Country Care Equine Veterinary Services, P.A.

07/12/2024

07/07/2024

Should you be concerned if your donkey stops eating?

While any animal not eating is a worry, donkeys can face serious health risks if they go off their feed for too long. Here's why: donkeys efficiently convert food to energy, making them prone to obesity and increased fat stores. If they stop eating for a while, their bodies break down stored fat quickly which creates high levels of triglycerides in the blood. When triglyceride concentrations within the blood get too high, they are deposited into the liver causing damage and in severe cases, even life-threatening liver failure. This condition is called hyperlipemia.

How you can help: Hyperlipemia can result secondary to primary illness (ex. colic), stressful situations, or an increase in the body's nutritional requirements. Maintaining donkeys at a healthy weight, performing appropriate metabolic testing and care, and ensuring immediate veterinary care when they stop eating can help prevent this condition from starting.

Thank you to the Horse Owner Education Committee for providing this information.

07/04/2024

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy Fourth of July!!! 🇺🇸🎇🎆

(Had to go deep into the archives for these 7•4•13)☺️

06/04/2024

Congrats Kristy!! ☝🏼down and ☝🏼to go!! 💖💖

05/21/2024

If you believe that horses need grain in their diet to meet their nutritional needs, you are not alone. However, horses should get most of their nutrients from a good quality forage source such as grass, hay, hay pellets, or a complete feed.

Horses generally eat between 1.5-2% of their body weight each day, so an average size 1,000 lbs horse should eat 15- 20 lbs of hay daily. To help fill any nutrient gaps such as essential vitamins or minerals, a ration balancer may be beneficial. Depending on breed, body condition, and exercise level, concentrates may be added in to provide additional energy but are often not needed.

When deciding on what to feed your horse, it is best to invest in high quality forages as the foundation of your feeding plan. You can even have your hay tested to see exactly what nutrients it is providing. Please consult with your veterinarian or an equine nutritionist about your horse's diet before making any major changes, and remember that any changes should be made gradually over time to avoid GI upset.
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

05/10/2024

Hold your horses! Here's what you need to know before turning your horses out to graze pastures.

🛑 Wait until plant heights average 6 to 8 inches.
☀️ Allow the ground time to dry and firm.
🌾 Slowly ease horses onto pastures in 15-minute daily increments.

⏰ Begin with 15 minutes of grazing on the first day, 30 minutes the second day, etc until you reach 5 hours. After that, unrestricted grazing can occur if adequate forage is available. A slow transition provides enough time for the horse’s microbes to adjust, which reduces the chance of laminitis and colic.

ℹ️ https://extension.umn.edu/horse-pastures-and-facilities/fall-and-spring-pasture-do-lists -your-pasture-for-grazing-in-spring-69710

04/30/2024

Awww, someone was happy to see me… ☺️

04/30/2024

Whiskey thought he would curl up while he waited for his friend to wake up from sedation. For only being 11 weeks old he was such a good boy! Fun having him around while I worked on the horses! 💕🐶

04/27/2024

🐴 🐶 Happy World Veterinary Day!! 🐶🐴

04/27/2024

Remember when your parents used to tell you to wait 30 minutes after eating before going for a swim? Unlike us, horses can actually benefit from eating forage before they exercise, as it may help reduce the risk of gastric ulcers.

While a variety of things can contribute to the development of stomach ulcers (medications, diet, stress, etc.), one train of thought is that these areas of irritation result as a consequence of the acid of the stomach splashing against unprotected parts of the stomach lining. When a horse eats forage, the hay can help absorb some of that acid and thus reduce the risk of ulcer formation.

It is important to note that a forage meal (one comprised of hay or grass) provides the most benefit, while eating large volumes of concentrate feeds (such as oats, corn, or other cereal grains) can actually increase the amount of acid within the stomach.

As always, please be sure to consult with your vet regarding further diagnostics and treatments if you have concerns that your horse may have gastric ulcers.
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

04/27/2024

Hitting the road with your horse, either for pleasure or for business/competition?

Most horse owners know that a negative Coggins test is a must-have for crossing state lines or entering competitions (or even boarding at someone's barn). But let’s not forget that even homebodies need it!

A "Coggins" is a blood test that checks for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), a serious blood-borne disease. EIA is transmitted by biting flies, particularly horseflies, so your horse is at risk even it never leaves the property or lives in a closed herd.

The clinical signs of the disease can vary dramatically, from an acute infection to an inapparent form that presents mild to no symptoms. No treatment or vaccine exist for EIA at the moment, and infected horses become lifelong carriers. Therefore, to ensure that large outbreaks of the disease don’t take place, horses that test positive for EIA must be quarantined and isolated for the rest of their life or humanely euthanized.

Get your horse tested annually, regardless of travel plans. To learn more about EIA, consult your veterinarian or visit our website at https://aaep.org/horsehealth/equine-infectious-anemia

04/27/2024

Hot weather puts horses at risk not only for dehydration and heat stress but, just like humans, the skin damage and discomfort that accompany a sunburn. Horse prone to sunburn are also at a higher risk for a cancer called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) which is associated with UV light exposure.

If your horse has reduced pigmentation (pink eyelids or pink tissue) around the eye, be sure to use a fly mask with greater than 90% UV light protection. Many of these masks are not sold at your local tack store but can be purchased online (examples include Equine Sun Visor, Kensington Uviator, Equivizor, Nag). If a mask advertises UV light protection but does not specify the amount, contact the company that makes the mask to get a definitive answer.
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

04/25/2024

Talk about flashy…. These two sure have the chrome going on!! They are even cuter in person!! 🩵🩷 You would never know by looking at them that they were both overdue!

04/25/2024

Say hello to “Taxmandoo”! Very appropriately named since he was born on tax day.. 😂
This little man is just full of personality!! 💕
He even smiled for his picture 📷

04/25/2024

I love it when a plan comes together!! Kula obviously read the textbook section on AI and followed it step by step. 😊
Her last foal was absolutely gorgeous! Can’t wait to see what this one will look like!!

04/21/2024

Never turn your back on a goat! They always have a way of finding the higher ground! 🐐 🐐🐐😂

04/17/2024

He definitely knew where the milk bar was! Up and drinking before he was even dry!! 😂

*volume up… this little guy has it figured out 🥛

04/17/2024

This handsome little man greeted the world early this morning!! He’s just so refined and picture perfect!! 🥰🐴 Congrats Kallie, Laura, Syd and family!!

04/16/2024

I was happy to meet this beautiful little girl very early this morning to help her find her mom’s milk bar.🥛Once she gotta taste and was able to latch on there was no stopping her. I will say for only being a few hours old she definitely had a spicy little attitude bucking and kicking. Her family may have their hands full!! Congrats to Erica, Austin, and family!! 🥰💕

04/14/2024

One horse in Columbia County and one horse in Clark County, Wisconsin, were confirmed positive for EHV and euthanized.

04/14/2024

: Unlike humans, horses don’t have collarbones. Their shoulders are held to the rest of their skeleton via a sling of muscles and ligaments instead, often referred to as the “thoracic sling.”

Why is this important? We often ask our equine athletes to perform complex movements that require tremendous strength and coordination, and horses carry the majority of their weight in their front end. Therefore, it is imperative that the bulk of the muscles that support the front end are kept healthy and conditioned, and the horse is trained to use their “motor” — that is, engaging the large hind end muscles as much as possible to avoid excessive weight bearing on the front end.

If the front end of the horse is consistently overweighted or not at an appropriate level of fitness, repetitive biomechanical stresses get transferred down the leg to the smaller ligaments and tendons that were not designed to bear this weight, which can then lead to injury.
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Brough to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

04/03/2024

🌼🌼🌼SPRING has SPRUNG🌸🌸🌸 ..which means it's time for your horse's annual health care. These vaccines listed below are just the “core” vaccines which every horse should receive. Other vaccinations to consider depending on what you use your horse for, would be the EHV, Influenza, Strangles, and Potomac Horse Fever vaccinations. If you have any questions on which vaccines are best for your horse just let us know and we are more that happy to set up a personalized vaccine program for your horse. Leave a FB message, give us a call (320)679-8245, or drop us an email [email protected]

03/31/2024

Wishing everyone a blessed and happy Easter!!

03/23/2024

Happy sunny Saturday!!!! 😎☀️