Desert Pines Equine Medical and Surgical Center

With Jones blvd currently under heavy construction, it is down to one open lane, making it difficult to get in/out of our facility from the main road. Please use the side entrance during this time. If you have any questions or are new to town/unfamiliar with our location, please do not hesitate to call☺️

Remember the sound the slot machines made in the 70’s? That’s the same sound you hear during colic surgery when removing the sand from a colon. In this incidence, 150lbs of sand was removed from the large colon. . Here in the desert, sand colics are very common as we’re surrounded dirt and sand in every direction. Sand accumulates in the large colon causing irritation, intermittent colic and occasionally complete obstruction or rupture if not treated within a timely manner. In this instance, surgery is required to remove the sand impaction. . As there is unfortunately no way to completely prevent your horse from eating off the ground, some things that can help are placing hay in feeders rather than directly on the ground, elevated feeders, stall mats and monthly psyllium to help evacuate sand that is accumulating. . . . #DPE #DPEStrong #VetMed #EquineMed #EquineHealth #SandColic #ColicSurgery #Enterotomy #EquineAnesthesia

Y STOP NOW? . September is National Suicide Awareness month. One of our very own clients, Wyleee Mitchell, is taking a stand to raise money for this cause in hopes to make a difference. . From September 1-31, 2021, when you buy one of her t-shirts, $5 will be donated to the Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) Foundation. . If you would like to help support this cause, please click on the link below. Thank you all so much for your love and support. We appreciate you!💙💜

How do you properly say thank you to someone who has devoted 20 years of their life to your company? . Well, it’s nearly impossible to tell you how thankful we are for everything you’ve done for us over the years, but let us start by throwing you a surprise fiesta. . If you’ve been to our clinic, you know who Epi is. He makes sure your horse always has water and a clean stall to sleep in. He makes sure to clean up the parking lot after you pull away. He makes sure the treatment areas are presentable for the next patient when the doctors and techs are running from one appointment to the next. This is just a short list of the things he does for us. . We are so thankful to have you as a part of our team and we hope that we get to share many more years of memories with you. Thank you, Epi! . . . #DPEStrong #20YearAnniversary #ItsAFiesta

Thank you to everyone who has trusted us with the health of your best friends for all these years!❤️

⚠️⚠️Additional photos may be graphic to some viewers⚠️⚠️ . Pictured here is a horse that had an indolent corneal ulcer. This means that the ulcer has not healed, regardless of treatment. . This horse had previously been seen/treated by a veterinarian outside our clinic. Due to her vet being out of town, he instructed the owner to contact us. Once examined, we were able to work along side her vet to come up with a plan that the owner was comfortable with. . This horse had been struggling with this issue for quite some time with no little to no relief and minimal vision left. Ultimately, the owner’s biggest concern was her horse’s comfort, so she opted to have the eye removed. . The owner has kept in contact and is very satisfied with the results. She finally has her horse and his trust back. They have already began cantering circles in both directions as well as trotting over poles!

Have you ever heard of a spine transplant? Neither have we, so take care of the one you have.💕 . Pictured here, Dr. Julie Page working her magic on pickup horse, “Inmate”. These horses are athletes that are asked to perform at their best every day. They run at max speed and pull bulls twice their weight. Lucky for this sweet boy, his owner knows the important of maintenance and chiropractics. . . #DPE #EquineVet #EquineMed #VetMed #Chiropractics #Musculoskeletal

Let’s talk about “rocks”. . Enteroliths are mineral accumulations of magnesium-ammonium-phosphate around a foreign object. This can be a piece of metal, pebble, bailing twine, hair, etc. They’re formed in the large colon of horses where they can live and grow until they cause an obstruction, resulting in colic. Diet, breed predisposition, management and regional location can all play a role in the formation of these “rocks”. . Last week we removed the enteroliths pictured here from a miniature horse. She made a quick recovery and is now happily back home with her family. . Surgeon: Dr. Darla Moser Assisting Veterinarian: Dr. Leslie Schur Anesthetist(s): Bryce Morgan, LVT / DaniElle Russo, LVT Scrub Tech: Anna Wynn

DPE Veterinary Tech Team

This week we tip our hats to our veterinary technicians. They are our right hands, our veterinary nurses, anesthetists and our friends. THANK YOU For all you do!

Did you know we offer laparoscopic procedures? . . Here you see Dr. Wyatt Winchell performing a laparoscopic ovariectomy. . . Lucky for us, her owner kindly agreed to share her story. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ Early this year, she noticed that the mare was starting to have random moments of discomfort where she would freeze & seem to wrench over in pain as shown in the second photo. They began increasing in time & then she began to have frequent, mild colic episodes. Dr. Schur was the first one to see her case. Upon rectal exam she found that her left ovary had somehow flipped & got itself stuck underneath her uterus causing pain. Dr. Schur was able to get it back into place. This seemed to help for about a month until the colic episodes started again. She was brought into the clinic where Dr. Schur scanned her with the ultrasound and found that the ovary was abnormal and extremely painful on palpation. At this time, the owner opted to have the ovary taken out in the horse’s best interest. She is now back home and doing great. Another satisfied patient and client.✔️ . . . #DPE #StriveForSuccess #EquineMed #VetMed #Laparoscopy #Ovariectomy #StayInformed #BoardCertified #TeamWorkMakesTheDreamWork #DreamsDontWorkUnlessYouDo

Pictured here: Colic surgery performed by Dr. Moser & Dr. Clawson on a two year old stud colt. . . He was previously seen in early spring by Dr. Clawson who heard sand on exam. At this time, she put him on a one month psyllium purge. As most of us know, young horses will eat/chew on anything they can get to which is why sand colics are so common, especially here in the desert. . . On this day, he presented to us as a colic. Radiographs revealed large amounts of sand sitting in his ventral colon. After performing an enteromoty and dumping his colon, we weighed it out at 48lbs of sand removed. . . He is now back at home, enjoying his brand new stall, complete with mats & no sand. . . . #DPE #VetMed #EquineMed #ColicSurgery #Enterotomy #SandColic