Fenton Equine Vets

10/12/2024

Spot Vet Rachel assisting in teaching students about clinical exams and bandage changes! 🩺

Her trip so far has not only been beneficial to the horses and donkeys in the Gambia, but to the people there too, hopefully helping provide a better future for these animals ❤

09/12/2024

ONLY 1 WEEK TO GO !!! Don't forget to get your entries in 🎄🎅❄

🎄🎅CHRISTMAS COMPETITION🎅🎄

Would you like to WIN a cozy Christmas hamper? Then enter our Christmas photo competition! We would like this to be educational, so you must comment your answer to the question below...

❄A big risk factor for colic is the sudden change in diet and management for our horses over winter. Can you name a clinical sign of colic?❄

You could win prizes including hot chocolate, a Bova Specials UK Ltd snood, chocolate, a flask and Hestevard goodies!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO ENTER IS:
👍 like the post
✍comment with your answer
🤝 share this post
👭 tag two friends

Competition closes on MONDAY 16TH DECEMBER the and the winner will be announced shortly after!

GOOD LUCK 🤞

06/12/2024

Happy Friday 🥳🤩

Here is a list of the yards we are visiting next week.

Monday
Robinson Equestrian Centre, Birtle. BL9
Higher Harpley Farm, Stalybridge. SK15

Tuesday
Crowther Laith Farm, Huddersfield. HD7
Waithclose Farm, Huddersfield. HD9
Booth Farm. HX4
Private Yard, Hindley Green. WN2
Lands Farm, Bolton. BL5

Wednesday
Clough Bottom Farm, Haslingden. BB4
Private Yard, Booth Road, Stacksteads. OL13
The Stables, Uppermill, Oldham. OL3

Thursday
Private Yard, Urmston, Manchester. M41

Friday
Woodhouse Fold Farm, Woodhouse, Norden. OL12
Marriots Farm, Manchester. M30
Lancasters Farm, Atherton. M46
Rhodes Green Farm, Middleton. M24

If you would like to share a visit to any of these yards, please give the office a call on 0161 643 7724. Peter is your vet on call this week, so if you need us in an emergency, please call the usual number 0161 643 7724 and our emergency out of hours team will assist you.

We hope you all have a fabulous weekend 😃

06/12/2024

We love seeing your horses' stable Christmas decorations! 🎄

Pictured below is Kiwi, Kevin & friends in their festive barn! ❄

Comment below your yard decorations! 🎅

03/12/2024

# # GAMBIA UPDATE # #

Today is Rachel's second day in the Gambia volunteering with The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust and this morning she was involved in this complicated yet rewarding case - we will post a lot more about this trip when she is back obviously but thought this was worth a share!! Well done Rachel

And today a special little miracle. His mother, Monica, came in with a severe knee injury which she recovered from, she then developed tetanus and due to real intensive care nursing she is just recovering from thar too and today her precious baby arrived against all odds.

03/12/2024

🎄🎅CHRISTMAS COMPETITION🎅🎄

Would you like to WIN a cozy Christmas hamper? Then enter our Christmas photo competition! We would like this to be educational, so you must comment your answer to the question below...

❄A big risk factor for colic is the sudden change in diet and management for our horses over winter. Can you name a clinical sign of colic?❄

You could win prizes including hot chocolate, a Bova Specials UK Ltd snood, chocolate, a flask and Hestevard goodies!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO ENTER IS:
👍 like the post
✍comment with your answer
🤝 share this post
👭 tag two friends

Competition closes on MONDAY 16TH DECEMBER the and the winner will be announced shortly after!

GOOD LUCK 🤞

29/11/2024

Happy Friday!!!

Here is a list of the yards we are visiting next week.

Monday
Millfields Farm, Royton
Royal Equestrian. BB12
Private Yard, Booth Road, Stackstead
Brook Farm Equestrian Centre, Warrington

Tuesday
Private Yard, Lower Quick Edge Lane, Grotton
Woodbrook Farm, Springhead.
High Bank Farm, Walshaw Lane, Walshaw

Wednesday
Whitehead Farm, Littleborough
Common fold stables, Manchester
Private Yard, Lumb Lane, Ashton Under Lyne
Boar Edge Farm, Woodgate Hill Road, Birtle

Thursday
Private Yard, Running Hill Lane, Uppermill
Private Yard, Carrington Road, Urmston
Broad Carr Farm, Mossley
Peel Hall Farm, Astley
Private Yard, Hindley Green

Friday
Mawkins Farm, Castle Hill Road, Birtle, Bury
Private Yard, Castle Hill Road, Birtle
Heron lodge Farm, Bolton House Road, Bickershaw

If you would like to share a visit to any of these yards, please give the office a call on 0161 643 7724. Peter is your vet on call this week, so if you need us in an emergency, please call the usual number 0161 643 7724 and our emergency out of hours team will assist you.

We hope you all have a fabulous weekend 😀

28/11/2024

❄OLDER HORSE CARE IN WINTER❄

Winter can be a worrying time with our older horses. We are here to aid with all your questions and worries and have put together a little guide.

🦷Diet and Teeth🦷

Fun fact, horses have their full adult set of teeth at birth! The teeth roots start high up in their sinuses and continuously erupt throughout their life at a rate of around 2mm per year as they wear by grinding down feed. As horses reach their older years, the residual tooth roots become smaller and smaller. Older horses are predisposed to multiple pathologies including infundibular caries, diastemas (gaps between teeth), loose teeth and smooth mouth (smooth grinding surface of the teeth). Making sure your horse has regular dentistry (every 3,6 or 12months depending on your horse’s age and pathologies) is extremely important to be able to identify, treat and manage these conditions. We may recommend feeding your horse supplementary short chop fibre or mashes depending on their teeth and adding additional feeds or calories to those who struggle to maintain their weight. However, we must remember that an overweight horse is as much of a concern as an underweight horse, so having regular body condition score checks are important.

🦴Joints and lameness🦴

You may notice as the weather gets colder, and your horse is in the box more they struggle with stiffness or lameness. Getting any lameness checked by your vet is important, we may recommend your horse to have a lameness workup to identify the source of lameness and perform treatments such as joint injections. We could also use the AI app Sleip to assess the more subtle lameness/reduced performance cases. Targeted treatment, if possible, is the best approach to treating most lameness. Joint supplements can provide extra nutrition to joints, veterinary supplements are evidence backed and often contain higher concentrations of ingredients than your general online or tack shop supplements

🧠Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction🧠

Did you know, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (also known as cushings disease or PPID) is an endocrine disorder that occurs in over 20% horses over the age of 15! PPID is the 5th most common disease syndrome recognised in horses and ponies in the UK. Even if your horse does not have the typical curly coat appearance of cushings doesn’t mean they don’t have the disease- it has been proven that 50% of horses who have PPID do not show clinical signs! Often, the ones showing the classic signs including drinking more, urinating more, sweating, curly coat have more advanced pituitary changes and disease. Why do we worry about cushings? PPID is a progressive disease with multiple signs that can affect your horse’s quality of life as it advances; including lethargy, recurrent infections, advanced dental disease and laminitis. Early recognition and diagnosis means we can start your horse on treatment as soon as possible, hopefully prolonging their life! There are lots of diseases which can affect older horses and ponies therefore it is extremely important to be checking your horse for any changes in demeanour, appetite, faeces and any lumps or bumps.

🐎Exercise and turnout🐎

With the horrible British weather we know how limited winter turnout can be on our yards. If your horse can, getting them out of their stable these winter months is great for their wellbeing, mobility and muscles. This includes paddock/school turnout, ridden and inhand exercise. Older horses can also have reduced ability to keep themselves warm naturally so may need extra help with rugs when being turned out in colder weather.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the office if you are worried about your horse or pony, or would like a chat with one of our Vets! ☺

26/11/2024

⚽📢CALLING ALL C**T AND STALLION OWNERS!📢⚽

A reminder that we are castrating again now that the colder weather is here!

What can I expect❓

Before starting the procedure we will check your horse is healthy and fit for castration. We will also check their vaccination status for tetanus, if they are not up to date your horse will require an extra tetanus antitoxin injection. We do ask that the course of vaccinations is started too!

What facilities do I need for you to castrate my horse❓

If your colts are 3 and under, they can be done in the comfort of their own stable, under standing sedation on the yard (This is an approximate cost of £300). If your colts are over 3 then they can still be done at the yard, they will just need to be done under GA, we need a flat and soft area such as an arena (This is an approximate cost of £550)

🌟We can offer payment plans on either of the above procedures too, if this helps!🌟

If you have any questions about payment plans or the castration itself or would like to get booked in please call the office on 0161 643 772

25/11/2024

🧐INTERESTING CASE🧐

This is Robbie!🐴

His owner, Alison, noticed that he was lame in walk back in June. This seemed to come out of nowhere with nothing to see to explain the lameness.

After a few weeks with no improvement, Alison called us out. Robbie was still lame at walk on his right front leg. Our vets Ellie and Jenny blocked (numbed) the foot and Robbie walked much more comfortably indicating that his pain was coming from his foot. The foot was x-rayed on the yard and no abnormalities were seen.

Robbie then had a trip to Leahurst to have an MRI scan of his foot. This showed an old tract indicating that something had penetrated through the frog of Robbie's foot. Whatever it was had gone in and come straight out, leaving no trace. The solar surface of the pedal bone showed some damage but thankfully this was minimal and no other structures were affected.

Penetrations of the foot can vary hugely in their significance and we would always advise you to call for help as they can be very serious. The severity depends on the location, depth and direction of the pe*******on.

Robbie is slowly but surely returning to soundness following a period of box rest and small paddock rest and will be going out for walk hacks in the next month. He's a very lucky boy as it could have been much worse! 🥳

22/11/2024

Happy Friday!!!

Here is a list of the yards we are visiting next week.

Monday
Lower Heaps Farm, Radcliffe
Healds Green, Chadderton
Baileys Farm, Ashton
Meadowcroft Farm, Woodhouses, Manchester

Tuesday
Turn Hill Farm, Water
Waithclose Farm, Huddersfield
Lower Lane Head Farm, Greenfield
Private Yard, Ramsbottom

Wednesday
Old Hall Farm, Shaw
Higher Counthill Farm, Oldham
Lower Lomax Farm, Heywood
Crowthorn Farm, Turton
Ellen Road Estate, Rochdale

Thursday
Private Yard, Overtown Lane, Norden
Private Yard, Norden, Rochdale
Greenhill/Millards farm, Oldham
New Croft Stable, Urmston
Marriott's Farm, Eccles
White House Farm, Simister

Friday
Private Yard, Hindley Green
Naylors Farm, Bickershaw, Wigan
Halsalls farm, Leigh
Boar Edge Farm, Birtle
Private Yard, Shaw Moor, Stalybridge

If you would like to share a visit to any of these yards, please give the office a call on 0161 643 7724. Ellie is your vet on call this week, so if you need us in an emergency, please call the usual number 0161 643 7724 and our emergency out of hours team will assist you.

We hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

20/11/2024

📢 We want to hear from YOU! 📢

We would like to know... what content would you like us to share with you??

🌟Is there a condition you would like to know more about?
🐴Perhaps you would like a quiz!?
🌟Would you like to see some interesting cases we have dealt with recently?
🐴Want to get to know our team a bit better?
🌟Would you like to hear more about the offers we have on currently?

Let us know in the comments below!

19/11/2024

Peter & Ellie have ventured out to Haydock Racecourse today for a CPD event hosted by Bova Specials UK Ltd for their medicine masterclass!

(Apparently, they are having a lovely time & being very well fed! 🐷)

Topics covered include:

🐴Managing horses with cardiac disease
🐴Working up respiratory cases
🐴Fever of unknown origin - what next?
🐴The prescribing cascade
🐴Strangles testing
🐴The use of SGLT-2 inhibitors (eg: Ertugliflozin)
🐴Diagnosis and treatment of Sinusitis
🐴Treatment of gastric disease - where are we now?

We will share any useful insights from the day with you all once they are back!

19/11/2024

❄️☃️The white stuff has arrived!! ❄️☃️

Here is a reminder of our winter management top tips!

💦Water: An increase in impaction colics is common during winter, and this is often associated with reduced water intake. It is important to ensure adequate water intake by checking water in fields at least twice a day, breaking any ice and checking water buckets/drinkers in stables. You can also consider making any supplementary feed your horse gets more watery where appropriate.

🍎Feed: We also see a lot of laminitis during the winter months. This is usually due to horses not doing as much as in the warmer months yet being fed the same or more. If your horse is overweight, it is just as important to reduce their body condition score in the winter as it is in the summer and it is a good time to do so as if they are on reduced or no turnout, you are solely in charge of your horses daily intake during this time. For 'poor doers' that live out, providing supplementary forage in the field is vital.

⌚️Introduce management changes slowly over 10-14 days.
Any management change - even moving fields - is enough to disrupt your horses gut microbiome. This disruption is proven to be linked to colic and other GI diseases.

✅Feeding yeast: Supplementing your horse with saccharomyces spp. yeast has been proven to stabilise the gut microbiome - reducing your horses risk of colic. 20g/500kg maintenance - can be doubled during times of stress - EG: Transport, show, management changes.

‼️ Monitor body condition: An obese horse is just at risk of laminitis in the winter as he is in the summer. Double netting, splitting forage into multiple places around their stable can also encourage them to move round and slows them down, making it last longer. It is natural for a horse to lose weight in the winter under more natural circumstances - as a useful guide ideally you want to see a brief outline of the horses ribs when spring comes to account for a natural increase in the grazing season. (See body condition score charts for reference to a good body condition!) A horse is not ‘too thin’ just because you can see the outline of their ribs - it is very rare to see a horse that is too thin now!

✂️Clipping: If your horse is obese, clip them! You are not being ‘cruel’ by trying to encourage them to use their natural metabolism. This is what they would and should naturally do.

🥵Rugging: Whilst it can be tempting to over-rug we must remember that horses don’t feel cold just because we do! Their thermoneutral zone is 5-25 degrees celsius. (This is the range of temperatures at which the horse does not need to exert any more energy to maintain a normal temperature). For comparison a humans is ~18-22c!

🪱 Worming: Blanket treatment ‘just in case’ is no longer best practice and it is everybody's responsibility to prevent resistance to the drugs we have - as when they stop working we have nothing left! An assessment of your horses risk based on their management and pasture management, along with testing is now gold standard.

18/11/2024

💊 Antibiotic resistance awareness week 💊

This week is antibiotic resistance awareness week, a global initiative by the WHO to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practice.

Antibiotic resistance is a huge global health and socioeconomic crisis affecting both human and animal health.

👩‍⚕️ As vets, we can help by ensuring antibiotics are only prescribed when appropriate and are responsibly selected based on sensitivity results. Gone are the days of 'just in case'/prophylactic prescribing.

🐴 As owners, you can help by making sure you finish any course of antibiotics prescribed by your vet, and returning any unused drugs for safe disposal.

Over the week we will be sharing some resources for AMR awareness week, but for now, here is an informative resource put together by BEVA - The British Equine Veterinary Association.

15/11/2024

Happy Friday ! 😃

Here is a list of the yards we are visiting next week –

Monday:
Foxdenton Farm, Chadderton
Vetrans farm, Bury
Bank Barn Farm, Rochdale
Meadowgate farm, Urmston
Woosnab Farm, Bury
Lands Farm, Westhoughton
Moss View farm, Ashton
Morningside Farm, Ashton

Tuesday:
Baileys Farm, Ashton
(CPD event)

Wednesday:
Low Crompton Farm, Royton
Woodside Farm, Hyde
Common fold stables, Manchester
Higher Spen moor stables, Bury
Openshaw Farm, Bury

Thursday:
Intake farm, Delph
The stables, Uppermill
Hawthorn Farm, Mossley
Laffertys, urmston
Higher Harpley Farm, Stalybridge

Friday:
Top of the croft farm, Norden
Fern Hill Farm, Norden
Hey Bottom Farm, Littleborough
Higher Tongue Farm, Bolton
Hope fold farm, Ashton
Ellen Road estate, Rochdale

If you would like to share a visit to any of these yards, please give the office a call on 0161 643 7724. Rachel is your vet on call this weekend, so if you need us in an emergency, please call the usual umber and out emergency out of hours team will assist you.
We hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

13/11/2024

🌟POOR PERFORMANCE/GASTROSCOPE OFFER 🌟

❓Is your horse quieter than usual?
❓Reluctant to go forwards?
❓Unusually nappy?
❓Not quite right?
❓Grumpy?

Why not make use of our poor performance offer – there are two options:

🐴Option 1: Gastroscope only (including sedation)

Offer price - £150
Usual price - £275

🐴Option 2: Gastroscope + Performance bloods (including sedation)

Offer price - £250
Usual price - £385.40

Poor performance profile includes: Muscle enzymes, Liver enzymes, Haemaotology, proteins & inflammatory markers.

*Visit fee not included – split between number of clients on same yard (visit fee £48). Price does not include treatment.

* LIMITED TIME ONLY - OFFER RUNS FROM Mon 18th November - 31st December 2024.

Call the office to book - 0161 643 7724.

08/11/2024

Happy Friday 😊

Here is a list of the yards we are visiting next week –

Monday

Private Yard, Oldham
Brian Berry’s Yard, Birtle
Private Yard, Milnrow
Crow’s Nest, Bolton
Standrick Hill Kennels, Stalybridge

Tuesday

Cheetham Fold Stables, Lowton
Pear Tree Farm, Abram
The Bungalow, Hyde

Wednesday

Hey Bottom Farm, Littleborough

Thursday

Private Yard, Bacup
Higher Elbutt Farm, Birtle

Friday

The Croft, Syke
Pilling’s Farm, Stackstead
Sham’s Farm, Atherton
Higher Spen Moor Farm, Bury
Goose Green Farm, Mottram-St-Andrew
Farcoonves Farm, Chisworth

If you would like to share a visit to any of these yards, please give the office a call on 0161 643 7724. Peter is your vet on call this weekend, so if you need us in an emergency, please call the usual umber and out emergency out of hours team will assist you.

We hope you all have a fabulous weekend!