Lifelong care for animals providing clinical excellence, knowledge and experience.
NEWS HOLIDAY LIVERY
Are you worrying about what to do with your horse when you go on holiday? For complete peace of mind, why not leave your horse with us at Townhead Farm, Newbiggin? We have experienced equine vets and nurses onsite and specialist equine facilities, so horses can be in full health or in need of extra care. We also have 20 acres of individual paddocks. We offer several packages from full turn out (seasonal) to full time stabling and can adapt to specific needs. For more details or a brochure, speak to one of our equine team. The brochure is also on our website.
See page 3 for details of : *Worm egg counts; *Castration promotion; *Equine Breeding Client Evening.
SPRING TALK Colic and Grass Sickness - two equine conditions guaranteed to worry any horse owner. Both were discussed in full at our recent client evening at Newbiggin. Our main speaker for the evening was Debbie Archer from the University of Liverpool, who is an expert on colic. She outlined many of the causes and described treatment, including surgery. Debbie also amazed the audience by showing them what looked like a bowling ball. It had been removed from a horse in California during colic surgery. The Liverpool University website is a fantastic source of information on colic and many other equine matters. http://www.liv.ac.uk/equinecolic Paragon Equine Vet Paul May gave an update on grass sickness; including details of the current vaccination trial and recent findings of the disease. (See overleaf for more on this.)
March 2013
Contact us: CALDEW VETERINARY HOSPITAL Carlisle House, Townhead Road, Dalston, Carlisle CA5 7JF Tel: 01228 710208 vets@paragonvet.com TOWNHEAD VETERINARY CENTRE Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, CA11 0HT Tel: 01768 483789 townhead@paragonvet.com LONDON ROAD SURGERY 87 London Road Carlisle CA1 2LG Tel: 01228 591005
Raffle proceeds have been donated to the BEVA trust. Vetoquinol, our sponsors for the evening, held a separate raffle, with a tub of Equistro UC II for the lucky winner.
PARAGON VETERINARY GROUP Visit us at: www.paragonvet.com and please ‘like’ our FACEBOOK page www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Equine
24 hour emergency service
Grass sickness by
Paul May
The cause
Despite over 100 years of investigation, the cause of grass sickness has not been established. The current theory is that there may be involvement of the soil associated bacterium, Clostridium botulinum (type c).
Managing the risk factors of this disease:
If you have had cases on your land it is safe to assume that the bacteria are present in your soil, and so will be present in the intestines of your horses, ponies and donkeys. It is assumed that the bacteria in the gut are kept in check by the immune system of the horse. If anything should reduce the strength of the immune system, the bacteria can multiply and possibly cause disease. Some of these stress factors are under your control, so it makes sense to minimise the impact of these at high risk times. When the days are sunny and the nights cold, the risk is greater which is why April is such a dangerous time.
Managing the disease is aimed at:
Minimising further exposure to the agent. * Keep off land where cases have occurred * Do not apply nitrogen to the grazing * Minimise soil disturbance * Keep poultry away from the grazing fields Minimising stress in the animals. * Growth – 80% of cases are in 2-7 year olds * Cases peak in spring and autumn * Weather changes * Change of social companions * Change of grazing * Change of routine * Medication (including worming)
Vaccine trial
The first stage of a vaccine trial has been completed. 95 horses and ponies were given three doses each to test the safety of the vaccine and the proposed system of vaccination. The second phase is the full vaccine field trial. If you are interested in taking part in the trial, please email: info@grasssickness.org.uk and you will be sent an owners pack once the trial reaches the recruiting stage.
CASTRATION PROMOTION During March we are offering a
20% discount
on all equine castrates done at our equine premises Townhead Farm. For further information and an estimate of costs please give us a call.
Equine Breeding Client Evening On Friday 15th March we will be holding an informal discussion evening about equine breeding at Newbiggin Village Hall to start at 7pm. Our equine vets will give short presentations on different aspects of breeding, then there will be a chance for you to ask questions and to share your experiences. All are welcome and the evening is free to attend. Refreshments will be provided. It would be great if you could let us know if you plan to attend so we know how many to cater for.
NURSE CLINIC WORM EGG COUNTS by Lucy Shaw RVN *Worms can cause many problems in horses including colic, diarrhoea, weight loss and even death. *There is increasing evidence of resistance developing to wormers, so we must use wormers correctly. *Regular worm egg counts will prevent unnecessary worming as well as enabling you to keep track of your horse’s worm burden. *During March and April we are holding a worm egg count promotion.
Worm egg counts will be:
£9.00 (including VAT) *A free dose of Eqvalan wormer will be given to all horses with a positive worm egg count. *All you need to do is drop in faecal samples to the Newbiggin Practice or the Dalston Practice. *Or you can post them directly to the Newbiggin Practice where the worm egg counts take place. *If posting them, make sure they are clearly labelled with the horse’s name, age, client surname and a telephone number. Our Equine Vets/Nurses will look at the samples under the microscope and give you a phone call with the results and further worming advice.
PARAGON VETERINARY GROUP Visit us at: www.paragonvet.com and please ‘like’ our FACEBOOK page www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Equine