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The Choking Horse

The Choking Horse

Mar 25, 2019 | Choking

Tuesdays with Tony

You’re walking through the barn doing one last check of all the horses after their evening feed when you notice one horse has stepped away from his feed bucket. You inspect the feed and notice that some feed has been consumed but the majority is remaining. Upon further observation you realize your horse is not showing signs of colic, but he is holding his head down with his neck stretched out and makes the occasional gag-like sound.  Then you see it, the feed and saliva material coming out of your horse’s nose and you know that you are dealing with a choke.

Most of the time, when my docs are called out to the farm for a choke, they are able to easily resolve the choke, or it has already resolved on its own when they get there. On rare occasion, the docs have enlisted my help here at the clinic when a choke cannot be resolved easily on the farm, so sit back, relax and let the master explain it all.

What is a choke?

Unlike cats (and people), in horses, choke refers to something that is obstructing the esophagus and thus does not block the horse’s airway. Choke is most commonly caused by feed material; however, foreign material cannot be ruled out as a potential cause. Cats, being the more intelligent life form, know better than to eat something that isn’t food, unless its string of course, then all bets are off, string is the best toy EVER!

What are the signs of choke?

I am a stickler for good hygiene, my counterpart Teeny on the other hand, sometimes forgets to groom herself. Of course, I am always well kept and have my coat groomed to perfection. Unfortunately, this makes me prone to hairballs. If you have ever seen a cat hack up a hairball, it is not a pretty sight, believe you me. Well, much like the retched sound us kitties make when hacking up a hairball, if your horse is choked you may notice that he makes a gagging, hacking, coughing sound. He may have suddenly backed away from his feed while appearing anxious or nervous. You may even start to notice salvia and feed material coming from your horse’s mouth and nostrils. Sometimes horses will extend their neck and hold their head low. The signs of choke can be quite alarming, even for a brave cat like myself, but remember, panicking is not going to do anyone any good, so keep calm and call the office so my staff can walk you through what to do next.

What causes choking?

I see no problem with inhaling my food as fast as I possibly can, in fact, if I eat mine fast enough, I can sometimes get seconds because my minions think they forgot to feed me! Seems like a win-win to me. I guess for horses though, eating too quickly, or bolting their feed, is the primary cause of choke. Horses need to chew and moisten their feed thoroughly before swallowing and if they don’t, it may cause them to choke. Similarly, certain feed materials such as alfalfa cubes or beet pulp, must be pre-moistened with water prior to feeding. If not, and they are fed dry, your horse may be predisposed to choke. I recommend soaking alfalfa cubes and beet pulp in a bucket of water for at least 20 minutes prior to feeding. Your horse will get more water and be less prone to choke, another win-win for the books.

Occasionally, some horses may have conditions that predispose them to choke, including diverticulum and stricture. A diverticulum is a deviation of the esophagus that forms a pouch or sac in which feed material can become trapped, resulting in a choke. Strictures are basically a scar within the esophagus and can be caused by prior choke episodes that have caused damage to the lining of the esophagus. Strictures do not allow the esophagus to expand and contract normally and therefore may cause feed material to get stuck.

Why is choking a problem?

You’re probably thinking, if my horse can breathe, what’s the big deal with choke? Won’t it resolve on its own eventually? Here’s the thing, most chokes will resolve on their own, or with very little assistance from my docs.  On that rare occasion though, chokes can be very serious and lead to very serious problems including dehydration, colic, and aspiration pneumonia. The longer a horse is choked, the more likely these complications will arise and the more likely you’ll be in to visit me at the clinic.  While I would love for you all to come visit me, I would prefer if you leave your horses at home so you are able to give me your undivided attention. So, what does that mean? It means, if you suspect that your horse is choked or may have choked recently, call me, I’ll get my docs on the case and out to see your horse ASAP, leaving you plenty of time to come visit me.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

How is choke treated?

The first thing my docs will tell you when you call, is to remove your horse’s feed, hay, and water. Next, they will instruct you to keep your horse as calm as possible with his head down until they arrive. Upon arrival, my docs will perform a brief physical exam on your horse, they will check his heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and listen for guts sounds. They will determine if your horse is still choked and then decide how to proceed.

Next, they will likely provide your horse with a little sedative. I never need any sedative to sleep, put me in the sun and I am out cold for a good 14 hours of my day, but I digress. My docs will also give your horse a smooth muscle relaxer to help decrease the contractions of the esophagus. We have all seen a tube passed for a colic, right? Well, you’ll also see the tube pulled out if your horse is choked. Once your horse is sedated and muscle relaxants are on board, the docs will pass a nasogastric tube up your horse’s nose and into his esophagus. This allows them to locate the blockage as well as lavage the obstruction with water.

Let me tell you something, I will never be a Coca-Cola-drinking cat again. The other day, I saw one of the docs at the clinic lavage a very stubborn choke with Coca-Cola. And you know what? It worked! That is some powerful stuff! This by no means, means that you can accomplish the same thing by sticking a hose down your horse’s throat or have him drink Coca-Cola! Remember, my docs are highly trained professionals and these medications and procedures should only be administered and performed by licensed veterinarians. If you do it wrong, like sending the tube into the lungs, you can injure or kill your horse.

What is the after-care for choke?

Most chokes that resolve easily do not require any specific care. My docs will recommend that you feed your horse soaked grain from now on. Once your horse has one episode of choke, he is likely to have more. Thus, by soaking his feed, you will reduce the risk of repeat chokes. If your horse has been choked for several hours or has a choke that is difficult to resolve, the docs will likely put your horse on a course of antibiotics to help combat any possibility of the development of aspiration pneumonia.

If your horse seems to be dehydrated or showing signs of colic, the docs may refer him to me here at the clinic for intravenous fluids and careful monitoring. Of course, once your horse arrives here, I will give you, him, your truck and your trailer a full courtesy “cat” scan, it’s just what I do for my people. Fortunately, most of the time, chokes are easily resolved and after care is minimal.

In case you just miss me, and want to come visit, but don’t want your horse to choke to accomplish that, remember, our next seminar on First Aid will be at 6:30 pm on April 11th. It will of course be featuring yours truly, so come on out and get your Tony fix while learning all about first aid for your horse.

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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Colic Mythbusters

Colic Mythbusters

Mar 18, 2019 | Colic

Tuesdays with Tony

I hope everybody was able to make it out to my recent Colic Seminar. Boy, did I learn a lot! Apparently there are several common misconceptions out there about colic that are not based on reality at all. In case you missed it, I am here to share my wealth of cat knowledge with you, and to bust those colic myths right out of the park!

Myth #1: Colic is a twisted gut.

Truth: The term ‘colic’ actually refers to a series of signs of pain, and doesn’t necessarily indicate a GI problem at all. If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my years as supervisor of an equine veterinary clinic, it’s that every horse colics differently. Some horses lay down and roll, but others paw and bite at their sides, still others simply don’t finish their grain and lift their upper lip (called the Flehmen response). I’ve heard of horses acting neurologic in their efforts to get comfortable, or even running erratically around their pasture.

This pain syndrome we call ‘colic’ can be caused by cramping, gas, a fever, a GI impaction, a urinary tract obstruction, severe pneumonia, stomach ulcers…. the list goes on. Basically, the vet’s job is to determine why your horse is colicking, and to make sure it’s not one of those rare but life-threatening ‘bad’ causes of colic, such as a twist (volvulus), strangulation, or displacement (a section of bowel is not where it’s supposed to be).

Myth #2: Horses twist their gut when they roll.

Truth: Not so fast. Have you ever seen a horse roll in the dirt, get up, shake off, and go about their day? I see the horses out in the paddocks do that all the time! I can also tell you that many horses go to surgery for a large intestine displacement or small intestine volvulus (180 degree twist) having never rolled.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Now, if you came to my wonderful Colic Seminar, you learned from Dr. Abbott that the horse’s GI tract, from mouth to rectum, measures over 100 feet. So there is definitely the potential for things to get tangled up in there. Here is the current understanding of what vets believe happens when horses actually ‘twist their gut’: Your horse gets dehydrated. This may be because there was a sudden temperature drop and he didn’t feel as thirsty as usual. Or, it may be because you were hauling to a competition and he didn’t have a water bucket in front of him the whole time. Or, it may be that he had a hoof abscess and he didn’t feel it was worth the pain to hobble on over to the water trough. For whatever reason, your horse became dehydrated, and now there is not enough moisture within his GI tract for his food (usually hay) to move along. So, it gets stuck. Now we have an impaction. Bummer.

Once your horse has an impaction, gas builds up behind (or on the mouth side of) the impaction. This gas-filled section of colon then tends to float up, and given the right circumstances, flip over top of the heavy, ingesta-filled section of colon. Now you’ve got yourself a ‘twisted gut,’ no rolling required.

Myth #3: Mineral oil is better than electrolyte solution.

Truth: This myth was busted LIVE by Dr. Vurgason at my awesome Colic Seminar, but in case you missed it, here’s how it went down. She put a fecal ball in a cup of mineral oil… it just sat there, unchanged, floating around, the whole time. She put another fecal ball in a cup of our top-secret electrolyte solution… and even before the seminar was over, it had almost completely dissolved and dispersed. This is the same solution our docs would administer to your horse via stomach tube if he were colicking. Shhhh, don’t tell anybody my secret recipe: it’s Epsom salt, lite salt, regular salt, and baking soda!

This amazing combination acts as a laxative, while also maintaining specific levels of certain minerals such as Magnesium, Sodium, Chloride, and Calcium to draw more water into the GI tract from the rest of the body. Mineral oil is a little old-school, but it does have it’s place. It will serve as a marker that your horse has passed the impaction when you see oil coming out his rear end. Other than that, we don’t think mineral oil is worth it’s salt.

Myth #4: There’s nothing I can do to prevent a colic.

Truth: While nobody can 100% prevent every type of colic, there are definitely things you can do to make it less likely that you will have a colic emergency. First off: water, and lots of it. Horses need to drink about 10 – 15 gallons of water per day just to maintain their hydration, and that’s not taking into account ongoing water loss such as sweating on a hot day. But as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. What you can do, however, is add soaked beet pulp or soaked alfalfa cubes/pellets to his diet in order to get more moisture into him. You can also add about 1 tablespoon of salt to his feed twice daily to encourage him to drink.

In addition to water, your choice of hay and how you feed it can greatly alter your horse’s colic risk. Coastal hay has a known association with impaction colics. In my docs’ experience, the more fine, short, ‘cow-quality’ coastal hay is even more likely to cause an impaction. If you choose not to eliminate coastal hay from your horse’s diet, my docs strongly recommend adding about 1/4 flake of alfalfa or peanut hay for every flake of coastal hay you feed. These legume hays have laxative effects which help to keep the coastal hay moving through your horse’s GI tract.

Another common and semi-preventable type of colic we see is sand colic. By feeding your horse’s hay and grain in elevated feeders or hay nets, you can limit their accidental ingestion of sand. In addition, feeding psyllium in the form of Sand Clear pellets for 1 week a month can help to “clean out” the sand from the colon. Alfalfa hay can also help to achieve this goal by essentially raking the sand from the bottom of the large intestine where it likes to settle, and carrying it out in the manure.

If you enjoyed my Colic Seminar, you won’t want to miss my next See Tony Event: my First Aid Seminar, coming up on April 11th at 6:30pm, right here at the clinic. Hope to see all you cool cats there!

-Tony

P.S. If you’d like to watch the video of the colic seminar, or any of our other amazing videos, you can find them on our YouTube channel. 

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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Insulin and Laminitis

Insulin and Laminitis

Mar 11, 2019 | Cushings, Diet, Exercise, Insulin Resistance, Laminitis

Tuesdays with Tony

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic Today has been a good day so far. I wandered around outside, slept in a sunny spot, then moved to a shady spot when it got too warm, enjoyed the sound of birds chirping, and just generally enjoyed the weather! Meanwhile, I have seen pictures from adoring fans around country buried in snow. That’s a hard no from this cat! I have seen as many as 12 flakes of snow at one time, and that was plenty, thank you very much. I have no desire to see more of that cold, wet, white stuff. There’s one small problem with this time of year. All that warm sunshine makes the grass grow, and if you’re a horse with an insulin issue, that grass is going to get you in more trouble than I get in when catnip is involved.

 

Insulin: Can’t live without it, too much will kill you slowly

 

Let’s review insulin, and what it does. When you eat anything containing sugar, even small amounts, your pancreas releases insulin. This insulin attaches to cells to tell them, “Hey, there’s sugar here. Come absorb it!” The cells do just that, and either store that sugar for later, or use it right away to power their little cell manufacturing facilities. All this works great until there is way, way more sugar than the cells need, then the body switches to hardcore storage. And that’s where this week’s blog really gets interesting. A vicious circle, not unlike Teanie Cat chasing her tail, is set up with the body releasing insulin so the cells will soak up the sugar, the cells ignoring the insulin, so the body releases more, and the cells ignore the signal even more. This is how we get to what’s known as Insulin Resistance (IR).

 

All that Insulin floating around

 

It turns out insulin does way more than just tell the cells of the body to suck up the sugar in the bloodstream. It also gets the growth machinery, mostly a thing called IGF-1, geared up. You see, when there’s extra sugar around, it’s a good time to grow some stuff. Lay down some bone, grow some skin, you know, spruce the body up a bit. Our bodies, cat, human, horse, all of them, aren’t designed for this system to be switched on for long periods of time. We all evolved to handle long periods of, gasp, scarcity of food. The system would experience excess sugar, lay down a lot of fat for the future lean times, fix some stuff that needed fixing, and then use all that fat when food got hard to get. Enter the modern age. We never get to that food is hard to come by period of the year. I will argue this point since I can’t get food whenever I want, and I’m often sure I’m starving, but I will say I get two to three solid meals a day, so there’s that. The growth machinery never, ever shuts down. The insulin just keeps getting pumped out. The cells say no more, even louder. The growth machinery keeps trying to grow stuff. And this is how we get to laminitis.

 

The L word

 

I have learned that no one in the horse world likes the word laminitis. For a long time, no one quite understood how or why fat horses got laminitis. For a while it was thought the thyroid gland wasn’t working quite right since other species with bad thyroid glands get fat, and have issues similar to laminitis. The problem was horses with low thyroid levels got skinny, not fat. Back to the drawing board. That drawing board was especially confusing because these fat horses improved on thyroid medications. Eventually the wise humans of the world got a better understanding of what was going on. This would have been figured out long ago if anyone had allowed cats to be involved. We know everything.

 

It turns out that growth machinery, and the cells ignoring insulin are both to blame for laminitis. The laminae are finger-like projections that come off the hoof capsule side of things, and the bone side of things. They hold each other tight to keep the hoof attached to the leg. In the picture below you can see that normally these are short, rounded fingers with long projections on their sides. On the abnormal side you see they turn long and skinny with short, squat projection along the sides. You can imagine those abnormal lamellae don’t hold on very well.

 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

 

How to make Insulin go down in three easy steps

 

The good news is insulin can go down, but it ain’t easy! Ask this fat cat how he knows…. No, don’t. I get a little testy when talking about my diet and exercise routine.

 

Step 1. Increase exercise. Even a little bit. Make sure your horse is exercising more each week than they were the week before. This can be as simple as walking for 10-15 minutes 3-4 times per week to start. Now if you already have laminitis going on, be sure you get one of my Docs to help you with an exercise plan.

 

Step 2. Decrease calories. Ration balancers, grazing muzzles, and slow feed hay bags are all excellent decrease-food-going-in options. The problem seems to be with you humans applying them. Got questions about the best way to do it? Ask my Docs!

 

Step 3. Medications to help. Sometimes even with diet and exercise, we need a little help to get things going the right direction. There are some great short term drug and supplement options to help get the diet and exercise going. Guess what? Ask my Docs for help!

 

It’s a tough time of year to be an easy keeper! Keep on top of your horse’s diet and exercise program, and know my minions are here to help!

 

Until next week,

 

~Tony

P.S. Make sure you scroll down and subscribe if you haven’t already. Don’t rely on Facebook to deliver my blog to you. They’re terribly unreliable about things like that, and my blog is far too important to risk missing!

 

Also, have you made it to one of my seminars lately? They are a fantastic resource for all you horse people out there. Free food, free information, and free selfies with Your’s Truly. You can’t beat it! You can see the list of upcoming seminars on the front page of my website at SpringhillEquine.com .

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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Allergy Testing

Allergy Testing

Mar 4, 2019 | Allergies

Tuesdays with Tony

If you’ve been by the clinic lately, you may have noticed my fancy new hairdo. If you haven’t, I’ve provided a picture for you all to admire. A few weeks ago, my staff felt the need to show me off to all the lovely people at the University of Florida Veterinary School. Of course, I was happy to oblige to my adoring fans.

Springhill Equine

 

My staff explained to me that the reason for my visit was not just to get scratches and loves from the veterinarians, technicians, and students at UF, but it was important that I get checked out for allergies. The dermatology department at UF spent the day checking me out and performing intradermal skin allergy testing (IDAT) on me, hence my fancy new haircut. Did you know that horses can have allergies too? And did you know, my doctors here at Springhill Equine can perform allergy testing on your horse to help figure out why he/she likes to itch his/her mane off every spring, or why they tend to have trouble breathing during certain times of year?

 

What is Allergy Testing?

You may be asking yourself the question, what is allergy testing? Luckily for you, I have firsthand experience on this matter and can give you the lowdown on what exactly allergy testing is. There are two different types of test available. One is a blood test that measures certain protein antibody levels in the blood that may be causing your horse’s allergic symptoms. While sometimes this is a good starting point for allergy testing, intradermal testing is much more specific. Allergy blood testing can occasionally cause horses (and cats) to test positive to allergens that they are not actually allergic to. This is why my doctors choose to test your horse with the intradermal method. Using intradermal testing, my docs can test multiple different allergens that may be causing your horse’s discomfort. In order to provide you all with a play-by-play of what occurs during intradermal testing, I had this testing done during my visit at UF.

 

Why do we perform Allergy Testing?

The main reason we perform allergy testing is for the comfort of your horse. The goal of allergy testing is to identify specific allergens that your horse is reactive to so immunotherapy can be developed and your horse can be treated.

 

How do the docs perform intradermal testing?

The first step of intradermal allergy testing in to discontinue all allergy medications. I know that up until my appointment at UF, I spent way too many valuable napping hours scratching. I suppose it was the price to pay to figure out just what was causing all my discomfort. Horses also must be off all allergy medications. This means steroids, antihistamines, etc., for at least 14 days prior to testing. After your horse has been off his/her medication, the next step is to bring them into the clinic to see my docs.  While you’re here you might even get a personal “cat” scan from yours truly. You’ll leave your horse with me for the day for monitoring, while my docs do the heavy lifting and perform the tests.

 

So, now you’re probably wondering what will happen while your horse is in my care.  First, the staff here will clip a rectangular pattern on one side of your horse’s neck. I keep a watchful eye on this part. I wouldn’t dare let a horse leave my clinic without an awesome new hairdo like mine. Next the staff will make a 6 by 6 grid in the clipped area with a permanent marker. This grid serves as a guideline to where the allergens will be injected to your horse’s neck. Next, 36 different allergens are injected just under the skin using a very small needle. This was my least favorite part of my visit at UF, though thankfully it was followed by lots of scratches and treats.

 Equine Allergy testing

A positive control (something we know your horse will react to) and a negative control (something we know your horse will not react to) are also injected under the skin, so my docs have something to compare the test allergens to. One hour after initial injection, the docs will compare the test allergens to the controls and mark those allergens which have any kind of reaction. Your horse will be looked at again three hours after initial injection and the reactions will be recorded. For the rest of the day, I will hang out with your horse and keep him/her company while he/she enjoys some tasty hay and my staff ensures no further reactions are going to occur.

 

What does all this mean?

So, you’re probably starting to think this whole allergy testing thing is sounding pretty cool, and you would be right.  You’re also probably wondering what the next step is after my docs have identified the allergens behind your horse’s discomfort. Now that reactive allergens have been identified, the docs will work with laboratories to develop immunotherapy specific to your horse. I too, got my own special immunotherapy developed specifically to treat the allergens my body was reactive to. I guess that makes me a pretty special cat, but of course we already knew that.

 

The goal of the immunotherapy is to slowly expose your horse’s immune system to low doses of allergens and gradually increase the dose. This will desensitize the immune system to the allergen so when your horse is exposed to it, it no longer reacts. And that means no more itching, no more mane ruined by rubbing, no more tails rubbed raw, and no more trouble breathing. Fortunately, once your horse’s immune system has been desensitized to the most reactive allergens, immunotherapy will no longer be needed.  A few shots for a few weeks/months seem well worth a life without scratching, if you ask me.

 

So next time you’re at the clinic, feel free to check on me and see how my immunotherapy is going. Actually, I’d be happy if you just give me pets and love. But, while you’re here, talk to my staff about setting up allergy testing for your itchy horse.

 

Until next week,

 

Tony

 

P.S. I listened to a particularly intriguing episode of Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth this week. If you haven’t listened to it yet, make sure you put it on your list. It’s all about dentals, and I guarantee you will learn something you didn’t 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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Training Horses (and pigs!)

Training Horses (and pigs!)

Feb 25, 2019 | Training

Tuesdays with Tony

Last weekend we had a professional animal trainer, Carolyn Rice, come to the clinic to help us work with a pig who is here for boarding. Carolyn has experience working with all types of animals, from zebras to camels, even ducks! While every animal is different in terms of how their brain works, any animal has the potential to learn. I’ve even managed to teach Teanie a trick or two. So, from one of those animals who is notoriously difficult to train, here are some tips on where to start with your unruly horse, pig, dog, cat, chicken, or other beloved pet. 

 

Know your animal

   
Regardless of which species you are working with, you need to have a basic understanding of how their brain works before you can teach them anything. 
Since this is an equine clinic, we will talk about horses first. Horses are prey animals, and as such, their fight-or-flight instinct is quite strong. This means that most horses will respond to you simply moving into their space, raising your arms to head-level, or driving them forward with your body position. Many horses are also food motivated, and will do just about anything for a small treat. 
    In a herd, all of the other horses will look to the dominant stallion to know whether or not something is a threat. Similarly, whether you are training on the ground or under saddle, your horse should look to you as the leader. If you say it’s okay, they need to trust you that there’s nothing to worry about. 
    As a prey species, horses have a point of balance, a pressure zone, and a flight zone. When a human, or other predator, stands in the horse’s flight zone, the horse will move away from the predator. The more tame a horse, the smaller its flight zone. This knowledge can be useful when trying to catch a horse in the field, moving a group of horses, or teaching a horse to work on a longe line. 
Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic
     Dogs, on the other hand, are predators who have been bred for centuries to be loyal to humans, almost to a fault. Dogs have a strong play drive, and love to be close to their people. Rather than flee away, most dogs will go toward a human who is running. If you’ve ever played fetch or tug-of-war with a dog, you know they love the thrill of winning.
     Different species, and even different breeds, have a different assortment of talents. Dogs use their mouths to solve problems, whereas pigs use their snouts. If horses are faced with a problem, they will normally use their long legs and enormous lungs to run away quickly!
     So, do some research on the animal you are working with. What is their history? What are they bred to be good at? How big is their brain? How well can they see, or smell? Can they learn words? Once you truly understand your pet, training will be a breeze. 
 

Command respect

     One of the best places to start in training your pet is with basic obedience, or ground manners. Respecting personal space is an important lesson for any young animal to learn. In the wild, other animals in a pack or a herd will teach personal space by biting, kicking, barking, or squealing when another animal gets too close. In a domestic setting, however, it is your job as the owner to teach your pet these ground rules. 
     Animals can actually push the boundaries of respect without you even realizing what they are doing. Does your horse ever use you as a scratching post? Does your dog put his paw on your leg when he wants attention? Does your pig root at your shoe when he wants to be fed? These are all actually subtle acts of defiance and insubordination which, over time, can make your pet believe that he or she is in charge.    
     An easy place to begin in terms of commanding respect is at feeding time. Pets depend on humans to provide for their basic needs, including food, water, and shelter. Every day at feeding time is an opportunity for you to work on that respect. For example, you can teach your dog or pig to sit and wait before you give him his food bowl. You can teach your horse or donkey to let you put their halter on before you dump their grain in their bucket. Working on these simple skills for just 5-10 minutes twice a day will go a long way.
 

Use positive reinforcement 

    In animal behavior, there are four types of reinforcement/punishment. There is positive reinforcement- for example when I get a piece of lunch meat for raising my paw. Negative reinforcement occurs when I walk outside to avoid the screaming pig in the barn (as soon as I step outside, the negative stimulus stops, which encourages me to go outside). I experience positive punishment whenever one of the techs swats me off the hood of the truck for scratching the paint and getting muddy footprints everywhere. Negative punishment happens when I am getting scritches from a client in the office, but they stop when I bite their hand. 
    My favorite of these options is positive reinforcement. I learn best and fastest when I am rewarded for performing a desired behavior. This is true for most animals, regardless of breed, species, or what behavior you are trying to teach. If you can figure out a way to use positive reinforcement in your training, you will be impressed with the results. 
      Here at Springhill Equine, the docs and techs also like to use clicker training as a form of positive reinforcement. Clickers can be used on any animals, even humans, to train a desired behavior. Too bad I don’t have opposable thumbs!
 
     I hope these training tips have given you a starting point towards making your pet the productive member of society he was meant to be. If you ever have any questions about animal behavior, or need recommendations for a trainer, the humans at my office are always a great resource. 
 
Sit. Stay. Good human. Now, scroll down and subscribe to this blog. Click!
   
       -Tony
Springhill Equine foal check

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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What Coggins Testing Is All About

What Coggins Testing Is All About

Feb 18, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

From my view at the front desk, and extensive inspection of trailers as they arrive and depart, I have determined that an awful lot of you are here for something called a Coggins. I have concluded that this is a test of the ability of my minions to take a picture of a horse with their ears forward. The shenanigans that go on to try to get three (or sometimes even just one) decent photographs of a horse amaze me on a daily basis. Apparently there is also a blood test involved, but that seems to be the easy part of this process. It seems these tests are always negative, so why are they necessary? Read on for words of wisdom from this wise cat.

 

What’s a Coggins test testing for?

 

Equine Infectious Anemia is a nasty, nasty bugger. This virus gets spread by insect bites. Usually it’s horseflies, but mosquitoes have been known to get involved, too. Here’s the annoying thing about this virus: it can float around a horse for years without any symptoms. All that time it’s busily infecting any willing horsefly or mosquito, and spreading itself to other horses. Equine Infectious Anemia is what’s known as a lentivirus. Another famous lentivirus: HIV. Just like HIV, Equine Infectious Anemia eventually destroys the immune system of an infected horse, leaving them susceptible to infections. All this sounds awful! I was horrified to learn there is a cat version of this virus called FIV.

Springhill Equine veterinary Clinic

 

How do you fight what you can’t find?

 

Prior to the late 1960s there was no way to even test for Equine Infectious Anemia. The Docs of that era (mine weren’t born yet), were left worrying if any horse with a fever had this dreaded disease, or a simple cold. There was no way to tell other than time. Outbreaks were tough to control because horses could be normal for so long before showing symptoms, and even then those symptoms were the same as many other much less serious viruses. From the first report of the disease in the United States in 1888, there were frequent outbreaks. Racetracks and breeding farms were often hit hard since it took time to recognize the presence of the disease. An outbreak at a racetrack in 1947 caused the death of 77 horses before it could be brought under control! This all sounded awful to me! Then came Dr. Coggins.

 

A way to test

 

Around 1968 Dr. Coggins worked out a way to test horses for Equine Infectious Anemia. And thus the Coggins test was born! That’s right, there’s a Dr. Coggins. Now horses could be tested to determine if their fever was Equine Infectious Anemia. By 1973, the State of Florida was the first State to make a negative Coggins test mandatory for horses being sold, or raced. Many of the Gulf Coast States were quick to follow, since the lovely hot, humid weather in these parts is great for the spread of Equine Infectious Anemia. It quickly became mandatory for horses traveling anywhere, for any reason.

 

Test, Test, Test

 

The Coggins test has caused a massive reduction in the incidence of Equine Infectious Anemia! In 2017, there were 80 positive horses in the United States. In 1975 that number was 10,371. That’s a huge difference!

There are other hidden things that happen as a result of Coggins tests. First, a veterinarian gets at least a brief look at your horse. This is so important, and I’m often appalled at the number of people who don’t value it. Having my Docs take a look and evaluate your horse yearly can help you head off major issues by addressing them when they’re minor. From teeth, to feet, to nutrition, to skin problems, the Docs can often offer quick, simple fixes in the early stages. Second, governments look at Coggins test numbers to estimate the number of horses in an area. This is how they help decide to spend money on local horse projects. Need an upgrade to your local State Park’s horse trails? Use Coggins numbers to show how many horses are around to use those facilities!

I know Coggins tests can be a bit of a pain. Who hasn’t been ready to go somewhere only to realize their Coggins expired yesterday? It’s always yesterday, never tomorrow. But if it means your horses get to live longer, happier lives, it’s a very small price to pay.

Until next week,

~ Tony

P.S. You should click over to the home page and check out all the upcoming seminars! If you haven’t been to one lately, you’ve been missing out on a great opportunity to hang out with me. And learn stuff about horses, of course.

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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How To Buy A Horse

How To Buy A Horse

Feb 11, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

So you wanna buy a horse. What kind of horse do you want? Oh wait I know, because this is what all the humans say: a gelding who is 16.2, black with some white (but not too much), must be ready to go Grand Prix (dressage, and show jumping, in the same weekend), oh and must be able to trail ride on the buckle despite deer and turkey making a ruckus, and, finally, must poop in one spot in the stall so it’s easy to clean.

Sure, I might have taken the description a bit far there, but you get the idea. Cats do love hyperbole. Let’s talk about what you really, really want in a horse, and how to find it.

 

Step 1: Write down some stuff

 

What do you currently do with your horse? If it’s take a lesson once a week on someone else’s horse, that’s great! If it’s walk and trot for 15-20 minutes, that’s good, too. If it’s compete at the National level in Western Pleasure, that’s fantastic! Start with where you are now. Then, and only then, move on to where you want to go next. You can dream a bit, don’t go too wild. If you’re doing Intro Dressage, maybe you want a horse that can take you up through 4th level. Maybe it’s a horse you can trailer to out-of-state parks to camp and ride. Be careful to stay within what’s reasonable for the next few years. For example, if you just started taking lessons last month, and now you want an Olympic-level show jumper, this is not a good plan. An even worse plan is now I want a 2 year old so we can “grow” together. You humans are really good at dreaming a little too big during this phase of the process. Not sure what a good future goal would be? Find a professional who can help you with that!!! Pay them for this knowledge. It’s totally worth it!

 

Step 2: See what’s out there

 

This does not mean call up McLain Ward and see if HH Azur is available to try. This means check out the ads on Facebook, and all the horse-for-sale sites to see what’s around. Use your goals list to find horses actually doing what you want to do. Now, and here’s the tricky part, how much do those horses cost? Sure, Dr. Lacher wants a horse that will take her around the International Hunter Derby, but until she gets adopted by Bill Gates, that’s not likely to happen. You get the idea. Let this portion of our activity be the check on your wishes. It’s also why I said don’t dream too big in your goals in Step 1. Again, know who else can help you with this phase? A good professional. Oh, and pay them for this knowledge, too. It’s still totally worth it.

 

Step 3. Now go look at what’s out there

 

Alright, you know what you want, and you have a reasonable price range. Go try some horses. This is really, really, really where you want to have a professional helping you. You know why? Because you humans will fall in love with the wrong thing every time. From other humans to horses, you just don’t pick well. You need someone with an objective eye. Sure, that chestnut mare with the white stockings is beautiful, but she pinned her ears and tried to buck you off every time you asked her to lope off. Now maybe that’s something you have the skills to work through, maybe it isn’t. Having someone else’s thoughts on the matter is really important! After you’ve tried each horse, use those opposable thumbs, and write some stuff down. What did you like? What did you hate?

 Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Step 4. Get a pre-purchase exam

 

You knew I was going to get to the doctor stuff at some point. I do live in a veterinary clinic, after all. When you decide which horse, get a thorough pre-purchase exam done. The key part of that is PRE. Yes, before you buy the horse.

 

A pre-purchase exam is an incredibly thorough evaluation of a horse. My Docs look very closely at every part of them from the whiskers on their nose, to the hair on their tail. They do a full lameness and neurological evaluation as well. In other words, they check for all the things. Now, these are horses, and no one can 100% predict the future, especially when it comes to horses. However, they will know the most they can for you about this horse, on this particular day.

 

After the exam, the Docs usually recommend some x-rays. X-rays help them evaluate what’s going on inside. In particular, front feet, hocks, and stifles can be future problem areas. Knowing what they look like on this day can give them an idea about the future. Pre-purchase exams can get very expensive, very quickly. I’m not saying everyone needs to take x-rays of the entire horse. I am saying don’t skip the exam part of things!

 

A horse is a major expense, whether you’re spending $5,000 or $500,000. Spending a few hundred dollars to check it out first is called being a Smart Buyer. Be a Smart Buyer. If you’ll read my blog on nutrition, you can pay for your pre-purchase exam with the money you save on all those unnecessary supplements!

 

Step 5. Put it all together

 

Each one of these steps is important. Don’t pick the horse that won’t meet your goals, because it passed the pre-purchase. At the same time, don’t pick the horse that is perfect in every way, except it’s lame in three legs on the pre-purchase. Take everything in consideration.

 

The most important final step

 

Scroll down a little bit further, and subscribe to this blog. Then go subscribe to the podcast the humans do called Straight From The Horse Doctor’s Mouth. The more you know about horses, the better-prepared you will be as a horse owner. And seriously, I’m giving you all my cat knowledge for free. Where else can you get that kind of love?

 

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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Foaling Kits

Foaling Kits

Feb 4, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

The Ins and Outs of Foaling Kits

 

It’s that time of year again, and everyone around the clinic has been buzzing with excitement about how new baby foals are about to hit the ground. Honestly, I don’t see why it’s so exciting. It’s not like a bunch of new kittens are about to be squirming about. But nonetheless, you’ve waited 11 long months for your bundle of joy to arrive. Luckily for you, I am here to help make sure you’re prepared for the long-awaited event. Before your foal arrives, it is important to have a foaling kit prepared with the essentials.

 

Contact Info

 

At the forefront of your foaling kit should be a list of my Docs phone numbers, especially our clinic’s emergency number, (352)-474-5007. It is also a good idea to have a list of phone numbers close by of those people you want present for the foaling. While you’re at it, you probably want to have a fully charged cellphone available so you can call my Docs as soon as you notice your mare showing signs of labor.

 

Lights and Clocks

 

While I tend to sleep 23 hours a day, for some reason, mares like to foal late at night/early in the morning. Hours of sleep wasted if you ask me, but because of this, it is important to have a good light source available. A flash light or head lamp will do nicely. Be sure you have a watch, clock, or stopwatch in your kit as well, so you can time each stage of labor.

 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Paper and Pen

 

If your mind isn’t quite as cat-like as mine and you’ve forgotten the correct interval times of each stage of labor, do not fear, just call the clinic and we will refresh your memory.  Don’t forget when you call to have pen and paper ready to write things down, then you can just throw that pen and paper right into your foaling kit to have it available to write down the timings you take with your stopwatch when labor starts. Good moms take good notes!

 

Towels and Tail Wrap

 

You can never have too many clean towels. I like to lay on all the clean towels right when they come out of the dryer, ahhh so warm! Clean towels will come in handy after the foal is born, especially on a cool night to dry the little nugget off, but remember: let the mare do most of the cleaning and drying so she and her new foal have time to bond. If you catch your mare at the early stages of labor and you won’t disturb her, you may want to keep some vet wrap around and apply a loose tail wrap on her to prevent all those gooey birthing fluids from ruining her luscious locks.

 

String and Bucket

 

String, my favorite toy, it’s so much fun to chase around, is also an essential of any foaling kit. It has so many wonderful uses! You can tie up the placenta if the mare doesn’t pass it right away (we certainly don’t want her to step on it accidentally). Once the placenta has been passed, store it in a heavy-duty bucket with a lid or a strong plastic bag so that the Doctors can inspect it for any missing pieces. They must treat your mare right away if any part of the placenta is retained. An enema kit should be on hand in case your foal is having trouble getting things moving, but call my Docs before giving any kind of enema to your new baby!

 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

 

Scissors

 

Sharp, blunt-tipped scissors or a sharp knife will be useful if you need to cut any string, or if the foal is having trouble getting its tiny little feet through the amniotic sac and you need to cut it away. Maybe they should be born with sharp claws like cats, then they wouldn’t have any trouble getting their feet out of the sac. But I digress.

 

Colostrum Plan

 

Your new baby will certainly need colostrum, have a plan in place with the Docs on what to do if the foal cannot get the necessary colostrum from its dam for some reason, as this will be the foal’s only source of immune boosting components necessary for it to develop a healthy immune system.

 

Antiseptic Dip

 

Last, but definitely not least, have some antiseptic dip. I recommend dilute chlorhexidine solution to dip your foal’s umbilical stump two to three times daily for the first three days of life. Dilute means 1 part chlorhexidine, 4 parts water. The umbilicus is an easy entry point for infection and should be kept clean and dry.

 

Plan B: Let Springhill Do It!

 

If all of this is just too much for you to bear, have no fear, the experts are here.  Just call my staff at the clinic and ask them about our foal watch boarding where your mare will be under my watchful eye at all times (except when I’m sleeping of course). At the time of the big event, I will alert my Docs and they will be at your mare’s side for the entire process to ensure the safe arrival of your new bundle of joy.

 

More Info

 

It’s no coincidence that my docs have a podcast coming out on Feb. 15th (2019, in case you are reading this in the future) on foals. Dr. Hall, who is the foal expert down at Equine Medical Center of Ocala, joins the podcast for a deep dive into foals. It is packed full of need-to-know information! You can listen right on the website or subscribe to Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

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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Horse Show Prep

Horse Show Prep

Jan 29, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

Dr. Vurgason had a horse show this past weekend, so all week long I had to hear her whine and complain about all the preparation she had to do in order to get her horse ready to show. I had no idea how much work was involved, all for a horse to run around in a circle for 3 minutes! Hopefully these tips I learned from listening to Dr. V can help you out before your next big competition.

Paperwork

    As you probably know, most horse shows will want to see a current negative Coggins before you compete. This is by far the most common piece of paperwork we are asked to rush because someone didn’t realize their horse’s Coggins was expired and they have a competition this weekend. A RUSH Coggins will run you about $100… so make sure to plan ahead and update your horse’s Coggins before show season gears up!
     In addition to a Coggins, all USEF-rated competitions are now requiring that your horse has proof of vaccination for Flu (Equine Influenza) and Rhino (Equine Herpes Virus 1 & 4) within the last 6 months. And don’t even get me started on FEI passports…what a hassle! This is another reason to make sure to not let your vaccines lapse beyond that 6 month mark. My minions are always happy to send you a USEF letter if we have vaccinated your horse for flu and rhino. If you are showing regularly, I would strongly recommend our Performance Wellness plan so your horse stays up-to-date with vaccines every 4 months.
     USEF is now also requiring that all horses have a microchip before being allowed to compete. Microchips are a great idea here in Florida anyway, what with all the random hurricanes that tend to grace us with their presence. So, if your horse is not yet microchipped, be sure to call my office peeps to get that scheduled before you show!
     The last piece of red tape you will need to get your horse to the show is a health certificate, provided you will be crossing state lines or passing Ag stations to get there. Remember that one of my docs needs to examine your horse within 10 days of writing a health certificate, so factor in a visit to us when planning for your trip! Also keep in mind that health certificates are only valid for 30 days, so be sure to check your dates before hauling out.
Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Preventing a problem 

     There is a lot of  stuff that gets stuffed in a horse trailer in the name of preventing a problem at the show. Some of the stuff is worthwhile, other stuff not so much. Ulcergard? Go for it! Perfect Prep? Save your dollars. If you’d like to know what 3 veterinarians-who-also-ride-and-compete-regularly stock in their trailers, here’s the inside scoop:
     Bell boots are their favorite shipping wraps. These can prevent your horse from pulling a shoe, while avoiding additional heat on the limbs when hauling in warm weather. I’ve written an entire blog on the topic of boots, so be sure to check that out for more details.
      They always pack extra blankets and coolers for those chilly overnights at the show or that early morning walk up to the ring. Keeping your horse’s muscles warm can help prevent an injury. Keeping your horse warm can also encourage him to drink, which is an issue for many horses when traveling.
     They feed extra alfalfa hay before and during a show weekend. This helps to slightly soften the manure and prevent colic. Not to mention the additional protein, calcium, and magnesium help your horse keep up with the demands of competition.
        They wrap their horses’ legs after a hard ride, especially one with lots of jumping, or several hours standing around at a ring. Standing wraps can prevent stocking up, reducing swelling, pain and inflammation in tired limbs.
       They give their horses some form of ulcer prevention when shipping. No matter who you talk to, they will agree that shipping stress leads to gastric ulcers. There are several products out there to decrease the incidence of ulcers, just make sure you are using them correctly. Remember that Ulcergard or Gastrogard must be given on an empty stomach and at least 30 minutes before a meal to be effective. Ranitidine doesn’t require the same feed restrictions, but it must be administered 2-3 times daily. Ulcer prevention supplements such as Nutrena Soothing Pink, Purina Outlast, and Legends GastroCare, are great options for your horse leading up to and during the show, too.

 In case of emergency

  So, let’s say you’ve done everything right. You have your Coggins, USEF letter, microchip, and health certificate in order. You packed your extra blankets, gave him Ulcergard and alfalfa, wrapped his legs and put on his bell boots. But now, despite your best efforts…he’s colicking! He came up lame in the warm-up ring! He broke out in hives from the horse show shavings! What do you do?
     Well, this should go without saying, but first you should call your vet. Even if you are away from home, my docs are here to answer your questions and offer advice. If you have some Banamine, Bute, or Dexamethasone on hand, they may be able help you get your horse through a minor medical episode. It’s always good to know the right people. I myself like to get to know people who eat tuna for lunch…and are willing to share.
   If for some reason you are one of those humans who likes to parade their horse around in circles in hopes that another human will give you a $1 silk ribbon, I hope this blog has been helpful for you. If not, you seem like my kind of human…let’s hang out. Keep it classy,
       -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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Bute, Banamine, or Equioxx?

Bute, Banamine, or Equioxx?

Jan 21, 2019 | Uncategorized

Tuesdays with Tony

I hear this a lot around here: do you want paste or powder bute? We’re going to give this colic an injection of banamine. Here’s Equioxx for you to add to Flicka’s grain everyday to help manage arthritis. It got me wondering, what’s up with bute, Banamine (flunixin), and Equioxx (firocoxib)? Must a horse owner have all three to be a good horse mom? Is one better than the other? Horses are soooo confusing sometimes!

 

NSAIDs

 

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs around here. It seems they have a myriad of uses in the equine from colics, to lamenesses, to wounds.

I myself have had this drug class once in my lifetime (so far) when Teanie got mad at me for an ever so slightly sarcastic comment I sent her way, and broke my leg. It took the dull, throbbing pain down a notch which allowed me to contentedly sleep in my chair. The Docs said pain relief is one of their primary uses for these drugs. They also can be used to block the really bad things that happen when bacteria start dying in big numbers in an infection.  NSAIDs, most importantly, block inflammation. It’s right there in the name. Blocking inflammation helps all kinds of stuff. You know that redness you get around an infected wound? That’s inflammation, and sometimes it gets so bad it makes it hard for the body to get the healing cells in there. Same goes for swelling. NSAIDs can do wonders to bring down swelling!

 

Why these three drugs?

 

There are lots of NSAIDs out there, but my extensive countertop research has determined that bute, Banamine, and Equioxx are the biggies for equine. Why? A few reasons: price, ease of administration, and efficacy in the equine. When I broke my leg I got a drug called meloxicam. It works a lot like bute, but a horse dose would cost  $4,614.70 per dose. At least they only get one dose per day. So meloxicam is out for full size horses (it does get used in minis, and foals sometimes). All three can be given either IV, or by mouth, so there are good administration options. Also, all three work pretty well in horses, so there’s that. And all three have minimal side effects when given appropriately (that last word is important!).

 

Colic = Banamine

 

It is a well known “fact” in the horse world that all colics must get Banamine, and then be walked. Going to let you in on a secret: neither of these are facts. Colics don’t need to be walked, and they can get bute, Banamine, or Equioxx. The Docs give Banamine because it is the easiest to have on the truck at all times. It doesn’t require refrigeration, like bute, the IV form is much more cost effective than the IV form of Equioxx, and if they are trying to get it in a super painful, jumping around colic it’s OK if a little bit gets out of the vein. If bute ends up in the skin around the vein, it can cause the whole area to slough!!! If you’ve ever watched them trying to hit a vein on a super painful colic, you will really understand why they prefer Banamine. There is a rumor out there that Banamine is better at managing colic pain than any other NSAID, but it’s just that, a rumor. There’s no hard science behind it. Eyes are a different story. Banamine is the best NSAID for eye pain. When my Docs see eye things, they reach for Banamine first.

 Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Arthritis = Bute

 

Much like it is a known “fact” that all colics get Banamine, it is an often-known “fact” that all arthritis responds to bute. At this point in the blog, you will likely not be surprised to learn this isn’t quite true, either. Just like people all respond differently to drugs, horses do, too. Now, it is true that bute is generally the first NSAID my Docs reach for when it comes to pain relief, and it’s for a bunch of different reasons. First, bute is pretty darn cheap. Second, it is well-tolerated by nearly all horses. Third, it comes in easy options to get it into horses. There’s paste, powder, tablets, and injectable. Bute gets a bad rap for being hard on horse stomachs. While there are some horses that are really sensitive to bute, those horses are few and far between. More commonly, my Docs see horses that are given WAY, WAY too much bute in very short amounts of time. You should never, never, never give more than 2 grams in 24 hours unless you are 9,000% sure your veterinarian said to!!! And then you should ask them again to be really sure.

 

So Who gets Equioxx?

 

Equioxx is one of the newer NSAIDs on the market. It doesn’t work any differently than bute or Banamine with one important exception: it is easy on the stomach. If your horse has a history of issues with bute or Banamine, or has a stomach issue, my Docs will reach for Equioxx first. Otherwise it’s going to be one of the options for you to try on your horse. Just like people respond differently to aspirin, Advil, and Aleve, horses respond differently to each of these NSAIDs. My Docs will often recommend you do trials of all three drugs (separately, you don’t want to go giving bute, Banamine, and Equioxx all at the same time) to determine which works best for you and your horse. It seems the old, arthritic guys do like Equioxx quite a bit, but that result varies by horse. I also have it on good authority, Dr. Lacher likes Equioxx for hers because it’s super easy to give. She puts it in her hand with a little bit of grain, and the horses eat it up. No arguing over the tube of bute paste, or wondering if they ate the powder.

 

Moral of my NSAID story: talk with my Docs about what is the best answer for you and your horse. Oh, and the equine world is full of Ol’ Wives Tales, but then you knew that.

Until next week,

Tony

P.S. Have you ever taken a look around the rest of my website? There’s a lot of cool stuff here! Scroll back up to the menu bar after you subscribe, and have a look around. If you find something you like, share it with a friend!

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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!