Tony the Cat here, and boy do I have something interesting for you!
If you work with SmartPak , or you have gotten any recent promotions from them, then you probably know they are offering a new and exciting program called ColiCare. In our recent talks about nutrition we’ve talked about feeds and how they affect your horse, but one thing that we haven’t mentioned yet is negative effects of diet change. The biggest one that you might see with a sudden change in diet or environment is colic, and colic can be a pretty scary and also expensive experience. That’s where SmartPak and Springhill Equine are stepping up to help.
SmartPak recently released a program which will offer up to $7500.00 in colic surgery reimbursement when you keep your horse on their SmartDigest or SmartCombo Ultra supplements. SmartPak pre-packages a month’s worth of single serving cups of the supplement for your horse. The supplement aids in digestion and helps ensure your horse’s gut stays healthy. SmartPak will offer up to $7500.00 in colic surgery reimbursement when your horse is maintained on this SmartPak year round, but they also have to meet a group of requirements that are also very important to your horse’s health and well being. I’ll talk about those in a moment. Should your horse be on ColiCare and have colic surgery that you are reimbursed for, they can still stay on the ColiCare program so long as they stay on the SmartPak. Now to talk a bit about the requirements.
ColiCare requires first that the horse be maintained on the SmartDigest or SmartCombo Ultra SmartPak. To qualify, the horse and owner must both reside within the United States. The horse would need to be between the ages of 5 months and 24 years when they are signed up, but the coverage will continue up until age 28. The horse has to be under the direct care of a veterinarian, like Dr. Lacher or Dr. Bourke. The horse also cannot have a previous history of colic surgery, or experienced any colic in the last 12 months.
SmartPak requires a certain group of annual procedures that must be done to maintain the horse’s health. These include an annual physical exam, annual dental float, annual vaccinations and annual deworming analyses performed by the veterinarian, including a fecal count. The great news is, hese are all part of our Annual Wellness Programs!
These programs have graduating levels, starting with our Basic Wellness. The other programs include our Basic Plus and our Performance plan, as well as the Senior add on package. The Wellness Program ensures that your horse will have a Wellness exam at least twice yearly, Encephalitis vaccines twice yearly, Rabies and West Nile vaccines annually, a yearly Coggins, fecal counts at least twice yearly with customized deworming plans for each horse, and a yearly dental exam. These meet all of the requirements for the SmartPak ColiCare program. They also give you an affordable way of ensuring your horse’s care over the year. The basic package is priced at $382.50 a year or just $38.00 a month, with prices graduating with the level of Wellness care. These programs, combined with the ColiCare program from SmartPak give you a way to ensure that your horse is getting the best year round care possible to ensure their overall health and well being, and then offer the opportunity to treat your horse should it colic and require surgery.
This is Tony saying: May your litter box be always clean and your food bowl full.
