full dose for more than a few days, both of these drugs are notorious for causing right dorsal colitis, stomach ulcers, kidney damage, and liver damage. Right dorsal colitis is the most common and arguably the most serious of these side effects. This is an inflammatory condition of the large intestine which results in diarrhea, malabsorption of nutrients, ulceration, and leakage of GI contents. The condition is difficult to treat, can be life threatening, and often leaves the colon permanently damaged.
    NSAIDs cause right dorsal colitis and stomach ulcers because they knock out these little guys called prostaglandins. There are a couple different types. Several of them are inflammatory prostaglandins. When Bute and Banamine block these prostaglandins, it makes horses feel better. Other prostaglandins are involved in keeping the gut happy. When Bute and Banamine block these ‘good’ prostaglandins, you see the GI side effects described above.
     Now there is a newer NSAID which recently became available for horses called Equioxx. Equioxx is a COX-selective NSAID, which means it blocks the inflammatory prostaglandins without blocking the good ones. Equioxx is also super cool because it lasts so long- a good 24 hours- and it’s easy to give in the form of one tiny, tasteless pill. The disadvantage of Equioxx is that it is a fair bit more expensive than Bute, and anecdotally it doesn’t control pain quite as well as the other good old NSAIDs. However, if you have a horse with a history of GI ulcers or colitis, Equioxx is definitely your best bet.
     While NSAIDs will probably always be the first line of pain management in horses, it is important to understand the associated risks and always follow your veterinarian’s instructions when using these potent medications.

Steroids

   As the name non-steroidal anti-inflammatory would imply, another class of anti-inflammatories is steroids, which is short for corticosteroids. The steroids most commonly used in equine medicine are Dexamethasone, Prednisolone, and Depo-Medrol.
    Steroids are the most potent anti-inflammatory medication that exists, but they have effects on just about every organ system in the body. Steroids are actually produced endogenously (that’s a fancy doctor word that means inside the body) all the time. They play a role in several normal day-to-day functions.
    Steroids are very cheap, and the docs prescribe them regularly for primary inflammatory conditions such as equine asthma and skin allergies. Steroids are also used in joint injections to decrease the inflammation caused by arthritis. However, steroids are not the greatest at analgesia (another fancy doctor word which means the reduction of pain).
    Likely the biggest reason vets are hesitant to reach for steroids as a way to control pain is because of their #1 scariest side effect in horses: laminitis, or founder. For many equine practitioners, the risk of laminitis outweighs any potential benefit of reducing pain that steroids may provide.

The Others

   So you know you can’t use Bute or Banamine  for too long, or you risk blowing out your horse’s gut. You know you don’t want to use steroids because your horse could founder. Your horse is on a full dose of Equioxx at $2/day, but he’s still in pain. What else can you use?
    This is the point where vets start thinking outside the box, and using what’s called multi-modal therapy to manage pain in horses. While NSAIDs target inflammatory pathways, there are other pain pathways, such as nerve pathways, that can be targeted as well.
     Gabapentin is a neuro-modulating drug used as an anti-seizure medication in humans. It can be added to a vet’s pain control protocol to target the deep nerve pain associated with certain excruciating conditions in horses. Gabapentin is starting to get into big bucks, however, and it doesn’t seem to work well in some horses. Also, because horses have such a fast metabolism, it needs to be given every 8 hours to stay at therapeutic levels in the body.
     Another option for pain control often used (and abused) in the human world is opioids. Tramadol, an opioid that has been studied and used in horses, has been criticized in the veterinary world as not working well to actually control pain, but primarily causing sedation. It seems that while Tramadol is a miracle drug for some horses with chronic pain conditions, it doesn’t make much of a difference for others. In addition to the obvious drawback that it is a controlled and closely regulated drug in the United States, another disadvantage to Tramadol is that it doesn’t last very long in horses. Studies have shown that the half-life of Tramadol is only about 3 hours, meaning that 3 hours after administration, half of the Tramadol has already been filtered out of the bloodstream, and by 6 hours it is nearly all gone. Who has time to medicate their horses every 6 hours? Not this cat!
   It may seem simple, but a medication that has recently started to be investigated in horses is Tylenol. Yep, the same Tylenol you can buy at your local pharmacy. Since it hasn’t been used much in horses, not much is known about Tylenol’s potential side effects, but early results suggest it is relatively safe. Now, you may think Tylenol is a cheap alternative, but consider that you will be going through about 1 giant bottle of extra-strength Tylenol every 3 days to treat an animal as big as a horse, so the cost does add up. Based on preliminary research, Tylenol doesn’t seem to be potent enough to control pain in horses when used by itself, but it is a promising drug that can be added to your horse’s pain management therapy.
   Well, there you have it: everything you ever wanted to know about pain control in horses.   But don’t take my word for it. If you have any questions about managing your horse’s pain, I can think of 3 excellent humans who also happen to be veterinarians that would be happy to answer them.
     Until next week,
         Tony
P.S. So the humans did a podcast on this topic. If you want to hear it Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth, she does a pretty good job of explaining things. Well, for a human, anyway. You can listen right here on my website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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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Cribbing

Cribbing

Sep 16, 2019 | Cribbing

Tuesdays with Tony

Horses are weird. One of my Docs has a horse who cribs. This behavior makes absolutely no sense to me. Cats would never do something this weird. Why on earth would you want to grab a board, or, worse yet, metal, with your teeth, bite down, and lean back all while sucking in air? And yet, cribbing horses are driven to do just that, sometimes no matter how hard their humans try to prevent it. Think you know why they crib? Think again! It’s time to do some mythbusting, Tony style. 

 

It’s because they have ulcers

 

That’s a big old maybe, but probably not. Gastrogard was sure they were going to cure cribbing, but a study of cribbers showed many of them didn’t have ulcers at all. So scratch ulcers off the list of things that causes cribbing. 

 

It’s because they have been in a stall

 

This one is a maybe, but it’s complicated. Much like how to properly pet a cat, there are a lot of individual factors that go into being a cribber. Just putting a horse in a stall won’t cause one to start cribbing. Putting a horse in a stall, keeping them there 23 hours per day, and feeding them a lot of grain, now that’s how to make a cribber, mostly. There’s a big maybe to even that part of things. Spoiler alert: going to talk about that in a sec.

 

It’s because they learned it from a cribber

NO. NO. NO. This one is a definite no. Got that? This is not how horses start cribbing. There are approximately 1 bajillion studies to back me up on this. 

 

Alright, how do they become a cribber?

 

A combination of nature and nurture creates a cribber. There is without a doubt an inherited component to cribbing. It’s not straightforward though. If mom or dad is a cribber, it doesn’t mean the kids will all crib. Studies have shown about 10% of the kids will crib. That means it’s not one gene, but a combo pack of genes. 

 

Once they’ve got the genes, it also takes the right environment. Sure, being a thoroughbred who goes from living in a field with mom, to being in a stall in race training can do it. Lots of other things can, too. We have one horse in the practice who was born on a 300 acre farm, lived outside her entire life, and started cribbing at around 8-10 months old. This farm had full and half siblings to this filly who never cribbed, and her mom never has either. Moral of that little story is to try to minimize stress as much as possible, but sometimes horses will be horses no matter what. 

 

Can they at least not crib?

 

Yes and No is the best answer to that question. That’s very cat of me, isn’t it? Horses who crib are really driven to crib. The old version of the reason is the release of endorphins when they crib causes a high. Scientists don’t quite have the answer to what drives cribbing, but they have found out the old version is wrong. In fact, the release of endorphins from something pleasurable, like eating, will often cause a horse to crib more! That intense drive to crib means when the behavior is stopped, these horses get a spike in cortisol, and that’s not what we want. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for fight or flight. High levels cause all kinds of problems. Telling your horse he can’t crib is like putting him underneath a fireworks show in a strange barn with no other horses. It’s seriously stressful. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Managing cribbing is the best plan for cribbers. Figure out what works for you and your horse. If possible, train your horse to crib on something with a bit of give. Take that favorite post and cover it with rubber mat material, or work to train them that the stall door is bad, but this board you put there just for cribbing is OK. Other tricks that minimize cribbing time are low starch, small, grain meals. Studies found high sugar grains, like sweet feed, stimulated more cribbing behavior than plain oats. Most horse feeds these days are low in sugar, but if you’ve got questions, my Docs have answers. Keeping forage in front of your cribber all the time is another great way to decrease the behavior. Finally, turn out as much as possible with a friend has been shown to minimize time spent cribbing. 

 

Don’t discount that perfect horse just because he’s a cribber. Good management means you can have a great horse, and your horse can have a great life. 

Until next week,

~ Tony

P.S. I learned a bunch of the stuff in this week’s blog from Dr. Carissa Wickens. I eavesdropped on a podcast she recently did with Dr. Lacher and Justin Long. Check it out on any podcasting platform. It’s called Straight From The Horse Doctor’s Mouth, and it’s pretty darn good. You might also be interested in the book right underneath this. I hear it’s an Amazon bestseller, and getting rave reviews! Just thought I’d let you 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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Emergencies

Emergencies

Sep 9, 2019 | Emergencies

Tuesdays with Tony

It’s 6 pm on Saturday night, you go to feed your horses and notice one of them isn’t interested in dinner. You realize he’s colicking.  You remember you have some Banamine on hand, so you give your horse a dose orally because you remember you’re NEVER supposed to give it in the muscle. Then you think you recall someone somewhere once said it is good to walk a colicky horse, so you walk you horse for an hour and he still isn’t better.  So now what do you? You call your regular vet. Maybe he/she doesn’t answer, so you wait for a call back all the while your horse becomes increasingly painful. Your regular vet doesn’t get back to you despite your numerous calls and multiple text messages.

Now you’re very scared, so you go to the Google and search for emergency equine veterinarians in your area. Your search reveals my clinic has an emergency line, so you call it.  Guess what, one of my docs answers! What a huge weight off your shoulders: someone to help you with your horse. You talk to one of my docs and they recommend your horse be seen as soon as possible. At this point it is already 9 pm and by the time my docs get to you and your horse it will be 10 pm and your horse has been colicking for 4 hours. My doc gets there and treats your horse, and luckily, this time, your horse is going to be ok. I am here to tell you that waiting that long to call my docs could have easily ended with your horse in the clinic, or worse.

You might be wondering, when is the right time to call Springhill Equine? The simple answer is, if you are concerned, DON’T WAIT, CALL US! The best thing about my clinic and my docs is that we have a phone line set up specifically for emergencies. That means you can call it 24/7/365 and always get one of my docs on the line.  They may not answer right away since they are often busy with other patients, but I assure you, if you call and leave them a message, they will call you back as soon as they are able.

 

When to call

 

Colic

As I so eloquently described in the above scenario, colic is always considered an emergency. Prior to giving your horse any medications, you should always call my docs. They will have you describe what your horse is doing to rule out any other possible problems. They may or may not recommend you administering bute or banamine to your horse if you have it. They will also instruct you to NOT walk you horse. For the love of cat, please listen to them and DO NOT WALK YOUR HORSE!  Can you imagine having an upset stomach and someone making you walk around in circles for hours? All it’s going to do is dehydrate you more, cause you to be more painful, and make you more upset.  Same is true for your poor horse.

If your horse wants to lay down, let him! It’s an old wive’s tale that if they roll, they will twist their gut. Listen to this old cat, I’ve seen my fair share of horses who have been walked for hours, and all it does is make for exhausted horses and exhausted owners. Let me tell you, exhausted owners are emotional roller coasters and have a difficult time making life or death decisions for their horse. Do your horse and yourself a favor and let him lay down.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Once my docs talk to you, they may feel it’s safe to allow the medication time to kick in before they come out. Just because you call them does not mean they will be able to rush right out though, so DON’T WAIT, CALL US! Nothing bad ever happened from calling too early. Calling too late, on the other paw… Enough said.

 

Eyes

I know that by now you have read my blog and seen my seminars. So, you know eyes are always considered an emergency. Let’s say you notice something is wrong with your horse’s eye. So, what do you do? DON’T WAIT, CALL US! The cool thing about technology is, when you call my docs and tell them you have a horse with an eye issue, they are going to tell you to send them a picture of the situation. Yes, my emergency line even receives text messages. I am such a hip cat; I have all the tech things. Anyway, this will allow my docs to assess the severity of the situation and decide if your horse needs to be seen on emergency or can wait for a normal weekday appointment. It also allows them to direct you in medication administration and how to properly secure you horse to protect him from further injury.

Let’s say you’ve been slacking and haven’t kept up with my blog or been to my seminars. You notice your horse is squinting, has some discharge, or has cut his eye lid. You think, eh no big deal, I have some old meds, I’ll just put this in his eye for a few days and he will be ok. Then, two days later, your horse can’t even open his eye. When you pry his eye lids apart you notice what looks like a giant booger in your horse’s eye, but it’s not his typical eye booger. No, this time it seems like it’s attached to his cornea, and wow, is he painful! You decide it’s finally time to have the docs out. They tell you that your horse has a melting corneal ulcer and it’s going to cost boo koo bucks to treat, or your horse is going to lose his eye.

If you ask the doc what you could have done differently, they are going to tell you: Next time, DON’T WAIT, CALL US!

 

Injury

As you all know, horses have little self-preservation instinct and try to injure themselves on a daily basis (unlike us cats, who avoid dangerous situations by sleeping all day). Typically, horses like to injure themselves on the weekends or holidays. Maybe your horse has a big laceration and is bleeding, or maybe he has come up very lame and cannot put his foot down. Maybe you’re not really sure if that scrape on his side is something that needs immediate attention or if it can wait. You know what? That’s ok! It’s okay to not know, that’s why you have my emergency number on speed dial. DON’T WAIT, CALL US! (Sensing a pattern here yet?)

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

One of the docs will assess the urgency of the situation and head your direction to help stop the bleeding, or come prepared with our x-ray equipment in tow to figure out exactly why your horse won’t put his foot down. Or maybe they’ll see the picture of the scrape you sent and tell you to wash it with mild soap, apply some topical ointment (I prefer KineticVet IBH or CK Salve) on the wound and monitor it. The good news is, if you call them, they will quickly assess the situation and help you make the best decision for you and your horse.

If you wait, and don’t call, everything gets harder and potentially more expensive. Your horse might have a broken bone and if you wait, he might be in severe pain for days before my docs see him. Worse, he might develop laminitis in his other legs since he can’t bear weight on all 4 limbs, or he might develop an infection in a wound that now has to be treated with oral antibiotics. All of which could have been prevented if you didn’t wait. Remember, DON’T WAIT, CALL US!

 

Emergencies happen all the time. Sometimes they are no big deal, and sometimes they are life threatening. The moral of the story is, if you think you have an emergency, even if you’ve been through it a million times, DON’T WAIT, CALL US!  My docs are here for you and will be there to answer your questions, talk you off the ledge, and help you and your horse get back on your feet in no time. Just because you call us, does not mean my docs will have to come out, so if you think you have an emergency, DON’T WAIT, CALL US! It can mean the difference between life and death for your wallet, or more importantly, life or death for your horse.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Since we’re talking about emergencies, there’s a book coming out this week that you should get. It’s called Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband. You guessed it, it’s by Dr. Lacher’s husband, Justin B. Long. There’s a banner for it right down below here, so click on it. You can read all about horse emergencies, and more importantly, cats. I’m pretty sure he wrote all about me in the book. He better have. I haven’t had time to read it yet, what with my nap schedule, but I hear it’s a #1 best seller on Amazon. You can even get him to sign your copy at a seminar, or at my Annual Open House coming up on October 19th. That’s a solid tip; you can thank me later.

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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Sand Colic

Sand Colic

Sep 2, 2019 | Sand colic

Tuesdays with Tony

When you think of sand, what images come to mind? Probably pleasant visages of laying on a sandy beach getting a tan, or your kids playing outside in the sandbox as you enjoy a cold glass of lemonade, or feeling the sand squish beneath your toes as the waves tickle your ankles along the shore. Well, when veterinarians think of sand, they think of colic. Sand is not associated with happy times for those of us in the equine medical profession. And this cat is here to tell you why.

Why is sand bad?

      Here in Florida, we have no shortage of sand in our soil. When horses run out of grass to eat, or when the grass gets very short, they begin to accidentally ingest sand as they forage. Eventually, this sand settles in the large intestine and accumulates until it forms a partial or complete GI obstruction.
       You’ve seen kids build sandcastles. Have you noticed how remarkably well they stand up until the bully from the next umbrella over comes by and kicks them down? That’s because sand has an excellent ability to hold the shape of whatever vessel it is molded into. In the case of horses, that vessel is the large intestine.
       In some cases, if enough sand is ingested to block the whole diameter of the intestine, the sand will compact and become as hard as a rock. Again, a lesson in why sand makes a great building material. Unfortunately, it also makes a very uncomfortable and impacted horse.

How does my horse accumulate sand?

      Sand is usually picked up as horses graze, or as they search for food where there is no grass. Sand can also be ingested if they are fed on the ground, as they prehend their pellets of grain or stems of hay. If your horse is a messy eater, he may also drop a fair bit of grain onto the sand as he eats, and then scoop up mouthfuls of sand as he tries to pick up every last crumb.
      The esophagus, stomach, and small intestine generally have enough peristalsis (that’s a fancy medical term for muscle contractions) to move sand along. However, once the sand gets to the large intestine, it tends to just sit there. The large intestine is huge and actually kinda square. So, as sand enters the large intestine it generally settles flat on the bottom, taking the shape of the folds and turns of the colon, as all the other ingesta and intestinal content floats along above it, unawares.
      This location serves as a dumping ground for sand, and this sand accumulation can continue without any external signs for months to years. Eventually, however, there comes a point when your horse begins to notice something’s not right. Depending on how stoic your horse is, some time thereafter he will begin trying to tell you that something’s not right. Usually, this happens in the form of colic.

How can sand colic be treated?

    So, your horse is colicking. You can’t think of anything different in your feeding program or routine recently to explain why. He’s laying down, not interested in eating, but also not thrashing around in terrible pain. You call me at the office, and I send out my first available doctor to check him out.
     Doc assesses the situation, performs a physical exam, gives him some pain medication and sedation, and then begins her trans-rectal palpation. That’s where she finds the first clue: his manure is kinda gritty. She grabs a handful of manure, puts it in a rectal sleeve with some water, and hangs it up on a nail. That’s weird, you think to yourself. But then again, you humans do weird things all the time, so you’re probably used to it.
Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic
      Doc also mentions that she felt a soft but full large intestine on one side, with a lot of gas-distended intestine on the other side. She begins to ask you about what he eats, where he eats, and she takes a look at your pasture. She also asks you if you give your horses Sand Clear on a regular basis.
      Now, back to that rectal sleeve of poop. You glance over to it and notice that it has changed…the fingers of the glove are completely filled with sand! How could that much sand even exist in one small handful of manure?! The rest of the organic material from the fecal ball is floating on top of the water. It’s magic!
     At this point, doc is dumping a bag of some grey powder into a bucket and mixing it with ooey gooey mineral oil. You ask what it is, and she tells you the powder is called Psyllium, a pure form of fiber that is going to form a gel with the mineral oil and carry that sand out of the large intestine where it’s been hiding unbeknownst to you for quite some time. She will pass a nasogastric tube down to his stomach and pump in this magical goo once a day for the next 4 days. And just like that, sand problem gone. Ta-da!

How can sand colic be avoided?

     While colic is the most common way owners learn their horse has been accumulating sand, an emergency visit from your vet is not how you want to find out your horse has been snacking at the sandbar. Not to mention, several days of farm calls, tubing with psyllium, and worrying, is not much fun for your horse or your wallet. So instead, why not follow these couple of Tony Tips to nip sand in the bud?
    1. Focus on your pastures. Figure out a way to fertilize, rotate grazing, plant grass seed, irrigate your pastures, or otherwise work on getting some grass to grow! If your horses have long, healthy grass to eat, they are far less likely to pick up sand, because they won’t be grubbing for dead roots in the dirt.
     2. Feed your horses off the ground. Ideally, hay should be fed in a hanging hay net, hay manger, or hay feeder. Grain should be fed in elevated feed buckets with mats underneath for the crumbs that are dropped. This simple step can drastically decrease the amount of sand your horse ingests every day.
     3. Give your horses SandClear once a day for one week every month. If you know your property is sandy, or you don’t have the best pasture situation around, this is a great idea. SandClear is a pelleted form of psyllium that is designed as a feed-through. While it won’t fix a complete sand obstruction, it can help to carry small amounts of sand out of the intestine so it doesn’t build up and turn into a bigger problem.
   So now, thanks to the one and only Tony, you know everything you ever needed to know about sand and horses. I guess that’s one less thing to worry about!
Until next week,
     -Tony
P.S. If you need my Docs during Hurricane Dorian, call 352-474-5007. They’ll be on call 24/7, just like always.

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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Starvation, Breeding, and Microchips

Starvation, Breeding, and Microchips

Aug 26, 2019 | Breeding, Microchips

Tuesdays with Tony

 How, you ask, are starvation, breeding, and microchips related? What weird cat logic is this? Read on and find out. I’m dropping some serious cat wisdom this week.

Starvation

Recently Dr. Vurgason and Dr. Lacher had the daunting task of working with a group of 18 incredibly thin horses. Like, body condition score 1 out of 9 for a majority of these horses. Dr. Vurgason worked on one who was in such bad shape he was down for 24 hours because he didn’t have the muscle mass or energy reserves to stand. That’s bad! I hope to only be able to imagine how these horses felt. I’m the one starting to insist on dinner at 4:30 pm when it is never served before 5:30 pm. 

There were abrasions on hips because the skin couldn’t take the pressure of the bony points with absolutely no covering. Remember all that rain recently? Many of these horses have just about no hair thanks to horrible cases of rain rot. When I say this was a sad bunch of horses, I really, really mean it. Luckily they found their way to a great rescue (and, trust me, they aren’t all great). If these horses can handle the introduction of food over the next week or so, they’ll be ok.

 

Breeding

 

The rescue that has this herd pulls a lot of horses from very low level auctions. The kill pen kind of auctions. I asked what breeds they see most often. My guess was going to be thoroughbreds. Yvonne told me my fine feline instincts were wrong. At first I was horrified to be wrong, but then I listened, and learned. Most are Quarter Horses, followed by Standardbreds, and draft breeds. 

Why is it Quarter Horses? Because of the huge breeding operations that exist with little outlet for the ones that “don’t cut it.” Literally don’t cut it, since many of these are breeding for horses that work cows. I beg of you guys out there looking at pretty stallion pictures right now, anxiously awaiting the upcoming breeding season. THINK about whether this is something you really want and need to do. Could you find the horse you’re looking for without having to breed? Is your mare so special that it has to be her? 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

I don’t mean to take away from your horse, I mean to have you think about breeding. There are tons of great horses in backyards starving, and in kill pen auctions. What would it mean to a horse to never have to end up there? How great would it be to check out the foals, weanlings, yearlings, or even two year olds at a great breeding program, and pick out the one that was the color and sex you wanted? Let me tell you, that never happens when you breed your own. Just ask Dr. Lacher, who prefers geldings, and got 4 fillies and 1 sweet but not-talented gelding.

 

Microchips

 

How the heck do microchips end up in this story? Simple. At one time, these horses were likely bred or owned by someone who hoped for the best for them. That’s not how their lives ended up. If those owners had microchipped these horses, they would at least have a way to be contacted. We talk about microchips most frequently when it comes to natural disasters, or downed fence lines, but what if you got a call about a horse you sold 10 years ago? I’m guessing most of you would want to know that horse would have a soft place to land. So microchip your horses. It can do way more than bring them back if they’re wandering lost after a hurricane. 

The unwanted horse is an incredibly complicated problem. They are big, expensive animals. If each and every person in the horse industry took a moment to be sure they were helping, and not contributing to the issue, we could reduce the suffering of horses. I have faith in you humans, even if I don’t usually come across that way.

Now be a good human and subscribe to my weekly drop of cat wisdom. 

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. I know I usually remind you about the podcast that the humans do, which is pretty popular. You should definitely check that out. However, this week is a special announcement! The humans, or Dr. Lacher’s husband, in particular, have published a book called Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband. It’s pretty good, and I’m not just saying that because I have a cameo appearance in it. Speaking of rescuing horses in bad situations, remember Highway, the horse that fell out of the moving trailer last winter? You’ll recognize him on the cover, and if you buy the book, you’ll be making a contribution to him. It’s a win-win for everyone. Just click on the banner below to learn more about the book. 

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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