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| MYOSITIS UPDATE Elizabeth G. Davis, DVM, DACVIM Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas INTRODUCTI |
Laser Surgery - we are now offering laser surgery in the Palm Coast office. This advanced surgery offers less bleeding
and other advantages over conventional surgery. In particular declaws and other vascular surgeries seem to do much better.
Small Animal Dentistry
We now have dental x-rays for dogs and cats in Elkton. This is in
addition to our high speed dental unit - these two technologies together have improved our ability to maintain your
dogs and cats teeth for a long healthy life.
Boarding and Grooming
We board dogs and cats at all of our clinics and the prices are really low! Such a deal!
Electronic Coggins Tests
We now can e-mail your Coggins test to you. This saves you time
- quicker results and you can reprint it if you lose it. Make sure we have your e-mail address on file - you can e-mail it
to us or just let us know next time we see you.
Prepare for a Reduced Hay Crop in 2008 by: University of Minnesota Extension
April 22 2008, Article # 11717
The USDA has released several crop reports that indicate the number of hay acres will be down in 2008.
The department also reported that the existing hay supply is lower than previous years. This information, combined with
higher input costs (fuel, fertilizer, land rent) and higher grain prices (corn, soybean, wheat), will likely lead to increased
hay prices.
Through the fall of 2007 to the spring of 2008, Minnesota's Sauk Center Quality Tested Hay Auction recorded record
prices. Average hay prices were $100 a ton higher in 2007-2008 than the previous five-year average.
To prepare for higher prices, the University of Minnesota recommended that horse owners:
- Remember quality forage should be the backbone of your horse's diet.
- Have a good working relationship with a hay supplier to ensure a consistent and reliable source of hay.
- Consider adding hay storage space to reduce the effects of price and seasonal fluctuations.
- Buy hay early. Do not wait until late summer or fall to buy hay.
- Plan in advance. Budget for the price increase and re-evaluate how many horses you can afford to feed.
- Finally, try to keep your hay type (like grass or alfalfa) consistent. Constantly changing hay types can lead to horse
health problems, specifically colic.
Winter 2006 - uh oh - horsey herpes strikes - the virus ehv-1 which is normally a widespread and
rather benign virus has mutated into something nasty. The current outbreak is limited to West Palm Beach, Florida. A succesful
quarantine has been conducted and presently is limited to the Wellington area. There is no protective vaccine avaialable yet.
More info is available on our favorite links page - the horse.com and FAEP.org.
Summer 2006 - We now have digital radiography. This breakthrough in technology allows us to see
our xrays immediately on a computer screen. We can also give you a copy of your films on CD. This is available both in-clinic
and in the field. Now the time span from xray to diagnosis can be measured in seconds rather than hours or days.
SUMMER 2005
EEE cases
Recent reports show Florida to be approaching annual EEE (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) cases of 200. This year's wet
conditions and increased mosquitoes are contributing to a very high number of sleeping sickness cases. The horses affected
have poor vaccine histories....all horses need that haven't been vaccinated yet this year need to be vaccinated immediately.
NEW FLORIDA EQUINE ID CARDS...VERY IMPORTANT
NEGATIVE EIA TEST VERIFICATION CARD
Effective July 1, 2005, horse owners can get their coggins test result on a laminated ID card. This card will contain
3 digital images of your horse and will be accepted as proof of a negative coggins test within the state of Florida....horse
shows, parks, etc Contact our office for more details...
EQUINE INTERSTATE PASSPORT CARD
This handy card will be accepted as a 6 month health certificate and negative coggins (official certificate of veterinary
inspection - OCVI) for interstate shipment of horses. Participating states at this time in the program are....Alabama, Arkansas,
Georgia, Louisiana, Missippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Again, contact our office for more details.
Sand colic prevention...remove access to sand and feed free choice good quality hay...these are the results of 2 recent
studies..one at University of Florida
>there
was a study done at the University of Illinois (can't supply the reference at this moment) where they surgically implanted
sand in the colon of several horses and then treated them with psyllium or nothing and found that both groups cleared the
sand from their colon. This implied that if sand intake is prevented, horses will clear sand on their own without treatment.
<
The
animal science folks at U Florida did a similar thing a few years ago (but with sand administered orally). They compared spontaneous
sand removal for two different psyllium dosages (single dose of 0.5 g/kg bwt in the grain ration OR 0.25 g/kg bwt BID in feed
for 6 days) and two different levels of hay intake (1.5% of bwt/day and 2.5% of bwt/day). Here's what they found:
"There does not appear to be any advantage to feeding or treating with psyllium, bran or oil over basic 1.5% BW hay intakes
and it appears that hay may be primarily responsible for movement of sand through the gut and that the larger the hay intake
(2.5% vs. 1.5%) the quicker the sand moves through."
Lieb S and Weise J. A group of experiments on the management of sand intake and removal in equine. Proc 16th Equine Nutrition
and Physiology Symposium, 1999; p. 257
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IMPROVED DR AVAILABILTY..UPDATED 2008
We now have 6 vets doing field calls. Drs Gary, Erin E, Jeff, Erin B, Heather,
and Herb are pretty much available Monday through Friday. Just give us a call and I'm sure we can help you out.
NEW DEWORMER ON THE MARKET - AUG, 2003 - There is a new dewormer, "Equimax", that we now carry. It is a mixture
of Ivermectin plus Praziquantal. This kills tapeworms and all the other major parasites in 1 tube. So...it's like the double-dose
Strongid plus Ivermectin. Well worth using at least once a year.
Another new dewormer, QuestPlus, is also now available - similiar to EquiMax with the additional benefit of
killing encysted small strongyles (thought to be a major factor in intestinal worm problems).
BETTER TEETH :-) - Sept 2003 - We're now using a powerfloat - a motorized dental tool on horses with long-standing
teeth problems. This is a quiet rotating disc tooth grinder that can correct many problems that were very difficult to correct
by hand in the past. Same price as the hand floating with better results and less stress for the horse and vet.
New medical developments -
One of the more interesting changes has been the availabilty of compunded medications. We are now able to prescribe
"user friendly" medicines from tranquilizers to antibiotics in convenient and horse-tasty pastes and powders. This should
help a lot with behaviorally-challenged horses - farriers won't be getting kicked quite so often and horses once thought to
be idiots may be rehabilitatable safely. So....if your horse is a real tuffy you may want to contact us and see what's available.
Encephalitis Viruses - EEE, WEE, VEE, and now West Nile Virus - sheez!
Just when you thought it was safe to go outside some killer viruses are floating around in our mosquitoes. Here
are our latest thoughts on these things:
1. EEE - Eastern equine encephalitis - this is far and away the most common encephalitis virus infecting horses
in our area. There is a safe and very effective vaccine we use and it's part of our "core" vaccine program. If we've been
to your farm in the last 4 months, don't worry, we gave it and you're protected. If you're not sure when we last gave this
important vaccine, just call us. This disease has been around for a very long time and is protected by vaccination. So far,
this year, we've had 2 cases - neither horse had been vaccinated and both sadly died.
2. WEE - Western equine encephalitis - this is common in the western US. To my knowledge, we've never had a
case in this area. We include the vaccine with the EEE vaccine because that's the way the vaccine is manufactured. So, again,
you're protected against this virus which is very uncommon in this area.
3. VEE - Venezuelan Encephalitis - this is unheard of in our area. This virus pops up occasionally in southern
Texas - crosses the border from Mexico. A very vigorous control effort is mounted by the USDA and it slips back south of the
border. We don't vaccinate for this disease and unless you're going to south Texas or S.America you needn't worry.
4. West Nile Virus - this is the one in all the news reports. It appears, the virus is here. We have had many
confirmed cases. Remember, the old, young, and debilitated are at greatest risk. Even then, the chance for recovery is around
70%. We do have the vaccine and we do recommend it. The vaccine consists of 2 boosters 3 weeks apart. Clinical signs include
facial muscle twitching and wobbliness - even recumbency. Again, control mosquitoes as best you can. Clean up your yard -
old tires, standing water, etc, etc. On our favorite links page is a link to the state vet's web page listing cases by county.
****Interesting results posted in latest issue of Journal of the AVMA -small strongyles (cyathastomes) are the leading
parasites in the resistance to dewormers. A study by Univ. of GA tested 3 dewormers - fenbendazole (Panacur, Safeguard) as
a single dose, pyrantel pamoate ( Strongid) as a single dose, and Ivermectin (Ivomec, Zimectrin, Equimectrin) as a single
dose. Only the Ivermectin completely killed the small strongyles. So...basically, there is still no resistance of equine worms
documented to Ivermectin. That should let us sleep better at night.
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