Jan 10, 2017 | Breeding, Foals
Ah, a New Year…a fresh start, new resolutions, exciting plans, and new horizons. Oh, and baby horses! Yes, it may still be ridiculously cold outside, but believe it or not breeding season is almost here! Now is the time to plan: get out pictures of your favorite mare and favorite stallion, pin them next to each other on your cork board, and envision what the resulting foal will look like- and what it will be able to do! Do you want the highest jumper? The fastest barrel racer? The most muscled halter horse? Or the leanest racehorse?
The other important part of planning your breeding adventure is how to get your mare in foal, or where to have your stallion collected. This is where I can help! Here at Springhill Equine we have a complete array of breeding packages for your mare and stallion. We can take care of everything from a breeding soundness exam (making sure your horse is reproductively healthy), to collection, to artificial insemination, all the way through foaling.
I have talked to you humans before about what responsible breeding is. You can always look back at my blog and read archived Tuesdays with Tony entries, because what better to do in your free time? But determining that your mare or stallion has several traits that are worth passing on, and very few traits that are undesirable, is only the first step. Now you need to think about what goes into breeding and foaling, and whether you have the time, money, and patience to take on the challenge!
The docs tell me that there are several factors that come into play when trying to get a mare in foal. These include age, parity (how many foals she has had before), anatomy, history of reproductive failure, metabolic imbalances…the list goes on! In short, just because you want to breed your mare doesn’t mean she will be able to get pregnant. Older, maiden mares are the hardest ones to get in foal, and this is a common challenge our docs face each year. It seems that after a certain age, if a mare’s reproductive organs haven’t been used, the body begins to shut them down. There is no exact number for mares, but “older” is generally defined as over 10 years old. I would like to point out that cats, like a fine wine, only get better with age.
Already expecting a little bundle of horsey joy this spring? I can help with that too! Don’t miss my next come see Tony event on Tuesday January 17th, a Foaling & Breeding seminar for all you need to know to be well prepared before your baby arrives. If you still don’t feel 100% comfortable, we offer reasonable foal-out rates here at our clinic where we have 24/7 stall camera monitoring, and a veterinarian will be present at your foal’s birth.
Other decisions to be made before breeding include: When do I want my mare to have her baby? Will she be bred by live-cover, or AI (artificial insemination)? Will I be using fresh semen, or frozen? Is my stallion trained to a phantom? How much am I willing to invest in making this baby? Where will the mare have her foal? Am I prepared to care for a pregnant mare/breeding stallion/newborn foal?
Our amazing doctors and staff are here to guide and help you every step of the way. Well, for the stallion collection I will be standing a safe distance away under the trees, but for everything else I like being up close and personal, especially the foaling.
Don’t forget that during the month of January we are offering $10 off a breeding package or stallion collection. Sign up now to save later! Also, I know I will see all of you next Tuesday 😉
-Tony
Click on the picture for more info.
Jan 3, 2017 | Injuries, Lacerations
Whenever a horse comes into the clinic with an injury, it reminds me how glad I am to be a cat. Horses don’t have nine lives like cats do, so you’d think that they would be a little more careful! They are also not as smart as cats, at least in my opinion. You are welcome to disagree, but I will point out that I’ve never scratched my eyelid off (knock on wood)!
I’ve been running the clinic here at Springhill Equine long enough to see some trends develop, and I thought that a good way to start the New Year would be to share some of my insights with you, my loyal fans. There are things that make all your horses unique, and then there are things that make them all similar. The similarities are what we’ll look at today.
Some things are preventable, and some things are not. For example, you can’t prevent your horse from rolling and jamming his foot through the fence; that’s just something that a lot of horses do. You also can’t prevent your horse from being a complete jerk, and getting kicked by one of his pasture mates as a result. Sometimes those things just happen, and we do our best to patch them up when they do.
Other injuries are a little more preventable. Horses are going to develop itches on a pretty regular basis, whether it’s on their eye, or ear, or chest. You can’t control the itch, but you can limit what they have to scratch it on. Things like barbed wire, old rusted-out car bodies, nails sticking out of posts and walls, broken gates with sharp edges, ancient farming implements, broken buckets, and all other sorts of things can be removed from the horse’s pasture, paddock, and stall. Even if the horse has been grazing around it for years without a problem, it only takes one instant in time to produce a dramatic injury. I see it all the time.
I’ve watched the docs sew a lot of eyelids back on, and remove a lot of them that couldn’t be salvaged. A lot of those come off while they were scratching on gate latches, metal feed/water bucket handles, nails, and barbed wire. I recommend doing an inspection of every space that your horse has access to at least once every few months. Things change, nails work their way out of boards, the horse sharpens the edges of things she scratches on constantly, they break a bucket or a board, and so on. Basically, if you wouldn’t want a two-year-old kid messing with it for safety reasons, you probably don’t want your horse messing with it, either.
Replacing that strand of barbed wire on the top of your fence with an electric wire is a really good idea. Barbed wire is a great thing for a horse to scratch on, and they will abuse it until it abuses them. New barbed wire is dangerous because that’s when it is the sharpest. Old barbed wire is dangerous because it’s rusty. The cost of replacing it? About the same as a weekend emergency visit from your veterinarian.
Speaking of fences, keeping your fence up and in good repair is another great way to prevent injuries. Some of the more serious injuries the docs see happen when the horse gets into a place that it’s not supposed to be. Remember Coby, the horse that managed to get inside the old horse trailer and then fell through the floor? He’s not the only one that’s managed to get into trouble. Just this past weekend, Dr. Lacher saw a horse that got through the fence and got her leg trapped in some stuff on the other side of it, and did some serious trauma to the muscle, nerves and veins. She’s going to be recovering in a stall for months as a result of it. It happens on a regular basis, and for most horse owners, it’s the first time something like that ever happened.
So, take my advice (it’s really good advice, as it’s coming from a cat): learn from the experiences of others. You don’t have to learn everything the hard way! Clean up your horse’s area, and inspect it on a regular basis. Don’t assume that it’s fine now because it was fine last year. Be proactive about safety, instead of reactive. As my grandcat always said: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Dec 27, 2016 | Competition Horses, Events, Exercise, Hay, Weight loss/gain, Wellness Program
It’s that time of year when you humans like to work on some goals for the upcoming year. I listed mine out to show you how easy it can be: 1. Improve human response time to food demands, 2. Get better at using the computer so I can order my own cat treats, 3. Continue to find new and improved sleeping locations. Now see how easy that was? Look at what’s going on that you feel needs to change or improve and write down a goal to address it. OK, here we go.
Eat better. Beth looks at equine diets all the time and her mantra: simplify, simplify, simplify. Most of you humans like to make life sooo complicated. Go with quality hay, then add quality concentrate, then add supplements only if your horse needs them for a specific problem. This plan makes life easier and so much less expensive. Don’t believe me? Check your inbox later this week for Beth’s amazing breakdown on how much cheap feed costs!
Exercise more for the fat horses (like this cat). I struggle with this one, mostly because I hate to exercise. As a black cat living in Florida, it gets hot and I whine a lot and I end up spending the day laying around in the air conditioning. And that’s how I ended up with diabetes. The average horse needs to slow jog for about 15 minutes 3 times weekly to prevent founder and other serious fat horse problems. Commit to that time with your horse and you will stop so many problems in their tracks.
Exercise more for those show horses. Injuries happen at exhaustion. When your horse gets tired, muscles don’t respond like they should, legs end up going weird directions, and BAM! an injury occurs. Do your horse a favor and put in the time needed to have them truly fit for what you want to do. A good general guideline is to be able to do twice as much as you need to do in the show ring. Be sure you aren’t just drilling on “horse show moves.” Cross training is important! Riding horses on different types of terrain and footing helps them learn how to handle anything you crazy humans throw at them. Jumping your dressage horse, or trail riding your western pleasure horse helps keep the brain engaged and builds up different muscles than their normal, everyday work.
Learn something new. This is mostly for you humans. There is always a ton of research out there about the equine athlete. Oddly, there’s not much on the feline athlete. Look for a new exercise for you and/or your horse, read the latest science research on horses, get a lesson or sign up for a clinic. Step outside your comfort zone. You will be a better human for it.
One last New Year’s Resolution: Get your horse a Wellness Plan. With one simple call, e-mail, even text you can cross Better Health and Save Money off the list. You won’t have to remember when your Coggins is due, wonder if you have all the right vaccines, and you have freed up time and energy to eat better, exercise more, and learn something new.
Dec 20, 2016 | FES, Wellness Program
Dear Santa:
I know exactly what our clients want for Christmas this year. Look no further! From my many adventures this year, I have come to know our customers very well, and I have the perfect gift ideas for you, their husbands, their children, or their friends to give!
#1: A pony. This one should be obvious. No matter how old a horse-crazy boy or girl gets, and no matter how many horses he or she already owns, this is always the first thing on their Christmas list. That being said, I understand if a pony is outside of your Christmas gift budget this year. Which brings me to…
#2: A 2017 Wellness Plan. If you can’t buy them another horse, why not at least cover all of their horse’s healthcare needs for the entire year?! Not to mention, with each Wellness Plan comes NO emergency fees for the year. It’s like 2 gifts in one! I promise it will be their favorite gift this Christmas.
#3: A Springhill Equine gift certificate. Did you know that this month you can buy a $50 gift certificate for just $40? That’s like $10 cash in your pocket instantly! Cats don’t have pockets, but if we did I would imagine it would be nice for them to be full of money.
#4: A series of FES treatments for their horse. Every horse can benefit from a few FES treatments to improve their performance at the race or in the ring. Wouldn’t you like a deep tissue massage for Christmas? FES is even better than that- it uses electrical impulses to stimulate deep muscle groups in the back and neck. I’ve seen it work! The horses always walk away feeling loose and lovely afterwards.
Santa, in exchange for my invaluable assistance with your Christmas shopping this year, I do expect a stocking loaded with catnip, and a toy mouse under the tree.
-Tony
Dec 13, 2016 | Lacerations, Leg issues
Quick shout out to all the UF Vet students, our Docs, and our amazing Clinic staff for an awesome Castration Clinic 2016. The world got nine new geldings on Saturday, and a whole bunch of vet students learned how to make more geldings. Of course, the highlight of everyone’s day was getting to see me. I supervised the entire event very closely, especially lunch. Now on to the rest of this week’s peek into my life.
You already heard about all the colics Dr. Lacher saw over Thanksgiving. Now you will get to hear about the lacerations. As far as I can tell, horses like to seek out any and all sharp things to cut themselves on. Sometimes they do such a good job the humans are left scratching their heads trying to determine what exactly the horse cut themselves on this time. Dr. Lacher’s Thanksgiving weekend consisted of an eyelid laceration split on the hook of a feed bucket, an ankle laceration done on a fence, and a shoulder laceration cut on who knows what (the horse wouldn’t tell).
Everyone who sees a cut of any size is certain there will be stitches. Well this wise cat is here to tell you not all wounds can be sutured, some shouldn’t be sutured, and some get stitches even when the Docs know they won’t stay in very long! In the case of Thanksgiving weekend it was stitches for the eyelid laceration, no stitches for the ankle, and stitches that were going to pull apart on the shoulder. The eye is obvious: there was a cut and stitches were placed. The wound will heal and all will be right with the world. The ankle was a little different. First, the skin was basically shaved off. It was super thin! Using a needle through the skin would have caused it to tear. Instead Dr. Lacher just cut it off. After she cut it off, she bandaged it with some Sox for Horses material. If you don’t know about Sox for Horses, I’m going to assume you have been hiding under some sort of rock or (and this better not be the case) you don’t read my blog very often. Use the Google thingy or ask one of my minions to tell you about Coby. Last, but not least, the shoulder cut. Dr. Lacher stitched the skin flap across but warned the owners it probably wouldn’t stay longer than about five days. So why did she suture it anyway? She’s a pretty smart cookie so I’m guessing she had a good reason….Turns out those skin flaps help the wound heal. For every day the skin flap is across the wound you gain 5 healing days. This means even if the skin flap stays for 3 days, you’ve shortened healing by 2 weeks! See I told you she was smart.
The wounds are now stitched or not stitched. What comes next? This is where it gets difficult for you humans. Do Less Stuff. That’s right, adopt the strategy of cats the world over: watch the world go by and do very little about it. As I was looking through a catalog Stephanie had open on the desk recently I noticed no less than 4,386 wound lotions, potions, and creams. Do you know how many our Docs use? Four, and mostly just two of those. What do they use a whole lot of? Water from a hose.
Wound care is simple. Keep the wound clean and moist, and sometimes because horses like to get a little too excited about healing, beat back the granulation tissue, also known as proud flesh. That’s it. Keep it clean with water, lots and lots of water. Then apply triple antibiotic or Vaseline to the wound to keep it moist. These products do double duty since they protect the wound itself from dirt while keeping it moist. If the Docs see a particularly nasty wound, they will recommend silver sulfadiazine (SSD). SSD has really strong nasty stuff killing properties, while being super gentle on wounds. And finally, proud flesh is put in its place by hydrocortisone. So all told we just spent about $20 on wound care stuff. No pretty blue bottles with very dilute bleach. Yes, that really all that’s in those pretty blue bottles. No expensive state of the art wound gel. Vaseline and water will cure most of what your horse has done to himself.
Sometimes, particularly if a wound is on the legs, our Docs recommend bandaging. Sure the leg will do great with just a water and Vaseline but the dreaded proud flesh likes to become a problem below the hock and knees. Three words: Sox For Horses. Once again use the Google thing or talk with my minions and they will get you hooked up. These are absolutely the cat’s meow when it comes to bandages. Also they are easy, relatively cheap, and reusable. From my limited experience, these three things never go together with horses.
Signing off this week with a reminder to sign up for our 2017 Wellness Plan by January 1st. One colic owner and one laceration owner over Thanksgiving weekend saved $100 each on their unplanned Dr. Lacher visit. How you ask? Our Wellness Plans include NO emergency fees. You are as crazy as the Labrador from down the street if you don’t sign up.
Dec 7, 2016 | Cold weather, Electricity, Heat, Modernized barn
First and foremost I need to apologize to all of you, my loyal followers for posting this late. I got caught up in finalizing my Christmas Wish List so my minions know exactly what to get me this year, to ensure I don’t receive the same lame bag of treats…..again (that I don’t even like). So here it goes.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Vurgason’s horse, Smokey, at the clinic last week. I couldn’t help but notice a scar right in the middle of his forehead. I asked how it happened, and he told me that a few years back, he reared up and hit his head on a light fixture. Inspired to prevent the same injury in other horses at our practice, I decided to address this issue in my famed weekly blog.
Barns aren’t always the safest place, trust me, I know……I live in one….and horses are accident-prone. I think we’ve clearly established that. But my staff here at at Springhill Equine does everything they can to keep it up to standard and make sure all of us critters are secure once they leave for those long lonely hours when the sun goes down. When building or rebuilding a barn, corners are often cut to save money. But when the safety of your horses is at stake, you really don’t want to be cutting corners.
Electricity is pretty awesome. I do enjoy lights, heat, and playing with tangled wires on the floor, especially this time of year. But it’s also dangerous. Other things that are dangerous: glass and mercury gas. Combine these three and what do you get? Fluorescent light fixtures! And yet, what do you think are the most common lights we see in horse barns? That’s right: unprotected long tubes of glass filled with mercury. The same that scarred poor Smokey’s face.
A few decades ago, fluorescent technology was all the rage. But since then the technology has been far surpassed by LED, especially in terms of efficiency. Plus, the gasses used with fluorescents can be quite dangerous. If you don’t believe me, take a peek at the EPA’s instructions on discarding fluorescent bulbs. I’m just thankful I have people for that and wouldn’t have to get my delicate paws dirty. With more efficient LED lights, you will ultimately save money, while protecting the environment at the same time! Who doesn’t love that?
If you have fluorescent tube lights in your barn, I highly recommend replacing them. Unless you like lacerations and toxic gas….. If that’s your thing maybe you should consider unsubscribing from my blog. But if you are concerned about safety, there are things you can do to improve the situation. If you’re on a budget, I’d recommend at least purchasing tube covers for the bulbs. Or cages for the fixtures. Relocate the fixtures to above the area where your horse can reach if they rear up. Or, replace them completely.
Dr Vurgason’s other half can install light fixtures with a solid glass shell protector over the bulb and a metal cage protecting the glass shell. You can put any bulb into these fixtures, although LED is always the way to go. LEDs are much cooler than fluorescent lights, reducing the risk of combustion, and they are sturdier since they are made with epoxy lenses, not glass which is much more resistant to breakage. They have a longer life expectancy, are more energy efficient, have close to no UV emissions, will operate in extremely hot or cold conditions, instantly light, and have low-voltage. With this combination, and professional wiring, you can rest at ease knowing your horses (and more importantly barn cats) are safe and your barn is using less energy (which your wallet will appreciate too). You’re welcome. We all know those equids cost you owners much more than us superior felines do. I just don’t get humans sometimes.
So with everyone getting in the holiday spirit (including me and my staff) please keep my wise words in mind and be aware of your surroundings.
Until next week,
Tony
Nov 29, 2016 | Cold weather, Colic, Hay
This week I would like all of you to sit back and relax while I tell the story of Dr. Lacher’s Thanksgiving. It’s a tale of joy and sadness. It’s a tale of three colics with much in common with that other story about three things: Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
It started on Wednesday evening around 6pm. A little peek into the lives of our veterinarians: most of you call about colics around 7-8am and 5-6pm when you head out to feed. Matt, the 30 year old pony, had been normal at breakfast, but on arriving home from work, his owner found him down and rolling. Dr. Lacher was leaving the clinic to head home, so she simply turned left instead of right and headed to Matt.
As she pulled up to the farm, Jane said, “Matt has lived here for the last ten years and has never had a sick day in all those years! I’m so worried!”
Dr. Lacher replied, “I will be honest, I’m very worried too, but let’s get Matt some sedation and pain relief and see what we have going on.”
Our Docs see a lot of colics. Once you see your first 10-15 colics, you start to notice little things (and sometimes big things) the moment you pull in to a farm. The horse has a pained look in his eye, there is sweat at the flanks, he isn’t just laying down, he’s going up and down repeatedly, and many more subtle signs tell our Docs that things are worse than they seem.
For Matt, it started with his history. A thirty year-old horse with no history of colic suddenly colicing is very often bad. Dr. Lacher noticed Matt had a sheen of sweat over his entire body as soon as she got close to him. Added to that, Matt simply couldn’t get comfortable. He wasn’t quietly laying down; he was up and down and up again in the 30 seconds it took to drive up the driveway.
“I’m giving Matt a large dose of sedation and a morphine-type drug for pain,” Dr. Lacher informed Jane. “Next, I’m going to draw a small amount of blood to run a lactate test.”
“We use lactate in the Emergency Department!” Jane replied. Jane is the nurse you want to have if you ever end up in the Emergency Room. She’s fantastic!
“Yep, we have been using it in horses in much the same way human doctors do for the past 6 years or so. We want his number to be less than 3.0,” said Dr. Lacher. Jane and Dr. Lacher stared at the lactate meter for the longest 13 seconds in history awaiting results. The number loomed large at 7.2.
Dr. Lacher took a deep breath, “That’s not a good number. Let’s see if we can figure out why it’s so high and then we can make decisions from there.” Jane nodded her agreement.
After passing an NG tube in to Matt’s stomach, a rectal exam, and an abdominal ultrasound, it was determined Matt had a strangulating lipoma. This is a fatty tumor that forms over many years. One day all the forces of Mother Nature align and the tumor wraps around the small intestine and cuts off the blood supply. The only cure is colic surgery and this is not one of the “easy” colic surgeries. This one is long, very hard on the horse, and is often followed by a horrible bout of laminitis.
“I think there is only one decision I can make,” Jane stated. “Matt has had a great retirement and a wonderful life. I don’t want him to experience all that pain!”
So under a beautiful sky full of stars, Dr. Lacher and Jane walked Matt to the back field and said goodbye to him. Jane told him how much he was loved and how much she appreciated all he had taught her daughter. Dr. Lacher reflected on all the things these great old horses have contributed to the people around them as she drove home.
‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. When what to my wondering ears should I hear but the sound of the BeeGees singing Staying Alive. OK, I wasn’t actually there, but this is what I heard from one of the cats that lives at Dr. Lacher’s house. Around 12:30am her phone rang with another colic. This time it was, Zippy, a 28 year old Morgan with no history of colic.
“Uhoh,” said Dr. Lacher, “Here we go again. I really worry about the old guys colicing!”
Weekend/Emergency Tech/Awesome Husband Justin replied, “So, where are we are heading to?”
This time as Dr. Lacher and Justin pulled up to the farm they saw a horse laying quietly on his side. He was calm as Dr. Lacher put her stethoscope to his chest and abdomen.
“36,” Dr. Lacher stated matter-of-factly “and some gut sounds.”
“36 is good?” asked his owner, Linda.
“36 is very good!” Dr. Lacher replied. Turns out heart rate is one of those important things our Docs use to determine how bad your horse is actually colicing. Anything less than 48 is pretty darn good. Anything over 60 is very worrisome to our Docs. Dr. Lacher went on to explain that the fact that Zippy was laying quietly and willing to remain standing were good signs. Zippy had a calm eye, some gut sounds, and wasn’t sweaty or agitated. All really good signs. His lacate was 1.8. That’s really, really good.
Dr. Lacher put on the big, long sleeve and did a rectal exam. “It’s one of the few ways we have to figure out what’s going on inside this big abdomen. And I’m happy to say that all his parts seem to be in the right places, though he does have a bit of an impaction in his large colon,” she reported.
Dr. Lacher gave Zippy some sedation, muscle relaxers, and pain relievers. Then she and Justin tubed him with our scientifically formulated electrolyte mixture for colics. This formula helps horses get water in to the GI tract which breaks up the impaction. It also had just the right amount of sodium and potassium in there to correct deficiencies colicky horses often get.
“Call me if you need me or have ANY questions,” called Dr. Lacher as she and Justin headed home for a few hours of sleep.
Thanksgiving morning arrived quietly, for about 30 minutes. Around 7:30am the BeeGees were at it again. Stayin Alive could be heard coming from the house as Dr. Lacher and Justin fulfilled their horse feeding duties. This time it was Stephanie calling about her horse, Blue. He was uncomfortable and definitely not interested in breakfast. Personally, I can’t imagine not being interested in food but horses are weird.
As Justin and Dr. Lacher pulled up to this colic Dr. Lacher said, “Oh we are going to be OK with this one.”
“How can you possibly know that?!?” exclaimed Justin.
“I just do,” was Dr. Lacher’s reply.
Allow me to explain what Dr. Lacher meant by “I just do.” Blue was standing in his stall, looking at his sides but not trying to lay down. He had no hay, shavings, or grass on his sides or back, letting Dr. Lacher know he hadn’t been rolling much, if at all, before Stephanie found him acting colicky. Blue also just plain didn’t look as painful as Matt, or even Zippy. His eye was quieter, and while he was clearly uncomfortable, he just wasn’t as frantic as Matt. Dr. Lacher did her exam on Blue and confirmed her suspicions. Blue had a heart rate of 36, gut sounds all over his abdomen, and some gas on rectal palpation.
“Blue is going to be just fine. He has a typical gas colic. They do great with some sedation to relax them, Banamine to help with the pain, and a whole lot of fluids and electrolytes pumped in to help overhydrate them,” Dr. Lacher explained as Stayin’ Alive sounded from the truck. It seemed the Thanksgiving weekend was going to be a long one.
The phone call was from Zippy’s owner. He was still unhappy. While he wasn’t as uncomfortable as the previous evening, he wasn’t interested in food and was laying down quietly. After talking through the possibilities with Linda, Zippy got to go for a trailer ride to the Clinic. I love when the horses come to the clinic so I can perform CAT scans on them!
Zippy was definitely uncomfortable when he stepped off the trailer at the clinic. Dr. Lacher performed her usual exam on him and found his heart rate was a bit high at 48 beats per minute, and he didn’t have the greatest gut sounds. She put that long glove on again and did a rectal exam. Zippy’s impaction was softer but it was still there.
“Sometimes these impactions need a little bit more help. Let’s get an IV catheter in Zippy and get him started on some fluids. I’ll tube him with some more fluids too, just to make sure he is super hydrated,” said Dr. Lacher.
Zippy got started on IV fluids and got some more medication to help his pain. Then Dr. Lacher pulled out her ultrasound machine.
“Because Zippy isn’t back to normal, I’m going to use the ultrasound to look inside his abdomen a different way and see if any of his small intestines are distended or if there’s free fluid,” Dr. Lacher explained.
Zippy’s ultrasound looked great. His small intestine wasn’t distended and I could see it moving on the screen. That was pretty cool. There also wasn’t any free fluid around the intestines. Dr. Lacher told us this would show up as black areas between the intestines. She said Zippy’s large colon was also looking pretty darn normal. While we were checking stuff, Zippy got another lactate. We all breathed a sigh of relief when it was 2.6, a little higher, but still a pretty good number.
By late afternoon on Thanksgiving as I was finishing up the turkey bits Justin brought me, Zippy began looking for food in his stall. This is a really good sign. When colics start looking for food Dr. Lacher always gets really excited. I thought poop was a better sign, but she says they can poop and still be colicing, and that looking for food usually means the colic is all better. Zippy continued to be fed small amounts throughout the night and got to home on Friday morning. I’m sure Linda was very happy to have him back!
I hope you have enjoyed my tale of three colics. I learned a lot about what our Docs look for in a colic. Heart rate seems like a really important clue. If you want to learn how to take your horse’s heart rate, come on by the Clinic or ask us when we are out at your farm. Our Docs and Technicians are always happy to teach!
Until next week,
Tony
Nov 22, 2016 | Athleticism, Competition Horses, Events, Exercise, Injuries, Safety
Whew, boy am I sore! Kevan Knudsen, personal trainer extraordinaire, had us doing squats, lunges, stretches, and all manner of exercises at our “Exercise for Equestrians” event on Saturday. Technically, I am not an equestrian, so I thought I should have been exempt. But the humans demanded my participation *eye roll.*
Kevan also taught us a great deal about nutrition– one of my least favorite subjects. Turns out lean meats, fruits, and vegetables should make up the majority of your diet if you are a human. Tuna is a lean meat, right? I’m totally in! Your macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) need to be in the right ratio for your body to function properly. Most Americans are eating foods they are intolerant to on a regular basis (dairy, white bread, and artificial sweeteners, for example). Simply eliminating these foods from your diet can result in significant weight loss and better health. As Kevan summed it up, “don’t eat processed crap!”
Of course your mental health is as important as your physical health, especially for riding horses. Horseback riding is one of the only sports requiring the participation of another sentient being. It’s not like running where you can take your frustration out on the track. You need to be in the right frame of mind before you set foot in the saddle. Kevan recommended working on positive self-affirmation, realistic goal-setting, anxiety management, and interpersonal communication. I already practice most of these on a daily basis, in between cat naps.
If you missed me at this enlightening event and would like more information on personal training from someone experienced in working with equestrians, contact Kevan Knudsen at (971) 221-5451, or kevan.knudsen@gmail.com. Your horse will thank you for getting fit and healthy! As for me, I’m just fine with my current lifestyle of eating, sleeping, and occasionally walking out to the end of the driveway. Now to ice these sore quads…
-Tony
Nov 15, 2016 | Cold weather, Colic, Hay
Quick PSA about the Meet Tony Event this weekend: Exercise for Equestrians. You’ve got limited free time; learn how to make the time you do have to exercise count for all that it can! Come dressed to workout and Kevan will help you work on technique. No, he will not be making anyone perform 50 Burpees or anything of that sort. I will, likely, be lying in the aisle watching the goings on since I do NOT exercise.
Anywho, on to my life, which is really what’s important here. Colic. As far as I can tell, it’s what horses do when they are bored and seeking proof that their human is well trained to do their bidding. My Docs, however, tell me it is largely due to the rather ridiculous system horses evolved to digest their food, combined with the rather ridiculous system humans have developed to house and feed said horses. Also, cold weather.
We all know that horses have a crazy GI tract, and we can’t fix that. What we can fix is what you humans do to that GI tract. Start with feeding good stuff. Need help figuring that part out? Contact Beth at the Clinic. She’s an expert. She even has a certificate that says so from a leading feed manufacturer! Between that certificate and over a decade in the feed industry, Beth has answers to your feed questions. Beth tells me forage should form the foundation of the diet. She tells me horses must eat more than the mouthful or so of grass that I eat and then puke up in some inappropriate place. They need to eat 1.5-2% of their body weight in hay every day! From there, supplement the gaps with as little concentrate as possible. Again, Beth is our go to when it comes to nutrition. Got questions? She’s got answers!
Moving on to the most common reason the Docs get called out this time of year: round bales of coastal hay. The weather gets cool, the grass stops growing, and you humans remember that 1.5-2% body weight forage thing and put out a round bale. Horses, being less intelligent than cats, get so excited about the hay, they gorge themselves to oblivion and get an ileal impaction. How do you make sure this doesn’t happen? Start with square bales. Throw out 1 flake twice daily, then 2 flakes twice daily, and keep increasing the quantity until your horse is leaving some of the hay. THEN you can put out the round bale. Also add some peanut or alfalfa hay. I realize most of our horses suffer from too many calories so alfalfa/peanut seems like a bad addition, but luckily adding 3-5 pounds of these hays per day can keep the GI tract moving in the right direction. Other strategies than can help reduce the risk of coastal hay impactions are the addition of very wet, soaked beet pulp or alfalfa cubes (the minis work best) to the diet, and adding salt on very cold nights.
Trust me, my Docs don’t want to see you for a colic any more than you want to see them. Let’s all do our part to keep those horses pooping as they were meant to be pooping!
-Tony
Nov 8, 2016 | Dentals, Events, Foals, Pet Pigs
First of all, don’t forget to get out there and VOTE today! I would, but they have this weird policy against cats voting…
Boy did I have a busy week here at the clinic! First, I had to share my favorite cat bed with a pig named Tank, who was boarding here for the week. Then, early Sunday morning I had to supervise the foaling of a mare with Dr. Lacher, and later help teach her colt to nurse for the first time. He’s lucky he’s cute, because usually I sleep until at least 11 hours on Sundays. Thank goodness we got an “extra hour” with the time change this past weekend, or my delicate sleep schedule would be all out of whack!
The doctors were running all over the area this past week, from Lake City to Ocala. Dr. Lacher stopped by Lynn Palm’s Open House on Saturday to demonstrate our awesome FES machine. If you haven’t tried it on your horse yet, you really have to! At $65 per treatment, it’s way less expensive than a chiropractor, masseuse, joint injections, or other treatments for performance horses. FES has helped dozens of our patients to run faster, jump higher, and move more comfortably than ever before. I have even used it on myself, and let me tell you, it feels awesome.
In addition to lameness exams, foal watch, and routine appointments, Dr. Vurgason and Dr. Lacher treated a nasty, infected corneal ulcer in a horse’s eye. It’s amazing what a difference the right medications, administered effectively, can do for a horse!
I invited almost-Dr. Chloe here for an externship last week, and she was great. She let me in the front door whenever I asked, even if I had just asked to go out 30 seconds prior. She hasn’t decided if she wants to be a horse-vet or a cat-vet yet. Personally, I don’t understand why everybody doesn’t want to be a cat vet…we are all so cute and soft and cuddly! Amongst other things, Chloe helped Dr. Vurgason extract 2 teeth from an aged gelding with a painful condition called Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH). Say that 5 times fast! We don’t know why this happens to certain horses, but we know it causes the body to attack its own teeth, dissolving bone in some spots, and thickening the tooth in others. Unlike infections of the molars in the back of the mouth, EOTRH affects the incisors, and often causes horses to go off their feed due to pain. The gelding, Fortune, is able to eat much more comfortably now.
In addition to Tank who was as healthy as, well…a pig, Dr. Vurgason treated 3 sick piglets this week. I like the pig patients, because they usually come to the clinic to see me. Although I must say, they can be pretty loud! There is nothing pigs hate more than being restrained. This makes things like taking a temperature, listening to heart and lung sounds, and giving any medication quite a challenge. With pigs, veterinarians rely heavily on observation and asking their owners questions to determine the correct diagnosis.
Between horses, pigs, and the docs, my managerial duties have been in full force! I think I need a nap. And anyway, with the time change and the days getting shorter, 5:00 feels more like 8:00, which is my bedtime. I’ll catch you cats next week!
-Tony
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