Thursday, June 11, 2009

Equine Wellness Program Visit & More.........


Well, there's good news & bad news............Things that need a little adjustment. Part of the Equine wellness program that I pay $300 per horse for the year, includes besides all their spring & fall shots, a teeth float with sedation and a full exam.


We've decided that Kola more than likely has Equine Metabolic Syndrome- A pre-Cushings condition. We did this without the blood tests: A-Partially because she had not fasted for a glucose level. B-Because of her breed (gaited) she is predisposed to it and the location of her fat pads (cresty neck, around the shoulders, tail area) & she is 15 this year (right age). C-Both the Vet & I agreed that hitting her with a high dose of steroids to follow cortisol levels is a ridiculous test and risks a laminetic episode. However, the rest of her exam was great. A thorough check of her eyes and so forth. So both mares will go on a special low starch feed made by Purina. I will probably pick that up this afternoon & Kola will start getting more exercise. I may ask for the script for Thyo-L to help her burn some of this fat faster & possibly a supplement for this. All & all, I feel like I can manage this. The food is about $8 more a bag , but they don't get much anyway.

Misty did her get teeth floated this time and also proved to very healthy and in spite of never getting her teeth floated since I have had her, about 7yrs, her teeth needed very little and are in good alignment. She had old areas in her eyes where she might have had an old infections, but not since she has lived here. And the Vet said that this is not a future problem. Misty is in serious heat and did not cooperate with a rectal temp, but other than that, the Doc & two assistants were amazed at how well behaved these girls were for their exams and Misty's teeth float. Misty is a light weight, just needed a little bit of sedation. So all & all am pleased with their exams and not at all surprised by the Equine Metabolic Syndrome with Kola. I'll manage it.


Then as was about ready to leave for work, scrubs donned and everything ready for my mandatory overtime, they called and cancelled me. Yay! It only took me seconds to pop back into my jeans and sweatshirt. See? I'm happy! That means I'm done with my mandatory until they decide to reinstate it again. WooHoo!


I've decided that Mina looks like she's wearing Micky or Minnie Mouse ears........LOL

Spot always tries to hide his face when I want to take a pic, but I surprised him with this. Smile big for the camera!


And he such a baby. He leaned himself into Stephen and cuddled last night.

13 comments:

Victoria Cummings said...

So sorry to hear about Kola's possible EMS. In the lessons I've learned from Siete's weight gain, I highly recommend Thyro-L. It's magical - takes about a month or two, and she's back to being a svelte horse. I gave her two scoops in a TBSP of vanilla yogurt as her dessert every night. And the low starch grain was too much for Siete, so she only gets grass hay and Triple Crown 12% supplement - it's in pellets, so she thinks she's eating grain. Good luck - I think that you can get her back into shape before the summer's over. Once she's lost the weight, then you can determine whether she really has EMS. Remember how they thought Siete was IR, but she wasn't? How lucky to have that equine wellness program for such a reasonable price!

Callie said...

Victoria, I'm curious as to how it was too much for Siete. She couldn't tolerate it? Ithink I might get that tyro-l then, it was highly recomended.

Carol said...

I am sorry to hear about Kola. The good news is that the vet caught it and hopefully things can be managed from there.

I noticed the Bristol Vet Service link on you blog. Do you use them? They have some great vets there. Dr. Kevin Nelson used to take care of my horse before I moved farther north. I was living in Kenosha when I adopted Grif. I also did my Vet Tech internship with them as well and they were all great in helping me to learn.

I love the picture of you not having to go to work. That really made me laugh because that's exactly how I feel when I get a day off (which isn't too often) ha-ha!!!

Oh -- and Spot is absolutely adorable! I can tell he's not a photogenic type - LOL (neither am I). I think I've fallen in love with him just from that picture!

Callie said...

Carol, actually I use the Elkhorn Vet, where Nelson came from. I actually didn't like him, found him to be somewhat arrogant, oh well. Anyway, I think that's an ad from adsense. My farrier gets along with Nelson great, however, he was harsh out here once, if it's the same Vet I'm thinking about anyway. Maybe I'm confused. Discussing feed possibilities now.

Callie said...

Actually Carol, It's not the same one and I don't think he was here, but I thought he did a stent at Elkhorn. I'm probably confused, LOL!

C-ingspots said...

Sounds like an excellent exam and results for the horses. Glad they're both healthy. And, congratulations on the "free" day. Those are always the best!! Enjoy!!

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

Oh no. I wish you didn't have to be presented with horse health problems. You never seem to be off duty. At least you got the nice gift of some free time when they canceled. I would love it if my boss would call me and tell me I wasn't needed for the day. Unfortunately, right now I am needed to do the jobs of three different people: Myself, a coworker on paternity leave, and a coworker who quit / got fired. I'll be training a new employee next week.

Andrea said...

Glad you caught that with kola. Hopfully catching it early will help! Sounds like you have a great feed plan for her.

Grey Horse Matters said...

I'm sure you'll be able to manage and get her back on track. The dogs are adorable and she does look like she's wearing mickey mouse ears. Very cute bunch.

Twisted Oaks Quarter Horses said...

Callie,

I'm pretty sure Dr Nelson was not with Elkhorn at anytime. He was my vet when I lived in Union Grove. He had a fight with cancer and slowed down a little and I ended up with the other vets at Bristol. He was by far the best vet in the office, in the area as far as I'm concerned. He was really good with my goats too.

cdncowgirl said...

That health & wellness program sounds like a great idea and quite the bargain. Wish there was something like it here.

Midlife Mom said...

My pony Kipper age 10 has Cushings and has had it for 4 or 5 years. He does really well on Pergolide. I have his levels checked every year. Also use the lower carb grain but he only gets a handful anyway so it probabloy doesn't matter what he gets. I used the Thyro-L on Buddy and it really helped control his weight not sure why the vet doesn't have me use it on Kip, must ask him. Glad you got an unexpected day off, you deserve it!!! Your dogs are a riot!

Victoria Cummings said...

Callie - Siete could tolerate the low starch grain, but she was still gaining weight from it. That's why we took her off of grain altogether. There's a special edition of thehorse.com that came out today that's an in-depth study about IR and EMS. I can't figure out how to forward it to you, but if you go to their website and sign up (it's free), you can read it. There's good info in it.