Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

02/05/2025

What’s Up Wednesday

What’s wrong with this picture?

Tell us in the comments and come back tomorrow for the answer

02/04/2025

Transformation Tuesday!!

This horse came to see us in July after a bad accident and was sutured up by Dr. Speziok.
We saw her today for a routine appointment and could barely tell which nostril it was!

01/30/2025

Answer Thursday! You need to know: Lilies Are Extremely Toxic to Cats

Lilies are a popular choice for floral arrangements, but for cats, they can be extremely dangerous. Every part of the plant—leaves, petals, stems, pollen, and even the water in the vase—contains toxins that can cause severe kidney damage.

What Happens if a Cat is Exposed?
🌸Early signs include drooling, vomiting, and loss of appetite within a few hours
🌸Over the next 12-24 hours, the kidneys begin to shut down, leading to increased thirst, dehydration, and lethargy.
🌸Without treatment, lily toxicity can be fatal within a few days.

What Should You Do?
☢️If you think your cat has been exposed to lilies, seek veterinary care immediately. Early treatment, including IV fluids, can help protect kidney function.
☢️Even small amounts of exposure can be dangerous, so it’s best to avoid lilies entirely in homes with cats.

Looking for pet-safe flowers? Roses, orchids, snapdragons, and sunflowers are great alternatives.

Spreading awareness about lily toxicity can help prevent emergencies and keep cats safe!

01/29/2025

What’s up Wednesday?

Valentine’s Day is approaching. What do you absolutely *need* to know about buying flowers this year?

Leave your guesses and come back tomorrow for the answer

01/23/2025

Answer Thursday! Orthobiologics are a very fancy term which means we are using something we take from the horse to help us with an orthopedic issue. A few examples are: stem cells, PRP, IRAP, ProStride, Alpha2Macroglobulin (A*M), Strydaflex, Renovo, and the list goes on! The big advantage to all of these products is that they set up a healing environment in the injected location. This can be a joint, or a tendon, or ligament lesion. We are learning about even more uses for these products including EIPH (bleeders), and asthma. Steroids are used in many of the same locations. Steroids do a great job of reducing inflammation quickly, but they don't help the area heal. Many times we combine the two to get the best answer for the affected area. Orthobiologics have really helped us help horses have longer, happier careers, and in the end that's why we do what we do!!

01/22/2025

What's Up Wednesday! We try hard to use orthobiologics when we are injecting joints, or tendon/ligament lesions. What are orthobiologics and why are they magical?
Be sure to check back tomorrow for the answer!

01/16/2025

Answer Thursday. These circles are dilated small intestine on an ultrasound. The far and away Number One reason we find this is because a new roll of coastal hay was put out in the last 24 hours. This causes what's known as an ileal impaction. These occur where the small intestine joins the cecum. Luckily, they are generally fairly easy to resolve. You can prevent them by slowing increasing your horse's coastal hay ration over 7-10 days, adding 5-8 pounds of alfalfa hay daily, and being sure you never run out of hay if you're using rolls.

01/15/2025

What's Up This Wednesday? Check back tomorrow to find out! What's going on in this image? Bonus points for the most common cause in the Southeast United States.

01/10/2025

We love the cute faces our patients make when they’re on feel good meds! 🥰

This gorgeous kitty has been pre-medicated to make him extra relaxed for his catheter placement. After this picture, he was anesthetized to have a dental examination and cleaning performed by Dr. Speziok, including full mouth dental x-rays!

Yes, cats need dental work too! Not sure if your kitty is one of them? Call 352-472-1620 to schedule a visit so we can evaluate them!

01/09/2025

Answer Thursday! Those of you answered sinus cyst were correct. This scar is secondary to a sinus flap surgery. The bone is opened, like a doorway, to get to things like cysts, tumor, or a fun thing called an ethmoid hematoma (swipe for a picture of this fun one 🤮). The MRI image is of a sinus cyst. The grey on the left is the abnormal part. The sinus should look like the left side of the picture. We used to extensively use sinus flaps to help extract teeth, but this is largely done from inside the mouth now. Just like this adorable guy, most horses recover well from the surgery and go back to happy, healthy lives.

01/08/2025

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for another thrilling edition of What's Up Wednesday! What caused the rectangular scar on this horse's head and what are some reasons for the cause of the scar? Check back tomorrow for the answer!

01/07/2025

This week, Whinny is talking Prehab, which is a great way to prevent injury in your horse! You may have listened to the recent podcast episode on this topic, which is a deep dive into the weeds on prehab and fitness. Click here to read the article, and for a link to that podcast episode if you haven't heard it yet!

Whinny's Wisdoms - Prehab is properly conditioning your horse for their job and preventing injury. Click here to learn more!

01/02/2025

We loved hearing all about your 2024! Pugsley’s biggest accomplishment of last year was being born! He’s looking forward to causing the maximum amount of chaos this year.

What are your pets’ New Year’s resolutions?

01/01/2025

Happy New Year! We are so grateful for all of your support over the last year, and getting to help so many critters! In early 2024, we completed our clinic expansion to include our small animal clinic! We thought we’d look back at how many appointments for each species we got to do, and we can’t wait for these numbers to go up this year when we get to help even more animals!

Now, for what’s up Wednesday, we want you to tell us about your 2024! Did you add new animals to your life? What kinds of milestones did you hit in your riding? Let’s celebrate the year that just passed as we prepare for the year to come! #2025

12/29/2024

Excellent tips from

If you own horses long enough, sooner or later you are likely to be confronted with a medical emergency—even during the holidays. Are you prepared to act?

Having a clear emergency action plan will help you stay focused and effective if a crisis strikes. Below are some basic guidelines that can help you prepare for an equine emergency:

1. Know how to reach your regular veterinarian after hours. Ask about a back-up or referring veterinarian in case your regular horse doctor is not available for emergencies.

2. Have a plan for transporting the horse if necessary and know in advance the most direct route to an equine surgery center.

3. Prepare a first aid kit and store it in a clean, dry, readily accessible place. Keep a first aid kit in your horse trailer or towing vehicle as well and be sure to check your supplies periodically and restock as needed. First-aid kits can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like; seek your horse doctor's advice on what to add, especially regarding any drugs that could be included and how they should be administered.

12/26/2024

Answer Thursday! We loved reading all your answers, but we know that the very best gift you can give your animals is the gift of health and wellness!

It’s not too late to sneak another gift under the tree, give us a call today at 352-472-1620 to schedule your pet’s wellness visit for next year! We’re looking most especially at you, cat owners! Cats need the doctor at least once a year just like dogs and horses, but most cats in the US aren’t taken to the vet every year.

The good news is, we can come to you! Call to set up your house call appointment for all of your animals! We hope you had a fabulous holiday!

12/25/2024

What’s Up Wednesday? Why, it’s Christmas of course! And the beginning of Hanukkah this year!

We know what we think your pets’ favorite gift will be this year, but we’d love to hear in the comments what you think!

From all of us at Springhill Equine and Companion Animal Clinic, we hope you have a very happy holiday!!

12/23/2024

Someone feels like their horse friend has been hitting the Christmas cookies a little hard. Shortcut helped us get a weight estimation using our weight tape. Swipe to see his reaction to the number 😅