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Current Topics
 Equine Dentistry  Nuclear Scintigraphy
Pigeon Fever PreventiCare Program
Thoroughbred Auctions Treatment for Sports Injuries Vaccines
Oklahoma has unpredictable weather.
This in turn leads to increased chances of a colicky horse. There are a few things to remember to help prevent colic in your horse:
· The best preventative is for your horse to consume large amounts of water, and when the
weather is cold, your horse will consume a greater volume of water when the water temperature is above 40°. To maintain this temperature in your tank install a tank heater.
· To help prevent an impaction colic, pay attention to your horse's manure, if it starts to
look like rabbit pellets this is a sign of a possible pending impaction.
· If you have a lot of sand on your property be
aware of your horse digging for grass roots. They may be consuming more sand than anything else and this could lend to a sand colic. Supplementing the
horse's diet with a sweet psyllium product may be of help.
Feel free to give us a call at (405) 348-3130 if you have questions or concerns with your horse's health needs.
 Equine Vaccinations
Vaccination programs are customized to the individual horse and farm situation.
The risk of a particular disease in a horse population or the geographic location dictates which type of vaccine is to be used and at what interval the vaccine is administered.
No vaccine is 100% effective or protects for an equal duration.  Equine Medical
Associates Inc. have used Fort Dodge vaccines as our primary vaccine supplier for the last few years. Their vaccines have the most relevant strains and with their new
adjuvant a lower incidence of local reaction.
Contact the EMA staff so we can customize a vaccination program suitable for
your horses needs. Ask about our vaccination fact sheet the next time you visit EMA
Click here to go to our Vaccine Schedule page.
Pigeon Fever
Pigeon Fever is a commonly diagnosed bacterial infection in horses caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. The disease is most commonly
associated with large, deep abscesses in the pectoral region resulting in a pigeon-like appearance to the chest, however abscesses can occur anywhere on the body.
Other clinical signs may include lameness, lethargy, fever and anorexia (off feed).
Pigeon fever is most commonly diagnosed in young horses (less than 5 years),
but may occur in any age, sex or breed of horse. The disease is generally seasonal with most cases occurring in late fall and early winter, however sporadic cases may
occur all year long. An abscess may form very rapidly (less than 24 hours) and can occur weeks to months following infection. It is suspected that horses become
infected through wounds in the skin or mucous membranes. Biting insects including stable flies, houseflies and horn flies are thought to transmit the disease.
Treatment of pigeon fever abscesses generally entails allowing the abscess to
mature, establishing drainage, flushing with an antibacterial solution such as dilute betadine, and disposing of the infective material to prevent further contamination of
the environment. Antibiotic therapy is not necessary for most horses and if the abscess is not open, may prolong the disease.
Initiate an aggressive fly control program. 1. Reduce fly breeding areas by
disposing or properly composting bedding and manure. 2. Reduce the adult fly population with a fly spray system or the use of fly baits and traps. EMA carries the v ery effective Quick Bate® by Bayer for the control of adult flies. 3. One can control
the larval stage of the fly with the environmentally beneficial predator wasp. Contact the office staff at EMA for information and a brochure.
4. The safe and effective feed through growth inhibitor Serene® is used to control the development of fly larvae in the horse's manure
External abscesses, as described above, are the most common forms of the
disease, however there are two other less common forms: internal abscess and a limb infection called ulcerative lymphangitis. Long term antibiotic therapy (1-6
months) is required for treatment of these two forms of the disease.
For the last eighteen years Dr. Steve Hance has been involved in the evaluation of
thoroughbred yearlings at public auctions. Most of the auctions have been in Kentucky, New York, and Maryland. Over the past three years, however he has also
been involved in the thoroughbred auctions in Australia and New Zealand.
The sales companies in Australia and New Zealand have gone to a repository
system in which sellers of the horses have radiographs taken and placed into a library for evaluation. Buyers will then employ a veterinarian to evaluate the
radiographs for potential problems. Because not all radiographic changes are problems, Dr. Hance has been contracted to be present in the repository to offer a
second opinion upon request of the veterinarians examining the radiographs.
The goal is not to find the perfect horse but rather perform a risk assessment for the
changes that may be present on the radiographs. Many of these horses are eventually sold and exported to Hong Kong where the horse will be scrutinized for a
second time before deportation. The idea is to minimize the risk for this second scrutinization.
The most recent event was just south of Auckland for the New Zealand Bloodstock
sales company. The sale was a huge success with a record in gross sales. Many of the horses being sold have similar breeding to thoroughbred horses in the U.S. in
that there is a fair number of stallions which are sent to New Zealand and Australia to stand for the southern hemisphere breeding season (August to December).
One reason for the strong sale is the potential prospect of pari-mutuel gambling in
China. If this proposition passes in China there will be an even larger need for exportation of both southern and northern hemisphere breed horses. Although he
enjoys doing this work is his glad to be back home in Oklahoma.
PreventiCare Progam
Colic surgery is always a concern for horse owners.  Unfortunately the service expensive, but Pfizer has come up with a solution to this problem with the Colic Assistance Plan (CAP) as part of
the PreventiCare program.
Most horse owners already ensure the health of their horse with regular  veterinarian check ups and vaccinations. The PreventiCare
program requires a horse owner to comply with six fundamental services throughout the year which are listed below.
This is not considered insurance, or a guarantee that your horse will never
experience colic, but it is very likely that enrolling your horse in this program will have a positive effect on his health.
In the event that your horse does have colic surgery, the cost of the surgery and
aftercare will be covered up to $5,000 by the PreventiCare program.
For more information on how you can sign your horse up for this program please
call the office today! (405) 348-3130
Fundamental services:
an annual physical exam annual dental exam and treatment appropriate immunizations daily use of Strongid®C or Strongid®C 2X™ (purchased through your enrolling veterinarian) twice yearly treatment with Equell™ or Equimax™
Nuclear Scintigraphy
A new technique in equine diagnostics is the bone scan. This technology, used in
human medicine since the early 1960's, has become available for equine medicine. EMA is the only private practice in Oklahoma that has Nuclear Scintigraphy.
This type of scan is very helpful to veterinarians and horse owners in further
diagnosing problems with your horse beyond what an ultrasound or x-ray can see. It is especially helpful in diagnosing obscure lameness by being able to show the
veterinarian where he should start looking for the problem. Nuclear medicine is a more sensitive indicator of physiological changes in the body, and unlike ultrasound,
nuclear medicine can provide functional information about the soft tissues and bones of the affected area or limb.
A bone scan can specifically help in the following:
Detection of occult fractures prior to radiographic changes Differentiation of bone versus soft tissue inflammation Identification of changes in blood flow and osseous physiology without accompanying radiographic change
Identification of acute muscle damage and the ability to sort out multiple
radiographic findings as to which ones are physiologically active
How it works
In simple terms a radioactive chemical is injected into your horse and the chemical
finds its way to areas in your horse's body that have increased physiological activity which would be caused by any type of injury or lesion where you horse's body is
trying to heal itself. It takes about 3-5 hours for the chemical to go throughout the horse and attach to these areas. Once it has attached to the areas where healing is
occurring, then a gamma camera is used to pick up the radioactive waves that are transmitted and an image is sent to a computer that gives us a picture of the area.
You may be wondering how this works and how this scan can better direct your
veterinarian to what is happening with your horse. Scintigraphy involves the injection of a radioneuclide bonded to a particular localizing agent (radiopharmacutical).
Depending on the radiopharmacutical involved, the tracer localizes on a particular region of the body based on the physiology or function of the cells comprising that
area. The radioneuclide then undergoes radioactive decay with emission of gamma rays that can be imaged using a sodium iodide crystal, photomultiplier tubes and
appropriate electronics (the gamma camera).
Equine Dentistry
The care of the horse's teeth can be one the most neglected area of herd health care
. Many are good at deworming, vaccinating, and taking care of the feet. However, unless the horse is eating abnormally or objecting to bit pressure, many don't think
about the horse's teeth. In reality, regular dental exams and care reveal a lot of problems that the horse is good at covering up. If performed early and at regular
intervals, proper dental care can extend the horse's useful working life an average of 5-7 years and significantly extend his total lifespan as well.
Besides routine floating to remove sharp cingula on the teeth that abrade the cheeks
and tongue, a dental exam can reveal other problems such as:
Incisor malocclusions, all variations diagonals, "smiles" missing teeth, and
impacted deciduous teeth can often indicate head trauma, or major body asymmetry and can make a horse "mouthy" while biting. Overbites, under-bites, and parrot mouths have major effects on balance,
weight distribution, training, and muscular development. Hooks front and rear can be career ending, even life ending if allowed to contact the opposite arcade.
Diagonal mismatches in rear teeth are indications of asymmetry elsewhere in the body or skull. Overgrowth of opposing teeth (wave mouth) can affect individual tooth health and balance. Obscure broken teeth can cause low grade infection with serious system
consequences, as well as performance and training problems. Biting, training, and riding problems can be identified and addressed by sophisticated dental practitioners.
Brook Mayberry, DVM, Ph.D.
Treatment for Sports Injuries and Injury Prevention
Physiology*
What happens when your horse sustains a musculoskeletal injury?  When your horse
suffers a musculoskeletal injury or undergoes surgery, the healthy cells of the involved ligaments, muscles, tendons, bone, blood vessels, nerves,
or other soft tissues sustain "primary traumatic damage." Your horse's initial reaction to an acute injury is inflammation. The accompanying pain results from actual damage to the
nerves as well as pressure on healthy nerves exerted by the hematoma (local blood accumulation). Therefore, the first step to recovery is to reduce inflammation in the affected region.
Faster healing can be hindered by a double-whammy.
After the primary traumatic damage, your horse's job of resolving the hematoma and rebuilding tissue can be complicated by
"secondary hypoxic injury" when decreased and impaired blood flow chokes healthy tissues surrounding the injury site of oxygen. As more cells are damaged and die, more
fluids can be drawn out of your blood vessels, leading to additional swelling and a cycle that can slow your recovery.
After injury, blood flow to the area slows. Because of this, healthy tissue becomes starved for oxygen and dies
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Click here to view Dr. Mayberry's video on Game Ready Equine.
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in a process called secondary hypoxic injury. Using RICE can minimize this process.
Active compression and cold therapy to the rescue.
When administered properly, RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) can reduce the total amount of
cell destruction, tissue damage, swelling (edema), muscle spasm, and pain—thus reducing the potential severity of the injury and enabling quicker recovery
* Article from www.GameReadyEquine.com
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