CK Equine Veterinary Services

07/23/2024

🥵Boy, Oh Boy is it hot out there.🥵☀
Learn the signs below for Heat Exhaustion in your horse. 🐴
Heat exhaustion, also known as heat stress, can affect horses in hot weather.
Signs include:
🤒Temperature: A re**al temperature of 103–107°F (39.5–41.5°C) or an increased body temperature of 102–106°F
😓Dehydration: Loss of skin elasticity, tacky gums, sunken eyes, and reduced urine output
😰Sweating: Excessive sweating or less sweat than expected
😤Breathing: Rapid breathing and flared nostrils
💓Heart rate: Increased heart rate at rest or rapid heart and pulse rates that don't recover after exercise
😟Behavior: Lethargy, exhaustion, or altered behavior that can range from dull or listless to panicky or manic
😵‍💫Other: Muscle weakness, stumbling, hot skin, and reduced feed intake

07/04/2024

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸

Land of the free, because of the brave.



❤️🤍💙

12/28/2023

🚨ALERT!! Palm Beach and Broward County 🚨

🔎 🌾 Please check your hay for a toxic w**d called Hoary Alyssum as there is concern with Timothy/alfalfa hay in the area.

📋 Signs your horse may be affected:
-Fever greater than 103F
-Lethargy
-Stocked up/swollen limbs
-Increased digital pulses
-Warm hooves
-Reluctance to move
-Laminitis
-Colic/Gastrointestinal signs

If you think your horse may have ingested remove hay immediately.

📞 Please call Dr. Kasa with any questions or concerns you may have!

12/12/2023

🎉 🥳 We would like to wish our own Cassandra Jean a very happy birthday! Unfortunately many of you don’t get to meet her out on the road, however she is busy behind the scenes helping to keep CK Equine Veterinary Services running smoothly!

For those of you that don’t know, Cassie is married to her husband Noah and share their son Logan and daughter Willow that keep her on her toes! She is an experienced small animal technician and has cross trained over to equine seamlessly!

Happy birthday Cassie!
🎁🎊🎈

09/28/2023

⚠️ Great information! If you have any trouble locating these landmarks, Dr. Kasa would be happy to guide you on your next visit! 👩🏼‍🏫

09/16/2023

Unfortunate reality of equine veterinarians!

Equine vets have been leaving the field at staggering rates, and the horse industry is advocating for a more sustainable version of the job.

08/28/2023

‼️ Employment opportunity-veterinary technician!

🐴🩺CK Equine Veterinary Services is looking for a highly motivated technician to join the team. Practice focuses on sports medicine, although provides care from the backyard horse to high level competitors.

Requirements:
✅ Safe and excellent horse handling skills
✅ Self motivated, strong work ethic and attention to detail
✅ Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
✅ Technician experience preferred but not required, willing to train the right individual
✅ Willing to learn
✅ Full time/part time

Please contact Dr. Kasa by phone or email.
📞 561-389-2261
📧 [email protected]

08/25/2023

It’s difficult for us horse doctors to admit we aren’t superhuman. We’re hardwired to be there for you and your horse whenever you need us. But we’re finally in the midst of an overdue reality check as a profession and admitting that our desire to be available 24/7 isn’t compatible with our own personal health and happiness.

The most significant pain point for many of us is caring for our clients during regular business hours and then being on call for emergencies after hours. If we are a single-doctor or small practice, this traditionally has been the case most nights of the week.

The good news is that the AAEP along with private veterinary practices and veterinary schools are focused on developing new models for emergency care which ease the strain on individual practitioners. This includes the growth of emergency cooperatives where two or more practices in a geographic area work together to share after-hours care, as well as more emergency-only practices and the use of tele-triage services to address client concerns after normal business hours.

As equine veterinarians reevaluate what after-hours care looks like for their practices, we know that the support of our clients is critical to creating a balance that works for both of us. If your horse doctor talks with you about changes in how after-hours care is delivered, we hope you’ll welcome the adjustments, knowing that this evolution of emergency care must take place in order for equine veterinarians to avoid burnout and continue to be available to treat all of our patients. We appreciate our partnership with you, and your horse does too!

05/29/2023

Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it. Let’s honor those soldiers and remember their sacrifice.

Wishing everyone a Happy Memorial Day Weekend. 🇺🇸🐴

03/17/2023

Repost from
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Meet Stablelab — a handheld diagnostic tool your veterinarian can use to measure Serum Amyloid A (SAA), an indication of infection, in minutes — before your horse shows signs of illness. Learn more about how Stablelab can enhance your next equine exam via the link in our bio.

03/17/2023

02/05/2023

Equine Assisted Therapies of So.FL, James Burrell and Dr Kasa have all worked together for many years keeping the horses in top notch for their therapy patients! Equine veterinary medicine medicine is a team approach that includes the client, farrier and veterinarian. 🐴🧲👩‍⚕️🩻

12/24/2022

🎄🎅🏼Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! ☃️

🚨Dr Kasa will be out of the office until Wednesday. if you have an emergency please contact Palm Beach Equine Clinic or Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital.

12/20/2022

Delicious home made Christmas treat for your equine friend! 🎅🏼🎄🐴🍪

10/18/2022

🌟Great opportunity to learn about equine sports medicine in📍Wellington, FL! 🌴☀️

🐴🩺 CK Equine Veterinary Services is looking for a highly motivated working student that is interested in becoming a veterinary assistant/technician or potentially a veterinarian! This position would be full time (or part time if desired) working as an assistant to our veterinarian and technician in an ambulatory setting. No previous equine medicine experience is necessary, however safe horse handling skills is required. Candidates should have an interest in sport horses, but most importantly be a team player, take initiative, attention to detail, communicate effectively and be willing to learn. ‼️

✅Schedule: Monday to Friday, occasional weekends.
✅Hours: Typically 8:30-5:30, however flexibility is a must as overtime may be necessary during season.

Please contact Dr Kasa via email or phone:
📧 [email protected]
📞 561-389-2261

03/10/2022

-Exciting opportunity to join an ambulatory equine practice that focuses on sports medicine as a technician.
-The position is Monday-Friday with occasional Saturday mornings. (Full or part time)
-Applicant must have flexible start and end times.

Job Requirements:
• Previous technician experience preferred, although not required; willing to train the right individual

• Skills include the ability to handle horses confidently, lounge, jog, set up equipment such as radiology and ultrasound, draw up medications and entering patient history and records.

• Punctual, hard-working, and professional

• Communication and teamwork are essential

• Must be able to lift up to 50lbs consistently

• Ability to work independently without constant supervision

• Detailed orientated

Please send all resumes and job inquiries to: [email protected]

01/29/2022

We are always 💯% committed to helping you and your horse.

Following is some important food for thought courtesy of AAEP member Dr. Matt Witzel:

"I’m writing this because it needs to be said for the betterment of the profession that I love, AND the well-being and health of your horses. I apologize for the length of this and feel free to skip to the last 3 paragraphs if you’re in a time crunch.

As horse owners, how hard has it been for you to find a vet that is available all the time for your animals? Did you know right now there is a huge demand for more equine vets? In my graduating class from vet school there’s only about 5 of us (out of close to 100) that are still working on horses. That number is down significantly compared to how many of us were dedicated equine oriented vet students.

The fact is, there is a general exodus of younger veterinarians from equine practice that switch to small animal medicine because it pays better and lacks after hours emergencies. Equine practices as a general population, however, provide emergency services 24/7 for their clients because large animal emergency-specific hospitals are extremely rare. I shouldn’t have to say this but emergencies are never fun. We don’t wake up in the morning hoping for a horse to colic, or some kid’s first horse to break a leg. We don’t enjoy leaving our kids right before tucking them into bed to go see a bad laceration. It’s not fun to rearrange our 8 hour day into a 12 hour day so that we can fit in a choke that’s an hour and a half drive out of our way. It’s all awful. But we do it because it needs to be done.

The difference between the pay in the vet industry is based on the fact that you bring your dog or cat to their vet who will work on them while working on 2 or more others at the same time. Small animal vets are therefore able to see many more patients in a day. Equine vets on the other hand will most of the time be working on a single patient at a time, focusing 90% of their attention (phone calls happen during exams, it’s a thing…) on YOUR HORSE. Sometimes there’s significant travel time between appointments. It’s possible to spend 6 hours of a 12 hour work day in the truck and only see 4-5 cases in that time. Why???? Because we’re dedicated to your horses’ wellbeing and some people don’t have a trailer. Or some people don’t feel comfortable hauling a trailer on icy winter roads in MT. I get that and I don’t blame those people. It’s just something that needs to be accepted so we can move on.

With the growth in horse ownership that we’ve seen recently and the increasing demand for vet work with a simultaneous lack of available young equine vets that are willing to put up with the conditions listed above, I’ve come to the obvious conclusion that something needs to change.

Here’s my request to you:
Please appreciate your local vet. Please be loyal to him or her. Please don’t think of your vet as someone to call only when your horse is about to die because you didn’t want to pay for an emergency fee last night when treatment would have mattered. Please ask to discuss costs up front if that’s an issue for you rather than stating you’d do anything and everything necessary for your horse then turn around and complain about the bill. On that note, please compare medical costs of your animals to medical costs for yourself BEFORE insurance kindly tells you what your copay is. Please let your vet be involved with your horses’ wellness before it becomes a problem. Please consult your vet with horse health questions instead of an internet based forum.

And last but not least… please consider using your local vet for things like dentals, vaccines, and lamenesses rather than someone traveling from out of town. Income from these routine services enable service expansion and improved care. That includes things like mobile digital X-ray, endoscopy, or ultrasound equipment so that we can accurately diagnose and successfully treat your sick animal.

I want you to think long and hard about taking away the enjoyable work and needed income from us and giving that to someone who you don’t have a relationship with, who might be practicing those procedures ILLEGALLY (dentistry for instance can only legally be performed in Montana by a veterinarian or under the direct visual supervision of a licensed veterinarian; “equine dentists” who do not fall under these categories are not properly trained to handle dental diseases and have been known to cause more harm than good), who won’t be available when your horse has a joint injection reaction, who won’t get out of bed to come to your place and help get your hypothermic geriatric horse off the ground before it freezes to death.

All of us as veterinarians put a lot into the relationships that we build with our clients and it’s because of those relationships that we dedicate ourselves to becoming better at what we do and trying harder to keep your horses healthy. So when we find out that you use a traveling vet or a non-veterinarian dentist for your horses dental work because it’s $20 or $30 dollars cheaper, you’ve just put a price on what our commitment is worth to you."

01/11/2022

‼️Trivia Tuesday‼️Can you name this diagnostic procedure? What disease process is it used for in assessment and determining prognosis? 👩🏼‍🏫📊The lucky winner will receive a CK Equine hat! 🧢🐴

01/06/2022

Hats are in! Please let us know if you’d like one to represent CK Equine! Stay tuned for ways to win one as well!

11/25/2021

Wishing all of our clients and patients a Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁🍽🦃

11/04/2021

💉🍁 Do you know the recommended fall vaccines for your horses here in Florida? Living in Florida and enjoying a much milder winter comes with different vaccination recommendations. Unfortunately it does not get cold enough to get rid of pesky mosquitoes 🦟 that can carry fatal diseases to your horse. If you plan to compete your horse may be at risk for respiratory viruses and require vaccination for influenza and Herpesvirus (EHV). Please contact Dr. Kasa to consult on protecting your horse this fall! 💉🍁🦟

HAS YOUR HORSE RECEIVED HIS FALL SHOTS YET? 🍂🍁

As a horse owner, the good thing about the colder season is knowing you won't have to deal with as many insect-related issues as during the spring and summer months. The cold weather, however, brings different challenges to your horse’s health such as respiratory viruses — which is why fall vaccines/boosters usually include inoculations against influenza and the respiratory form of herpesvirus (rhinopneumonitis).

If your horse has yet to receive their fall vaccinations this year, contact your veterinarian today and work with them to determine the optimal vaccine protocol for your animal. Based on their situation, your horse may need additional specific risk-based vaccinations and your horse doctor will be able to provide accurate information on what products to use and why.

If you are interested in learning more about horse immunization, the AAEP's Vaccination Guidelines are available on our website at https://aaep.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines

10/25/2021

Great information!

TO BLANKET OR NOT TO BLANKET?

As temperatures are cooling, many horse owners may be wondering when it's time to start blanketing their horses, or if blanketing should be done at all. The short answer to this age-old debate is, "it depends."

While it is true that horses are naturally designed to keep warm without a blanket, the decision to blanket or not should be based on your horse's unique needs — which are determined by age and overall health, condition, shelter situation, tolerance to cold, and activity schedule (e.g., if you horse has a sleek "show coat,” has trouble keeping weight on or is an older animal, it will probably benefit from having a blanket on its back).

The catch is, once one starts blanketing, blankets must continue throughout the season. And while they are useful, blankets should be applied responsibly:
• During seasonal transitions, like from summer to fall, several blanket changes may be needed on the same day in response to day/night temperature changes.

• Always replace or remove a soaked blanket immediately — wet blankets will keep in the wetness, creating an even colder horse. This could potentially create a skin fungus problem, or even worse could cause hypothermia-induced colic. (The reverse is also true: don't put a blanket on a wet horse.)

• Finally, don’t just blanket a horse and forget about it. There can be changes happening under the blanket, like weight loss/gain, skin fungus or bacterial infections, blanket rubs, etc. Be sure to remove the blanket at least once a week for a good grooming and to check for any problems.

Consult your horse doctor today about what is best for your horse when it comes to blanketing. While there are apps out there that can help you understand what blankets to use and when, nothing can replace your veterinarian's expertise!

10/17/2021