Spring News and Notes 2012

 High Desert Veterinary Service

Spring 2012 News & Notes     

Chrysann Collatos VMD, PhD, DipACVIM           HighDesertEquine.com

775-969-3495 (Office)                        775-742-2823 (Cell)       hidvet@gmail.com

* Vaccination Clinic Schedule

* New information on Pergolide

* Learning from the Brumbees

* What’s new with Us

I am excited  to share new knowledge and continuing relationships with you all in 2012.  Spring clinics always provide a rewarding opportunity for me to catch up with you and your animals.

I look forward to seeing you in March!

Spring Vaccination Clinic Schedule

As always I’m there to answer your questions, and offer routine health care services on clinic days. Routine spring health care includes vaccination against E&W Encephalitis, West Nile, Rabies, Tetanus, Influenza and Rhinopneumonitis plus deworming, an oral exam and sheath cleaning for geldings.

Call the office to reserve an appointment.

BE SURE TO LEAVE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

Name, Phone #, Date you request, Number of Animals, and the Services needed.

We will return your call three days before your clinic with an estimated time of arrival at your address.  Please be sure horses are caught and haltered 30 minutes beforehand.

Location                                                   Date

Rancho Haven/Sierra Ranchos1             Sat  Mar 3 

Rancho Haven/Sierra Ranchos2             Fri  Mar 9

Red Rock North/Silver Knolls 1              Sun Mar 4

RR North/Cold Springs/Silver Knolls 2    Fri Mar 16

SpanSprings/Palomino Valley 1             Mon Mar 5

SpanSprings/Palomino Valley 2             Sat Mar 10

Antelope Valley                                     Sun Mar 11

Golden/Lemmon Valley                         Sun Mar 11   

South & West Reno                        Tues Mar 13 

Golden/Lemon Val/South Reno               Fri Mar 23

Sierra Valley/California                            Sat Mar 17

For additional savings, you can schedule your own mini-clinic as long as you have at least 10 horses at a single location.  Call the office to make such arrangements.

Price List – Clinic day only

Farm Call/Spring Exam          $18.00

West Nile (Prevenile)                $32.00

FluRhino                                    $27.00

Tetanus/ Encephalitis               $15.00

Rabies                                        $22.00

Intranasal Strangles                  $30.00

Ivermectin Deworm                   $14.00

Coggins Test                             $25.00

Sheath Clean w/sedation         $35.00

Ask Dr. C what vaccines are best for your horse based on age, environment, and activity level.

 New Information on Pergolide

Many of you are familiar with Equine Cushings Disease (PPID) and already are treating your affected horses with Pergolide.  Equine Cushings Disease is a disorder of the pituitary gland that affects the endocrine (hormonal) system.  It is slowly progressive, and puts affected horses at risk for laminitis (founder) and recurrent infections.  As the disease progresses, affected horses typically have long, shaggy hair coats (hirsutism) that do not shed out in the summer time,  drink and urinate excessively (PU/PD), and exhibit loss of muscles tone along their neck and back. Unfortunately, these clinical signs vary from horse to horse, making early diagnosis of the problem challenging.  The best way to test for Equine Cushings Disease is by measuring Adrenocorticotropin Hormone (ACTH) in your horse’s blood.

Pergolide, which stimulates production of dopamine in the brain, has long been an effective management tool to treat PPID.  There has been no FDA approved product for years, and so compounding pharmacies, which purchase and prepare non-approved chemical formulations of drugs, have been the only source of pergolide.  The price and quality of these preparations vary significantly.  Unfortunately in an effort to economize, many horses are receiving less expensive pergolide formulations that may not contain accurate or stable amounts of pergolide.

An FDA approved pergolide formulation, Prascend, is now available.  The cost is higher than some compounded formulations, but the concentration and stability of the drug is guaranteed.  If you have a horse on pergolide, or suspect that your horse may have Equine Cushings Syndrome, please contact me so that we can discuss the best diagnostic and treatment plan for your horse.  Go to our HighDesertEquine facebook page to find a link to more information on Prascend.

What’s new with us

All three of my assistants have had exciting years.  Hayley Rasmusen is waiting to hear any day now if she has been accepted to start vet school in the fall.  She had an interview at Washington State University last week and currently is on the waiting list at Oregon State University.  Join us in our hopes for a thumbs up from one of these institutions.

Jessie Racicot was accepted into and is finishing her first year in the Truckee Meadows Community College Certified Veterinary Technician program.  She is loving the veterinary related academics, but misses being able to spend as much time on the road with Dr. C

And when she isn’t winning barrel races Gina Valceschini continues in her undergraduate classes at TMCC.

 I am very excited to see these three talented individuals develop their career paths, and look forward to mentoring future HighDesertEquine assistants in the years to come. 

A New Perspective on the Mustang Hoof

Mustangs are widely used as a model for “natural” foot trimming.  This is based on the premise that their lifestyle promotes hoof health as a result of distance travelled on unimproved footing, a natural diet, and the absence of human intervention on hoof conformation.  I attended the 2011 International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot where Brian Hampson, working with Dr. Chris Pollitt of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, presented his studies on the feet of 100 Brumbies, the wild horses of Australia.

            Five groups of horses were studied, each living in a different environmental region of the Australian outback. The feet of 20 horses in each group were analyzed for conformation and pathologic changes.  Conditions ranged from rock hard arid strata to wet grasslands.  Brian’s hypothesis was that no single feral-horse foot model exists, and that it is incorrect to assume that because a horse survives in the wild that its feet are therefore healthy.

            It was discovered that each environment produced a different hoof conformation, and that 97/100 feet studied exhibited some pathologic abnormality.  Histologic evidence of chronic laminitis was observed in over half of the feet.  It was noted that “significant pathology was identified in the foot types most closely resembling the popular ‘mustang’ foot.”  In fact, characteristics such as thick hoof wall, thick hard sole and heavily worn distal wall promoting sole loading may actually be associated with pathology.         

Brian Hampson concluded that “there is currently no clear evidence to support the use of the extreme feral horse foot as a model for foot care.”  However, he went on to point out that when the varied characteristics of all 5 groups of horses were combined and analyzed, some consistent parameters were identified that may be important when considering the natural form of the equine foot.

            Research on the wild horse foot is ongoing.  See great videos and learn more about this work at www.wildhorseresearch.com.

Call 775-969-3495 to schedule your clinic appointment today!

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I believe that education is the key to evolution. I believe that animals are the key to compassion. I believe the learning never stops.