Equine July 2012
2
24 hour emergency service Lifelong care for animals providing clinical excellence, knowledge and experience NEWS PARAGON VETERINARY GROUP Visit us at: www.paragonvet.com and please ‘like’ us on our FACEBOOK page www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Equine Foot abscesses are common causes of acute and severe lameness in horses. Oſten the horse will be non-weight bearing or toe-touching lame. Fortunately most cases show c omplete recovery. Foot abscesses can occur when bruising of the foot becomes infected, or following on from a puncture wound. Infection can track up weak areas of the hoof, via nail holes and commonly the white line. Any horse can be affected, however horses with poor hoof condition and quality, and overgrown hooves are more at risk. Diagnosis can be straight forward or very difficult in the case of an ‘early’ abscess. Other causes of foot lameness include laminitis, bruising of the sole, or a fracture of the pedal or navicular bone. With foot abscesses, the horse will oſten have a strong digital pulse and will resent application of hoof testers over the affected section. Occasionally there will be pastern swelling. e vet or farrier will pare away some horn to look for tracts where the abscess has started, and establish drainage. If shod, the horse’s shoe will probably need to be removed to find the abscess. Early abscesses can be hard to diagnose, in which case, re-assessment in the next few days will be required. July 2012 Contact us: CALDEW VETERINARY HOSPITAL Carlisle House, Townhead Road, Dalston, Carlisle CA5 7JF Tel: (01228) 710208 [email protected] TOWNHEAD VETERINARY CENTRE Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, CA11 0HT Tel: (01768) 483789 [email protected] LONDON ROAD SURGERY 87 London Road Carlisle CA1 2LG Tel: (01228) 591005 e aim of treatment is to establish drainage. Poultices are used to help draw out the abscess. A wet poultice is applied initially (oſten wet animalintex) and changed once or twice daily. Once the abscess has stopped draining a dry poultice can be applied until the sole has healed. e vet is likely to prescribe some anti-inflammatories (bute) as the condition can be very painful. It is also important to check that your horse is vaccinated against tetanus. FOOT ABSCESSES by Neaera Fletcher
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Transcript of Equine July 2012
24 hour
emergency service
Lifelong care for animals providing clinical excellence, knowledge and experience
NEWS
PARAGON VETERINARY GROUP Visit us at: www.paragonvet.com and please ‘like’ us on our FACEBOOK page www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Equine
Foot abscesses are
common causes of acute and severe lameness in horses. Often the horse will be non-weight bearing or toe-touching lame. Fortunately most cases show complete recovery.
Foot abscesses can occur when bruising of the foot becomes infected, or following on from a puncture wound. Infection can track up weak areas of the hoof, via nail holes and commonly the white line. Any horse can be affected, however horses with poor hoof condition andquality, and overgrown hooves are more at risk.
Diagnosis can be straight forward or very difficult in the case of an ‘early’ abscess. Other causes of foot lameness include laminitis, bruising of the sole, or a fracture of the pedal or navicular bone.
With foot abscesses, the horse will often have a strong digital pulse and will resent application of hoof testers over the affected section. Occasionally there will be pastern swelling.
The vet or farrier will pare away some horn to look for tracts where the abscess has started, and establish drainage.
If shod, the horse’s shoe will probably need to be removed to find the abscess. Early abscesses can be hard to diagnose, in which case, re-assessment in the next few days will be required.
July 2012
Contact us:
CALDEW
VETERINARY HOSPITAL Carlisle House, Townhead Road, Dalston, Carlisle CA5 7JF Tel: (01228) 710208 [email protected]
TOWNHEAD VETERINARY CENTRE Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, CA11 0HT Tel: (01768) 483789 [email protected]
LONDON ROAD SURGERY 87 London Road Carlisle CA1 2LG Tel: (01228) 591005
The aim of treatment is to establish drainage. Poultices are used to help draw out the abscess. A wet poultice is applied initially (often wet animalintex) and changed once or twice daily.
Once the abscess has stopped draining a dry poultice can be applied until the sole has healed. The vet is likely to prescribe some anti-inflammatories (bute) as the condition can be very painful.
It is also important to check that your horse is vaccinated against tetanus.
FOOT ABSCESSESby
Neaera Fletcher
Weighty IssuesObesity is a serious welfare problem as it puts horses and ponies at risk of developing life threatening and painful conditions such as Laminitis or Equine Metabolic Syndrome.
TOP TIPS TO AID WEIGHT LOSS
* Reduce calories, not bulk. Feed a diet based on grass, hay or hay substitute with low (< 10%) non-structural carbohydrate content. Good quality straw can be used. Water must be available at all times.
* Feed at 1.5% of current bodyweight to achieve weight loss.
* Monitor weight weekly.
* Soak hay. This will remove sugars.
* Use a commercial low calorie feed balancer.
* Weigh out feed.
* Restrict access to grazing .
* Use a haynet with small holes, or put one haynet inside another.
* Increase exercise.
* Removing rugs will make a horse burn energy to stay warm.
NURSE CLINIC
CLIENT NEWS
Congratulations to our clients who have been winning at shows this season - George Holder and Lorcan Murtagh really flew the flag for Cumbria at the BSPS Winter Championships, coming first and second in the Royal International Class. George also won the HOYS qualifier so is all set to defend the title he won there last year. Amy Wybergh took the HOYS class Reserve and sister Holly came third in the Novice Intermediate Gold Cup after producing one of only two clears. Beth Ion has secured her place in the Winter JC Final at Hickstead with Sinbad III.Sisters Sophie and Lucy Jones are never far from the ribbons and have scored a string of noteable successes with their ponies. Hazel Noble won the ex-racers Points trophy at Greenlands, having topped the board the whole way through with Morandi. Sophie Dodds won the British Eventing JT100 section at Solihull with Be Touchable. PLEASE LET US HAVE YOUR NEWS! SEND IT TO: [email protected]
WEIGH-DAYWould you like to know your horse’s ideal bodyweight and condition? Would you like nutritional advice from a professional?We are staging a special Weigh-Day with Dodson & Horrell on Wednesday July 18 at our Newbiggin base. This is your chance to: * Weigh your horse on weighbridge;* Learn how to condition score your horse;* Get an individual diet plan for your horse.It’s free but places are limited and must be booked in advance. There’s also a talk on nutrition at Newbiggin Village Hall starting at 6pm. - for further details,
phone 01768 483789
SPECIAL OFFER FOR JULY – MICROCHIPPING
During July we are running a special offer on microchipping for horses and pets. To have a microchip inserted will cost:
£12 including VAT.
By law any foals born this year must be microchipped before December 31st 2012. It is also a good opportunity to have any horses or ponies microchipped that have not previously been done.
