ADVICEFROMTHE VET


PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE, SO LET’S DO MORE OF IT!


By TomRighton BVSc, MRCVS K 18


eeping your horse happy and healthystarts with preventativehealthcare, which is whymaintaining your horse’s


preventivehealthcareisanintegral part of our work. As the old saying goes, prevention is betterthan cure.


VACCINATION We strongly recommend to vaccinateyour


horse’sfor Equine Influenzaand Tetanus, and after the 2019 Flu outbreak, we continue to recommend having a6-month boostervaccine. Equine influenzahasn’tgone away;itis


debilitating and canhavesevereimplications for horses, notably young foals, elderly animals or those with pre-existing respiratory disorders. Vets areoften told by clientstheydon’t vaccinatetheir old horse because theydon’t


travel anywhere. However,equine influenza is an airborne virus and canspreadquickly and easily through ayard. Under favourable weather conditions, it canspreadupto5km! It can be transmitted by directhorse-to-horse contact and also via people,tack, feed andequipment. Whilstvaccinating isn’ta100% effective, it does


help create herdimmunity, and in turn helps stop the disease from spreading. If avaccinated horse doesdevelop symptoms theyare significantly milder than in an unvaccinated horse,and generally haveamuch quicker recovery period.


CLINICAL SIGNS OF INFLUENZA INCLUDE:


• The sudden onset of adry,harsh cough which cancontinue fortwo to three weeks and potentially persists forlonger


• Araised temperaturewhich lasts around 7-10days


• Anasal discharge that is initially clear but becomesthick andpurulent


• Loss of appetite • Lethargy


Youshould contactyour vetimmediately if youhaveany concerns.


DENTAL CHECKS In the wild, due to an entirely forage diet, the


horse’schewing action would generally wear their teeth evenly to prevent sharp edgesforming over time.However, it is nownormal forustostable our horsesand feed them concentrates,thisinturn means their regular chewing activityisreduced, which canresult in sharp edgesforming, causing discomfort. Equally,expecting our horsestowork


NOVEMBER/DECEMBER2020


Forthe latest newsvisitwww.centralhorsenews.co.uk


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