Tay Valley Vets

Last Friday we were delighted to welcome Derek Knottenbelt to TVVEC to speak on two subjects with which he has become closely involved whilst Professor of Equine Medicine at Liverpool University.

Head Shaking which can be an excruciatingly painful condition and not bad behaviour and one which is frustratingly hard to control. Possibly due to exposure to viral infection at a young age the condition often has a seasonality suggesting a trigger factor which sets it off. In severe cases these animals become unrideable and in some cases actually physically dangerous.

Sarcoids are a common skin tumour of horses with which many owners will be familiar. Treatments are varied and can be complicated but all sarcoids should be considered serious and Derek urged owners to seek veterinary attention at an early stage.

Donations were taken for the BHS Scotland. Derek urged the audience to support the BHS by joining and taking advantage of the 30% discount available through TVVEC.

There are many rumours circulating about equine strangles in the Crieff area. As of 1st March 2012 we do not have any diagnosed cases and we are also unaware of any recently confirmed case reports by the other local practices. There are several straight forward biosecurity measures that you can do to reduce the risk of your horse encountering strangles such as not sharing buckets or troughs, not touching strange or obviously sick animals and isolating new arrivals for 2 to 3 weeks.  However one of the aspects of strangles that makes control difficult is the carrier state. This is apparently normal horses which carry active infection within their guttural pouches (air spaces within the neck). These carrier horses can really only be satisfactorily identified following examination of their guttural pouches by endoscope. Blood sampling can identify horses that have been previously exposed and may have become carriers. A sensible biosecurity precaution to prevent introduction of strangles onto a yard would be a  blood test followed, if positive, by endoscopy to check for the carrier state. This may seem time consuming not to mention expensive, but if successful in preventing a new outbreak could easily make sense in welfare and economic terms.

The British Horse Society STEPS guide sets out in easy to read terms all about equine strangles.

Jamie Gartside will speak on Strangles on WEDNESDAY 14th MARCH 2012 at the CRIEFF HOTEL, HIGH STREET, CRIEFF at 7.30pm

Contact BHS Scotland for details

Tay Valley Vet Jamie Gartside has been appointed as a field veterinary surgeon for the London 2012 Olympic Games. His duties will involve attendance at the equestrian base at Greenwich Park  and the provision of rapid response first opinion veterinary care to the Olympic horses during their stay at the Games.

Professor Derek Knottenbelt will speak on the above topics on Friday 9th March 2012 at TVVC. Further details to follow. Please contact the surgery to reserve a seat.

LAMINITIS SCREENING PACKAGE

Tay Valley Veterinary & Equine Centre will be offering a laminitis risk assessment for horses & ponies who have had laminitis or at a high risk of developing this crippling condition. Laminitis has been clinically linked to Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Equine Cushing’s Disease, both of which can be successfully managed if detected early. Horses and ponies which have a high risk of having these conditions include those that are overweight & do not lose their winter coat. Following on from a talk by Dr. John Keen of the R(D)SVS Equine Hospital on the 18th of November, we would like to extend this offer to our clients until January 2012

This exclusive package includes;

2 foot radiographs

One blood sample for detection of Equine Metabolic Syndrome / Cushing’s

General health check

Please ring us for more information

Last Friday over 90 people including representatives of the SSPCA and  BHS Scotland  packed into TVVEC to hear John Keen from the RDVS Edinburgh give a presentation on laminitis.

John talked about the various causes including hormonal imbalances which over recent years have received a lot of attention as contributing to this painful debilitating disease.  Whilst acknowledging the difficulty of weight control, particularly in native ponies, John emphasised the importance of preventing obesity to reduce the risk of laminitis.   Pasture management and regular farriery is important although he admitted there is still a lot of uncertainty as to why some ponies get laminitis whilst others kept under the same conditions do not.

To promote awareness of laminitis and give owners the chance to test at a reduced cost, for the next two months TVVEC are offering a laminitis package which will include a clinical examination,front foot xrays, a blood sample and lab fee. Please contact reception for details.

£125 was taken as a donation to the charity for racehorse rehabilitation.

Liphook Equine Hospital (LEH) would like to alert colleagues that they have diagnosed five cases of atypical myopathy (myoblobinuria/myoglobinaemia) in the past seven days.  LEH are also aware of a further four cases attended by veterinarians which have died in the Hampshire/Sussex/Surrey area.  They have advised that co-grazing horses should be removed from affected pastures.

Cases have been treated with analgesics (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, lidocaine), parenteral nutrition, isotonic intravenous fluids, nasogastric laxatives and supportive nursing care, multivitamin supplementation and electrolyte optimisation.  LEH’s current survival rate (two of five horses are alive) supports previously published survival rates of 10-25%.

At the time of referral these horses demonstrated recognisable signs of atypical myopathy such as sweating, increased respiratory rate and effort, muscle fasciculations, reluctance to walk, tachycardia, tachyarythmias and increased periods of recumbency. All had dark brown urine (myoglobin) with marked elevations in CK (creatinine kinase), LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase) (CK levels 55,000 to 89,000 iu/L) and moderate acute inflammatory responses (serum amyloid A; 80-120 mg/L).

Notably, for a day or two prior to referral these horses displayed clinical signs less well recognised in atypical myopathy cases. These signs included:-

• vigorous head shaking and nodding
• frenzied vocalisation
• recurrent choke-like retching neck spasms without a persistent oesophageal obstruction
• stiffness and lethargy when ridden.

This alert aims to draw attention to this recent outbreak of atypical myopathy and these unusual early signs of the disease, in order that new cases may be detected and treated promptly and so that co-grazing horses may be removed from affected pastures as soon as suspicions are raised.

EVENING TALKS. We are delighted to welcome back John Keen from the RDVS Edinburgh to give this Autumn’s equine talk at TVVEC on Friday 18^th November 7.30pm. When John last spoke two years ago we had over 80 attendees. This year John will talk about laminitis with particular reference to new developments in diagnosis and treatment of hormonal causes.  We seem to get more cases every year and many of you will unfortunately be familiar with this cripplingly painful condition.

Monday 24^th October Jamie will talk on Equine Winter Diseases at Inchcoonans Equestrian, Errol on behalf of the BHS Scotland. Contact BHS Scotland or TVVEC for more details.

BRINGING YOUR HORSE TO TVVEC We have a large enclosed car park at the back of the practice. Many people find it convenient (and cheaper!) to bring their equines to us for routine procedures such as vaccines or dentistry. For more involved lengthy procedures such as lameness examinations we are happy for people to leave trailers or boxes in the car park whilst examinations are taking place.  Although we are happy to do reproductive scans at your stables we have equine stocks at the practice which can make scanning easier and safer.

Hay Gain – hay steamers You may have seen these advertised in the equine press and at shows. Evidence suggests that steaming hay has advantages over soaking in that dust and spores are efficiently removed but palatability is retained. Steaming can also reduce soluble carbohydrates which can feature as a trigger for laminitis. Haygain are offering an opportunity to lease steamers via TVVEC so you can assess the benefits for yourself.

We are delighted to welcome Natalie Loh to the practice this September. Natalie graduated from Edinburgh in 2008 and went on to complete a Masters Degree in Animal Behaviour.  She has just completed an equine internship at the RDVS hospital Edinburgh and has had spells working in equine practice at Clyde, Bearl and the RDVS equine practice. Natalie is an additional full time vet and her appointment reflects the increasing  equine  case load at TVVEC.

JOHN KEEN FROM RDVS EDINBURGH WILL PRESENT A TALK AT TVVEC ON FRIDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2011. ALL WELCOME BUT PLEASE LET RECEPTION KNOW YOU ARE COMING. WHEN JOHN LAST SPOKE TWO YEARS AGO WE HAD NEARLY 100 PEOPLE - ALMOST A CAPACITY AUDIENCE !