Although we travel a lot for lameness and sports medicine work we also provide general healthcare and emergency care to our local clientele. This includes lacerations, wound management, eye problems, skin issues, weight loss, Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) and Cushing’s consultations, management of the older horse and all the bumps, lumps and sprains horses acquire.
The basics
Of vital importance for all horses and a significant cause of ill-health is “malnutrition, dental disease and parasites” and we try to correct these in all cases.
Field Procedures
We perform some minor surgical procedures in the field for example: castration, sequestrectomy (removal of infected bone), joint lavage, sinus trephination. These procedures are performed on a case by case basis.
Nutrition, dental care, worm control
These core components are the essentials along with bi-annual vaccination. Nutrition is typically discussed during our conversations of joint supplementation. We perform corrective dentistry for our local clientele. We also perform fecal egg count tests to monitor worm burdens.
Emergency Care
- Ocular
- Colic
- Lacerations
- Foreign Body
- Fracture Repair
- Septic Joints
Why not just give a de-wormer?
De-wormers reduce the worm/parasite burden in the gut. Many horse owners are used to giving de-wormers (anthelmentics) multiple times in a year, however some horses do not need the “de-wormers” as often because their worm count is low. Giving de-wormers to these horses contributes to drug resistance. We want to test and identify these horses so they do not get inappropriate treatment.
Why not just alternate the de-wormer I give my horse?
In a horse with low worm burden this also contributes to drug resistance. A big concern is that there are no new de-wormers (anthelmentics) coming to market.
When to test?
Routine testing is done TWICE A YEAR. For horse with higher worm burdens we recommend testing more frequently. A third option is to perform A FECAL EGG COUNT REDUCTION TEST.