Apr 27, 2016 | Our Facility
I can remember the simple days around here at Springhill Equine when all I had to entertain myself was watching the docs and playing with my ball of string. I suppose even then I was pretty lucky; most equine vets around here don’t have a facility like this. Who knows, I could have been stuck as a barn cat. Yikes!
But things continue to improve around here. Dr. Vurgason’s husband Aaron works for Oak Ridge Electric, and he sure has been busy at this place. We jumped from a mobile hot-spot all the way up to a T1 internet connection. I don’t know what that really means other than that it’s really fast! Why is that important you ask? Well, it means the docs can be quicker in the office with their paperwork (why do humans still call it that if it is digital?) and thus spend more time practicing (another phrase I’m not crazy over) being a vet.
With this big T1 upgrade comes some pretty cool other stuff around the office, too. We now have HD security cameras in every stall so the docs can check-in on patients throughout the night. I still don’t know how I feel about this new lack of privacy I have.
We’ve also made some upgrades to our lighting with a Crestron building automation system. I’ve never been fond of the light switches around here, so now I can use that iPhone I found to control lights and fans. Oh, and if someone forgets to turn the lights off for me at the end of the day, I can still get a good night’s sleep in the dark because they’ll shut down on their own.
Yup, this is definitely quite the facility we have here. The docs will definitely be getting more done than ever before. I just hope that the next round of upgrades includes an automated litter box… I’ve always wanted one, what can I say?
Apr 19, 2016 | Regular Vet
Wow, we sure have been busy around here! This week I supervised the docs as they stuck their arms in many mares’ butts. I watched Dr. Vurgason run a camera up a horse’s nose, and Dr. Lacher put stitches in a mini’s eyelid. Also, I enjoyed plenty of attention from the Alachua County 4-H members at our hands-on Fecal Egg Count Seminar this weekend! With the docs running around like kittens chasing catnip, they barely have time to use the litter box, let alone add emergencies into their busy days. However, if you have been using Springhill Equine as your Regular Vet, the docs are much more inclined to find a way to work you into the schedule.
When our docs get a call from someone they don’t know for an emergency, it is understandable that they like to ask a few questions before cancelling all of their scheduled appointments for that day. Question 1: Is this a horse? (You would be surprised how many times we get called for dog, cat, sheep, even parakeet emergencies.) Question 2: Where do you live? (Just because we are Springhill Equine does not mean we are located in Spring Hill, Florida. FYI, Spring Hill is a lovely little town north of Tampa and just west of Brooksville. However it is 2 HOURS away from here.) Question 3: Who is your Regular Vet?
There are a few common answers to this question. Most often, “I don’t have a regular vet, because I haven’t needed one.” This answer baffles me. Who gives your horses their vaccines? Who floats their teeth? Who oversees your deworming protocol and does your horses’ fecal egg counts? Who do you get medications from when you need them? Who do you call for advice when you have questions about your horses’ skin, feet, diet, allergies, etc? If I didn’t have my Regular Vet, I would be in rough shape. He protects me from diseases with vaccines, prescribes a special diet food for me to eat (although this is NOT appreciated by yours truly), keeps me free from fleas and ticks, and gives me that shot to make me stop itching when my skin is driving me crazy.
The second most common answer to that question is, “My Regular Vet is Dr. SoandSo, but I always use you for emergencies!” Believe it or not, this is NOT a compliment. Emergencies are not very lucrative when you consider that all other productivity has to stop in the meantime. I’m not a business cat, but I do know that the bulk of our income is generated through wellness visits during business hours.
Also, why is Dr. SoandSo not coming to see your emergency? Do you owe him money? Is he out of town with no plan for another vet to cover his clients? Is he unreliable about picking up his phone? Perhaps you should consider another vet that is more reliable and consistently available for your horses (and I happen to know two pretty cool ones).
At Springhill Equine, we promise 24/7 emergency coverage for OUR CLIENTS. When you call you will reach a DOCTOR, anytime, day or night. And if Springhill Equine is your Regular Vet, one of our docs will throw on their boots and hurry over to save your horse! I will stay here and guard the cat food until they get back.
Heck, I might even drive them to you!
-Tony
Apr 12, 2016 | Breeding, Foals
The babies are coming! The babies are coming! Yep, foaling season is well underway around here and I felt it was about time I discussed what the heck one is supposed to do with them once they get here.
Let’s start with a quick foaling review. Once your mare starts foaling, things should happen very quickly. And by quickly I mean at the same speed I come running when I hear food hit the bowl. If you don’t think anything is happening, call one of our Docs. They would rather talk to you at 2am than have something bad happen. Next: The 1-2-3 rule. Foals should stand by 1 hour, nurse by 2 hours, and the placenta should pass by 3 hours post foaling. If any of these thing don’t happen, you guessed it, call the Docs. Depending on some other stuff, they may come out right away, or they may wait until the routine new baby check time of 18-24 hours old, but these are very important things that must happen for the foal to get started in life on the right hoof.
OK, now on to the wee adolescent life of a foal. To start, it is unfortunate they come knowing what a halter and lead rope is. In fact, I’m pretty sure they think halters and lead ropes are instruments of the devil when they first arrive. Luckily, they are good at following mom. Putting a halter and lead rope on your foal daily and leading them from one place to another is excellent practice at grown up life. They do have a shorter attention span than a cat (and that’s pretty short) so keep training sessions short. As they learn one skill, add another. I try to consider what my Docs will need to do with them later in their life. So we practice picking up feet, pinching skin for shots, standing sort of still, being touched over their entire body, these sorts of things. Much like cats, foals think humans are a bit stupid in their demands for obedience. Unlike cats, they do need to listen since they get rather big, rather quick. I don’t mean to say I couldn’t kill you if I wanted to, just so we are clear on that point. I am a cat, after all.
Foals are much like teenage boys when it comes to food. They eat ALL. THE. TIME. Making sure your mare has a little extra fat at the end of her pregnancy will help her get through the intense grocery providing stage in those first few months. Notice that says a little extra fat, not a lot of extra fat. I know, who am I to discuss weight, but this is a “Do as I say, not as I do” sort of thing. Checking in with our Docs or Beth, our in-house Nutrition Expert, to be sure you are making good feed and hay choices will make sure everyone stays happy and healthy. Foals will start by eating a little bit of what mom eats, then gradually eat more and more. Make sure they have grain and/or hay of their own available, especially if mom failed Kindergarten and doesn’t share well. The rough guideline is 1 pound of grain for every month of age. Foals can be free fed if the mare can be kept away. Unlike adult horses, foals won’t just eat until it’s gone. I feel free choice feed is the best plan for this cat as well, but Dr. Lacher keeps putting me on a diet. Oops sorry about the tangent there. Not really. In fact, I would appreciate it if everyone would tell Dr. Lacher I require free choice food next time they see her. Once your foal is eating 4-5 pounds of grain per day it is safe to wean them off mom.
Weaning. How? Let’s face it, no one loves the sad whinnies from the foals on weaning day. There are several options to make this as low stress as possible. First, move the mare if at all possible, and not the foal. Second, have friends with the foal that don’t change. Third, try to take the mare out of listening range. Generally, once the foals are around 5 months of age, the weaning process goes pretty smoothly since everyone is ready for it. Mom is over this annoying child, and foal is tired of all those “rules” mom imposes. Wait until they find out adulthood isn’t what they thought!
Most of a foal’s immune system for the first few months of life comes from that first milk, colostrum, they get from mom. To make sure munchkin got enough, our Docs do a blood test called IgG at that New Baby Check I mentioned earlier (yes that was a quiz to make sure you are paying attention). At some point though, your foal will need vaccines to get their own immune system up to speed on the diseases it will see. If the mare was well vaccinated before foaling, these vaccines start at 5 months of age with boosters at 6 months and 9 months. If we don’t know mom’s vaccine history or she didn’t get vaccines, immunizations start at 4 months and include an extra booster.
Deworming for foals is different as well. The primary parasite the Docs treat for is called an Ascarid. High levels of ascarids can kill foals, so it is important to keep them in check. Unlike strongyles in adult horses, ascarid levels can’t be predicted by fecal egg counts. This means we put foals on a timed schedule. The Docs do like to check a fecal at about 9-10 months of age to be sure the dewormers are working. Springhill Equine recommends the first deworming happens at 3 months of age with a pyrantel product. From there foals get dewormed every 90 days rotating through pyrantel, ivermectin, and fenbendazole.
The care your foal gets in the first year of life sets them up for a healthy lifetime. Do your foal (and yourself) a favor and set them up for success right from the start. Then do me a favor, and bring me a cat treat!
Apr 5, 2016 | Uncategorized
I have been perusing the internet in the evenings when there is no one
around to scratch my chin. I landed on one of these forum things where
horse owners discuss all sorts of things, and I do mean all sorts of
things. As a cat I found it be a fascinating study in human psychology.
I am now addicted to checking these things. There were a few recurring
themes I would like go over, especially given where I live and who
provides the food I so dearly love.
Often seen Question type #1: My horse is doing something that may be a
medical emergency. I would like to have the advice of all the people on
the internet who are not Veterinarians. I may or may not then call my
Veterinarian.
Yep, I saw this type more than any other. I'm going to start by stating
the obvious: call Springhill Equine if you think you have an emergency.
I have trained the Docs well. I promise they will answer your questions
patiently and thoroughly, and then determine if it is a real emergency.
This will save your horse time in pain, and, here's the best part, it
will save you money. I hear our Docs talk about the ways in which they
could have helped horse owners so much more effectively if they had only
called sooner. While I may bite if you don't provide food fast enough,
or scratch behind my ear appropriately, my Docs won't bite, kick, or
scratch you for calling to ask questions so call and ask them!
Question Type #2: I saw this supplement and it looks AHHMAZING what does
the Internet think of it?
I understand crowdsourcing. Really I do. Come to any Springhill Equine
gathering and you will see me crowdsource some attention. However, when
it comes to my health care and whether or not I need to eat this or that
I check with the experts. These experts come in the form of my
veterinarian and trained nutrition professionals. Neither of these are
available in an internet chat forum. My veterinarian is at my beck and
call so that one is easy. My nutrition professional is also easy. There
is a 1-800 number on the back of my cat food that allows me to talk with
one. I understand this is true of those bags of horse feed too. I
asked one of my technicians, Beth, about the nutrition information
available from these magical 1-800 numbers. I asked Beth since she has
spent many years in the retail equine nutrition world. Beth told me the
people on the other end of the phone have something called a PhD and
that makes them a Doctor of Nutrition. Seems like a good source of
information to me. Beth said our Docs often work with these Docs to
make sure horses with special diet requirements have all their needs
met.
Question Type #3: My horse is doing this thing, pretty sure he is
hurting somewhere. Oh great Internet magical beast using your powers
tell me where my horse hurts and how to treat it.
This one I'm just going to leave at: Please call your veterinarian.
Horses show pain in about 3,427,862 ways. A hind end lameness can show
up as a front end problem and vice versa. So please stick to the
professionals when it comes to diagnosing.
So what do I get from all these forums? I learn about the best options
for stall floors, the most awesome leather cleaner (Higher Standards
Leather Care in case you were curious), Tips and Tricks for horse care
when it's really cold or really hot, if that cool new pitchfork is
really as good as it sounds, and a million other things about day to day
life with horses. I stop asking the internet machine questions when it
is about pain or discomfort without first consulting my veterinarians.
There you have it! Wise words about the Internet from a very wise,
handsome cat.
Mar 30, 2016 | Ailments, Colic, Hay, Uncategorized
March is almost over, and you've all heard the saying, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Personally I prefer lions because they are really just big, less cuddly cats. Anyway, all this weather fluctuation has made for a bunch of colics!
In horses, colic is just a general term for signs of GI pain. Colic may be due to an impaction, a twist (the fancy doctor word for this is volvulus), gas, stomach ulcers, or inflammation (doctor word enteritis). Colic may even be due to something non-GI like a urinary obstruction, although that is more of a cat thing. Luckily I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing one yet.
About 90% of the colics we see are termed "mild colics." Less than 10% of colics are severe or "surgical colics," so named because they would require surgery to correct. So what makes a colic a mild or severe one?
In many cases, the answer is time. Most colics, when treated early with pain medication, laxatives, and electrolytes, will improve. There are some cases where a really big impaction will require rehydration with IV fluids to get it to pass.
When a mild colic is left untreated, it has the potential to become a bad colic. In the case of gas colics, the gas-filled intestine can float to the top and cause the large colon to twist. An impaction due to long-term dehydration can get worse and worse until it would need to be cut into and flushed out with a hose to get rid of it (yes, that is literally what they do during colic surgery).
Unfortunately, some horses are very stoic and don't tell you their belly hurts until it hurts really, really bad! Also, some people have jobs and can't stay home watching their horses all day to see if they colic. So if your horse colics at 8am and you don't get home until 5:30pm, it might already be a bad colic.
There is also something fat horses can get called a lipoma, basically a fatty tumor, that wraps itself around the small intestine and cuts off the blood supply. Nobody can do anything about that without surgery. Just one more reason I chose not to be a horse!
Luckily our docs are well trained to tell whether your horse has a mild colic or a bad colic, and they will know what to do either way! So the next time your horse has a bit of a bellyache, give us a call. The sooner the better! Odds are in your favor that it will be mild, but I wouldn't want to take my chances. Maybe that ball of yarn doesn't look so tasty after all...I'll just continue my nap.
Until next week, may the odds be ever in your favor!
-Tony
Mar 22, 2016 | Breeding, Infections
Well breeding and baby season seem to be in full swing from what this cat can tell. This time of year we suddenly start seeing the FedEx people every afternoon, the Docs are here working on mares at all hours of the day and night (this is my favorite part of breeding season), and supposedly cute baby pictures are greeted with squeals of joy. I have yet to figure out what is cute about a baby horse. I mean they don’t purr, they don’t claw you wanting a bottle, they don’t play with string. Humans are weird. I have learned more than I ever wanted to about making these babies as Head Cat at Springhill Equine. I know I talked about this recently but today I’m going to talk about how mares are weird and don’t do what they are supposed to.
There was once a veterinarian named Dr. Michelle LeBlanc. She was almost as famous as myself for her prowess at getting mares pregnant who really didn’t want to be pregnant. Dr. Lacher trained under her at the University of Florida. Cancer took Dr. LeBlanc from us way too soon but in the time she was here we did get some wise LeBlanc proverbs. Dr. Lacher’s favorite is: Reproduction is a gift not a right. And as soon as you doubt this, your mare will do something to prove how right this proverb is.
There are three main sources of frustration for our doctors: the follicle, infections, and semen issues. We will take them in order.
Follicles. A normal mare grows a follicle to about 35mm, gets some edema in her uterus which our Docs see on ultrasound, she gets a shot of Sucromate, and she ovulates 36-48 hours later. This timing lets our Docs order semen at just the right time, plan their schedules, and, with a little luck, make a baby. Because mares are mares (let’s be honest this applies to all horses), they often think it is great fun to do some part of this but not all. For instance, a mare will grow a 35mm follicle but won’t have edema, or, and this is a favorite, they will appear to do all the right things except for the ovulate part. This is where the crystal ball or Magic 8 Ball comes in. Dr. Lacher and Dr. Vurgason have to decide the best course of action. Most of this guess is based on knowledge of the hormone cycles, interpretation of ultrasound images, and what the uterus and cervix feels like, but a portion of the decision is a guess at what Mother Nature is going to do. Having spent a long time in school, and spent even more time after school keeping up on the latest research this is a VERY frustrating thing for doctors. I’m pretty sure the mares do this just to watch that frustration. I mean I would….
Next infections. Infections come from a couple of sources. The most common is simply the breeding process. Semen is seen as a foreign invader by the uterus so it tries to get that stuff out of there. The uterus does this by creating fluid and having contractions. The more I learn, the more I am seriously amazed that babies of anything ever happen. Normally, enough sperm survive this to get to the egg and the uterus cleans everything up and 14 days later our Docs see a baby. Sometimes the uterus over responds or, and this is very rare, there is bacteria in the semen. Either way, instead of a baby we see fluid in the uterus at 14 days. At this point our doctors use a special Q-Tip to determine what type of bacteria are growing and then treat the uterus directly with antibiotics.
The next source of infection is the outside world. I have heard, particularly from Dr. Lacher now that she’s over 40 (do not tell her I said that), that age is just a number. For mares who haven’t had a lot of foals this is true. For mares who have had more than five or six foals this isn’t so true. Carrying all those foals causes things to, how shall I say this, stretch. This means the normal defenses that keep bacteria out of the uterus aren’t as tight. It also causes the uterus to get larger, form some amount of scar tissue, and lose some muscle tone. Some of these problems can be corrected with surgery and some can’t. Our Docs can steer you in the right direction here.
The last source of problems is often the hardest to deal with. The boys. This is where I understand good communication between the mare and stallion owner are important. Communication isn’t something I’m good at so I claim no expertise here. I am much better at issuing orders. If stallions have issues then timing of the cycle on the mare end is even more important. It may also mean that a particular stallion and mare aren’t a good match. The Docs recommend that only one side of the relationship has issues if at all possible.
Whew, that was a ton of effort for this cat but breeding is tricky stuff and I do like to keep my adoring fans well educated. Shameless plug for my wonderful home: Our breeding packages make it easy and affordable to breed your mare. Contact my minions at the Clinic for more information.
Mar 15, 2016 | Allergies, Events, Infections, Pests, Skin Funk
Last week me and about 60 of my closest human friends learned just about everything there is to know on the topic of skin funk! I almost wish I were a horse just so I could try out these products on myself…but I’ll stick with being a cat for the superior intelligence. Thank you to MaryLu from Kinetic Vet for her excellent talk, and the folks at HorseSox for their demonstration. They really should start making CatSox tho…less knitting.
For those of you who didn’t come out to see me on Thursday: ouch. That really hurt my feline feelings. But I’ll be the bigger cat, let it go, and tell you what you missed!
There are several types of skin funk that horses can get. There is itchy skin funk, scratchy skin funk, buggy skin funk, sunny skin funk, fungus-y skin funk, and bacterial skin funk. Lucky us, we live in Florida, so most of these are going to be exaggerated by our awesome warm weather! The first step is recognizing when your horse has a skin problem. Skin funk can show up as hair loss, hives, welts, crusties, scabs, redness, or abnormal hair growth. The second step is calling me! Well, more specifically, Dr. Lacher or Dr. Vurgason. With their experience, they will be able to tell what type of skin funk you are dealing with, what the cause is, and how to treat it. The third step is using one of Kintetic Vet’s awesome products (plus HorseSox for lower leg skin funk) to get your horse’s skin back under control!
Dr. Vurgason’s favorite KineticVet product is the IBH salve. This is great for horses with Insect Bite Hypersensitivity (“I.B.H.”), and a little bit of salve goes a long way! Did you know there are 89 species of gnats (that’s not counting horse flies, mosquitoes, house flies, etc) that are probably going after your horse’s eyes, ears, mane, and tail!? Dr. Lacher’s favorite product from KineticVet is CK shampoo. This stuff is amazing for treating scratches, rain rot, and any other bacterial or fungal skin funk. Only a few treatments and the results are amazing! My favorite product is KineticVet’s new SB (sunblock). Not only does it provide sun protection for my delicate skin, but it also repels insects and contains aloe vera which makes it feel really good.
There was definitely a little something for everybody at Thursday’s seminar. Most notably, there was plenty of me! Stay tuned for our next “Come See Tony” event on Equine Nutrition, coming up in May. Until then, take care of that skin!
Mar 8, 2016 | Helmets, Injuries, Safety
Let’s talk brains. I know that cats have an overabundance of them and I understand you humans have been given some as well. The thing about brains is what you got is what you got so you better take care of what you got. Today we talk helmets. Yep helmets.
All day long I have to listen to how great these horses are. Some people even describe their horses as bomb-proof so they don’t need a helmet. Personally if a bomb goes near me you will see this black cat running faster than you ever thought a black cat could so I’m not sure why this is a good thing but I digress. Then I sit around at night reading the horse magazines and find out that Courtney King-Dye went to the Olympics in Dressage and fell off her horse at a WALK! A WALK! Her horse tripped and she fell off, landed on her head, and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. Courtney is permanently debilitated from her injuries. A helmet would have meant she was a little sore and, maybe, a little bit of a headache and that’s it. Just a few weeks ago barrel racer, Lara Dewees, lost her life. Sure you can argue there were other factors involved there but a helmet may have helped. What I’m saying here is you guys have decided to sit on top of these crazy things called horses and accidents happen, so wear a helmet.
Now that I have convinced you to wear a helmet: let’s talk about helmet shopping. There are a ton of different brands out there. Try lots of them on. Some people have round heads, some people have oval heads, some people have long, oval heads. There’s dial-a-fit, adjust-a-fit, just fits on your head fit, shims, and more to get your hat to fit perfectly. Be sure the helmet you pick has a harness to keep it on your head and adjust said harness to keep the helmet on your head. It drives this cat crazy to see people with an excellent helmet on and a harness so loose even I could walk through the gap. A helmet must stay on your head when you hit the ground for it to work. Check the ASTM rating for your helmet. You will have to work hard to find a helmet that is not ASTM certified these days but just in case make sure the one you are looking at is tested. This means no helmets for other sports. Bike helmets don’t work the same as riding helmets!
If you need even more information on helmets there are some really great resources available: Riders4Helmets, ASTM.org, and SEInet.org. You only get one coconut, mind your melon, and value your head. In other words: Wear a helmet!
Mar 1, 2016 | Feed, Hay, Weight loss/gain
First a little business: Our latest #SpringhillEquine winner is June Begelman! Also, I had better see everyone next Thursday March 10th at 6:30pm for the Skin Funk Seminar. And now on to our main topic.
This past week has been sufficiently busy for my amusement. Dr. Lacher did a few dentals, ultrasounds for breeding, and a lameness exam. Dr. Vurgason took X-rays of a mini with a fractured face, and castrated another one of those cute (but loud) piglets. As I observe the horses that trail through the clinic, I have noticed a trend toward the slim, tucked-up, ribby look this season. Perhaps you too have noticed that your horse shed a few too many pounds this winter?
There are a few possible reasons for this phenomenon, but let’s rule out the easy ones first:
Has your horse had his teeth floated recently (at least within the last 12 months)? If not, he may not be properly chewing his feed for optimal nutrient absorption. Chewing is an important part of digestion, especially for animals who have to break down coarse feedstuffs like hay and oats. I much prefer bite-size pieces of tuna-flavored kibbles.
Has your horse been recently dewormed? In humans it is true that tapeworms living in the gut can eat the food intended for their host, and grow super long (disgusting!) In contrast, the internal parasites of horses cause weight loss by damaging the large intestine, which is where a lot of nutrient absorption normally occurs. Some parasites migrate through the blood vessels of the large colon, others encyst in the lining of the intestines. Either way, being “wormy” is definitely a reason why your horse could be losing weight. Maybe I should swallow a tapeworm to lose the rest of this holiday weight I’ve been holding onto…
Far and away the most common reason I see for skinny horses is something I like to call “a-groceri-osis,” or a lack of feed. So many horse owners are shocked when they hear how much grain our docs recommend for an underweight horse. I’m not talking about increasing your horse from 1 cup to two cups of Omelene 100. I’m talking 12 lbs (that’s two full coffee cans twice a day) of Triple Crown Senior. In my glory days, I could fit my whole body into a standard equine feed scoop.
For many of us, weight loss is difficult. But apparently for some creatures, weight gain proves more of a challenge. Keep in mind that you should always start with forage. Grass and hay should be the mainstay of any horse’s diet. As a carnivore, it’s hard for me to get on board with the green and leafy stuff, but they seem to like it. Next, it may be in your best financial interest to evaluate the type of grain you are feeding. Higher calorie does not necessarily mean higher cost. If you have a skinny horse, you will get more bang for your buck by switching to a Senior feed than feeding more of a Maintenance feed. My cat food is very expensive, but I’m worth it.
That being said, if your horse has had a dental, you have recently dewormed him, you believe you are feeding him enough to sustain an elephant, and he is still skinny, please have Dr. Lacher or Dr. Vurgason out to take a look! There are several other underlying medical issues that can cause weight loss in a horse; this is just what I’ve learned over the years from eavesdropping on the docs. Until next week, my friends!
Feb 22, 2016 | Eyes, Herpes, Infections
OK, I have had enough of Tony this and Tony that. I’m taking over this week. Welcome to Tuesdays with Teannie. That’s right, I’m the cuter and smarter cat at Springhill Equine, and this week I’m writing about eyes. I should point out I don’t have any, but that story is what makes me qualified to write this week’s blog.
I started life with two normal eyes. Along the way I got infected with a Herpes virus. Herpes is the same virus that causes rhinopneumonitis in horses. In horses and cats this usually presents as a bit of a cold. Sometimes it goes elsewhere and causes all kinds of problems. In horses, it can also cause abortions in pregnant mares and a neurologic disease. In cats, it can cause the immune system to attack the eyes. This is what happened to me. It took years and years, and Dr. Lacher tried pretty much every treatment available, but eventually they couldn’t save my eyes. Along the way I have become an expert in eyes.
I’m going to start with the obvious. If there is redness, swelling, or a lot of tears, call Springhill Equine. These are pretty good indicators of a problem, and the earlier a problem is addressed, the better the outcome (I lived on the streets for a while just trying to keep a roof over my head, so don’t judge me that I didn’t get proper care). To start, our Docs are going to use a special device called an ophthalmoscope to look in the eye. They claim this is to get good light and magnification. Personally, I think they like shining a bright light in my eye to torture me. I get back at them by standing in front of computer screens and stepping on keyboards. Next a special stain called flourescein is put in the eye. This stain shows if any of the surface layer of cells is gone. You want a negative flourescein result. Negative here means all is good. Positive means you have long nights and days, or your horse has an all-expense-paid trip to Springhill Equine.
With their big bug eyes set on the side of their heads and their propensity to stick their heads where they don’t belong and then get scared, horses are very prone to ulcers. So that’s problem number one with horse eyes. Next, we live in Florida and we grow fungus here. Put bug eyes and fungus together and chaos follows. This is why if you call with a question about an eye, our Docs freak out a little bit and move the Earth to get you on the schedule that day. All eyes get treated like they have a bacterial and fungal infection, no matter what. They also get a wee bit obsessive-compulsive about rechecking the eye to make sure it’s going to the right direction. Treatments are sometimes done every hour!
Sometimes horses, and let’s be honest, cats, are… umm… difficult to treat. Eye treatments sting! The Docs have a few tricks up their sleeves to help. They always give horses (and this cat) treats with EVERY eye medication. They also have a device called a sub-palpebral lavage system. Using a really, really big needle, they put a long tube through the eyelid which lets you stand at the withers to inject medications which are then delivered to the eye.
If the worst happens and the eye can’t be saved, then a procedure called an enucleation is performed. This is the fancy word our Docs use for taking the eye out. Here’s where my experience comes in. Please do not worry about your horse missing an eye. I lost my left eye first and certainly didn’t miss it a lick. In fact, without the constant pain, I was loving life. I would run around and attack Tony, chase my tail, and knock papers off the desk. When my right eye began hurting, I was back to moping around the clinic. Dr. Lacher decided to let me slowly go fully blind so I could better adjust to life with no eyes. Once they removed my right eye, I was right back to running this joint. I still stalk Tony, I still stand directly in front of the computer screen, I know exactly where the escape key is on the keyboard, and I am loving life as the smart cat at Springhill Equine. Moral of this story: if you think something is wrong with your horse’s eye, call Springhill Equine!
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