Equine
Preventative Care
Preventative care is extremely important to the health of your horse. This includes:
Vaccinations: We recommend annual vaccinations of all horses that include tetanus, influenza, encephalitis, rhinopneumonitis, and west nile virus. Horses can also be vaccinated against rabies, which is carried by many wild animals including raccoons, foxes, and opossums. Pregnant mares should also be vaccinated against rhinopneumonitis at 5,7, and 9 months of pregnancy to help prevent abortions.
Deworming: Routine dewormings are one of the most important aspects of a preventative program for your horse. There are many different products that cover different parasites and differ in how often you administer them. Ask us about the best deworming schedule for your herd.
Dentistry: Regular floating of teeth is important in every horse as well. A horse’s teeth grow continuously throughout life and need to be filed down in order accommodate better chewing and digestion.
Coggins Test: Many horses require an annual coggins test if they are transported frequently for shows, trail rides, rodeos, etc. This is a blood test that examines for Equine Infectious Anemia.
Reproductive Care
At Quail Valley Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Martin Kautsch provides all services associated with transported semen and artificial insemination. He routinely collects stallions, evaluates semen, and packages samples to be sent to mares all around the country. He can also track a mare’s reproductive cycle via ultrasound to determine when a mare will need semen shipped for artificial insemination. This technique has allowed access to stallions that are several states away and also allows a stallion to breed more mares in a season.
Diagnostics
Blood Work We have in house blood work capabilities as well as regional labs that we utilize to help in diagnosing problems with your horse. We perform routine CBC and chemistries on sick patients in the clinic.
Radiology We have a mobile radiology unit that helps with diagnosing lameness and joint problems in the distal extremities.
Ultrasound This is used in reproductive medicine to scan a mare’s ovaries and uterus to track her cycle, monitor ovulation, and diagnose pregnancy. A mare can be pregnancy checked as early as 15 days with an ultrasound.
Surgery
Castrations This is the most common equine surgery performed. We perform both routine and cryptorchid castrations.
Caslicks This is a surgery performed on certain mares that have compositional abnormalities after breeding. It helps the mares to carry the pregnancy to term.
Lameness
A complete lameness examination can be performed if your horse is limping or just not performing as well as he/she usually does. This includes flexion tests, hoof testers, radiographs, etc.
Some problems can be helped by joint injections. Once a problem is diagnosed, different options can be explored. Some lameness problems require surgery to get full benefit, which is usually referred to the University of Missouri-Columbia.