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Preparing for the Unpredictable

Oct 23, 2011 | Ailments, Disaster Preparedness

 

A large storm system is headed our way and tornadoes are all around us or a train carrying sulfuric acid has spilled on the train tracks can you rapidly evacuate your house, horses and pets?

This was the terrifying scenario Connie Brooks presented for us at the Third Annual Open House at Springhill Equine.  While none of us want to think about these things it is important to plan ahead for the unpredictable.   This week I spend some time in the evenings on the internet.  Please don’t tell on me since no one knows Teeney and I get on the computer.  We cats can do anything even without opposable thumbs.  Anyway, while surfing on the internet I found some valuable guidelines to make sure as much can be done as possible in the face of an emergency evacuation.

Step one is similar to the primary disaster plans we talked about last week.  Start by sitting down to make a plan.  What type of disaster could occur near you?  We are near train tracks and the cement plant but not a river or creek.  Are you near the interstate? Nuclear problems are unlikely in our area but what about power plant or other manufacturing facilities?

What can you reasonably get done in 45 minutes or less?  Do you have carriers for all your cats?  Leashes and collars for all your dogs?  Can you trailer all your horses or donkeys or will you have to decide who goes and who stays?  These are decisions you don’t want to make with a Sheriff’s Officer yelling at you to get out now!

Have a close but not too close evacuation location in mind.  Having a “close” location within 30-45 miles of home and a distant location, in Atlanta for example, ensures you have a plan for any emergency.  These evacuation locations should be known to your family, close friends and emergency contact.  Once again your emergency contact should be someone far outside our area who can be a contact point for family members or emergency personnel.

All of your animals should have collars or halter with ID tags ready to go.  Your animals should also be trained to wear these collars.  Us cats in particular can be persnickety about collars but getting us used to them during non-emergencies will ensure we are more compliant when it is necessary.  Here I will put in a shameless plug for microchips.  No matter what, a microchip is there and ready to identify your pet at anytime.  You won’t have to find it, put it on, worry about it staying or any of the other issues with collars and halters.  When you get your animals micro chipped be sure to include your out-of-area contact and keep your information updated once yearly.

An emergency kit should be kept stocked and ready to go at all times.  This kit should include photographs of all your animals, preferably with you in the picture, registration papers for any registered animals, copies of important household information such as insurance papers, deeds, birth certificates, etc. and emergency first aid supplies.  This kit should be somewhere quick and easy to grab on your way out the door.

Following your return from any disaster, be prepared for your animals to be out of sorts.  Your property may look very different, fencing may be down, and buildings can be unsafe.  Small animals should be kept leashed, crated or contained in small areas until clean-up is completed and they have re-acclimated to your property.

By now you should have noticed a recurring theme to Disaster Month…Plan ahead.  I have learned from Connie Brooks, my reading on the internet and chats with the Doctors and staff at Springhill Equine that planning ahead is the key to surviving any type of disaster.  There are many resources available for help planning including www.AAEP.org, www.Ready.gov and www.HumaneSociety.org  Each of these websites has an amazing variety of information about what you need for horses, livestock, human, cats, dogs and even wildlife during emergencies.  You may also contact us here at Springhill Equine for help getting started.

That’s the news this week from my counter top.  May your food bowl be full and your litter box clean.  Tony

 

Disaster Response Planning

Oct 15, 2011 | Ailments, Disaster Preparedness

For those of you who attended our Disaster Preparedness Open House this past weekend, you may have the words “MAKE A PLAN” ringing in your ears while you are trying to fall asleep at night (I know I do… I’m thinking of maybe burying some cat food). For those of you who weren’t able to attend, or who missed out on the motivating talk by esteemed disaster responder Connie Brooks, one point I took away is that those of us in the Alachua area do not need to be prepared for the eventual hurricane, but also for the less obvious disasters: chemical spills, nuclear fallout, and “host community” effect when disasters occur nearby (especially south of) us. This means our plan must be adaptable, and we need to have more than one to be truly prepared (I think I’ll mail cat food to Europe too, going hungry scares me).

To accomplish this level of preparedness, it is important to make two plans – one for evacuation, and one for sticking it out at home.  First, figure out which of these would be your best plan A.  Start thinking of friends in your community, and away from home, that you can rely on to help house you, your animals, and your precious information.  Make a list of their addresses and phone numbers, and begin to collect information that you would want them to have copies of.  Based on your relationship with these contacts, you may want to send not only copies of tax, deed, and insurance information, birth and marriage certificates, and social security cards, but also copies of your medical records, your pet’s medical records, and photos of you with your pets.  Have your method of identification, for ALL of your pets, decided on and prepared. As Connie informed us, 99% of horses in Louisiana were returned to their owners after Hurricane Katrina (as it is required by the state to microchip), so take advantage of Springhill’s hurricane-season special on microchips! Have two current copies of your Coggins, with photos of your horses, sealed in a Ziploc bag.  Attach one bag to your horse, and leave the other in your barn or home, and you may want a third to send to that relative in Wisconsin. Use highly-visible methods of ID as well – fetlock bands, grease pens, or even body clipped phone numbers. The ideal location is a large, treeless field with white tape fencing and access to multiple backup water sources, NOT a barn (as a cat, I will be in a carrier, ready to evacuate if needed).

For your evacuation plan, make sure you keep up with trailer maintenance, and have more than one location you can haul to, in case of an impact area larger than you may expect. Be prepared for fuel, food, and water shortages (not just for you, think of your pets too!).  Have your kits, first aid and emergency, stocked and ready, as you would at home. Consider ways you could carry drums of water for your animals in your trailer, and check out our blog on trailer safety and maintenance. Have a place that can accommodate you and your animals – do not rely on the government to take care of you. Most importantly, if it is less than 72 hours to impact, DO NOT EVACUATE. Refer to your stay home plan. It is key to have these plans written down and readily accessible in an emergency!

As a special offer, Springhill Equine is offering microchipping at $10 off throughout Hurricane Season.  And for even more resources check www.ready.govor  www.avma.org/disaster/default.asp

Thanks for visiting my counter, may your litter box always be clean and your food bowl full! Safe sailing, Tony

 

Poisonous Plants….More to stay away from

Poisonous Plants….More to stay away from

Sep 24, 2011 | Ailments, Pests, Uncategorized

I got started on poisonous plants last week and couldn’t get the doctors to stop so this week I am going to cover a few more, concentrating more on weeds than decorative plants.  A couple of items I learned from the docs this week:  most poisonous weeds like fence lines because they don’t get mowed there, low soil pH can promote weed growth and most horses will only eat poisonous plants if there is nothing else available or it is baled in to hay.

Deadly Nightshade

This is a very common plant seen on fence lines.  A very small amount of nightshade can be deadly!  Nightshade acts on a very specific portion of the nervous system leading to colic-like symptoms, dilated pupils, disorientation and loss of muscle control.  Keeping fence lines sprayed with herbicides on a regular basis or manual removal are the only ways to control this weed.  Don’t forget to check pastures occasionally, especially around trees, for additional plants.  Treatment is a drug called physostigmine or pilocarpine.

Bracken Fern

These ferns are commonly seen in wooded areas.  The most common way horses eat these ferns is if they are turned out in damp wood areas with limited roughage.  Symptoms are usually slow to present with the most common sign being weight loss.  Other symptoms include a decreased appetite, in-coordination and a characteristic wide leg, arched back stance.  The toxic portion of bracken fern causes a Vitamin B1 deficiency.  Treatment with Vitamin B1 is very effective if signs are caught early.

Lantana

Many plants we use to attract butterflies are also poisonous to our horses.  Lantana is one of these.  Just like many other poisonous plants, horses will avoid them if given enough roughage.  Here at the office we keep our butterfly attracting plants outside the fence or away from horse areas to minimize risk of ingestion.  Lantana will grow wild in fields and along driveways and fence lines.  Horses do have to eat a large volume of lantana to cause toxicity.  Symptoms of large volume ingestion begin with photosensitization (sunburn on white markings), decrease appetite followed by yellowing of the skin and colic symptoms.  If horses eat small amounts over prolonged periods symptoms may begin with a bloody diarrhea, listlessness, colic symptoms and sores on the gums and tongue.  Treatment is only supportive, such as fluids, and often unsuccessful.

Milkweed

Milkweed is another common butterfly garden plant.  Unlike lantana, milkweed usually doesn’t grow well as a wild plant.  However, it can escape from gardens to grow in protected areas such as against barn walls, pump houses or the like.  Also unlike lantana, very small quantities can cause toxic signs with 1 pound capable of causing severe symptoms in a 1000 pound horse.  Symptoms include profuse salivation, colic symptoms and seizures.  Treatment can only be started within a few hours after eating and is often unsuccessful.  Prevention is the best treatment for milkweed.  Milkweed is also very poisonous to other pets like dogs and cats so be very careful with this plant!!

Many horses are naturally curious.  Unfortunately much like your 2 year old child, they explore with their mouths!!  Frequently walking your pastures on the lookout for poisonous plants is key to control.  Look for a seminar on poisonous plants in 2012 from Springhill Equine.  It will be held at the office so even us office cats can learn all about what plants to avoid.

Thanks for visiting my counter!  May your litterbox be clean and your food bowl full.  Tony

 

Tony’s Don’ts

Tony’s Don’ts

Sep 10, 2011 | Ailments, Feed, Leg issues, Pests

Tony here. I heard a lot of talk around the office about veterinary don’ts this Labor Day weekend. Recently I’ve thought of topics that I would like to add to your list of Veterinary Don’ts.

While the logic may sound a bit backwards, don’t give antibiotics to your horse if you suspect he has a foot abscess.

An abscess in the foot requires coaxing. Although it makes sense to treat infection with antibiotics, it really just needs a way out.  Soaking the foot with salts, and drawing salves like ichthammol, that bring in moisture (water follows salt) softens the hoof horn, so the abscess can break through. Your farrier or the vets “digs” with the hoof knife around the sole of the foot where the horse is painful and/or the surface is irregular to give the infected tract an exit. If your horse has to be on antibiotics for more severe complications or another medical condition, that is a matter to discuss with the doctors.  Antibiotics simply slow the maturation of the abscess, delaying healing.

On that matter… be careful not to overuse antibiotics in general.  Antibiotic resistance, as seen with the emergence of MRSA, is an ever-pressing issue in medical treatment.  It is important to avoid unnecessary antibiotic use, while treating your horse appropriately for their condition.  I am no microbiologist (I prefer rodent-ologist), but I can tell you that the art of what the bug is and what antibiotic kills (or doesn’t kill) it is a complicated process. If the docs prescribe you antibiotics, keep using them until the prescription is gone (which should be after the symptoms resolve completely). If you’ve run out of your prescription, and you don’t think the infection is completely resolved, let us know. We always recommend a culture if we suspect a serious infection –this will give us a sensitivity profile of the microbe to a variety of antibiotics, telling us what will work.  We will start treating with an effective antibiotic as soon as possible. In the meantime, help us have a bacterial population with sensitivity to the things we have that kill them.  Don’t change antibiotics, or repeatedly start and stop unless necessary. And  don’t keep giving your antibiotics if your horse develops diarrhea or colicky signs, call Dr. King or Dr. Lacher instead.

We animals can be pretty good at sensing what is and isn’t good for us, but sometimes we just can’t resist eating what will make us really, really sick (like those silly dogs and their chocolate).  Horses have the added pressure of sensing their environment with trimmed sensory whiskers.

As a result, don’t forget to check your alfalfa thoroughly for blister beetles.

Blister beetles can result in a painful death for your horse. They live in hay.  Blister beetles can be toxic dead or alive. There are 2500+ species of blister beetle worldwide, but it is the three-stripe blister beetle shown below that can be toxic to a horse with ingestion of only a dozen insects. A defensive chemical called cantharadin results in blisters when the insect is crushed against the skin, hence the name. The beetles cause severe intestinal wall inflammation, and can result in kidney failure and death in about 72 hours.  Poisonings occur in horses, sheep and cattle. Double check through each flake of hay to make sure there aren’t any beetles. Hay qualities that are considered more risky for infestation with blister beetles include later cuttings, southern sources, and the presence of more blooms or weeds. Buy first cut hay to avoid infestation.

If your horse ingests a toxic level of blister beetles, he will begin to show signs of colic, straining to urinate, and frequent progressing to no urination. Call immediately if you discover your horse has ingested these buggers.

Thanks for visiting my counter, may your litterbox be clean and food bowl full!

 

In Case of Emergency

Jun 8, 2011 | Ailments, Disaster Preparedness, Feed, Leg issues

We all know horses have an amazing ability to find new and fun ways to injure themselves and their humans.  In this blog, I will briefly touch on the basic things to have on hand and the protocols to have in place for emergencies.

There are three common horse emergencies: Colic, Eyes and Legs

Let’s start with colic.  Horses have been badly designed by Mother Nature so if you have horses long enough you will experience colic.  The best way to deal with colics is to prevent them.  A few quick pointers: any change to diet should happen over 5-7 days minimum, roughage and high quality concentrates will minimize digestive upsets and horses hate change so keep to a routine as much as possible.  So you have done everything to prevent colic but come home one evening to find your horse unwilling to eat, rolling on the ground or just laying around.  Step One is a basic assessment of your horse’s vital signs.  Is your horse sweating a lot, breathing very rapidly or extremely restless?  If so, call us immediately.  These are signs of a more severe colic which requires attention quickly.  If your horse is quietly laying down, breathing normally or just acting a little off start with a short, slow walk ideally near some good grass.  A short walk, a small offer of something tasty like apples, carrots or treats or even a 2 minute lunge at a trot will often get these mild colics feeling much better.  However, if your horse is not back to normal after 15-20 minutes please be sure to call Springhill Equine so the best course of action can be determined.

Our horses were blessed with the big beautiful eyes that sit on the sides of their heads where they can poke them on things.  And leave it to horses to find plenty of things to poke them on.  Eyes can quickly become infected with bacteria and fungus, especially in Florida.  Eyelids need to be sutured as soon as possible for the most cosmetic outcome.  A few things to look for: the eye itself should be very clear, any cloudiness is a definite sign of trouble, looking at your horse from the front both eyes should be open evenly and excessive drainage could be a sign of a blocked tear duct.  If in doubt about an issue it is never a bad idea to place some plain antibiotic ointment (NOT the kind with steroids) in the affected eye and give your horse one gram of Bute.  Once you have done this, call Springhill Equine and we will help decide if an emergency call is necessary or if the next day will be fine.  Any cuts to the eyelid can be treated the same way but will require sutures within 3-4 hours.

From that random piece of barbwire they manage to find to the hole that wasn’t there this morning, horses are very good at putting their legs where they don’t belong.  Quick leg guidelines: if a cut or puncture is near a joint call immediately, cold hosing any laceration will help remove dirt and debris and always have good bandaging material on hand just in case.  The most common things we see are lacerations to the lower leg.  Many of these are managed with lots of cold hosing, Vaseline or Neosporin and a good bandage.  Sutures might be placed but most of the time we are trying to use the skin as a temporary bandage.  Because horses have such a poor blood supply to the lower leg it is difficult to get sutured skin to stay happy for longer than 3-4 days.  The most important thing to remember about legs is that even the smallest laceration can be devastating if it is near a joint so call us for help deciding if this is an emergency or can wait until morning.

A bit of planning ahead of time can make a big difference in how emergencies are handled.  Sit down and make a plan for how much you will spend on each horse you have.  We understand this may differ from horse to horse but thinking about it ahead of time makes decisions easier in crises.  Explore insurance options now.  There are a variety of ways and coverages available.  But signing up for insurance when your horse is headed for colic surgery doesn’t work very well.  Having all your horse’s health information and your wishes written down for any farm help or house sitters will make everything go smoother if you are unreachable for some reason.

We are pretty sure Murphy’s Law was written for horses

Hurricane Preparedness

Hurricane Preparedness

Apr 27, 2011 | Ailments, Disaster Preparedness, Uncategorized

Hurricane Preparedness

As a cat, I naturally do not enjoy rainy days.  Teeney and I get stuck in the office (we don’t like to get our paws wet).  While I’m happy Hurricane Irene is no longer headed our way, I thought this would be a good opportunity to discuss getting your property and animals ready for a hurricane.

This is definitely another case of “the best defense is a good offense.”  Always keep an eye on trees that may become a problem and have them trimmed up or removed as soon as possible.  Limbs become flying debris during high winds and can cause life threatening injuries to our animals and our homes and barns.  If you have a burn pile it should be burned down before hurricane season starts if possible (minding any burn bans in your area, of course).  Assess your property for likely problem areas so you can be prepared once the winds and rain die down.  Be sure you know where all your important papers are located.  We all think about insurance documents, wills and that sort of thing, but don’t forget about identifying paperwork for your horses.  Now is the time to take photos of your other animals to help document your ownership, including a family member in the picture.  If possible, scan or photograph paperwork and email it to yourself, as well as a friend or relative out of the path of the hurricane.  This ensures that even if you have a problem accessing your paperwork, it is still “findable.”

Animals can add a new dimension to evacuation plans.  Will you evacuate or stay in place and ride out the storm?  If you plan on evacuating, make sure your animals are welcome at the evacuation site.  Following Hurricane Katrina, new guidelines were put in place to make it easier to evacuate with your dogs and cats.  Horses are not part of this plan, and they require quite a bit more planning.  Many of the large horse show facilities become evacuation centers, but this needs to be evaluated ahead of the storm.  Can you transport all your animals to the evacuation site, and if not, what will you do with the others?

Identification becomes a major problem following disasters.  There are a lot of bay, chestnut and gray horses out there.  You will be reunited with your animals more quickly if you make sure it is easy for aid workers to identify your animals.  Microchips are one of the easiest, fastest, and most secure ways to do this.  We embed a small chip in your horse’s neck under local anesthesia, which carries a unique identification number registered to you.  This, along with a recent Coggins form or registration papers, makes it very easy to match horse and owner.  Microchips are also available for your dog and cat.  In fact, most animals can be microchipped.  Many zoos and aquariums microchip all of their animals from elephants to fish!  For long distance identification, a grease marker or set of clippers can be used to write your telephone number (which is linked to your name and address) on your horse’s coat.  This should be visible from a distance so rescue workers can quickly identify that this horse has an owner they may be able to locate.  It is also a good idea to have a back up phone number for someone who lives out of the disaster path.  This person should be aware that they have been chosen and should have copies of pictures and paperwork identifying your horse (and your other animals).  Many times local phone systems go down during disasters, and a distant number may be the only way of contacting you!

One question we often get is, “Where should I put my horse during the storm?”  The best answer is outside, in the largest pasture available with the fewest trees, wearing a leather halter.  The best identified horse has grease pen phone numbers on both sides and phone numbers written in permanent marker on strips of cloth braided in to the mane and tail.  Luggage tags may also be braided into the mane and tail for identification purposes. Being outside allows our horses to avoid debris if at all possible, and prevents them from getting trapped in case of structural failure of the barn.  One of our clients turned her horses out in a 100 acre cow field during Hurricane Charley.  They could watch the horses and cattle line up in a long line with their backs to the wind.  The line gradually moved out from under the trees and then back again as the storm went through.  If given the opportunity, most of our horses will do the right thing! However, some horses will not tolerate this, and behave like maniacs.  In that case, keep your horse in the sturdiest barn you have access to, considering elevation of the barn if flooding is a concern in your area. This may not be on your property! Consider people in or near your neighborhood who may have more adequate facilities, and make plans in advance on where your horse can go locally.  Board up any openings to the outside to keep debris from flying in to the stall but make sure there is adequate air flow.  Whether your horses are in a barn or in a field, be familiar with possible alternatives for access points, should the main entry become obstructed by debris.

This is just a start on hurricane preparedness.  Look for much more information at our Open House on October 8th, 2011 from 10am to 1pm (so we can all get home for the football game – Go Gators!).  You can also find additional information at www.AAEP.org, www.AVMA.org, and www.floridahorse.com/hurricane.

May your litter box always be clean and your food bowl full!!