Oak Valley Veterinary Services

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United States
Fredericksburg, TX
Oak Valley Veterinary Services

OVVS provides high quality, personalized care to the animals of the Texas Hill Country
(8)

08/02/2024

Who wore it better?!

07/30/2024

Saying goodbye to our patients is so incredibly hard, but we are grateful for the years that they were entrusted to our care. We build bonds with our patients and their owners that forever live in our hearts and memories.

07/28/2024

Bridging the gap between farriers and veterinarians is critical to providing a comprehensive approach to patient care. For those of you who have met our equine podiatrist, Dr. Pullen, you know that his passion is education.

Through the collaborative efforts of Colorado State University and the talented professionals involved in this incentive, veterinary students will be provided with the fundamentals needed to excel in equine practice.

We are incredibly proud of Dr. Pullen and the work being done at CSU to improve equine podiatry across the board.

Go RAMS!

06/13/2024

We had so much fun participating in "When I Grow Up" week at Kindernest Montessori School!

06/04/2024

Check out Colleen's new adventure!

Fear not, she's not leaving us just yet. She's a master multitasker. Which means she will be still be gracing us with her skills, sarcasm and wit all while making amazing Asian food on the side!

05/01/2024

“Hey Rory!! Give me those vaccines!…..

Ouch! Not like that” 😡

04/29/2024

We are all grateful for the rain, but don’t let the rain turn to pain!

There are a lot of exciting new advances in the area of equine endocrinology. Contact us to learn more about ways to manage your endocrine dysregulated equids.

Are you familiar with laminitis? We’d like to help you learn more.

Per usual this time of year, we have seen a significant number of laminitis cases develop over the last few weeks. If you are a horse owner, it’s important to understand the risk factors for laminitis.

This condition is challenging on many levels and has plagued veterinarians, horse owners and farriers for thousands of years.

While we are all extremely grateful for the recent rain, new growth of pasture contains the highest sugar levels. The sugar fructans produced by rapidly growing grass stimulates an overgrowth of bacteria in the horse’s large intestine. The bacteria produce and release toxins (endotoxins) that induce an inflammatory response, causing damage to the laminae.

Laminitis (or “founder” as it is commonly called), is inflammation of the laminae within horse’s foot. Laminae are the delicate, accordion-like tissues that attach the inner surface of the hoof wall to the coffin bone (the bone in the hoof ). The laminae works as glue to keep the coffin bone in place within the hoof.

A horse suffering from laminitis will experience decreased blood flow to the laminae, which in turn causes the laminae to breakdown and separate. This painful process results in hoof wall separation and rotation of the coffin bone. In severe cases, the coffin bone will actually rotate through the sole of the horse’s hoof. Euthanasia rates for severe laminitis are high. It is a debilitating condition with severe implications.

Certain horses are at greater risk for carbohydrate-induced laminitis. Overweight horses or “easy keepers” often suffer from insulin resistance and/or equine metabolic syndrome. These two endocrine disorders causes greater glycemic response to starch and sugar content of horse feeds, which results in higher blood glucose and increased risk for laminitis.

Ponies, miniature donkeys and horses that have foundered in the past are also at greater risk.

PPID, or equine Cushing’s disease is a another underlying condition we associate with increased risk of laminitis.

Being able to identify horses at increased risk of developing laminitis is key to reducing its incidence. Oak Valley Vet can assist owners who are unsure if their horse is at risk.

Recommendations for prevention:

Fructan level changes with time of day, generally being highest in late afternoon and evening and lowest in the very early morning hours. Keep this in mind when deciding when to turn your horse out.

If your at-risk horse must be turned out, grazing muzzles have been shown to reduce the pasture intake by about 80%.

Do not provide unlimited pasture access to horses that have not previously had access to pasture.

Signs of Laminitis:

-Shortened stride

-Reluctance to walk, especially in tight circles

-Lying down more frequently

-Increased digital pulses or hooves that feel hot

If your horse is experiencing any of these signs, please call us immediately.

04/03/2024

Thank you for the kind words of support following our abrupt closure last week.

I often feel as if my clients are an extension of my closest friends. Therefore, I wanted to offer transparency about our recent closure and clarification regarding any sporadic unavailability that may occur over the next few weeks.

My beautiful sister passed away unexpectedly from a systemic bacterial infection, leaving behind her two incredible children (ages 3 & 6).

Being self-employed comes with many incredible advantages. However, it also has its drawbacks. As a solo practitioner, there is only so much of me to go around. I am currently back in the office managing cases and seeing appointments, but there will be days over the next few weeks where I will need to step away to focus on myself and my family.

We will do our best to accommodate in all ways possible.

- Dr. Carroll

03/28/2024

Due to an unexpected family emergency, we will be closed until further notice. All questions or concerns regarding patients will be addressed by support staff at [email protected]

03/27/2024

Teddy is full of SUNSHINE on this cloudy day!

03/20/2024

Benji proves the world wrong about the misconceptions regarding Chihuahuas! Small in stature, but extremely large in personality! Benji is the sweetest cuddle bug around.

03/18/2024

Very serious ranch call happenings today! An opportunity for obligatory bluebonnet pictures cannot be missed!

03/17/2024

Our sweet midwife Nutmeg helped welcome another precious foal tonight. She never misses her chance to oversee the foaling operations here at OVVS!

02/23/2024

Phone service was touch and go today, but we hardly noticed because we had these cuties keeping our attention!

02/09/2024

We knew there had to be a book they were following in order to be so proficient!

02/01/2024

Dr. Kody is now seeing patients!

01/25/2024

Anxiously awaiting this Apollitical Jess x Jess Send Me to make an appearance! Although 23 days behind schedule, the mare was kind enough to keep the baby in through the cold spell! Maybe the sunshine will bring us a new foal?!

01/09/2024

If you’ve had the pleasure to meet our amazing employee, Sarah, then you’d know that she is one of the greatest humans that this world was ever gifted with!

Sarah is the process of finishing her PhD dissertation, all while helping us stay sane at the clinic and providing love to all our hospital patients after hours. She’s a very active member of the local community, and works hard to greatly impact the lives of so many around her.

Sarah doesn’t get much time to take vacation, but she managed to take a few days off over Christmas break for a hunting trip. Unfortunately, she fractured her wrist during that hunting trip and will be spending the next few months recovering.

Please send Sarah wishes for a speedy recovery!

If you’d like to help support Sarah’s recovery with meals, or a monetary contibution to offset her medical expenses, please reach out of us.

Colleen assisted in helping Dr. Carroll’s daughter Rylan get a head start on the get well soon cards!

01/05/2024

To know her is to love her! Happy Birthday Colleen! Thanks for being our head taskmaster and virtuoso of all the things!

12/22/2023

Dr. Carroll and junior doctor Rylan are making sure that Roscoe is feeling the magic of Christmas this year!

12/12/2023

“All Parts Of Every Animal. Super Doctors”!

But we have better tissues. 😂😂😂😂

12/08/2023

12/06/2023

recruiting new employees! Welcome to the team Dr. Jingle

11/23/2023

We’ve had quite a few clients reach out with questions regarding the recent news coverage of increased cases of an unknown canine respiratory disease. While we have not seen any cases in our practice, we would like to share a great overview of what is know currently.

“Despite lots of media attention and associated fear, we’re still not sure what’s going on with all these coughing dogs, or even if there’s really a story at all. This could be something new, but more likely, it’s the usual suspects doing their usual thing (possibly at higher rates in some areas, as fairly commonly occurs periodically).

In the unlikely event this is something new, it’s likely viral. It’s much less likely to be something bacteria.

Either way, we have to think about how that might impact treatment. The short answer is: it probably doesn’t affect our treatment approach.”

As concerns about canine infectious respiratory disease in the US have taken up most of my time lately, let’s merge that issue with what I had hoped to be

11/01/2023

Concerned about how much candy your Avatar pony stole while trick-or-treating?

Fear not!

We now offer Wellness Ready™ stall-side insulin tests! Wellness Ready

10/25/2023

Brian the Prairie dog is a distant cousin of Punxsutawney Phil. Today he saw his shadow and predicted rain for the Hill Country ☔️ Thank you Brian!

Address

Fredericksburg, TX
78624

Telephone

+18309983883

Website

http://www.oakvalleyvettx.com/

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Videos

Don’t let the door hit ya!

Monday Morning Motivation!

One of the friendliest babes of the year getting a little late night attention while we work on her sweet mama. We love a well handled foal! #slickbydesign

To continue on with our puppy spam trend... We'd like to introduce you to Roussanne (aka Rou)! Rou is not only adorable and well mannered, she is also a VERY talented composer 🎶 She helped get our week off to a fabulous start! P.S. she gives AMAZING cuddles Sound on for full effect!

For those that follow Roomba's story. He has two little kids that make sure he gets plenty of recess time!

RAIN!

Foaling season has official arrived and we'd like to fill your February with some fun FOAL FACTS! Below is a video of a newborn foal flagging her tail. Cute right? Actually, not cute at all! While tail wagging may be cute in dogs, it's a sign of trouble in foals! Tail wagging/flagging is commonly associated with gastrointestinal pain originating from a meconium impaction. Meconium is the first feces passed by the newborn foal. It is comprised of digested placental fluid, gastrointestinal secretions, and cellular debris. Failure to pass meconium results in significant abdominal pain in the newborn foal. Most breeding farms use prophylactic enemas shortly after birth to prevent meconium impactions. However, sometimes that's not enough and veterinary intervention is required. Meconium impactions present as a progressive increase in abdominal pain, with frequent posturing and straining to defecate. Affected foals may also be depressed and reluctant to nurse. Often they with show aggressive colic signs like rolling and lip curling. The standard treatment for foals with a routine meconium impaction is administration of an enema. There are various types of enemas used. Here at OVVS we have are own preference on enema ingredients which includes a combination of DSS surfactant, Glycerin and Acetylcysteine. Foals with meconium impaction associated colic are unlikely to nurse well and may be at risk of failure of passive transfer from insufficient colostrum intake. In severe cases, we will administer intravenous fluids, pain relief medications and other ancillary treatments as needed. Rarely, a severe refractory case of meconium impaction may require surgical intervention. As with many medical conditions, early recognition and treatment is important in the successful management of meconium impactions.

If you have ever been to our office, you know that we have a "decision maker" on the desk that helps make all the really hard medical decisions. Just like Dr. Google 😜 Nutmeg has taken over the role as medical director and will be making all the decisions from here on out with the help of this trusty instrument!

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mama's out there, both human and animal! Today we're busy making more great mothers! We have 10 mares due to ovulate in the next 36hrs, here's to successful breedings for everyone! ❤️🤞#nosleeptilsummer #breedingseason2021

The sun is out, the mud is abundant and we're trying to make the best of it all! Better days ahead!

When you’re trying to take a nap and your kids won’t give you a second of peace! #momlife #iknowthefeeling

Big day setting up our Idexx lab analyzers! Idexx machines allow us the ability to offer real time, in-house diagnostics with unprecedented quality. Our followers might be thinking “Wait, where is this lab? Isn’t Oak Valley Vet strictly mobile?” Surprise! While we will still be offering mobile services, we are now headquartered out Snaffle Bit Ranch on HWY 16 South. Having a haul-in facility allows us the opportunity to offer complete, full service care with improved efficiency. We are currently in the process of outfitting this beautiful facility with lots of exciting additions, including small animal surgical and dental services, as well extensive equine repro, and foal care services. We can’t wait to share more with you over the next few weeks !

The one day that Dr. Carroll doesn’t wear her trusty Anderson Bean boots is the day she probably needed them the most. Silly vets, they never learn. On this adventure of reckless horse antics, “Bewitchy” decided she was sick of mandatory stall rest and wanted out with her friends in the pasture. During her impressive exit from the stall, she traumatized her chest. In the grand scheme of things, she escaped rather unscathed (by horse standards that is). Trust us, this could have ended WAY worse. However, a large fluid pocket called a seroma did developed where there was damage to the chest muscles. With smaller seromas, we commonly leave them to reabsorb on their own. Unfortunately, this seroma had become large enough to interfere with movement and was causing a significant deal of discomfort. Opening the seroma and removing the fluid will cause instant pain relief. However, it also leaves the area susceptible to bacterial contamination from the environment. Bewitchy was sedated for the procedure. The chest was aseptically scrubbed and infused with a local anesthetic prior to being lanced. A twitch was placed for the procedure to prevent her from moving while a large scalpel blade was close to vital thoracic structures. Once the fluid was removed, the devitalized muscle tissue and fibrin was also evacuated. Bewitchy will be maintained on anti inflammatories and antibiotics for a few days, but is expected to make an excellent recovery. While they may look dramatic, seromas heal remarkably well.

Let me tell you about these amazing little creatures! Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is a safe, effective, and controlled method of healing aggressive wounds. The larvae of the sheep blowfly (Lucilia sericata) are the most widely used species for MDT. This specific maggot species prefers necrotic tissue over healthy tissue for feeding. What that means, is these creatures select only the tissue we need removed and leave behind the healthy tissue required for healing. A dose of 100 maggots can debride 50 g of necrotic tissue during one treatment cycle! Today we applied 500 hungry little maggots to a draining hoof wound. The maggots will be able to selectively debride places that we can not safely reach. MDT also has potent antibacterial effects. It disrupts biofilm layers and creates an environment that inhibits the growth of difficult infections such as multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria. MDT reduces our reliance on systemic antibiotics, which can often have significant side effects in horses. Sure, it may seem gross, but these little guys work miracles!