Education
Client Education
Client Education is scheduled for March 13, 2012 from 6:30-8:30pm. This event is sponsored by Purina and Merial and will cover the following topics:
- What makes your horse's stomach burn
- Clearing the Confusion: Treating your horse for ulcers
- Special feeds for special needs
Food and snacks will be provided and we look forward to seeing you there. Please see the flyer below for more details.
Brachytherapy
We are now offering radiation therapy on tumors and melanomas at the clinic. To review past treatments click on the link below provided by Dr. Bradley. Please call the office to set up an appointment.
Purina Feed Additives
Feed Additives handout provided by Purina. Click here for a PDF of the handout.
Purina "Post-Colic Feeding Management: A practical reference guide" Article
Post colic feeding management article provided by Purina. Click here for a PDF of the article.
Radiographs for Pre-Purchase Exams
The necessity of radiographs(x-rays) during a pre-purchase exam varies depending on the expectations and workload of each individual horse and what the purchaser wants to review about the horse. It could involve anywhere from 0 to over 30 different radiograph views. The veterinarian and purchaser determine what the best approach is for radiographs in a pre-purchase exam. This is dependent on the horse's background, its current health & condition, the value of the horse, and the money that each party wants to spend on the exam. Radiographs may also be deemed necessary as a result of flexion tests and hoof tests.
Using radiographs is a key to a comprehensive pre-purchase examination. Taking radiographs such as the oblique angles allow your veterinarian to see more surfaces of the bone and make better decisions regarding the future soundness of your horse.
At New England Equine, Dr. Bradley and Dr. Cook each have their own preferences for x-ray images. Here is a list of the recommended images each may choose to include at the requests of the purchaser:
So what does all this mean? Well, to the vet it makes perfect sense- but here's an explanation for the layman who just thinks we are singing the alphabet.
First, it helps to know the basics of the terms so you can see where they fit in with all the letters.
(D) Dorsal is from the head/front. Like Cranial (towards the head) and Anterior (A).
(P) Palmar/Plantar is the back. Like Caudal (towards the tail) and Posterior (P). Palmar is the back of the front leg,
and Plantar is the back of the back leg.
Bilateral is both sides.
(L) Lateral is towards the outside.
(M) Medial is towards the inside.
(O) Oblique is anything that is not straight on. (45 degree and 65 degree views)
As you can see, the terms are represented by their first letter. They string together to form these seemingly confusing x-ray views! For equines, when looking at radiographs afterwards, if they were not labeled you can label them by looking at the placement of the bones. For the carpus, you would be looking specifically at the accessory carpal bone's placement. For the Tarsus, which is the hock, a big indicator is the Calcaneus bone (the big bone at the back of the hock that sticks out).
DP stands for Dorsal Palmar/Plantar. That's the same as an AP (Anterior/Posterior). That means the x-ray beam is shot from the dorsal part of the body, and comes out the palmar/plantar part. So it would be taking the image from front to back, straight on.
LM means a Lateral Medial shot. Therefore the beam goes from the Lateral (outside) to the Medial (inside). That also means that the ML would be the opposite: the beam would go from the inside of the leg to the outside. This is a straight on shot.
Any image that is not taken straight on is considered an oblique. The obliques can be taken from any angle (example: 45 degrees or 65 degrees). If you are standing on the right side of the horse facing its right hind leg and you shot the beam through the leg in that direction coming out on the inside of the right hind leg at an oblique angle, then that would be a Dorsal Plantar Lateral Medial Oblique or DPLMO.
That's basically the naming of radiographs, and it takes a lot of practice. You start from where you are shooting the x-ray beam into and then name that location, then you name the location where the beam is coming out, and then mention whether it is oblique or straight on.
You can see in the following image a comparison the right hind tarsus (hock) of the horse. The angle that the camera took the photo would be the same angle that the generator for the x-ray would be shooting the beam from.
Client Education
Below are three informational documents from Dr. Shannon Graham, Jamie Brockett, and another that has been provided by Purina.
Comparison of Equine Cushing's and Equine Metabolic Syndrome , Dr. Shannon Graham, DVM, DABVP (Equine Practice)
Nutritional Management of Equine Medical Conditions, Kelly R. Vineyard, M.S., PhD, Equine Nutritionist.
Carb Chart provided by Jamie Brockett. Click here for a larger view.
Vaccinations and Deworming
Please click on the following links to access some of our specific vaccination and deworming protocols for foals and broodmares.
- Vaccination Recommendations for Broodmares-Previously Vaccinated Horses
- Foal Vaccination Recommendations-for Vaccinated Mares
- Foal Worming Protocol
Vaccination and deworming protocol for show and performance horses can be found here page.
Patterson Veterinary MRI: Fracture Imaging
The ability to visualize a fracture in three dimensions prior to repair is obviously an enormous advantage particularly in the multi-fragmented distal limb fractures commonly seen in the horse. Pre-surgical planning prior to internal fixation is more commonly accomplished utilizing CT images, but we have recently been evaluating the use of short MRI T1 weighted sequences to accomplish the same thing. We have been able to attain excellent three dimensional studies in less than four minutes of imaging time. It takes a little more than 10 minutes to transport the horse to and from the MRI room and position him. Since we no longer take the time to take pre-operative radiographs we potentially add only about ten more minutes to the anesthetic time. More accurate preoperative planning should translate into shorter surgical procedures and hopefully fewer post-op problems. Finally, since the MRI table doubles as the surgery table, there is often no need to reposition the horse for surgery following the completion of the MRI.
Check back soon for more articles and useful information!