Tuesdays with Tony – Vaccine Truth

Brief activity announcement to start this week:  There will be a meet Tony opportunity on Thursday beginning at 6:30pm at the Clinic.  Once everyone has seen me, there will be a talk on horse food.  You may continue to pet me during the talk, in fact I encourage it.

This is a cat on a soap box.  Literally, and figuratively.  A report came out this week about a horse with Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).  This was a young, happy, healthy horse that never got vaccinated.   Now it is a dead horse.  Horses look for expensive ways to die every day.  They get their feet caught in wires and require thousands of dollars in repair and bandaging.  They colic and need surgery.  They decide to become lame for no apparent reason.

EEE is not one of these things.  This vaccine costs $20. I went on the internet (thank you again to Aaron Vurgason and Oakridge Electric.  It’s very quick!!) and looked up some things I could buy for $20.  Amazon had a label maker for $15.99, a gun and target alarm clock for $19.62, bacon toothpaste for $6.61 so I could get three of those, a Lifestraw that lets you drink nasty water safely for $19.99, and a pop up hot dog AND bun toaster for $19.99.  While all these things are amazing, the only one that might save your life is the straw.  So $20 to keep your horse alive and well!  It’s a no-brainer.

Now we all know you can find vaccines and give them yourself.  Here’s my top 5 reasons that’s not a great plan:

1. Our vaccines are carefully managed from the time they leave the manufacturer to the time they arrive in your horse. Our distributers are very careful to follow all label directions for temperature management of the vaccines, our staff does the same once it arrives at our door, and we carefully monitor vaccine handling while drawing up and waiting to give them.  This is especially important in the summer around these parts.
2. More than just a vaccine happens when one of our esteemed Docs shows up. They are doing WAY more than you realize.  From the moment they pull in they are evaluating your farm and your horse for any potential health issues you may not even know about.  Just having them look at your horse is totally worth $20.
3. The vaccine maker will stand behind any vaccine given by our Docs. Nothing is 100%.  If you horse does get sick or has an unusual reaction to the vaccine, the manufacturer will pay for treatment if we give the vaccine.
4. Is your horse bad about shots? There is no one better than our Docs and technicians at making shots an enjoyable experience for your horse. We go through 50 pounds of horse treats every 2 weeks around here!
5. Our vets will choose the right combination of vaccines for your horse’s lifestyle.

Horses in Florida are particularly susceptible to EEE and West Nile Virus since we have mosquitoes all the time.  Foals can be even more vulnerable since their immune system depends on mom’s milk for the first 4-5 months.  Once they reach 5 months of age foals should start on a series of vaccines to get them well protected.  Trust me when I say you really, really want Springhill Equine to give your foals their vaccines.  They are squirrely little suckers!

Get those horses vaccinated! Until next week…..