Dooneen Equine Veterinary Clinic

14/02/2025

06/02/2025

🚨FEI VACCINE CHANGES!

From today it is a requirement that ALL FEI registered horses need to have their influenza vaccinations recorded on the FEI HorseApp at the time of vaccination by your vet when they attend the horse. Please let us know at time of vaccine if your horse has an FEI Passport as both completion of the passport and updating of the FEI Horse App must now be completed.

To make this process as easy as it can be, please could you ensure that:

1) Passport is present at the time of vaccination

2) Please remove rugs prior to vaccination as it is necessary for the vet to photograph both sides of the horse to confirm identification

Athletes, Grooms, Owners or Trainers:
After updating your app to the most recent version please enter the previous vaccinations onto the FEI HorseApp prior to your horses vaccination date. This will save considerable time for when the first vaccination is given and recorded after 3/2/25.

How to enter historical vaccinations:
https://howto.fei.org/content/20/304/en/how-to-register-a-historical-vaccination-on-the-fei-horseapp.html

06/02/2025

Tis the “season”

06/02/2025

06/02/2025

Thanks to KR Equine Veterinary Services Ltd for highlighting such an important topic. We too think our team is pretty awesome and definitely function as better vets when not in hospital. So ~ Same as Davids team ~ no stocks ~ no scanning or stitching !

🐴🐴 2025 Breeding Season 🐴🐴

*Change of practice policy*

We are excited to see glimpses of hope that the evenings are lengthening and with that comes the arrival of a new stud season! 🌅🌅🌅

Unfortunately within the last 10 years a survey was released summarising the inherent dangers associated with the equine veterinary profession. As a practice we must consider this seriously. Recently we have been in lengthy discussions about the responsibility we have to look after our vets safety! 🥽🦺⛑️

As such from 2025 we will no longer be scanning or stitching mares (or any other routine procedure that requires us to be standing immediately behind the horse!) without the use of stocks.

Slots will be available to bring mares to the clinic for scanning allowing us to perform these procedures in a safe environment for our vets. Should you have stocks at home we will of course be pleased to continue to scan on yards.

If you would like to consider purchasing stocks for your yard we would be happy to point you in the right direction.

Thank you in advance for your understanding 😊

01/12/2024

🚨 Attention Stud Farms & Veterinarians 🚨

Arvac vaccine will be shipped to Covetrus by 9th December 2024. This vaccine must be administered by 10th Dec 2024 to ensure stallions are released from quarantine for the ITM Irish Stallion Trail (10–11 Jan 2025). 💉

Blood samples must be collected on 7th Jan 2025 and delivered to Backweston by 10:00 AM the same day. 🩸

It is advisable for vets (who are planning to administer vaccine on December 9th/10th) to pick up the vaccine directly from Covetrus on December 9th to avoid delays! ⏰

For more information, visit our website: https://itba.info/News/EVA-Vaccine-ARVAC-Update/1200757/Index.html

26/10/2024

What is EHV?
EHV is equine herpes virus- which cause respiratory disease in horses. Most horses don’t have any issues and it passes through and they are fine.
It’s very contagious 😷 and will spread rapidly between horses.
When is it a problem?
It causes poor performance in racing and competition yards. Horses can’t be competing to their best level and trying to fight of a respiratory disease at the same time 🤧
In pregnant mares it causes ABORTION, and foals to be born dead or will die within hours of birth.
Once this disease is in a herd of pregnant mares it spreads like wildfire and all mares will be affected- the disease spreads before you even notice it and often the first sign is a mare aborting a pregnancy- and often the whole group will lose their pregnancy 😱.
How to avoid EHV?
Have good biosecurity.
Do not let new stock into broodmare bands or training yards without sufficient isolation periods.
Do not mix youngsters and pregnant mares
Do not mix pregnant animals with animals that are out competing every week.
Vaccinate!
Vaccinations for disease prevention in broodmares is carried out at months 5, 7 and 9 of pregnancy.
( so mares covered February, March, April and May of 2024 should have already started their course of vaccines, and June covered mares should start in November)
Vaccinations in non pregnant animals is done every 6 months.

Be prepared! Prevention is essential . There is no “cure” once EHV has been introduced to your mares. And after all the hard work and cost of spring and getting them pregnant- let’s keep those unborn foals as safe as possible.

03/10/2024

What is EHV?

EHV is equine herpes virus- which cause respiratory disease in horses. Most horses don’t have any issues and it passes through and they are fine.

It’s very contagious 😷 and will spread rapidly between horses.

When is it a problem?

It causes poor performance in racing and competition yards. Horses can’t be competing to their best level and trying to fight of a respiratory disease at the same time 🤧

In pregnant mares it causes ABORTION, and foals to be born dead or will die within hours of birth.
Once this disease is in a herd of pregnant mares it spreads like wildfire and all mares will be affected- the disease spreads before you even notice it and often the first sign is a mare aborting a pregnancy- and often the whole group will lose their pregnancy 😱.

How to avoid EHV?

Have good biosecurity.
Do not let new stock into broodmare bands or training yards without sufficient isolation periods.
Do not mix youngsters and pregnant mares
Do not mix pregnant animals with animals that are out competing every week.
Vaccinate!

Vaccinations for disease prevention in broodmares is carried out at months 5, 7 and 9 of pregnancy.
( so mares covered February and March and April of 2024 should have already started their course of vaccines, and May covered mares should start in October)

Vaccinations in non pregnant animals is done every 6 months.

Be prepared! Prevention is essential . There is no “cure” once EHV has been introduced to your mares. And after all the hard work and cost of spring and getting them pregnant- let’s keep those unborn foals as safe as possible.

21/09/2024

Scarier than a clown costume!

Puncture wounds in the foot qualify as medical emergencies, due to the number of vital structures just beneath the sole that can be physically damaged and/or contaminated with bacteria when they are penetrated by a sharp object.

If your horse steps on a nail or other sharp object and it remains embedded in the hoof, resist the temptation to pull the nail out and consult with your veterinarian first. Leaving the nail in place will allow the vet to take x-rays of the foot before removal, which helps to identify exactly what structures have been penetrated, and to plan the most appropriate strategy for dealing with the situation.

If your veterinarian advises, carefully remove the nail to prevent the horse from stepping on it and driving it deeper into the hoof cavity. As you remove it, be sure to mark the exact point and depth of entry with tape and/or a marker so the veterinarian can assess the extent of damage. Apply antiseptic to the wound, and wrap to prevent additional contamination while you wait for your appointment.

Penetrating hoof wounds can be extremely serious and shouldn’t be underestimated. The prognosis for successful recovery depends on quick action to identify the path of the nail, treatment of potential infection and mechanical damage to the foot, and proper aftercare. As always, consult your horse doctor for more information and advice!

13/09/2024

Q. What do stud vets do in September?
A. Learn more about managing broodmares 😆

BEVA - The British Equine Veterinary Association Congress 2024.

09/09/2024

Now is a good time of year to test for Tapeworms! 🐴🦠
Did you know tapeworms can cause serious health issues for your horse? Even if your horse looks healthy, they could still be at risk! 🐛 Tapeworm infections are tricky to detect, but routine testing is the key to early detection and prevention.

07/09/2024

What is EHV?

EHV is equine herpes virus- which cause respiratory disease in horses. Most horses don’t have any issues and it passes through and they are fine.

It’s very contagious 😷 and will spread rapidly between horses.

When is it a problem?

It causes poor performance in racing and competition yards. Horses can’t be competing to their best level and trying to fight of a respiratory disease at the same time 🤧

In pregnant mares it causes ABORTION, and foals to be born dead or will die within hours of birth.
Once this disease is in a herd of pregnant mares it spreads like wildfire and all mares will be affected- the disease spreads before you even notice it and often the first sign is a mare aborting a pregnancy- and often the whole group will lose their pregnancy 😱.

How to avoid EHV?

Have good biosecurity.
Do not let new stock into broodmare bands or training yards without sufficient isolation periods.
Do not mix youngsters and pregnant mares
Do not mix pregnant animals with animals that are out competing every week.
Vaccinate!

Vaccinations for disease prevention in broodmares is carried out at months 5, 7 and 9 of pregnancy.
( so mares covered February and March of 2024 should have already started their course of vaccines, and April covered mares should start in September )

Vaccinations in non pregnant animals is done every 6 months.

Be prepared! Prevention is essential . There is no “cure” once EHV has been introduced to your mares. And after all the hard work and cost of spring and getting them pregnant- let’s keep those unborn foals as safe as possible.

06/09/2024

What is EHV?

EHV is equine herpes virus - which is a respiratory disease in horses.
It is really common in horses and young stock in particular throughout Ireland. Generally it doesn’t really affect them and you may just spot a bit of a runny nose or eyes for a few days.

BUT!

It causes poor performance in competition horses and racehorses- you cant be at your best while fighting of a cold,

AND it causes abortion in mares. If it gets into your herd it will cause abortion in the whole herd, or foals that are born still born or severely compromised and unlikely to survive.

After a whole season of everyone working hard to get mares and matings right - really it’s a kick in the teeth that nobody needs.

So -

Biosecurity - keep your mares as separately as possible from your youngsters
And AWAY from any newly introduced animals or visiting animals.

And
VACCINATE

Vaccination in mares is recommended during pregnancy at months 5, 7 and 9.

All mares covered in February and March should have started their course of EHV vaccination already, with the April covered mares starting to get their first shots now.

01/09/2024

I may have mentioned this before!

Wounds in horses are quite common and we are often asked what’s the best first aid while waiting for the vet or for small wounds.

NEVER USE BLUE SPRAY!! 😱😱😱

Or purple or silver or green or any other colour! 🌈🌈

It doesn’t help. In fact- it slows wound healing ( and makes it pretty impossible to clean the wound 😩)