Fairlane Veterinary Services

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Fairlane Veterinary Services

Fairlane Vet Services is based in South Taranaki, NZ and services cattle and equine patients.
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23/10/2024

Good luck to everyone at Auroa school Pet Day! Can't wait to see all the amazing animals everyone brings!

10/10/2024

𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐑 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭!

As many know, Amy is always doing mini trials, pushing how we can do things better, get better results, and help our farmers be more profitable.
Over the years we have been working on various synchrony/anestrus cow programs; trying to find what works best for the NZ dairy system.

We have come up with a presync program that does not use a CIDR (intrava**nal device) and is half the cost of the 10 day CIDR program many of you are familiar with. It is only injections and cows may come on heat after any one the injections and be put up to AB, and removed from the program (saving you more money!)

Three years of data collection has shown the Fairlane Presync program consistently out performs CIDRs by almost 10% when looking at conception rate to timed insemination! 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐑 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦!

If you are interested in the Fairlane Presync program give us a call today and you can chat with one of our veterinarians to discuss if this is the best plan for your farm.

29/09/2024

𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Horses are tough and often don't let us know their mouths are hurting them. It is only with a thorough oral exam, good history and x-rays that we can really see how much disease a horse has in their mouth.

Last week, we revisited a patient that was noted to have a pimple on their gum above one of the incisors at an earlier dental exam at FVS. Pimples on the gums can be a sign of a tooth root infection. A plan was made with the owner to investigate this pimple further.

The patient was sedated and x-rays of the offending tooth were taken. The x-rays showed the tooth root was infected and the tooth was compromised. This tooth was causing pain, and removal of the tooth was needed.

So how did the root get infected? This particular tooth had an open or exposed pulp cavity (as you can see with the picture of the needle placed inside the tooth). Feed material can then travel down the pulp cavity in the middle of the tooth and make it's way to the root where it will ferment and cause damage.

This mini is feeling much better after her extraction and her mouth is healing quickly.

26/09/2024

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
Planned start of mating is coming up fast and preparation is key for success! Some preparations include:
- pre-mating bloods
- metrichecking
- close monitoring of the milk docket to ensure cows nutritional requirements are being met.
- pre-mating heat detection
- anestrus cow planning

We have been busy taking pre-mating bloods and ensuring the herds trace mineral status is sorted before mating starts. If you would still like to book these in please let us know.

As we get closer to mating, we are making anestrus cow plans. We can tailor make a plan for your herd. We have plans ranging from 17 days to 5 days. All have positives and negatives, and we can discuss which plan may suit your farm, and budget.

05/09/2024

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬
We have seen an uptick of calf scours recently. The biggest battle with the calf scours is keeping the calf hydrated and their electrolyte balance normal. We make up a special bag of IV fluids to help give the calf energy, restore their electrolyte balance and hydrate them.

Giving IV fluids gets these calves back up and on the feeder quickly, saving you time on farm.

03/09/2024

Nervous ketosis

We were recently called out to a cow that was 10 days calved and was acting very strange. She was obsessed with chewing on anything! The metal rails, cow's ears, tails, anything she could find she was just chewing on.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧? Generally, cows chewing on pipework or other obsessive behaviours at this time of year means ketosis. But on further examination, this cow also had a left displaced abomassum or LDA.

LDA's are not that common in NZ pasture based systems but we do see them occasionally. They occur most commonly in the first 2-3 weeks post calving and often associated with ketosis. The abomassum is normally located on the cow's right side. After calving it can sometimes, move to the cow's left side and get stuck there.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐢𝐭? At Fairlane Vets we fix this problem surgically. We make a small incision on the cow's right side and reach into her abdomen. From there we located the abomassum and move it back to the correct side (the cow's right side). From there we perform an omentopexy. This is where we suture the omentum (fatty protective covering of the GI tract) to our incision as we close it. This minimizes the chance of recurrence. It is a low risk procedure with great results.

This cow the next day was out eating grass, acting like a normal cow and had a lot more milk! She is feeling much more like herself now!

29/08/2024

𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

We are seeing an increase in the number of coccidia cases in our calves this year. These little parasites are hardy and can replicate like crazy! They can survive in the environment for long periods of time. We have had a nice mild winter and spring (for the most part) which has allowed these little bugs to thrive.

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞:
Cattle pass the oocysts out in their f***s, contaminating the environment. The oocysts then sporulate in the environment. From there they are ingested by the cattle. Sporozoites are then released into the intestines where they then imbed themselves into the intestinal lining and grow into trophozoites. In the intestinal lining they continue to mature and grow until they mature into oocysts where they then burst out of the intestinal lining and are shed back into the environment via the f***s. And the cycle continues.

𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬
We often see the first signs in calves as a bit of blood in their f***s. Understandable when we understand what the coccidia are doing to the intestinal lining! Calves can then go down hill with poor weight gain, lethargy, poor appetite and diarrhea.

𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
Luckily we have treatment that helps get these animals back to normal pretty quickly! Usually within a few days they are looking heaps better. If you suspect your calves have coccidia, please talk to your vet about treatment options.

27/08/2024

𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐤 𝐔𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧 (𝐌𝐔𝐍)

As with every season, there is always a new challenge to face. This year one of those challenges seems to be high milk urea nitrogen (MUN). Generally, we like to see a MUN around 30.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐌𝐔𝐍? High (>40 MUN) means less milk yield, which is less money in your pocket. But it doesn't only mean that. It means the cattle are not utilizing the protein in their diet as well and are essentially wasting it. It also takes extra energy for the cow to get rid of the excess protein. Most proteins we feed are the bought in feed, which aren't cheap. And a high MUN can often lead to an imbalance in the ruminal proteins as well which can lead to other health issues including a decreased reproductive performance!

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐔𝐍 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬? In our pasture based systems, MUN changes are most commonly due to the grass. Cows grazing a lush grass pasture can lead to increased protein in the diet. And luckily this year, most farms have an abundance of grass at the moment. But unluckily, this also drives a high MUN.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐔𝐍 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲? The easiest way to do this is feed some fiber! I know it sounds crazy to say feed out some hay when there is an abundance of grass. But right now, the grass is too lush for the cows to milk efficiently on. Adding in fiber to the diet will allow the cows to better utilize the proteins in their diet, and redirect their energy to milking and getting ready for mating, instead of using that energy to get rid of the excess protein in their diet.

I am a big fan of putting free choice hay at an exit race or area where cows can eat what they want when they want once they are done milking. Some days they will devour the bale, other days they won't touch it. A milking cow knows what she needs in her diet on a daily basis, and this method allows the cows the chance to choose when they need fiber and when they don't to help balance the grass in their diet.

25/08/2024

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬

There has been an uptick in number of mastitis cases lately. It seems the predominant bug we have been culturing are coming up as a Streptococcus mastitis (54% of the cases we have cultured - all the blue in the diagram).

Streptococcus is deemed an environmental mastitis pathogen, meaning the bacteria is in the cow's environment. However, Streptococcus species can still spread from contaminated cups to the next cow, making it important to ensure all mastitis cows are milked last to minimize spread from cow to cow.

𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬
1. Calving down in a clean, dry environment (which has been relatively easy for most of the calving period this year!)
2. Milk heifers and cows quickly after calving (9-12hrs if possible)
3. If your animals are springing up tightly before calving it, teat spraying them pre-calving can be help minimize mastitis incidence.
4. Take note on any areas of the farm where there may be high contamination risk (swampy areas, leaking water troughs, muddy gate ways) and repair those areas when possible.

If you are still having problems with mastitis, please reach out to your vet. Cultures are always an important starting step on figuring out a plan of action to help reduce the incidence of mastitis on farm.

11/08/2024

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

It is already that time of year! Time to think about disbudding your calves. Disbudding at an early age is less traumatic and the animals heal quicker without checks in their weight gain.

At Fairlane Veterinary Services we offer sedation disbudding. Calves need to be a minimum of 2 weeks of age and fasted (no milk or meal) several hours before the procedure. We will sedate the calves, numb their horn buds, disbud them, and apply a topical antibiotic to the bud after the procedure. We can also remove extra teats at the time, vaccinate them for clostridial bacteria, and give them extra pain relief. Some farmers chose to do DNA at the same time as disbudding as well.

We try to time disbudding calls around the normal feeding schedule of the calves. We find that by not disrupting their normal routine too much the animals bounce back from the procedure quickly.

08/08/2024

𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬

Some mares struggle to concentrate, perform, and frankly can become dangerous when they are on heat. This has been an age old problem horse owners have faced. Various methods of trying to help the mare focus when on heat have been used. Altreno (an artificial progesterone) is one that many people may be familiar with. In the past, marbles have been placed in the uterus of moody mares to stimulate the mare's own pregnancy hormones. However, marbles can break, cause damage to the uterus and are near impossible to remove once they are in and are no longer used due to the risk.

A new version of the "marble" is now available at Fairlane Veterinary Services. It is called the IUPOD. It is comprised of 3 small self assembling magnets that are placed in the uterus of the mare. Once the IUPOD is placed, it will trick the mare's body into thinking she is pregnant without the use of any drugs. The advantage of this system is that we can easily remove the magnets at a later date as well! Pictured is the IUPOD magnets.

For more information on IUPOD system please visit their website or have a chat to your vet.
https://www.iupod.org/

05/08/2024

𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐤 𝐅𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫

We have been hearing about and seeing cases of mild milk fever in springers this year. These are cows that are a bit wobbly on their feet or that are able to stand up quickly with 1 bag in their vein. The cases we have been hearing about are all animals with mildly low calcium.

Calcium is required for muscle contraction (including uterine contractions, or even teat sphincter contraction so they don't leak milk). Low calcium cows often look a bit sleepy or lethargic.

𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗸 𝗳𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿? It's all about the DCAD. DCAD or dietary cation anion difference, is a nutritional tool utilized to minimize milk fever in cattle. DCAD is used to stimulate the cow's ability to mobilize their own calcium reserves, which minimizes milk fever. Our goal with a DCAD diet is to make the diet as negative in anions as possible. Positive ions like potassium can induce milk fever (this is why we don't put springers in effluent paddocks - they are very high in potassium). DCAD diets are hard to achieve when you are on a pasture based system. This is because grasses all have potassium.

We have been lucky in that the winter has been milder and drier than normal and the grass has been growing. Cows have been able to eat all the grass within their breaks instead of pugging the grass down into the ground. Therefore, they are getting more potassium than on an average season and we are seeing mild milk fever cases.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?
There are a few ways to attack this problem if you are experiencing it on farm. One is to reduce the grass and feed more hay. Another is to add in calcium chloride to the water. Calcium chloride is negatively charged and will decrease your DCAD, allowing your cattle to better mobilize their own calcium reserves. It is safe to feed to all mobs (dry, springers, colostrums, and milkers).

If you are experiencing milk fever problems please contact your vet and they can help advise you. There are multiple causes of milk fever, and a discussion with your vet will help find the cause and the best solution for your farm.

18/07/2024

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 - 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Every year there seems to be a common calving problem seen. Last season was uterine torsions. This season we have seen a fair number of true breech presentations already! (This is our vet Amy's favorite calving problem to correct) This is when the calf is presenting bum first. You may only see just a tail hanging out of the va**na of the cow.

These can be challenging to correct without an epidural, as you will have to work against the contractions of the cow. So how do you go about correcting a true breech?

1. Find a leg! You may need to push the bum of the calf forward into the cow to make room. Work in between the cow's contractions (push the calf in when the cow is not contracting, and hold it in place when she is).
2. Get a rope or chain around the leg (anywhere around the leg). Get the rope or chain as low as possible on the leg. If you can only get it below the stifle then start there.
3. Push the bum of the calf into the cow while simultaneously pulling on the rope to get the calf's leg to bend (remember to work in between contractions!)
4. Work the chain or rope below the hock. Again push the bum of the calf into the cow and pull on the rope or chain to pop the hock up into the pelvis.
5. Once you can reach the toes of the calf, I like to put one hand on the point of the hock, and cup the toes in the other hand. Simultaneously push the hock of the calf into the cow and rotate it to the side of the cow, while bringing the toes up under the calf. Again work in between contractions!
6. The leg should be up into the pelvis, and repeat for the other leg.
7. Once both legs are up into the pelvis, ensure the tail is tucked down and pull the calf out.

OR Just call the vet! We are happy to help out as these can be challenging to correct! Below is a link that has good illustrations of how we go about correcting true breech's in cattle.

https://visgar.vetmed.ufl.edu/en_bovrep/true-breech/true-breech.html

14/07/2024

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬!
(𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐲)

Not long ago Dr Dirk performed some epididymectomies on a handful of bulls. These animals are going to be used as teaser bulls.

Teaser bulls are bulls that can no longer impregnant a cow. Various methods are used to achieve this. Many people will be familiar with vasectomies, which also accomplish the same thing. The bull is otherwise in-tact and can be used to help identify animals on heat; however, he can no longer impregnate a cow as the plumbing to get the semen out has been cut.

Generally, for vasectomies the bull is put under anesthesia (laid down), which comes with risks. Epididymectomies allow us to perform the procedure standing which minimizes the risks associated with anesthesia in ruminants.

These bulls will be well healed up and ready to help the farmer identify animals on heat by the planned start of mating.

11/07/2024

We had a lovely surprise visitor this week! Hope everyone has enjoyed the sunshine like this little man was!

07/07/2024

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞!
(𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫)

Calving time, although stressful, hectic, and a busy time of year for most of us, it is still one of our favorite times of year! Nothing like seeing happy, healthy calves bouncing around to bring smiles to everyone's faces.

Sometimes, with calving time, we get some weird and wonderful genetic whoopsies. It can happen in all species and when it does, they often show themselves as deformities. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆-𝒖𝒑.

For your viewing pleasure, the video is the skull of a calf last season (born dead), which had a genetic whoopsie. When the neural crest was formed (which essentially becomes the central nervous system - brain and spinal cord) some cells got their wires crossed and formed too brain cavities which went on to form heads. The two heads shared the same spine and body, but as you can see there were 2 muzzles and 2 sets of eyes. Fingers crossed no genetic whoopsies this year and everyone has a straightforward and drama-free calving season!

03/07/2024

𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Now is the time to rotavirus vaccinate your herd if you have not already to help minimize risk of rotavirus outbreaks in your calves.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of scours in young calves that we see at Fairlane. It can be devastating to be dealing with an outbreak, both for the farmer and the animal! Sick calves always take more time and are an added stress on staff in an already busy and hectic time of year. Calves that get rotavirus can also have poorer reproductive performance (I never believed that study until I experienced it for myself!).

When you vaccinate your herd for rotavirus, the cow will make antibodies which will flow on through their colostrum and into the calf; thereby, protecting the calf. If you have any questions about rotavirus, or vaccinating your herd, please contact us or your local veterinarian.

29/05/2024

Office closed intermittently throughout the day on May 30th. Apologies for the inconvenience.

19/05/2024

What to do when there are no weekend calls? Trim up the hedge by our sign while the supervisor assesses my work on her push bike!

I passed inspection! 😂

14/05/2024

𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

Nitrate poisoning can be deadly to cattle.
As we come into the winter months, many farmers will have a winter crop of brassicas, oats, or annual grasses to feed their herd. These can all contain high nitrate levels which can be deadly to stock. A cow can consume a toxic amount of nitrates in 1 hr of grazing! It is important to test your crop before you start feeding it.

Testing is quick and easy. It takes 30 minutes to get a result. Bring in a sample of your winter crop before you start feeding it to ensure the nitrate levels are safe for your herd.

12/05/2024

𝐋𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐨 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞

Here at Fairlane Veterinary Services we want to ensure you, and your cattle are well protected from Leptospirosis. There is an emerging lepto strain in NZ and Australia called Pacifica. This strain has not been covered in the lepto vaccines we have historically had available to us in NZ.

𝐋𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐨 𝟒-𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞: has recently come to the NZ market. This vaccine is the only vaccine currently available in NZ that gives your animals protection against Pacifica, the emerging strain of Lepto. Fairlane Veterinary Services will be switching to the 4-way vaccine to ensure your herd has adequate protection against the most prevalent strains of Lepto in NZ.

09/05/2024

𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬

The other day we brought out the portable stocks to work on a lovely geriatric mare. On previous dental visits, this mare showed some resistance to the speculum we use to safely open the horse's mouth. This is often a key clinical sign the horse has some incisor pain. Most often in our geriatric patients it is because of a progressive degenerative disease called Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis, or EOTRH, for short. It most often affects the canines and incisors and can be extremely painful. The only way we can diagnose and stage the disease is by x-rays of the incisors.

Since we knew this lovely old girl had some incisor pain, we took some x-rays so we can stage the disease and make a plan to help keep this old girl comfortable in her retirement.

A good way to test your horse for incisor pain is to the do the super scientific "carrot test". Hold a carrot tightly in your hand, and see if your horse can break it off with their incisors with minimal effort. If they struggle, or can not break the carrot, there is likely pain in the incisors.

08/05/2024

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐜𝐳𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬
May 8, 2024
𝐶𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑎: 0 Low Risk
𝐾𝑎𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑖: 0 Low Risk
𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎: 15,000 Low Risk
𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑘𝑎: 20,000 Low Risk

What a chilling morning we had! A nice frost greeted us this morning. It is safe to say this weather is not conducive to spore growth. We have had 2 weeks in a row with low to no spores seen on our counts. We will run 1 more week of spore counting before we officially say it is the end of the Facial Eczema season for 2024.
Hope everyone found a nice warm cuppa or spot by the heater or fire (like our dog Rosie!), after their morning jobs were done.

30/04/2024

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐜𝐳𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬
APRIL 30
𝐶𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑎: 10,000 Low Risk
𝐾𝑎𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑖: 0 Low Risk
𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎: 2,500 Low Risk
𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑘𝑎: 50,000 Moderate Risk

28/04/2024

𝐃𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

With the season starting to wind down, it is a good idea to think about doing dry off blood work or cull cow livers. This allows us to get an idea if we need to supplement through the dry period for anything the cows may be lacking in. Ensuring the cows have the right mineral levels coming into calving and then mating also means less animal health costs and better reproductive performance.
Trace minerals are important for a lot of functions within the body, and one of those being the immune system. We want the immune system to have everything it needs to fight infection and keep the animals healthy. A healthy animal means less vet costs to you, and better production and performance.
Supplementing through the dry period is beneficial in that we can easily build levels that are too low. This is because a lot of trace minerals are lost through the milk, so we are constantly trying to top up a leaky bucket. When the animal is dry we are filling up a bucket with no holes, and the deficiency is corrected more quickly.

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Videos

What is wrong with this cow!?

Nervous ketosis We were recently called out to a cow that was 10 days calved and was acting very strange. She was obsessed with chewing on anything! The metal rails, cow's ears, tails, anything she could find she was just chewing on. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧? Generally, cows chewing on pipework or other obsessive behaviours at this time of year means ketosis. But on further examination, this cow also had a left displaced abomassum or LDA. LDA's are not that common in NZ pasture based systems but we do see them occasionally. They occur most commonly in the first 2-3 weeks post calving and often associated with ketosis. The abomassum is normally located on the cow's right side. After calving it can sometimes, move to the cow's left side and get stuck there. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐢𝐭? At Fairlane Vets we fix this problem surgically. We make a small incision on the cow's right side and reach into her abdomen. From there we located the abomassum and move it back to the correct side (the cow's right side). From there we perform an omentopexy. This is where we suture the omentum (fatty protective covering of the GI tract) to our incision as we close it. This minimizes the chance of recurrence. It is a low risk procedure with great results. This cow the next day was out eating grass, acting like a normal cow and had a lot more milk! She is feeling much more like herself now!

Two headed calf

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞! (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫) Calving time, although stressful, hectic, and a busy time of year for most of us, it is still one of our favorite times of year! Nothing like seeing happy, healthy calves bouncing around to bring smiles to everyone's faces. Sometimes, with calving time, we get some weird and wonderful genetic whoopsies. It can happen in all species and when it does, they often show themselves as deformities. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆-𝒖𝒑. For your viewing pleasure, the video is the skull of a calf last season (born dead), which had a genetic whoopsie. When the neural crest was formed (which essentially becomes the central nervous system - brain and spinal cord) some cells got their wires crossed and formed too brain cavities which went on to form heads. The two heads shared the same spine and body, but as you can see there were 2 muzzles and 2 sets of eyes. Fingers crossed no genetic whoopsies this year and everyone has a straightforward and drama-free calving season!

Thiamine Deficiency

Thiamine Deficiency in Calves: This calf has thiamine deficiency. It is swaying side to side, wobbly on it's feet and appears to be blind (not blinking when a menacing object is heading towards it's eye). This calf was found down, away from it's mob and dehydrated. It was given high dose thiamine and IV fluids to hydrate it up. It still has a long way to recover but is up, nibbling away at feed and hopefully will regain it's vision soon. What is thiamine deficiency? Ruminants depend on the rumen bugs to make thiamine (vitamin B-1). There are a few reasons why ruminants can become deficient. 1: (and the most common cause): the presence of thiaminase in the rumen. Thiaminase is essentially an anti-thiamine. It breaks thiamine down into smaller components that the animal can not use; therefore, making the animal deficient. 2: Ingestion of plants containing thiaminases (like ferns, horsetails) 3: High sulphur or high starch diets 4: Change of diet from poor-stalky grass to lush pasture can lead to thiamine deficiency. Treatment: We treat these animals with high dose thiamine over several days and give them supportive care (IV fluids if dehydrated, stomach tube sustinance if necessary, etc). When caught early and treated aggressively there is a 75% survival rate. This calf has responded well to treatment thus far and we hope it will gain back it's vision and make a full recovery. If you have a calf that doesn't appear right, and walking around aimlessly in the paddock, appearing blind, call your vet asap to start treatment for the best possible outcome.

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Fairlane Veterinary Services is invested in each and every one of their clients. After all, without our clients, where would we be? We strive to provide top notch veterinary services at reasonable prices for our clients. Our goal is to work with our clients in order to help our farming clients be more profitable with their business and give our non-farming clients more satisfaction with their animal’s veterinary care. We service coastal and south Taranaki. Give us a call today! 027 976 1283