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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 4, 2014 21:13:25 GMT -5
There is Saturday and Sunday between you and Monday Cyndi. Punch/Drill those holes! :-) Hope you have a chance to enjoy the weekend.
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Post by vsolubo on Apr 5, 2014 10:17:51 GMT -5
Swelling is going down, talked to the vet over the phone & she said to give it another week or 2, cold hose when possible (just too cold yesterday). I always do my shots during April because it takes a couple of weeks for the horse to develop the antibodies in their blood to help keep them healthy. Plus, Bear can't have all at the same time so by the time I string them out it is May. Need to set up an appointment for the vet to come out for teeth/sheath cleaning & WNV at that time. Next year, I'll do the WNV & let the vet do the 4 way. I didn't think this year, but he normally gives Bear a shot to help prevent any reaction to the multiple shot. I only do the rabies in the fall with a 2nd set of WNV.
Speaking of rabies; they had a case in NC that shows why you shouldn't take in stray dogs or pet animals you don't know. There was a litter of puppies dumped, a lady took them in, gave away all but 1; hers started acting weird & after several days of testing the vet asked for permission to put the dog down & test for rabies. Turned out positive & now her entire family is having to have the series of shots & everyone that adopted 1 of the puppies had to turn them in to be tested & are having to go through the shots. This is a very, extremely expensive shot & her bill (just for the 1st set) was $156,000. Another families shots was over $50,000. It isn't clear if the lady who gave away the puppies will be held responsible for all 18 of her neighbors & their families just yet. Those that have insurance will probably have some relief, but it wont' pay the majority of her bill.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 5, 2014 13:35:16 GMT -5
Vsolubo, you mentioned a shot given by a vet prior to giving a combination vaccine. Any idea what it is? I'm about to use a combo shot for: Eastern, Western, Venezuelan EE. Also it has tetanus and West Nile. I have a separate combo for Influenze and Equine Herpes EHV1 and EHV4. I'm attaching a vaccination chart that I use from Dr. Foster veterinary supplies that seems quite good. vaccination-chart.pdf (38.14 KB) Do you keep epinephrine on hand in case a horse goes into anaphylactic shock?
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 5, 2014 20:08:33 GMT -5
I've always been told immunizations are good for the whole year. So if you give your 2013 shot in April it's good till you give your 2014 shot in April. If you give it in May then your horse is covered till you give it again the following May. As I have been told after the 12 month period it starts wearing off the longer you wait. Which is why you should give the shots the same month every year. The reason we give it in the spring is because this is when the horse's body is less stressed.
V that's awful. There is a lady here who stopped and dumped a litter of puppies on a road in town. A man took pics and they were able to find her and arrest her. Anyone who would do that to puppies should be held responsible. Too bad they can't put pics of the puppies in the papers and a reward for info and see if anyone knows the original owner/person who dumped them and hold THEM responsible.
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Post by vsolubo on Apr 6, 2014 9:23:36 GMT -5
Kirk, the vet told me but I forgot what it was. I don't keep epinephrine on hand, not sure I could get a prescription for it for horses. I'll ask when the vet comes out to give the last shot.
GR; the shot causes the horse to make antibodies, the shot is at it's premium 2 weeks after the shot & starts to loose efficiency almost immediately. It's loss is slow, but that is why they get vaccinated every year, because by the 12 month they have almost no antibodies. In places where these diseases are common, deep south & S. America they routinely give the shots every 6 months to keep the horse healthy. I do WNV every 6 months because that is the only common illness here, the others are more common to horses that are exposed to competitive horses that may have been exposed to them. Also, since all these diseases are spread by mosquitoes they need to be done in the spring before the mosquitoes become widespread. By the fall mosquitoes become less common & are not often seen outdoors during winter. I've never seen or heard of a horse around here that got Eastern, Western, Venezuelan EE; but have known several horses to get sick & die from WNV. I friend lost 3 of her horses to it early after it moved in.
The vet told me last year that several of his clients had stopped vaccinating for WNV because it wasn't around here anymore & he was telling people not to stop because it was here, horses were just not getting sick because of the vaccinations. He said he had not seen it in years in his practice, but because of people not vaccinating their horses for a couple of years, he saw several cases last year. He said that was happening all over; people stop vaccinating & horses getting sick again.
Need to go down to the barn today, but waiting for it to get warmer. Missed yesterday, had a garage sale & sold quite a bit of stuff! Need to put more on my FB Moving Sale photo album. It will be nice to have more room & less stuff to keep clean!
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 6, 2014 12:00:22 GMT -5
Sounds like a big difference between places like MO and the south and places like the dry desert/prairie the boys came from. I would assume a shot would be the same everywhere but there are a WHOLE lot of bugs here we don't have in WY. Even spiders and flying things which we don't have in WY. The vets in WY we used to use for the dogs told us that heartworm is not prevalent and not to worry about putting the boxers on it. We never did and they never got anything but here I wouldn't take D off it for anything.
Glad your garage sale went over well. I don't think it's going to warm much it was nice but the wind was cold when it picked up.
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Post by cyndi on Apr 6, 2014 14:31:25 GMT -5
There are vaccines and tests done around here that my vet says are totally useless (can't remember which ones, but they're popular with show horses/competitions). And there are others that he said should be given/tested, but aren't. The one Fanny gets is the basic 'backyard' horse vaccine. He only vaccinates her for something that will kill her if she's not vaccinated.
Some vaccines can stay in a horse's system and build up, causing them trouble (vaccinosis). Last year, we found out that Fanny had too much tetanus vaccine in her, and it was making her ill. I held off with vaccines and she is doing great.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 6, 2014 19:36:30 GMT -5
Vsolubo, sounds like you're talking about immunoglobulin (sometimes called gamma globulin). They administer much the same thing to people when they may have been exposed to Hepatitis A food poisoning. It provides instant immunity that is short-lived but gives protection while your own antibodies are being produced.
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 6, 2014 22:40:22 GMT -5
what are the symptoms of too much tetnus?
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Post by cyndi on Apr 7, 2014 8:24:38 GMT -5
GR, she looked like she had laminitis (much the same symptoms - walked stiffly, especially on hard surfaces, but moved much better on soft ground), but the pain wasn't in her feet, it was in her shoulders/muscles. She was 'dull' and had no energy. She just didn't seem right. Now, if you ask a vet, they'll probably foo-foo this, because I had 'alternative' natural testing done on her. So a person can believe me, or not, but once we got her on track, she improved and she's a totally different horse than she was a year ago.
I put her on some suggested supplements, namely a probiotic to help her gut (to help flush the toxins out), and a couple of homeopathic remedies and she slowly improved. She had that problem with the cement floors at that one barn we were at, but once she was moved to my friend's place, it was like night and day. She was frisky and energetic and a new horse.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 7, 2014 21:17:24 GMT -5
Tetanus is a toxin produced by bacteria (closely related to botulism) that can only grow with no air present (like fermenting) in soil and manure. Small punctures can introduce the bacteria which can multiply and make tetanus toxin. Tetanus toxin can cause muscle spasms/ lockjaw/ respiratory problems. I recommend reading up on it online. If your horse does have tetanus, there is an antitoxin (not the same thing as a vaccine) that provides temporary protection for about 2 weeks and helps treat the toxin poisoning. Much better to avoid the problem with vaccination.
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 7, 2014 23:24:16 GMT -5
I always thought it was from the rust on a rusty nail or piece of metal. Interesting, thanks guys you're all so full of info.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 8, 2014 11:06:48 GMT -5
GR you are absolutely right too! It's just the bacteria introduced by the rusty nail or wire gets smothered under the skin forming an air-free pocket where the bacteria grows and makes it's nasty toxin.
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Post by cyndi on Apr 8, 2014 16:13:44 GMT -5
Kirk, in Fanny's case, she didn't have a tetanus infection, but had a vaccine build-up. The vaccine just didn't 'wear off' in her like it does with other horses. Same goes with some people. I don't understand it, but that's what happens.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 9, 2014 14:55:34 GMT -5
Sounds like the horse may have a hyper-sensitivity reaction to the shots? It's like getting a bit worse every time you're exposed.
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