Silverson Vet Clinic Veterinary Herbalist

26/02/2025

Find out why you should trust your horse's oral care to medically trained veterinarians and American Veterinary Dental College diplomates.

26/02/2025

Dental treatments include laser therapy to remove bacteria, provide pain relief and hasten healing. The rapid tissue healing that occurs means we can save teeth that may otherwise have needed removal due to infection and retraction of gum tissue. Provides a lot of relief from dental pain resulting in a much happier and healthier pet with increased longevity due to removing dental disease.
This treatment is being performed during anaesthetic recovery ( hence the snoring!)

25/02/2025

Phytomedicine (medicine from plants) can take many forms!

25/02/2025

Only products effective for pet dental care will carry this Certification. https://vohc.org

24/02/2025

Public Service Announcement!

The picture below shows a Swales mouth gag, also known as a "Roller." This device is inserted on one side of a horse's mouth to keep it propped open while a "technician" works on the other side.

This is NOT a good idea!

Today, I saw a horse with two fractured teeth, likely caused by the use of this gag or something similar. Thankfully, radiographs were taken, and the compromised teeth appear to be okay. However, this is not an isolated case, and most horses aren't so lucky.
These belong in a museum, not in your horse's mouth.

24/02/2025

Therapeutic Laser Therapy to reduce inflammation from shin soreness and heal damage from concussive forces. ONLY LASERS pe*****te through the skin layers to deeper tissue layers of muscle and bone. (Red Light tools alone (which are not lasers and without the wave lengths of laser, only pe*****te up to 1cm under the skin surface.) FYI: These veterinary Class One lasers are valued in their thousands $$$$, not something you’re going to buy from Google for $150!

24/02/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A7ZpzX5Sg/
Excellent result with no injuries to the horse. Large animal rescue takes training and a lot of thinking out of the box - not knee-jerk reflexes. Whenever possible- horses should be supported and the offending structure removed - cut it off/open/out - instead of trying to lift the horse which takes a LOT OF EXPERTISE to be done correctly.
In WA we see a lot of horses go down soakwells that are left uncovered. Using a digger and opening up the hole sideways can allow a horse to walk out.
Knee jerk reactions sometimes see a farmer with a tractor and rope trying to pull/lift the horse which invariably results in serious injury to the horse (cracking ribs).
Successful rescues need trained staff. COVER OR FILL YOUR OLD SOAKWELLS.

23/02/2025

18/02/2025

No. 1 cause of poor mental health in vets is client abuse and unrealistic demands by clients.
Help us to improve the industry, especially for our young vets. Sign the petition.

17/02/2025

Laser Therapy is an invaluable tool to assist healing and ongoing management of amputees.

Dogs can do very well following amputation, and there are ways you can help to improve their quality of life. Tripawd companions can do just about anything a four-legged dog can do, however their effort is more challenging, and they can easily overdo activities. Rehabilitation sessions after amputation can help them get around better. Some dogs may need to lose weight to reduce the stress on their remaining limbs, this can be achieved with a calorie-restricted diet and a hydrotherapy program, specifically swimming. Because a dog’s body posture and gait will have changed due to the amputation, they are at a higher risk of developing arthritis, this is where hydrotherapy becomes the therapy of choice. Laser and massage sessions are also recommended to help alleviate any muscles that have become tight due to compensation because of their new posture and gait. Rehabilitation helps to improve cardiovascular fitness, simultaneously build muscle, and strengthen a dog’s core to better support their body. Regular therapy sessions (every 8 - 12 weeks) will give a professional physiotherapist the chance to check spinal alignment and evaluate the health of the joints and ligaments of the remaining legs. Carefully managed, tripawd companions can have many fantastic, fun-filled years ahead.

Read the full article by Dr Tanya Grantham:https://civtedu.org/documents/Y3yP1aL3TdiJQcjRAFjz.pdf

Check out our courses in rehabilitation here: https://civtedu.org/courses/rehabilitation

14/02/2025

“Googling” is not “research”. Research a topic by going to sites such as “PubMed”, input relevant topic words and read current scientific papers - lots of them. That’s research.

12/02/2025

The newly crowned champ, his handler and owner Kate Bernadin, and the president of the Westminster Kennel Club Don Sturz talk about Monty’s dominating performance at this year’s competition.

12/02/2025

NSAID (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are commonly prescribed for conditions such as lameness and arthritis. eg Meloxicam, Previcox, Carprofen.
However long term use can have serious harmful side effects.
Ulceration and perforation of the gut are very real consequences.

Healing the bowel surface and protecting the mucosa from further damage can be achieved with specific medicinal herbs.
More information: https://www.honeyprovet.com.au/product-page/dogpro-natural-health-booster

12/02/2025

Veterinary Herbal Medicine dates back as long as human records exist. The largest body of written veterinary herbal medical knowledge originates from it's use on horses and farm animals - this is because in history horses and large farm animals played large and important roles in human daily life. As recent as the 1960's Veterinary students were still growing and studying medicinal plants and how to use them in practice.

Early Herbal Medical knowledge was spread around the world largely by travelling monks, who were also responsible for growing and using medicinal plants. As the body of written knowledge grew, the use of medicinal plants being used on humans was also used on animals.

In those early days, the safety of using plants in medicine was largely trial and error! Thankfully, today our scientific knowledge allows us to identify the components of plants - we don't have to use pot luck to find out if a plant is toxic! Science helps us to understand how medical plants work - what are the useful components, what actions do they have on the body and what is the best way to use those plants.

Plants are made from hundreds of compounds. We now know that the vast majority of medical herb actions occur as a result of all those compounds working together. This is called "synergy" - where the sum of the actions of several compounds together is greater than the actions of the compounds alone. In contrast, pharmaceuticals are generally made from a single compound - one compound is identified and then made into a tablet or injection.

Todays traditional veterinary students mostly study only pharmaceuticals. However, Integrative Veterinarians also study Herbal Veterinary Medicine then combine their knowledge of Traditional Veterinary medicine and Veterinary Herbal Medicine. Integrative Vets have double the toolkit of therapies available to use on their patients!

11/02/2025

The misguided notion that keeping animals, especially cats, strictly indoors makes them more vulnerable to disease. Without exposure to antigens the animal cannot form its own antibodies, putting it at risk of succumbing to diseases.
Animals don’t need to be in contact with other animals to become infected. Bacteria and viruses can be airborne, on the ground - even in the soil on your shoes.
Allowing your pet the opportunity to strengthen its immune system will provide a robust immune system, increasing longevity and maintain health in all body systems.

11/02/2025

07/02/2025

Castor Oil plant (Ricinus communis) grows readily on road verges all around Perth. Very toxic.

Seemingly harmless backyard find the size of a fingernail could have killed PoppetBy Maddison Leach8:04am Feb 7, 2025 Tweet Facebook Mail A handful of seeds the size of a fingernail poisoned Alice's* dog and left her with an almost $5000 bill.The castor oil plant (ricinus communis), which is found i...