Aug 30, 2016 | Disaster Preparedness, Injuries
Before I get in to the informational section of my weekly discussions, I want to extend an invitation to each of you for our latest Come See Tony Event. It will be next Thursday September 8th, 6:30 pm at the Clinic. You will be allowed to talk with me and pet me. I will tolerate selfies as long as they are appropriately hashtagged on social media. There will also be some talk on the science behind vaccines. Oh and good food. You are crazy if you don’t come. Please RSVP with one of the lovely office ladies, or confirm that you’re going on the Facebook Event here https://business.facebook.com/events/289817458052174/
I know we have gone over disaster stuff recently but Mother Nature has provided me with another opportunity. It’s been raining in Louisiana. It’s been raining so much there’s massive flooding. With massive flooding comes a lot of need for veterinarians since, as expected, us animals don’t do so well with all that water. Luckily (or unluckily) the wonderful folks at LSU College of Veterinary Medicine got loads of practice during Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath.
There are two parts to flooding and each has its own set of issues. Let’s start with the rainy part since it comes first. During the initial rain storms, horses may freak out since it’s one of their best responses to disaster. Freaked out horses do some pretty crazy stuff like run through fences, kick through walls, and generally figure out a way to injure themselves. I can’t really throw stones here as freaked out cats aren’t a whole lot better.
On to the no longer rainy part. During this phase the veterinarians are kept busy fixing the injuries horses did freaking themselves out and dealing with the aftermath of high water. Common things they see are lacerations to legs and faces, eye injuries from debris, and skin and hoof problems from standing in water for long periods. Horse parts don’t take to being immersed in water for days at a time. Flood water often has chemicals and sewage in it as well make it even worse than plain old water. To make things worse, it is often difficult to get supplies in to affected areas and horses out to hospitals.
The veterinarians at LSU and surrounding clinics have sent out a call for help. They can always use grain and hay donations, but most important is monetary donations. M
oney lets them buy supplies and equipment for the situations they are facing. What we may think they need isn’t always what they need. You can go here: http://lvma.org/LVMA/LSART_Donations.aspx or here: http://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/disaster_preparedness/donations.php to donate.
I’m going to get up on my kitty soap box here for just a moment and remind you humans to be prepared. Look at your farm and your animals. What do you need to do to be prepared for a hurricane, a flood, a tornado? Are your animals microchipped? We are running a microchip special this month because of hurricane season. Our Docs want you ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at you! We are all sure it will never happen to us until it happens.
Tony
Aug 16, 2016 | Disaster Preparedness, Infections, Injuries, Medication, Q & A, Safety
With all the rainy weather we’ve been having, I had plenty of time to sit around the clinic and pick the brains of Dr. Vurgason & Dr. Lacher. I had to get the scoop, the D-L, the 4-1-1, the Inside Story, on what our doctors keep in their own tack trunks. Now obviously everybody has gloves, their helmet, a crop, and a bag of those peppermint-flavored horse treats in case you forget to bring carrots. But what I was interested in was the medical supplies, the in-case-of-emergency box, right from the mouth of a bona-fide veterinarian!
When you peruse the aisles at your favorite tack supply store, you will find shelves upon shelves of medical supplies. Incidentally, there are also shelves upon shelves of cat treats, which are welcomed here at the office any time of day. Some people choose to buy all the medicines; which is fine if you enjoy spending money. Many of our clients have cabinets, shelves, bins, and boxes stocked full of every ointment, cream, spray, and powder you can imagine. But really there are only a few that you need, or that the docs might expect you to have on hand.
First, and this one should be obvious: duct tape. For any type of hoof injury, as well as various repairs around the barn, this is a must-have. Along with duct tape, baby diapers (size 1 for an average Quarter horse hoof, larger sizes for bigger feet) are excellent for hoof-wrapping. Another tack trunk must-have is Vetrap. Boy, do I wish I invented that stuff. I’d be lounging around in a cat palace on some island right now, rather than stuck in this office watching the rain with these humans. Vetrap is just the perfect balance of stretchy and sticky. It sticks great to itself, but not to anything else. Brilliant!
As far as ointments, creams, and the like, the docs gave me a hierarchy of wound dressings in order of preference: Silver Sulfadiazine (SSD for short), is an excellent topical antibacterial cream, great for any kind of wound. It is expensive, but if you buy the big blue tub it will last you a long time. Next choice would be the yellow stuff, Nitrofurazone (a.k.a. Furacin). Furacin is another good choice as a topical antibacterial wound ointment to have on hand. Beyond that, any type of Triple Antibiotic Ointment that you can find at your local drug store will do the trick. For open wounds, the docs wouldn’t recommend the ointments without antibiotics, the “natural” healing products, or Vetericyn (it is literally bleach-water, look at the ingredients)!
Swat is an old staple that is a good fly repellent to have in your trunk. It now comes in a clear formulation, not just the tell-tale pink that you can see from across the pasture. It’s important to realize, however, that Swat does not have any antibacterial properties, even though it is advertised for use around wounds. The only other cream I found in the vets’ tack trunks was Desitin (and no, it wasn’t for Dr. V’s baby). Desitin contains Zinc Oxide, which is great for treating burns, abrasions, or other wounds that need soothing and healing, but have a low risk of becoming infected. A&D ointment or Balmex are also good for this purpose. The docs have even used that on me (against my will) when my skin gets bad.
Other than that, just make sure you have some good antibacterial scrub for wounds (either betadine or chlorhexidine-based). Dr. Vurgason’s horse is prone to thrush, so she also had Thrushbuster on her tack trunk list. Dr. Lacher has a horse with insect allergies, so she also stressed the importance of a good fly spray (make sure it is actually a fly repellent, not just a fly killer).
So, to review, the official Vets’ Tack Trunk List: Duct Tape, Diapers, Vetrap, SSD/Furacin/TAB ointment, Swat, Desitin, scrub, fly spray, and Thrushbuster. Pretty simple, right? As my father Anthony would say, “clear as mud”! And if it’s not, just call us at the office anytime you have a question about any of the thousands of over-the-counter products out there, and we will be sure to direct you to the nearest doctor for their expert opinion. After all, they know what ingredients like Dimethyl Sulfoxide and Sodium Hypochlorite actually are. Remember to pick up some cat treats while you are stocking up on your tack trunk supplies!
Until next week.
– Tony
Jan 19, 2016 | Disaster Preparedness
Tuesdays with Tony:
I must say, it’s a bit nippy outside! Be that as it may, don’t even think about putting a space heater in your barn to keep little Snowflake warm. Turns out, the majority of barn fires are caused by heating equipment! In fact, only 3% of barn fires are caused by an animal. It stands to reason, then, that the other 97% are caused by stupid humans. Surprise, surprise.
Does your barn aisle looks like Home Depot was having a sale on extension cords? Is there so much dust on your fluorescent lightbulbs that you can’t see to tell apart your hunter green and navy blue turnout sheets? If so, you are not alone. Which brings me to the 2nd most common cause of barn fires: electrical and lighting equipment!
Barn fires are an all too common reality. They are always tragic, mostly because they are almost always preventable. Dr. Lacher and Dr. Vurgason want you and your horses to be safe! Therefore, Springhill Equine is throwing an exciting come-see-Tony event entitled, Barn Fire Prevention: Addressing Life Safety Issues at your Facility. Our guest speaker will be Aaron Vurgason of Oak Ridge Electric. Aaron is a licensed electrician, and holds certifications in arson investigation, electrical safety, fire safety, building automation/control systems, and most importantly he’s Dr. V’s husband, so he’s cool in my book.
Don’t miss me, err I mean the talk about Barn Fire Prevention, on Thursday, February 11th at 6:30pm, right here at Springhill Equine! And before you decide to hang a heat lamp directly over Snowflake’s hay rack, ask yourself if it’s worth it, and maybe just throw an extra blanket on her instead. Stay warm in your kitty houses!
-Tony
Sep 9, 2015 | Ailments, Cushings, Disaster Preparedness, Laminitis, Leg issues, Pet Pigs
Well Tuesday was so crazy I didn’t manage to catch up until Wednesday! The day after a long weekend is always hard on management. I have spent the weekend ensuring sunbeams are properly tracked across the floor, making sure the chairs don’t move in the office, and knocking any stray papers off the desk. Meanwhile, Dr. Lacher was busy seeing emergencies all weekend. Actually you guys were pretty nice to her and she only had to see a few. Dr. Lacher and Dr. Vurgason don’t really mind emergencies when they are true emergencies. The only time I hear them upset is when the horse has been very sick for a while and the humans wait until 10:30pm on a Saturday night to call but I digress.
One of this weekend’s emergencies was a common Fall problem: laminitis. Why Fall you ask? Well let me answer. This time of year your crazy horses are getting ready for Winter. That’s right: Winter. The brain of the horse is tuned to seasons in a very particular way. It has to change the metabolism, hair growth, foot growth, and a million other little tweaks so that the system is ready for whatever the coming season will require. Horses, having evolved in cold climates, start getting ready for Winter around August 15th. To do this the pituitary gland increases its production of about 5,000 different hormones. All is fine and dandy unless your horse also has Cushing’s or is pre-Cushingoid. If that’s the case too many hormones are released and voila!! Laminitis happens.
The good news is these laminitis episodes are relatively minor, even if sometimes they don’t look that way, and are quickly controlled with some anti-inflammatories like bute or previcox, a little help from some thyroid hormones, and changes in trimming or shoeing. Knowing your horse’s ACTH levels if they are a suspected Cushing’s horse helps the Docs manage these guys if they experience a flare up.
In other goings on this week, Dr. Vurgason treated another one of those things called a pig at the office. They really are rather adorable until they open their mouths. I was grateful she anesthetized him so that she could perform a castration. Dr. Lacher saw several horses for lameness, along with a few dentals and other routine health stuff. I think she might get some kind of perverse pleasure from making her technicians run around in circles since she makes them do that a lot! She claims this is so she can watch the horses move after stressing different parts of their bodies but I have my doubts.
Aug 18, 2015 | Ailments, Breeding, Disaster Preparedness, Feed, Infections, Injuries, Leg issues
Tuesdays with Tony
Whew what a week! Yesterday was Black Cat Appreciation Day and my hordes of adoring fans came by to give me offerings. I am sure you all appreciated the Black Cats in your lives yesterday but if not we may still be adored today.
Many of you saw the pictures yesterday of the hind legs of a horse who went through the floor of a trailer. Luckily the trailer wasn’t moving at the time. Dr. Lacher and Dr. Vurgason have a long road ahead of them taking care of that guy. The first step will be seeing how much of the skin survives the first week. About half of what you see will survive; the other half will need to be trimmed off. Next week sometime they will remove the sutures and re-suture the wounds to try to get better coverage. After that it’s bandaging, bandaging, bandaging. I think regular cat scans will also be in order to be sure all is going appropriately.
The rest of the week was jam packed. Last week something called a pig came in to the office. Some may think those are little and cute but I have my serious doubts about that. It made a very loud noise when I sniffed it. Dr. Vurgason loves these things called pigs so I will likely be supervising more and more care. I have put in a request for earplugs. Dr. Vurgason does routine pig care including vaccinations, castration, nutrition, and Wellness Care.
It was a very busy and diverse week here around Springhill. I supervised Dr. Lacher doing something called IRAP on a horse with a lameness in a hind leg. IRAP is this amazing stuff that actually comes from the horse. Dr. Lacher draws blood then does some special processing which increases the concentration of IRAP and then injects that back in a joint that has pain or inflammation. It about requires a PhD to understand but luckily I am a cat so naturally I know everything. The horse she used it on this week had an infection in a joint in his leg. The infection was aggressively treated and fixed but the body was over-reacting and causing the joint to be painful. IRAP will help calm down all that inflammation like a cat purring on your lap.
Meanwhile in the office, Dr. Vurgason did a few dental floats and some breeding work. Being neutered since I was a little tyke I know nothing of this breeding thing. They assure me my life is better but I have my doubts. I ended the week making sure Charly correctly drew blood for an Oral Sugar Test. This test determines if a horse is responding to sugar correctly or if they have Metabolic Syndrome. I told the horse I hope she doesn’t have it since it sounds like exercise and a diet are involved and those are two words I do NOT like to hear. In preparation for another busy week I am now..
Jan 31, 2014 | Ailments, Disaster Preparedness, Leg issues, Pests
This week I have been consoling Dr. Lacher on a regular basis about her horse, Ernie. Ernie has developed a significant cellulitis in his right hind leg and Dr. Lacher is trying very hard to stay calm about (more…)
’s massive flooding. With massive flooding comes a lot of need for veterinarians since, as expected, us animals don’t do so well with all that water. Luckily (or unluckily) the wonderful folks at LSU College of Veterinary Medicine got loads of practice during Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath.
oney lets them buy supplies and equipment for the situations they are facing. What we may think they need isn’t always what they need. You can go here: http://lvma.org/LVMA/LSART_Donations.aspx or here: http://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/disaster_preparedness/donations.php to donate.
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