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"The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out…." Who, me? Worms? No way! So, uh, what is the scoop on deworming us horses these days?
Answer: Most adult horses have a few strongyles, but some of you are absolute Typhoid Marys when it comes to those small strongyles. And a lot of
dewormers are no longer effective. What’s a horse owner to do? Get a fecal "eggs per gram" test run on each horse March 15-April 1.
If negative, check a fecal again in midsummer and if still low or negative, deworm once right after Thanksgiving (talk about a yucky feast).
If the count positive but under 200, deworm with either an Ivermectin or a moxidectin product, recheck in midsummer, and deworm again after Thanksgiving.
What to use? If your horses are on pasture all summer, use a combo product with Praziquantel (Equimax, Ivermectin Gold, or Quest Plus) to take
care of those 14% of horses in Colorado who might pick up tape worms. If you have a completely isolated herd but you get a low positive egg
count on one horse, you may want to deworm that horse on a regular basis to prevent further pasture contamination, but keep checking everyone.
If, on the other hand, the positive egg count is over 200, deworm with Ivermectin every 8 weeks or moxidectin every 12 weeks for the next 2.5 years,
resting during freezing weather (Mid Dec-early March). Small strongyle eggs and larvae can encyst in the horse and in the pastures for up to 30 months.
Caution advised in old or thin horses or horses with very high counts—consult your veterinarian. Pretreatment with an anti-inflammatory may be advised.
Babies are a whole different bag of worms. Fecal samples can be done, but your veterinarian may advise specific dewormers starting as early as
4 or 6 weeks of age.
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Rabies! Egads! When should my horse buddies and I get our rabies vaccinations?
Answer: As early in the spring as possible. Why? Because skunks are active starting in late
February when they go through mating and on through the summer. Bats come out of hibernation in April.
In 2013, there were 54 positive tests for rabies in Larimer county including 1 horse, and 26 in Weld County
including 2 horses, 1 cow, and a cat. Last year, numbers were down, and Larimer County had more positive bats
than skunks. For those of you down south, La Plata County had 1 positive bat and Archuleta County did not report any,
but let’s not take chances with this disease, please.
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It’s cold out there!. We’re freezing our whiskers. What’s the critical temp for us horses that makes us start to shiver?
Answer: According to the National Research Council, adult horses in good shape
need more heat when the temp gets to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. For every 10
degrees below that, we horses need another 2 pounds of hay to metabolize for
heat production. Keep in mind that wind chill and getting wet makes things worse
for us and even with shelter and a blanket, we’re still going to need an extra 1 and
½ pounds. And for you recent transplants to northern Colorado, it’ll take you about 21 days to
acclimatize to our brisk weather, and that’s if you got here in the fall. Good luck if you are one of these
short haired, sleek show horses from the warmer climes.
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Those really small hole hay nets are just terrific for making us slow down and enjoy dinner, and keep us metabolizing into the cold, cold nights.
We thought we'd post a
2015 Update on the state of things at Mill Creek Vet.
As promised, our EQUUS article on
When Little Bella Danced into the Exam Room is in the
articles section.
We've added a bit more in-depth information on
the finer "points" of floating teeth.
We've joined the digital age: Our memoir is now available on the Kindle.
Napa Valley Vets, the Balance of Lives portrays the commitment of two veterinarians to an evolving,
challenging, heartfelt practice, the compromise between profession and family, and special animals
and people of the Napa Valley.
Coming soon, in EQUUS magazine, "Through and through" --Complex, ongoing dental issues threaten the future of a pretty Welsh pony mare.
Also, coming soon, Colorado Blood, a novel about growing wise in the practice of veterinary medicine and in personal relationships in the
magical mountain town of Pagosa Springs.
In our spare time when we aren’t working, riding, irrigating, or travelling to road races with son Jake, we write. Enjoy.
With the new year, it's time to post some
2012 Nutrition Updates.
We thought we'd post a
2012 Update on the state of things at Mill Creek Vet.
We've added an online version of our case-based dentistry observations into the articles section.
New Articles:
Prevention of Proud Flesh - Summary of an article from the 2011 AAEP convention.
New Articles:
New Year's Resolutions - a quick refresher and reminder on things to be thinking about as winter approaches
We moved! October 19, 2010, we hitched up the trailer and migrated to Fort Collins. We plan to provide mobile equine dental services and health and nutrition
consultation in the local area starting in February, 2011. We will spend a couple of weeks in Pagosa twice a year to keep up with ongoing dental and
lameness issues as needed. We look forward to working with local horse groups and to spending more time with the kids and grandkids. Happy 2011.
New Articles:
New Year's Resolutions - a quick refresher and reminder on things to be thinking about as winter approaches
We moved! October 19, 2010, we hitched up the trailer and migrated to Fort Collins. We plan to provide mobile equine dental services and health and nutrition
consultation in the local area starting in February, 2011. We will spend a couple of weeks in Pagosa twice a year to keep up with ongoing dental and
lameness issues as needed. We look forward to working with local horse groups and to spending more time with the kids and grandkids. Happy 2011.
It's been a long layoff, but we've added another article to our site, this time covering
Beet Pulp.
CSU Annual Conference for Veterinarians. Dr. Wayne McIllwraith reported on the Nation Science Foundation study that confirmed our understanding
that there is no scientific evidence for the efficacy of oral joint supplements chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine (people, or horses or dogs) in any currently
marketed products although the horse owning public spends billions of dollars on them. There is evidence that Avocado/Soy Unsaponified (ASU) has a disease modifying
effect but no pain relief. ASU is available in Cosequin ASU. Omega 3 fatty acids are in fact anti-inflammatory for joint disease so keep up those fish oil and flax
seed supplements (Dr. M takes 2000-3000 IU a day and he has had a hip replacement from a mountain climbing injury).
Dr. Steven O’Grady, a renowned veterinarian and farrier who specializes in diseases of the distal limb, discussed laminitis, sheared heels, and foal limb conformation.
As always, he emphasized keeping the heels pulled back and the toes short, shoes big enough and far enough back, and leaving all healthy sole tissue at trimming.
He also talked about handling foals to ease them into compliance for farriery.
Dr. Alex Valdes gave us some real insight into the advances in distal limb imaging—and what still needs to be studied. CT scans, MRI, Nuclear scintigraphy are all
available here in Fort Collins as well as digital ultrasound and radiology. Pretty upscale.
We had additional lectures on heart disease in horses (we didn’t know that prairie rattler venom could cause progressive heart damage and failure several months after a bite).
A lecture on colon impactions and colic confirmed our clinical experience that hourly stomach tubing of water and electrolytes is the fastest way to resolve impactions.
There are soft, flexible tubes that can be left in place with little discomfort for an extended time. And for a horse with known sand in the gut, small feedings of hay are
the most successful in moving sand out of the gut.