Jun 19, 2017 | Pet Pigs
Pet Pigs!
I typically tend to grace you, my loyal readers, with seemingly endless knowledge of the equine species. Well, for a twist, today I am going to enlighten you with my wisdom regarding animals of the porcine variety. Who knew pet pig care was another one of my many areas of expertise?
Umm, I just got a pet pig- now what?!
So, you have found yourself the new owner of a pet pig. Now what do you do? Does it need vaccines? Should it be spayed or neutered? What do you feed it? For your convenience, I have designed a complete annual Pig Wellness Package which includes all of your pig’s healthcare needs for the year in one easy visit! I don’t actually perform the services- I have Dr. Vurgason for that. Cats don’t much care for squealing.
Dr. Vurgason’s mild pig obsession
Arguably the best part of my brilliant Pig Wellness Package is the opportunity to pick Dr. V’s brain about pig nutrition, pig behavior, and all things swine. As a life-long pig owner herself, Dr. V lives for the chance to talk pig with other fans of the best pet money can buy (cats should be adopted, so we’re in a different category).
Remember to spay or neuter your pet (pig)!
Now that you have a Pig Wellness Package for all of his or her annual care like vaccines, physical exam, deworming, hoof trim, and tusk trim, what else does your pig need? Well, just like cats and dogs, pet pigs should be spayed or neutered before 1 year of age if they are not intended as breeding animals. Conveniently, Springhill Equine (and Porcine?) now offers these services as well!
If you have any questions about your pet pig that I haven’t expertly answered (doubtful), don’t miss my 2nd Annual Piggy Ice Cream Social this Saturday at 2 pm! It was hands-down the most entertaining event of last year. No pet pig required to attend! You horse people will get a kick out of this, I promise. There will be kiddie pools and watermelon for the pigs, frozen treats for the humans, and Dr. V, who will be happy to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about those cute little oinkers! See you there, fans.
Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic, it’s staff, and mascot Tony, are not responsible for the overwhelming urge to get a pet pig after attending this event. If you already have a pet pig, be alert for any of the following symptoms: excessive Google searches for pigs that need homes, researching costume ideas for pigs, moving people out of your house to make room for more pigs, planning social events around pig-friendly places, the ratio of pictures of your kids to pictures of your pigs on your phone becomes greater than 3:1, you call your kids by the pig’s name on accident more than twice daily, your pig has more than 2 social media accounts, you spend in excess of 2 hours a day thinking about clever pig names, or if you have stopped associating with people who mention that perhaps you might have a pig obsession. If you experience any of these or other similar symptoms, please contact your local Pig Owners Super Support Endeavor (POSSE). If you don’t have a posse, start one!
Jun 12, 2017 | Flies
Ah, not-winter! It covers most of the year in Florida. I love not-winter. I love sleeping in the sun, I love rolling in the grass, and I love not being cold. I don’t love bugs. Not-winter comes with a lot of bugs. Want to learn how to manage some of those bugs? Read on while I confer some wisdom on you.
Whatcha got there?
Any good bug management plan starts with knowing what kind of bugs you have. Around horses, you generally have stable flies and house flies. Easy way to tell them apart: the ones biting your legs are stable flies; the ones landing on your lunch are house flies. I have included pictures if you would like to examine their cold, lifeless bodies after you kill them to determine which ones you have.
Beyond stable and house flies, you have horse flies, horn flies, and the always-fun deer flies. Gnats are another little gem. I have a bad news/good news scenario for them later on. Each of these fun creatures from Hell require their own management system, so knowing what you have, and what you are trying to control, is really important.
Manage your poop
Step 1 in fly management is manure management. House flies and gnats, in particular, love a good organic component to their baby nurseries. By managing your manure well, you make inhospitable baby-making territory.
I have a few thoughts on this matter, but let’s start with the basics. Look for areas where manure and water congregate. Eliminate those areas with drains (I hear the French version works well, whatever that means), and manure buckets so poop leaves the vicinity rather than making a delicious manure/water mud fly aphrodisiac. Drag fields to break up manure so it can dry out. Cover manure piles with black tarps to make it too hot to handle for baby flies.
Horses make a lot of poop. Making it less appealing to flies will go further than most control measures towards decreasing your fly population.
Want to make your manure into compost you can put on your fields and flowers in 90 days? Check out this link.
Or ask Dr. Lacher about her aerated static pile compost system. She loves to talk about it, and it will save the rest of us from hearing about how amazing it is, again.
Kill them, kill them all
Back to the beginning: know what you have to know how to kill them.
Fly predators and traps are great options to really decimate your house and stable fly population. Being a thoughtful cat, I have included the best traps to use for the most common fly types below. Before you get to traps, though, let’s talk fly predators.
Fly predators just sound like some scary little creatures, don’t they? Like The Rock of bugs. The truth is less tough, and more delicate. These little tiny wasps must be protected from the big, bad world so they can do their job of killing baby flies. So a few fly predator tips:
- Begin releasing them before fly season gets going
- Release them in early morning or early evening. They don’t like the dark or cold
- Be sure temperatures are above 45 degrees before you release them
- Ants really like to eat them. Release them in an area where they are safe from being devoured by ants.
- They will only travel about 3 feet from where they are released. Plan your release locations wisely to maximize your benefits.
Now for some traps:
For House flies: For Stable flies:
Click here for more about the biting fly trap pictured on the right
For Horse and Deer Flies:
Click here
Click here
http://www.atlantic-county.org/mosquito-control/greenhead.asp is another great resource with instructions on how to build your own fly traps.
For horn flies: move all cows more than 5 miles away…. yeah.
If you can’t kill ‘em, repel ‘em
You’ve managed your poop, put out traps, and released the fly predators. Now what? Now you may explore the fly spray/repellent option. Why save this for last? Because fly sprays don’t work very well. Yeah, you thought it was true. This cat confirms it. Fly sprays don’t work very well.
My best fly spray advice is to use it when necessary for short times, and use a whole lot of it at once. Going out for a ride? Douse that pony in fly spray. Once it dries, it’s efficacy (no matter what brand, or homemade concoction it is) decreases dramatically. The only place fly spray works well is against horn flies. Those guys hate the stuff. Paying particular attention to spraying your horse’s belly will also drive them up, and the heat of full-on Florida sun will kill them.
Want slightly better options for long term control? My Docs love a product called Ultra Boss. This is an oil-based pour on designed for cattle, but safe for horses. They usually find 8-10cc strategically placed on various body parts where flies (and gnats) congregate will last for 7-10 days. If you ride often though, it will last more in the 3-5 day range. This product works great to repel gnats!
Speaking of gnats
Ugh! Gnats!! Bad news: there’s no trap, or control method to minimize the horrors of gnats. They like sandy, organic soil. Florida is one giant peninsula of sandy, organic soil. Good news: IBH Salve, SB Salve, and Ultra Boss work great to keep them away from the sensitive areas of your horse’s eyes and face. Also in good news, fly masks and the mosquito mesh turnout sheet from Schneider’s saddlery work pretty darn good to keep them off your horse.
Flies are awful, horrible critters. Help a cat rid the world of these vile creatures. Want even more help? Give my Docs a call. They are ridiculously knowledgeable about flies.
Jun 5, 2017 | Allergies, Haircoat, Pests, Skin Funk
Skin
Skin is a truly amazing organ. It keeps our bodies from drying out, protects us against infection, plus it’s waterproof! I love my skin. Heck, as a cat, I spend several hours a day grooming it just to keep it in pristine condition. But the trouble with skin is that sometimes this protective barrier that surrounds our entire bodies can break down. Let’s take a closer look at the 3 biggest enemies of equine skin: Rain, Sun, and Bugs.
Rain
Just about every horse owner has heard of Rain Rot. But, did you know that rain rot is actually caused by a type of bacteria, and not a fungus? And did you know that this same bacteria can cause skin problems elsewhere on the body, like the pasterns and cannon bones? Rain rot is so named because this bacterium happens to thrive in moist environments. This is why it is usually found on your horse’s back or flanks after heavy rainfall, or on the back of his pasterns when he has been standing in a muddy pasture. So, while skin is waterproof, it is not a fan of prolonged exposure to moisture.
Sun
You wouldn’t go outside all day in the middle of summer without any sunblock on, would you? Well, the same goes for your white horse, or even your chestnut horse with that little snip on his nose. If you are one of the lucky ones to own a mostly-white paint horse in Florida, you may want to invest in a full-body fly sheet with UV-blocking properties. But, if it’s just a strip or a blaze you need to cover up, daily application of sunblock or a fly mask may suffice. Don’t forget to protect your horse’s skin from sunburn just as you would your own!
Bugs
Nobody likes being bitten or stung by flies, gnats, bees, ants, and the like. But many horses are actually allergic to the saliva of these pests. As you may have guessed, the skin and hair of these horses is a complete disaster during the buggy season. The owners of these horses may as well invest in fly spray at the rate they have to buy it! Wouldn’t it be great if there were a single product you could apply daily to repel bugs, soothe skin, take away the itch, and treat already-existing bug bites? Well, actually, there is!
To find out about this and other magical equine skin products, don’t miss our free seminar, Managing Skin: From Itch to Funk! this Thursday, June 8th, at 7pm. One of my favorite speakers from Kinetic Vet will be talking about how to manage these and a variety of other equine skin conditions. Oh, and most importantly, I will be there! Check out the Event Page on Facebook for more details!
So, bring a friend, and a treat for me, and I’ll see you Thursday! Be ready to take home some free stuff, but please make sure that I am not among the prizes that wind up in your barn. Sometimes I accidentally go home with people…
May 29, 2017 | Microchips
Microchips
I like to wander sometimes. I once went to a new farm for Thanksgiving weekend. Another time, a client had a two-horse trailer, and four horses that needed Coggins tests. I decided to go home with them after the first round, check out their farm, and then return to the Clinic with them. That’s not quite how the humans saw my adventure, but that’s what I was up to. Why do I bring up my little reconnaissance missions? Microchips. That’s why. I’m chipped, Teannie is chipped, and all my minions have their horses chipped. Read on and I will let you know why every animal should be chipped.
Hurricanes Happen
June 1st through November there’s this great add-on season in Florida. It’s called Hurricane Season. I love watching the humans compare weather apps, Florida Storms Twitter feed, and stalk Jim Cantore like he’s the latest, greatest teenage boy band member.
You humans do this so you can be prepared for the pandemonium and chaos caused by hurricanes. They take down trees, annihilate power lines, and take down fences. All this leads to fantastic opportunities for your horses (and cats, and dogs) to explore the neighborhood without proper adult supervision. Microchips ensure the nice people who find your horse (or dog, or cat) can easily return them to you! Microchips are the reason nearly all horses were successfully reunited with their owners after Hurricane Katrina.
The Rules
Admittedly, I’m not one for rules. They say ‘don’t get on the keyboard’, I say ‘watch how many keys I can press in one pass’. However, I can get behind the microchip rules several organizations are putting in place. The Jockey Club began requiring microchips for Thoroughbreds for 2017. No more trying to figure out if that’s a F or an A or a B or an E on that lip tattoo!
US Equestrian has also put in a rule that all horses showing in USHJA divisions are microchipped beginning December 2017. This should reduce the, umm, inappropriate identity changes some horses get so they can stay in certain divisions.
Permanent Identification
The number one thing microchips provide is a permanent, unalterable way to identify a horse (or cat, or dog). Now, you may have read stories on the internet about how someone changed a microchip number, or removed one from a horse. Take it from this cat: not everything you read on the internet is true! I know it’s hard to believe, but the 52 thoroughbreds all have homes, and microchips can’t be removed or altered.
Be Prepared
Hurricane season is coming, and so is December 2017. No matter your reason, your horse should be microchipped. What if the unimaginable happened, and it was a picture of your horses walking down the side of the highway that was making the rounds on Facebook? I know it would be worth $60 to you for the sheriff’s department to be able to find out who they belong to and get them home safely. Not everyone is a celebrity cat like me, after all.
May 23, 2017 | Breeding, Foals, Vaccines
Pregnant Mare Care: What should I do?
Breeding season is sadly coming to a close. While I’m relieved to see an end to the interruptions of my early morning and late night cat naps, I will miss the excitement of watching the docs confirm a mare is pregnant for the first time. If you just heard the awesome news that your mare is in foal, congratulations! Now what? Should you simply mark your calendar for 11 months from now, sit back and relax? Well, not exactly. Pregnant mare care is about to become a big part of your life for the year to come! Let me explain.
Cute ultrasound pics
If you were a pregnant human, you’d be visiting your midwife or OB/GYN about once a month throughout your pregnancy. For horses, we recommend ultrasounds at 14 days, 30 days (“heartbeat check”), 60 days, 90 days, and 7 months of pregnancy. How else can you get cute ultrasound pictures to post on Facebook with your mare’s pregnancy announcement? But seriously, early embryonic loss is not uncommon in mares, so we like to do several ultrasounds during the first few months of pregnancy to confirm that all is well. The 7 month ultrasound is primarily to look for signs of placentitis, or infection of the placenta. When identified early, placentitis can be treated and can prevent abortion of a late-term foal.
Your mare, the pincushion
While there are many potential causes of abortion in mares, there is one that is very easily prevented: equine herpes virus. The Pneumabort vaccine is extremely safe, and designed specifically for pregnant mares to protect against equine herpes virus infection. In my humble opinion, giving your mare a Pneumabort shot at 3, 5, 7, and 9 months of pregnancy is a no-brainer! Also, don’t forget to schedule your mare’s pre-foaling vaccines 4-8 weeks before her due date. The docs like to vaccinate mares shortly before giving birth to boost those antibodies so they will transfer to the newborn foal in the mare’s milk. A brilliant plan, if I do say so myself!
Prenatal vitamins for horses
Now that she is eating for two, it may be time to increase or change your mare’s feeding program. Just like pregnant humans, mares need a strong vitamin and mineral package to support the healthy growth of their fetus. Lucky for you, there are several commercially available Mare & Foal feeds that are well suited to meet the needs of pregnant and lactating mares. Especially towards the end of her pregnancy, it will be important to keep up with your mare’s nutritional demands in order for her to produce enough milk once her foal is born.
So, fear not my friends. For although this year’s breeding season is coming to a close, you will see me again at least another half dozen times between now and when that adorable foal makes his debut! As a matter of fact, you can come see me at 6:30 pm on June 8th here at the Clinic for our ever-popular Skin Funk Seminar! If you bring me a treat, I’ll let you pet me. Well, I’ll probably let you pet me even if you don’t bring a treat, because I’m a good guy like that.
-Tony
May 15, 2017 | Dentals
Tuesdays with Tony – Dentals
My usual Saturday solitude was disturbed this past weekend by Dr. Lacher. I had planned on a day of lying on the counter, watching the world through the front window, but instead I watched her do three dentals. I digress momentarily to point out that these three horses are part of our amazing Wellness Program. Click here to find out more about this money, time, and, even, life saving program here at Springhill Equine! Anyway, back to my story. I noticed some things (as a cat, it’s what I do) while watching Dr. Lacher perform these dentals that I would like to share with you.
Good Drugs
The first thing I noticed was a nice dose of sedation for each horse. I thought this was very considerate of Dr. Lacher. I, personally, get full-on anesthesia for dentistry, and I know many humans who would like a nice dose of sedative at the dentist. Dr. Lacher explained to me that this wasn’t just for fun. Sedation allows her to place something called a full-mouth speculum. Turns out, much like me, horses simply will not stand there with their mouth wide open while you work on their teeth. A speculum holds the mouth open so Dr. Lacher can do what is probably the most important part of the dental: a full oral exam.
What’s in there???
Holy teeth, Batman! With the speculum on, a bright light shining in there, and the help of a really, really big dental mirror, I was able to see that horse teeth go WAY back. I’m pretty sure they went back at least 5, maybe even 6 feet. That may be an exaggeration, but they go way back there. It was at this point that Dr. Lacher told me some people don’t even use sedation, or a full mouth speculum, or a bright light when they work on horse teeth. I realize I am a cat, and therefore of superior intelligence, but I don’t understand how anyone thinks they can see all the way to the back of the mouth without sedation, a full mouth speculum, and a really bright light. Humans. They do concern me with their decisions sometimes!
OK, but power tools?
After doing an incredibly thorough exam of the mouth, Dr. Lacher pulled out two different power tools. “Whoa!” I said, “just what do you think you’re doing with those?”
“Floating teeth,” was her reply. By the way, in case you are wondering why we call it floating, as I was, it is an older woodworking term for filing wood down until it is smooth.
Dr. Lacher explained that power tools allow her to do a better, more thorough job, in less time with less wear and tear on the horse, and much less wear and tear on her. It allows her to the same job on the first horse she does on the 10th horse of the day. Just like any power tool, it’s not the tool, it’s how you use it. Dr. Lacher further explained that it’s why our Docs go through extensive dentistry training on a very regular basis. They keep up on the latest and greatest in information and treatments for all kinds of dentistry. Power tools get all kinds of bad press, but how many people do you know who saw wood by hand? Same concept.
By the end of the morning, I had learned a good deal more than I ever cared to know about equine dentistry. I learned doing less is way better than doing more, I learned about sharp points and excess transverse ridges, and I even got to see a tooth extraction. Luckily for Dr. Lacher, she was out of the Clinic by noon so I could return to my regularly scheduled Saturday activity. I am pleased to report that seven cars, one dog, and 27 birds were seen out the front window between noon and 3pm at which time I was needed in the cat bed in the back office. Until next week: Happy Napping!
May 9, 2017 | Colic, Ulcers
Stomach Ulcers
Wow, that was some race last weekend! I had a great time hosting our annual Kentucky Derby party with our Wellness Clients here at the clinic, and sampling the delicious food from O Sole Mio. When I see the hats that you people wear to watch a horse race, it makes me even more glad I’m a cat! It looks like a lot of work to make one of those things, and then carry it around on your head. I have people that do the work
for me, so that’s really not my thing at all. Anyway, the race was very exciting, especially the saddle-bronc bucking display coming out of the gate! Thoroughbreds are certainly majestic and athletic creatures. But, as a cat who works at a vet clinic, I can’t watch Thoroughbreds without thinking about stomach ulcers. Comes with the trade, I guess!
Could my horse have stomach ulcers?
Short answer: yes. Long answer: horses of any breed or discipline, horses in and out of work, young horses, old horses, horses with a history of ulcers, and horses who have never been sick a day in their life… any horse can develop stomach ulcers. Did you know that 92% of racehorses in training have stomach ulcers? That being said, barrel racers, hunter/jumpers, reiners, eventers, harness horses, and cutting horses all have over 50% prevalence of GI ulcers as diagnosed by endoscopy. FYI, endoscopy is when a vet sticks a fiber-optic camera down your horse’s throat and into his stomach to actually look for ulcers along the stomach lining. That’s pretty cool!
But my horse isn’t stressed!
How do you know? Did you ask him? The truth is, even if your horse has the life of a pampered prince that you could only dream of, he may be stressed by his normal daily routine. Did you know that keeping a horse in a stall for half a day, and feeding only twice a day can be stressful for your horse? When I get diabetic, the docs only feed me twice a day, and trust me, that’s not the way I like it! Spending hours grooming your horse may be relaxing for you, but it likely gets on his nerves to stand still in the cross-ties for that long. Hauling your horse anywhere, even to the park for a “leisurely” trail ride, is always a stress-inducing event.
OK, so how do I know for sure if my horse has stomach ulcers?
The only way to know for sure if your horse has stomach ulcers is to have an endoscopy performed. But, I recommend simply starting with an exam by one of our awesome docs. They are highly experienced with the signs of stomach ulcers, and chances are with a thorough history and physical exam they can tell you whether your horse likely does or does not have GI ulcers. Also, they can help you navigate the confusing maze of ulcer treatments to pick the best option for you and your horse.
Boy, I think all this learning is giving me an ulcer! Time for a cat nap. Until next week!
-Tony
May 2, 2017 | Injuries, Lacerations, Wound care
Wound Care
The Shock and Awe Phase
You walk out to feed in the morning and are confronted with what you are sure is your horse’s leg hanging off a bloody stump. Go ahead and freak out for 30-60 seconds. It’s OK. We all do it. Now calmly catch your horse and walk over to the water hose. Begin hosing the wound and continue to hose it for at least 15 minutes. If possible, call Springhill Equine (I’m even going to give you the phone number right here: 352-472-1620 and the emergency line number in case it’s a weekend or after hours: 352-474-5007 ) while you are hosing. Even better, email or text a picture of the wounds to my Docs, and then call. If you can’t call while hosing, hose first, then call. My minions have a saying: dilution is the solution to pollution. Basically, the water dilutes out germs, dirt, and general nastiness.
The ‘Take Deep Breaths, it will be OK’ Phase
Once you have hosed the wound for 15 minutes or so, put your horse somewhere quiet. We want them calm until one of my awesome Docs can get there. Do not apply any lotion, potion, or goop, no matter how many people tell you how great it works! It doesn’t matter that it worked great on that injury your great aunt’s cousin’s friend had. Each wound is different, and my Docs are the best people to decide which goop will be the best goop.
Your horse is likely in pain at this point. We know you want to do something about that pain, but please wait to hear what my Docs have to say! They will direct you about which pain medication to use, and how much. Generally bute, Banamine, and Equioxx are the go-to choices to start with, but your horse’s medical history and the wound severity and location can change those choices. Once they assess the wounds, they will likely add some stronger drugs to help with pain.
Let the Healing Begin!
OK, you’ve hosed the wounds really well, a super awesome Springhill Equine veterinarian has taken care of your horse: now what? Less truly is more! Once again, I know you really, really, really want to put that super cool stuff in the blue bottle, or green tub, or white bottle on the wound. Vern down at the feed store said his friend’s niece’s cousin used it and it worked great. I promise you it didn’t and it won’t. Horses really, really want to heal wounds. They do it despite all the stuff we do to the wound, but if you want it to heal the fastest and the best, you need two things: pressure and moisture.
You can apply pressure the expensive, difficult way: non-stick pad to wound, gauze, elastikon, followed by a quilt or cotton, more gauze, and more elastikon or vetwrap. Or you can go with the easy way: Sox for Horses. My Docs spent a long time doing it the hard way. Now they do it the easy way! You may remember Coby, who fell through the trailer floor. My Docs began using Sox on that horse, and haven’t looked back. Your choice. As a typical cat, I pick easy every time.
Moisture can be applied many different ways, but I find they use plain old triple antibiotic ointment the most. For some wounds they will use a burn cream called silver sulfadiazene, but for most they tell you to go buy out CVS’s supply of triple antibiotic. In a few weeks, my Docs may adjust the topical ointment to add some steroid, but early on, simple is better.
So your plan: Cold hose for 10-15 minutes daily, apply triple antibiotic to wounds, replace sock.
The Real Story from The Top Cat
There are tons of pictures of amazing wounds that healed fantastic thanks to some lotion, potion, or goop. The truth is, horses heal despite all these products, not because of them. The most important parts of wound care are your diligent care and communication! If you aren’t sure about something, call the Doc! They eat, breathe, and sleep this stuff, and they are happy to talk you through your situation so that your horse gets the right care the first time.
Apr 24, 2017 | Breeding, Foals
So, you’ve got a brand new foal, and some questions…
When should my foal first be seen by a vet?
This is a tricky question, because most foals enjoy making their debut in the middle of the night. Do you call the doc immediately? Do you wait until morning? If all looks good, does the vet need to come at all? In short, yes. It doesn’t hurt to call the vet immediately when the foal is born, check in again in the morning, and check back as often as you like afterwards. Don’t worry, our docs understand what mares are like, and they won’t be mad if you wake them up in the middle of the night. Now, sometimes when I stay over at Dr. Lacher’s house, she gets a bit aggravated when I wake her up at 5 am by making biscuits on her back, but that’s a slightly different situation.
If your mare & foal are acting normal and have followed the 1-2-3 rules (stand within 1 hour, nurse within 2 hours, and pass the placenta within 3 hours after birth), your foal can be examined the next day. Ideally the new foal exam should happen at least within the first 24 hours after birth. However, if you suspect ANYTHING is wrong in the meantime with mare or foal, you need one of the docs out right away.
That all-important First Milk
Let’s say your mare is one of the special ones, and decides to foal at noon. All went well with foaling, and mare and foal are acting normal and comfortable. Should you just have the vet out the same day to get that first checkup over with? Well, you can, but you will probably end up paying for 2 separate farm calls. There is an excellent blood test, called an IgG test, that your vet will perform at baby’s first checkup which determines whether or not he has received enough colostrum (first milk). However, this test can only be performed at 8-12 hours after birth at the earliest! If you think about it, that makes sense: first, the foal has to nurse, then, colostrum has to get absorbed across the foal’s GI tract, then the IgG from the colostrum has to make it to the foal’s bloodstream in order to show up on the test.
So, why not just wait 48 hours until the first check up? Again, the reason has to do with that first milk. The foal’s gut only stays “open” for a short period of time. That means, the foal can only absorb colostrum until 48 hours after birth. By identifying if a foal has a low IgG at 24 hours, the vet still has time to correct the problem before the gut “closes.” Horses, I tell ya…this wouldn’t be the case if a cat had designed them!
What does the vet do besides pulling blood?
Well, I’m glad you asked! Although it may take less than 5 minutes to complete your foal’s first check up, there are a lot of subtle things the doctor is checking during that time. Of course there are the usual things that she would check on any horse: heart rate (are there any heart murmurs?), lung sounds (any amniotic fluid still crackling around in there?), and temperature (foals tend to run higher than adults- especially if they’ve just been bouncing around). Then, your vet will feel the foal’s umbilicus to determine if it is abnormally thickened or moist, check for swelling within ALL of his joints. It is common for your vet to perform a complete ophthalmic exam on a foal, as congenital cataracts, persistent pupillary membranes, corneal ulcers, and entropion (rolling in of the eyelids) are all common disorders of newborns. Additionally, the vet is gaining a lot of information from her at-a-distance exam. Can the foal stand easily? How is his conformation? Is he nursing well on both teats? Is he urinating and defecating normally, and out of the correct places? Does his behavior seem normal? How is his energy level? Is the mare acting protective and motherly?
The best part is, by knowing within the first 24 hours of birth if there is a problem, the docs can get to correcting it right away! Once again, my Tony wisdom exceeds all expectations. Until next week, folks!
Apr 18, 2017 | Exercise, Seniors
As a Phat Cat (sounds like “fat cat”, but it’s way more cool!) fitness will, of course, be my least favorite topic covered in the Senior series. Cushing’s disease is intellectually interesting (especially since cats rarely suffer from it), and nutrition holds a special place in my stomach, um, I mean heart. However, my humans sneak exercise into my life to help my physique stay panther-like. The humans say exercise is a key component to a long, happy life. So, let’s discuss exercise and your Super Senior.
How are you doing?
Step one will be a good exam by one of my amazing Docs. As horses (and humans and cats) age, they collect injuries. Some of these are big, some are small, but they all add up over time. Also, you see your horse every day. You may not notice a slow change somewhere. A fresh set of eyes will help you come up with the ideal plan for your Super Senior.
A little help from my friends
Your horse may start every ride stiff, there may even be a little limping going on. Let’s be honest, you don’t leap out of bed in the morning as quickly as you used to either! The exam my Docs just performed may highlight areas that could use a little pharmaceutical assistance to get things back on the right track. Joint injections are the most common help Super Seniors appreciate. A little arthritis can stiffen up a joint to the point where movement becomes painful. My Docs put a little bit of steroid to fight off inflammation, and hyaluronic acid as a lubricant into these joints, and miracles happen. Horses who were having trouble moving can go back to a comfortable life as a performance horse. Some horses simply get systemic anti-inflammatories, like Bute, to help them stay comfortable.
A whole lot of a little
The exam and the help from joint injections or anti-inflammatories is all to help you design the best exercise program for your Super Senior. Seniors need to do a whole lot of fitness work. I remember when I was a kitten; it seemed I could stay in shape just by getting up in the morning. Now, should I want to be fit, I would have to do a lot more work! This is one of the many joys of growing older. Our horses suffer the same fate. Fitness programs should be designed to be low impact, but long duration. Trail riding works great for this purpose. There’s nothing like a good walk and jog up and down hills to get you fit without realizing it.
Words of warning here: Seniors don’t take prolonged vacations well. Letting your senior get soft will make it really hard to get them back fit.
Listen to what they’re saying
The most important thing to remember about any fitness work is to check in with your horse. If you are adding a new skill, try it 4-5 times or for about 3-5 minutes the first day, then quit. If your horse is really sore the next day, don’t drill harder on that new skill. Skip a day then go back. Plan on slowly increasing the workload. With Seniors, it’s important to watch for aggravations of old injuries, the appearance of new swelling, and explore any reluctance to perform a well established task.
Ok I survived this little chat about fitness. Want to know even more? Come to our Super Senior Seminar TOMORROW April 19th, 2017 at 6:30pm at the Clinic! If you come early, I might even let you take a selfie with me for your Facebook wall.
You must be logged in to post a comment.