Midwest Veterinary Service

12/26/2024

Hope everyone had a merry and safe Christmas! Our emergency kit winner is Braelyn Leese! I’ll be in touch to arrange getting the kit to you over the next couple days.

12/19/2024

Holiday giveaway! Win this equine first aid kit and be prepared for various emergencies. Like and share this post to be entered. Winner will be drawn 12/26/24 and announced in a separate post!

(Prescription items such as banamine paste etc will be required by law to be removed if winner is not a client with valid VCPR)

11/27/2024

As the weather cools down, allowing yourself an ample amount of time to cool out your horse after a cold ride is essential to ensure that you don’t jeopardize your horses' health by allowing them to catch a chill.

Our friends at Equus Magazine have some useful tips to share for cooling out your horses this winter. You can read the full article on their website at https://equusmagazine.com/riding/coolingout-10486/

11/26/2024

Water remains as important for your horse in cold weather as it is in the summer. As a matter of fact, decreased water consumption in the winter is thought to be the primary inducing factor for impaction colic — although there are other predisposing factors such as poor hay quality, lack of exercise, internal parasites and dental problems.

Impaction colic is essentially constipation and most often includes the accumulation of hard, dry f***l material in the colon. The usual signs of impending impaction colic are depression, a decreased appetite, and decreased production and dryness of manure.

Studies demonstrate that you can increase your horse's winter water consumption if you provide access to heated water, but ONLY if that is the only source of water available. As always, if you have any questions about preventing colic in your horse, your equine veterinarian remains your best source of information!

11/25/2024

Another cold weather tip to help prevent issues like colic: water temperature!

11/21/2024

EPM is widely considered the most important infectious neurologic disease of horses in North America and is caused by protozoal infection of the central nervous system. Horses are infected by consuming food or water contaminated with opossum s**t containing sporocysts.

Horses with EPM do not present a biosecurity risk to other animals because the disease is not transmissible between horses. An effective vaccine has yet to be developed, so the best preventative approach includes eliminating access of opossums to feed and water in order to minimize contact with opossum s**t and improving your horse's immune defenses by decreasing stress and optimizing health.

To learn more about EPM, visit the following resources:
https://aaep.org/resource/equine-protozoal-myeloencephalitis-epm/
&
https://www.equinediseasecc.org/EPM

As always, consult your veterinarian for more information and for advice tailored to your horse's specific circumstances.

10/30/2024

As silly as it sounds, the "carrot test" can be used to help diagnose tooth aches in our equine companions.

Equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EORTH) is a dental condition that affects the incisors of middle-aged horses and older. As the name suggests, it acts by both resorbing the teeth and then producing large amounts of cementum (a hard substance that anchors the teeth into place).

Clinical signs such as difficulty chewing, teeth discoloration and painful gums are highly suspicious for this disease, but you can also offer your horse a carrot to assess how comfortable they are biting down. If it seems painful for them while biting the carrot, they could have EORTH!

Your veterinarian can do an oral examination and take dental radiographs to confirm the diagnosis. This is a progressive disease so there is no cure, but there are management strategies that can improve their comfort.

If you are concerned that your horse may have EORTH or is experiencing oral pain, contact your veterinarian so that they may further evaluate and suggest treatment options.

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

10/28/2024

09/12/2024

With cold weather on the way, here are a few tips to help horses and ponies with insulin dysregulation or a history of laminitis:

Sunny days with cold frosty nights cause sugars to accumulate in the grass. People often think that laminitic horses shouldn't graze frosty grass until the sun has melted the frost, but that's not exactly correct - they shouldn't graze the grass until there has been a return to night time temperatures above 5'C and/or overcast weather.
During sunny weather grass makes and stores sugars (photosynthesis), at night when grass is able to grow these sugars are used up (respiration), but when environmental conditions such as low temperatures (below around 6'C), lack of rainfall or poor fertility prevent growth, sugar levels can continue to accumulate in the grass, making it unsuitable for horses and ponies with insulin dysregulation and increasing the risk of laminitis.

Other reasons horses may show signs of laminitis/foot discomfort in cold weather may include:
- damage in the feet from previous or uncorrected rotation making feet more sensitive to hard frozen ground,
- hay soaking is not as effective at colder water temperatures,
- horses tend to get less exercise/turnout in cold/frosty/snowy weather.

What you can do:
- prevent or limit access to grass during and after sunny frosty weather until the weather changes to milder nights and overcast days, and feed analysed forage (hay, haylage, perhaps some straw or non-molassed chaff) with combined sugar and starch levels below 10% (on a dry matter basis and analysed by wet chemistry) instead. It is not the frost itself that is the risk, it is the weather conditions that cause the frost, so do not allow horses to graze once the frost has melted with the sun - wait until the grass has been able to respire and use up some of its sugar.
- keep feet warm and protected - use leg wraps/bandages, pads and boots on feet, warm deep bedding. Thick wool hiking socks can be great for keeping pony feet and legs warm.
- ensure feet are correctly aligned if there is a history of laminitis, or if hooves have divergent (wider at the heels than at the toes) hoof rings, by having x-rays taken and realigning trimming carried out if there is rotation or thin soles.
- continue to exercise horses with no signs of foot discomfort or laminitis if safe to do so in cold weather - exercise increases insulin sensitivity. If you cannot exercise, consider whether you need to reduce the energy content of your horse's diet - aim to feed no less than 1.5% of the horse's bodyweight (on a dry matter basis) of forage and high fibre feeds, and look for lower energy (DE) feeds rather than reducing intake below 1.5% if weight loss is needed.

For more information and support, join Friends of The Laminitis Site (a £12 annual donation is payable to support our work): http://www.thelaminitissite.org/join-friends-of-tls.html

The Laminitis Site is run by volunteers and relies solely on donations to be able to help, rescue and rehabilitate horses and ponies with laminitis. Thank you so much if you are able to support our work - please see ways to help us here: https://www.thelaminitissite.org/help.html

08/21/2024

Today is What Should You Do Wednesday? You arrive at the barn to a very lame horse. You pick up the foot and see this. What should you do? Check back tomorrow for the answer!

08/07/2024

Eastern Equine Encephalitis also known as the sleeping sickness, is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It is transmitted by mosquitoes.

08/01/2024

On Aug. 8, join AAEP member veterinarians Dr. Elizabeth Gorrell and Dr. Chelsea Folmar for a one-hour webinar discussing the essentials of disaster preparation. Whether it's tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, or wildfires, learn to plan with confidence and ensure you and your animals are ready for any emergency.

Attendance is FREE but registration is required; attendees are also encouraged to submit their questions in advance through the registration form. A recording of the webinar will be available if you miss the live event.

To register and submit your questions, visit [https://aaep-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OjyrhJK7RrOsV5LFljMxxg](https://aaep-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OjyrhJK7RrOsV5LFljMxxg)

This informative session is brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee.