Sapulpa Veterinary Hospital - Fall 2007 Newsletter

Sapulpa Veterinary Hospital is pleased to have Dr. Erica Wallace join the team. She came on board at the hospital in July. Dr. Wallace attended school at Louisiana State University. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in May of 2006. Erica grew up surrounded by many animals in Forrest City, Arkansas. She became interested in equine medicine and surgery in college and veterinary school while working in the Equine Health Studies Program lab.

She participated in several research projects involving horses, with her main focus being laminitis research. Dr. Wallace completed a 1-year equine medicine and surgery internship at Chaparral Animal Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona following graduation. Dr. Wallace’s main interests are surgery and lameness. Erica enjoys gardening, hiking, and riding her motorcycle. She currently resides in Glenpool with her dog, Dante, and her cat, Harry.

Tips for Preparing Your Open Mare for Breeding

For your open mare to start cycling earlier for the 2008 breeding season, your mare will need to be placed under

lights beginning December 1st. She will need 16 hours of light per day and 8 hours of darkness. Make

sure she’s in good physical condition, current on vaccinations & de-worming and that she has a current coggins.

Horse Tips

If you’re still showing your horse and want to keep his hair coat in show condition, make sure he receives 16 hours of light each day and 8 hours of darkness.

With the cooler weather around the corner, it is important that your horse drinks plenty of water. Add a handful of livestock salt to his daily feed ration.

If you’re unsure about how much you’re feeding your horse, bring your horse’s ration into the hospital and we’ll gladly weigh it for you.

Straight From the Horse’s Mouth...Horse Dentistry

Horses with dental problems may show obvious signs, such as pain or irritation, or they may show no noticeable signs at all. This is because some horses simply adapt to their discomfort. For this reason, periodic dental examinations are essential to your horse’s health.
It is important to catch dental problems early. If a horse starts behaving abnormally, dental problems should be considered as a potential cause. Waiting too long may increase the difficulty of remedying certain conditions or may even make remedy impossible. Look for the following indicators of dental problems to know when to seek veterinary attention for your horse:

1. Loss of feed from mouth while eating, difficulty with chewing, or excessive salivation.
2. Loss of body condition.
3. Large or undigested feed particles (long stems or whole grain) in manure.
4. Head tilting or tossing, bit chewing, tongue lolling, fighting the bit, or resisting bridling.
5. Poor performance, such as lugging on the bridle, failing to turn or stop, even bucking.
6. Foul odor from mouth or nostrils, or traces of blood from the mouth.
7. Nasal discharge or swelling of the face, jaw or mouth tissues.

Oral exams should be an essential part of an annual physical examination by a veterinarian. Every dental exam provides the opportunity to perform routine preventative dental maintenance. Mature horses should get a thorough dental exam at least once a year, and horses 2 to 5 years old should be examined twice yearly. Contact Sapulpa Vet to schedule your horse’s dental exam.

Now is the time to winterize your horse. If you’ve observed your horse with any of the these conditions, please call Sapulpa Vet to talk with one of the doctors.

At five years of age a horse has between 36 and 44 teeth. All horses have twelve premolars and twelve molars commonly known as cheek teeth or jaw teeth, and twelve incisors, or front teeth.
Generally all male horses have four canines. However, few female horses (less than 28%) have canines, and those that do usually have only one or two, which many times are only partially erupted.
Between zero to four wolf teeth, which are smaller or immature premolars and not canines as the name may suggest. About 13-32% of all horses also are born with wolf teeth, with most of those having only one or two. They are equally common in male and female horses and much more likely to be on the upper jaw.

If present these can cause problems in the bitting of the horse as they can interfere with the horse's bit contact, and may also make it difficult to rasp the second premolar.

Therefore, wolf teeth are commonly removed. Many wolf teeth erupt during the yearling year and are fully erupt by the two year old year.

A View of the Horse's Teeth
1- Mandible (lower Jaw)
2- Upper molars
3- Root of tooth
4- Maxilla (upper jaw)
5- Upper canines
6- Upper incisors
7- Lower incisors
8- Lower Canines
9- Lower Molars

Ten Tips To Help Care for the Older Horse

Proper nutrition, care and exercise will help your older horse thrive.

Because of advances in nutrition, management and health care, horses are living longer, more useful lives. It’s not uncommon to find horses and ponies living well into their 20s and 30s. While genetics play a role in determining life span, you too, can have an impact.
You may think that turning your old-timer out to pasture is the kindest form of retirement. But horses are individuals. Some enjoy being idle; others prefer to be a part of the action. Whatever you do, don’t ignore the horse. Proper nutrition, care and exercise will help the animal thrive. Follow these guidelines to develop a total management plan for your older horse:

Observe your horse on a regular basis. Watch for changes in body condition, behavior and attitude. Address problems, even seemingly minor ones, right away.
Feed a high quality diet. Avoid dusty and moldy feeds. We recommend feeding Purina Equine Senior and recommend feeding the amount according to the label.

Feed your older horse away from younger, more aggressive ones so it won’t have to compete for feed.

Feed at more frequent intervals so as not to upset the digestive system. Two-three times daily is best.
Provide plenty of fresh, clean, tepid water. Excessively cold water reduces consumption which can lead to colic and other problems.

Adjust and balance rations to maintain proper body conditions. A good rule of thumb is to be able to feel the ribs but not see them.

Provide adequate, appropriate exercise to maintain muscle tone, flexibility and mobility.

Groom your horse frequently to promote circulation and skin health.
Be aware that older horses are prone to tumors. Look for any unusual

unusual lumps or growths from head to tail as well as beneath the tail (especially on gray horses).

Schedule routine checkups including a dental exam with your equine veterinarian.

Call immediately if you suspect a problem.

A quick response to ailments, injuries or a decline in fitness can keep your older horse from having a serious or prolonged setback. That means less worry for you and a better quality of life for your old friend. For more information about caring for the older horse, ask us for the “Older Horse” brochure, provided by the American Association of Equine Practitioners in partnership with Educational Partners Bayer Animal Health and Purina Mills, Inc.

Reprinted with permission from the
American Association of Equine
Practitioners.

Equine Senior

Easy to Chew
Easy to Digest
Highly Palatable
Fine-Tuned Nutrient Package

Feeding Your Senior Horse

Equine Senior by Purina Mills has been a major contributor to the longer lives and overall health of today’s senior horses. Equine SeniorⓇ is uniquely formulated with processed high quality hay and wheatbran, so it can be fed either with or without additional roughage.
When feeding Equine SeniorⓇ it’s important to read the daily feeding chart located on the back of the feed sack.

Sometimes horse owners underfeed when using Equine Senior Feed. For example, a 1,000 lb. horse, who is doing no work (maintenance level) and not eating any additional roughage, would receive 13.1 lbs. of Equine SeniorⓇ daily. This amount could be divided into either two or three meals per day. Or, if this same horse was receiving roughage (hay) he could receive 1% of his body weight in hay (10 lbs. in hay) and reduce the

amount of Equine Senior Feed by 1 lb. for every 3 lbs. of hay consumed. The Equine Senior Feed would be reduced by 3.3 lbs. The daily ration would be 9.8 lbs. of Equine SeniorⓇ and 10 lbs. of quality hay.
See the feeding chart on the feed bag for additional guidelines based on the weight and lifestyle of your horse. Contact Sapulpa Vet for more information on caring for your senior horses.