Last week we had some students from NAIT over to come and see what it’s like to work in an equine clinic. The students were told about the daily goings on and were given the opportunity to practice taking radiographs on some of our clinic and staff horses.
At Delaney’s, we think it’s important to help educate the next generation of veterinary professional, ranging from veterinarians, to veterinary technologists and veterinary assistants.
As many of you may know, there is a big shortage of people that want to work in veterinary medicine and large animal medicine in particular. We need more people in the field, which means we all need to do our part to show students what it’s like and to help provide valuable learning opportunities.
By giving students the chance to come and follow along with us, we hope to inspire and excite the next generations about a career in large animal veterinary medicine, so that we’re able to keep taking care of your horses for a long time to come 😊.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyveterinaryservices #strathconavet #yeg #dvs #yegvet #vetmed #veterinarymedicine #equinemedicine #largeanimalmedicine #largeanimalveterinarian #largeanimalvettech #nait #rvt #registeredveterinarytechnician #student #education #learningopportunity
Come along for surgery day 😷
This cute little mini underwent a bilateral ovariectomy or bilateral removal of the ovaries.
There are multiple reasons for removal of one or both ovaries in mares. Most commonly, ovaries will get removed due to the presence of a tumor (GTC or granulosa theca cell tumor) on the ovaries that produces excess hormones, which can cause some significant behavioural issues (mares act studly, suddenly become aggressive, etc). These kinds of tumors are confirmed through rectal ultrasound or bloodwork, prior to surgery.
As long as the ovaries (with the tumor) are small enough, they can be removed laparoscopically, like we did in this case. Removing the ovaries laparoscopically is a lot less invasive and significantly shortens the recovery period.
Oftentimes this procedure can even be performed under standing sedation, but in this case, the horse was just a bit too small to do that in a safe manner.
Let us know what other types of surgery you would like to look in on!
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyveterinaryservices #delaneyvet #strathconavet #dvs #yeg #yegvet #vetmed #reproduction #reproductivehealth #ovariectomy #surgery #equinesurgery #referralclinic #mini #miniaturehorse
We ran into a little bit of a problem while performing this gastroscope. Any idea what we might be talking about?
I’ll tell you! While scoping this horse, we ran into a really big clump of food in the stomach. This big food pack unfortunately made it impossible for us to assess the bottom of the stomach for gastric ulcers.
And this is exactly why we always ask for the horse to be starved for 18hours prior to the gastroscope. Fasting the horse for this long, allows the stomach to empty completely, allowing us to fully assess the stomach for any lesions. So make sure you don’t forget any hay bags in the trailer when bringing your horse into the clinic 😅.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyveterinaryservices #dvs #yeg #yegvet #vetmed #strathconavet #internalmedicine #gastroscopy #gastroscope #egus #gastriculcers #performancemedicine #performancehorse
After we shared our video about freezebranding a little while ago, we got quite a few questions about microchipping as an alternative option.
Microchipping has become more popular in recent years, as longer-lasting and more reliable microchips have become available and many breed associations have now included it as part of their registration procedure.
Depending on the breed or organization, the microchip gets placed either in the upper lip or the nuchal ligament.
Just like we do for freezebranding, the horse first gets sedated, as the needle we use to place the microchip is quite large. When placing the chip in the neck, the area then gets clipped, cleaned and locally blocked, before finally placing the microchip.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyveterinaryservices #yeg #dvs #yegvet #vetmed #strathconavet #microchip #wellness #herdhealth #herdmanagement #microchipping #freezebrand #identification #horseid
We wanted to share some moments from last week with you guys.
As you can see, there’s a lot of different things going on each day.
All of our vets have slightly different fields of interest, with some of them leaning more towards lameness, some toward internal medicine, some toward surgery, etc. This means there’s a lot of different things going on and a lot of different cases being seen at the clinic every single day. Aside from that, some of our vets will also go to events and shows during the weekend to be the on-site vet and some of us also show ourselves.
If you see us at a show or event, make sure to say hi! And if you are interested in having one of our vets on site at your event of show, make sure to send our office an email!
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyveterinaryservices #yeg #dvs #yegvet #vetmed #strathconavet #weekinthelife #vlog #lameness #surgery #performancemedicine #performancehorse #internalmedicine #herdhealth #wellness #ambulatory #emergencymedicine #emergencyvet #referralclinic
Anyone else just love watching us open abscesses?
However, this is not just your average abscess.
This horse was exposed to Strangles and went through the disease. A month or so later, he suddenly came up with a fever and swelling at the chest.
After a physical exam and an ultrasound of the chest, we were able to diagnose this horse with an abscess at the level of the chest.
Given the history, we were suspicious of Bastard Strangles, which they can develop if the bacteria that causes Strangles is able to get into the blood stream. This then makes it possible for the bacteria to get into other tissues in the body and cause abscesses throughout, like it did here.
Opening the abscess will provide this horse lots of relief, but there is a chance that he still has abscesses elsewhere in the body where we can’t necessarily see, which makes his longterm prognosis a bit more difficult to predict.
We might be starting to sound like a bit of a broken record here, but seeing how contagious the disease is, prevention (I.e vaccination and biosecurity) truly is the best measure to prevent your horse from getting Strangles or Bastard Strangles.
If you have any questions, please give the clinic a call and we would be happy to answer those for you.
*Please do not open any abscesses yourself and always contact a veterinarian if you suspect your horse might have an abscess.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #yeg #dvs #vetmed #strathconavet #herdhealth #herdmanagement #abscess #strangles #bastardstrangles #pimplepopper #internalmedicine #biosecurity #infectiousdisease
Today we are looking at an upper respiratory scope or and endoscopy.
Upper respiratory scopes allow us to assess the upper airway, trachea and even the first part of the bronchi for abnormalities. This includes conditions like roar (or laryngeal hemiplegia), displacement of the soft palate, lower airway inflammation (or heaves), problems in the guttural pouches and much more.
Based on what we are trying to assess, these endoscopic exams can be done either sedated or unsedated. As we were assessing the abduction of the arytenoids in this case (aka assessing the abduction of the vocal cords), the endoscopy was performed unsedated, as sedation can affect the function of the vocal cords slightly (making them lazy, making them look as if they might have partial paralysis).
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyveterinaryservices #yeg #dvs #yegvet #vetmed #internalmedicine #endoscopy #upperairway #respiratory #respiration #roar #larynx #ddsp #laryngealhemiplegia #sedation
This may be a bit of a controversial subject, but let’s talk about it anyway.
So why do we freeze brand horses?
Branding horses gives them a very clear marking, making it easier to positively identify horses in the event that they escape or get stolen.
“But doesn’t it hurt the horse?”
We do everything in our power to minimize the pain during the branding. This is why we make sure to always sedate the horse prior to the branding. Once the horse is good and well sedated, the brand gets placed on the skin for 8-12seconds only.
As you can see in this video, thanks to our sedation, the horse doesn’t actually feel too much of this, cause if he did he wouldn’t stand nice and quiet like that.
Thank you @millironlivestock for allowing us to post the video.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #yeg #dvs #herdhealth #brand #freezebrand #freezebranding #dvs #vetmed #herdmanagement
A glimpse into a regular day at work for one of our veterinarians.
As a general practitioner, no 2 days are the same. A day can involve anything from dental floats to colics to swollen sheats to lamenesses, emergencies and so much more.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #yeg #dvs #yegvet #dayinthelife #generalpractice #sheathclean #herdhealth #internalmedicine
So let’s talk about kissing spines.
Over the last couple of years there’s been more and more talk about kissing spines. But what is kissing spines?
The official name for kissing spines is “overriding dorsal spinous processes” or “spinous process impingement”. These names tell us what kissing spines is all about, mainly the overlapping of the spinous processes of the vertebrae.
This overlapping or pressing of the spinous processes against each other can cause some serious back pain which in turn can lead to performance issues.
However, not all back pain is caused by kissing spines and not all radiographic changes are of clinical importance. This is why it is always important to look at radiographs with the horses symptoms in mind.
If you have a horse which you think might be suffering from kissing spines, give the clinic a call and we would be happy to have a look at your horse for you.
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #delaneyvet #yeg #yegvet #dvs #strathconavet #kissingspine #performance #performancehorse #backpain #lameness #surgery
Follow along as we process a Strangles PCR test.
These tests get ran in house after an initial sample is taken at the farm. We can use either a nasopharyngeal wash or nasal swabs for this test. We usually recommend a nasopharyngeal wash, as we can get a better sample of the back of the throat that way, leading to a higher sensitivity of the test.
These PCR tests detect the DNA of the bacteria that causes Strangles, meaning it can even pick up dead bacteria or even very small amounts of the bacteria. This makes it a great test to look for carriers as well.
If you have any questions about this test or any other tests, please don’t hesitate to give the clinic a call or send us an email and one of our staff will be happy to answer any questions you have
#delaneyvetservices #equinevet #albertaequinevet #yeg #dvs #yegvet #bts #behindthescenes #vetmed #labwork #labtest #laboratory #pcr #strangles #internalmedicine
In light of suicide awareness month, we wanted to send a truly heartfelt thank you to our clients today. 💗
As some of you know, veterinary medicine has one of the highest suicide rates out there. A lot of veterinary professionals suffer from burnout and compassion fatigue. We have to deliver lots of bad news unfortunately and are there for some really difficult moments in our patients and clients life. And as with any profession, we get our fair share of criticism as well. Some days, the negatives pile up and take over and it’s difficult to see the beauty of our profession.
With that being said, we want you to know that every thank you, every card, every donut and cookie is truly appreciated and that none of it goes unnoticed.
Most of us here have a shelf in our office filled with cards just like these, that help remind us why we do what we do, even on those dark days ❤️
#suicideawarenessmonth #nomv #notonemorevet #thankyou
