modernequinevetmarch13

Cool it down a notchStress fractures: heavy load to repair

Equine VetThe Modern

Vol 2 Issue 3 2013www.modernequinevet.com

Improve the oddsof a live healthy foal

2 Issue 3/2013 | ModernEquineVet.com

Table of ConTenTS

REPRODUCTION

From racehorse to broodmare .......................................................... 6Many problems face the old girl

ORTHOPEDICS

Stress fractures — a heavy load to repair .................................... 9The body can have trouble remodeling the site of a stress fracture

Cool it down a notch ...........................................................................10Icing lower limb just as effective for acute laminitis as icing the entire leg

BEHaVIOR

Too dependent on people? ................................................................................................12Some horses have difficulty solving problems on their own

If only horses wore mood rings ........................................................................................14Mood, emotion and temperament can enhance performance

TECHNICIaN UPDaTE

alphabet soup: Just what do those initials mean? ...................................................15The letters after a technician's name are a recognition of that person's hard work and education.

TO CONTaCT US, EMaIl MaRIE ROSENTHal

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The content in this digital issue is for general informational purposes only. PercyBo Publishing Media makes no representations or warranties of any kind about the completeness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or suitability of any of the information, including content or advertisements, contained in any of its digital content and expressly disclaims liability of any errors or omissions that may be presented within its content. PercyBo Publishing Media reserves the right to alter or correct any content without any obligations. Furthermore, PercyBo disclaims any and all liability for any direct, indirect, or other damages arising from the use or misuse of the information presented in its digital content. The views expressed in its digital content are those of sources and authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of PercyBo. The content is for veterinary professionals. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Increasing the oddsPregnant mares face many problems that put the fetus at risk.

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Pregnant mares face many problems that put the fetus at risk.


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RepRoduCTion

The goal of any pregnancy is the birth of a live, healthy foal while preserving the health of the mare. Although veterinarians have made significant progress in this goal, many mares still experience pathology that jeopardizes this out-come. They need careful monitor-ing throughout their pregnancy.

“Not too many large farms can closely monitor every mare, so you need to identify pos-sible problems,” said Kristina Lu, VMD, DACT, a reproduc-tion specialist at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky.

“Do a good physical and repro-duction examination of the preg-nant mare. Have a good herd health program that involves vaccination and other preventive measures, and do your best at reproductive management,” she suggested at the recent AAEP annual meeting. “Be-yond that, all we can do is monitor for impending problems.”

Many problems put the fetus at risk, including equine herpesvirus, bacterial placentitis, fungal placentitis, twining, umbilical cord pathology, stillbirth or dystocia.

Image of transrectal ultrasonography for assessment of the combined thickness of the uteroplacental unit (CTUP). This mare was showing improvement following 2 weeks after beginning treatment for placentitis. She delivered a healthy, robust foal.

Increasing the odds of a

live, healthy foal

ModernEquineVet.com | Issue 3/2013 5

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Warn clients about outcomesIf the veterinarian suspects a problem, bring clients in right away.“One of the most important conversations I have with clients when I

perceive we might have a problem pregnancy is a conversation regarding management of their expectations. For instance, low birth-weight foals are less likely to race,” Kristina Lu, VMD, DACT, a reproduction specialist at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky.

However, one study from the University of Kentucky showed that foals born of mares with subclinical

or early onset placentitis did do well, but they were

caught and treated very early. “They did not

find any difference in number of starts, wins, places,

showed and money won,” she said.

live, healthy foal Ultrasonography is one of the best monitoring tools a veterinarian has to help assess not only mom’s health, but also fetal development. Another is measuring hormones, most commonly progesterone.

The triad of management Lu said that managing a high-risk pregnancy often

involves a triad of progestagens, anti-inflammatories and antimicrobials. Many veterinarians and clients also turn to a large list of ancillary or anecdotal treatments.

Progestagen supplementation (altrenogest, Regumate at 0.044 mg/g) can help maintain pregnancy in mares with conditions, such as colic, endometritis, laminitis, inflammation to the uterus secondary to twin pinching, or proinflammatory states.

In some conditions, such as placentitis, the dose can be doubled to 0.088 mg/g. “This dose with other treat-ments can decrease abortion, but it is very important that these treatments occur in combination,” she said.

Altrenogest has many positive effects on the mare, in-cluding altered immune function, down regulation of en-dometrial progesterone receptors, decreased endogenous progesterone levels and mimicking diestrus.

However, altrenogest might also affect the neonate, increasing the duration of stage II and its respiratory rate. She suggested tapering the hormone prior to foaling.

After day 150, progestagen becomes less important in maintaining pregnancy, she said.

The use of prophylactic antibiotics is becoming more common, but remember some can breach the placenta, so choose wisely. The human and equine literature has shown mixed results in this strategy. “Remember in cases of placentitis, where the uterus is infused with bacteria, and the mare is treated with appropriate antibiotics all the way to parturition, bacteria can still be cultured from the uterus after foaling,” Lu said. “We are fooling ourselves by thinking we are addressing it completely [with prophy-lactic antibiotics].”

The typical prophylactic antibiotic schedule is 5-10 days at the beginning of every month.

One of the most important treatments in a prob-lem mare is probably the anti-inflammatories, she said, because many proinflammatory states are re-lated to metabolism.

Pentoxifylline is a potent anti-inflammatory and is usually dosed at 8.5 mg/kg PO TID. Cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors are used, most notably flunixin meglumine

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(0.5-1 mg/kg IV BID).Some veterinarians use other hormones, such as es-

trogen and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH).“Other medications that clinicians use that have

shown variable results in the literature are clenbuterol for tocolytics, and vitamin E in hopes of protecting the fetus against the hypoxic insult it might experience at birth. But we don’t know if it even gets to the fetus,” she said.

Oxygen supplementation might help if the placenta is thick. The goal is to increase oxygen saturation in the dam, thereby, increasing oxygen supply to the fetus. It is “remarkably easy to implement in the field.”

Aspirin and steroids are sometimes use, mostly because they can decrease the occurrence of idio-pathic miscarriage in women, but there is no proof of this result in mares.

The ancillary treatment, acupuncture, has shown pregnancy rates and maintenance in women, she said. “In my practice, the triad that we tend to use is altreno-gest, pentoxifylline and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxa-zole, if an infectious process is suspected. My ancillary treatment of choice is acupuncture,” she said. MeV


From racehorse to broodmare:

A career, particularly in racing can affect a mare’s second career — broodmare, Juan C. Sam-per, DVM, MSC, PhD, DACT, explained at the re-cent AAEP Annual Meeting.

“Many mares with prolonged careers are enter-ing their breeding career as an older embryo transfer donor or older broodmare having never delivered a foal,” said Samper, of the Veterinary Reproductive Services LTSD, Langley, BC, Canada.

Older mares are prone to a number of conditions:• Reproductive system problems,• Skeletal issues, and• Endocrine issues.

And theses factors can adversely affect their preg-nancies, causing:

• Subfertility,• Anatomical defects in perineum,• Acute or chronic infections,• Delayed uterine clearance, and • Ovulatory problems.Bring them into the clinic for insemination. It in-

creases their chances of getting into foal, says Sam-per, who did an informal survey in his office where he looked at pregnancy rates in mares bred at the ranch vs. those bred in the clinic, and the clinic was significantly higher.

Several reasons suggest why. Without a central fa-cility, veterinarians cannot always:

• perform timely procedures and therapies;• evaluate semen quality prior to insemination; • perform semen processing techniques to en-

hance stallion or mare fertility.• perform uterine lavage when needed. “People often send their mares to a central facility

because pregnancy rates are slightly higher,” he said, “but we forget that as soon as those mares get preg-nant they get shipped back to the farm, where their regular veterinarian is going to look at these mares for the next 11 months,” he said.

Veterinarians should watch for metabolic and en-docrine disorders, especially among the easy keepers with regional fat deposits, and Andalusian, Arabian and some sport horses. Thoroughbreds, Standard-bred and quarter horses, are less effected, he said.

Unexplained onset of laminitis and hyper-insu-linemia (200-300 pmol/L) would point to a metabol-ic dysfunction, as would colic, diarrhea or endotox-emia, pleuropneumonia or retained placenta.

Musculoskeletal conditions, such problems with the hoof and tarsus, lymphangitis and abdominal muscles weakness are also concerns.

Mares moving from race horse to broodmare will need extra maintenance to bring that fetus to foal, he warned. MeV

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oRThopediCS

Electron microscopy image of an incomplete condylar fracture in a Thoroughbred race horse (White arrow) with areas of bone resorption surrounding it (white arrowheads).

What do ballet dancers and racehorses have in common?

They commonly encounter stress fractures, which can occur when there is a sustained increase in loading, and they often must work through that issue. Repeated loading can cause bone fatigue, resulting in stress frac-tures if the skeleton does not adapt to its loading envi-ronment and is unable to repair the damage faster than it accumulates.

“Repeated loading of the bone underlying the cartilage of the dis-tal cannon bone causes fatigue and eventually fracture in some cases. Normally fatigued bone is replaced by bone remodeling, but remodel-ing is suppressed when horses are in full race training,” said Chris Whit-ton, BVSc, FACVSc, PhD, head of the Equine Center and associate professor of equine surgery at the University of Melbourne.

Some evidence suggests that when fatigue fractures are developing, focal remodeling can occur at the fracture site. To confirm this, Whitton and his colleagues recently examined condylar fractures of the cannon bone in cadavers with electron microscopy and compared them to bones from horses without fractures.

They demonstrated that throughout most of the bone adjacent to the fetlock joint, remodeling is suppressed in

the horses, but where fractures had developed remodel-ing activity doubled.

“The cells that are critical to remodeling don’t func-tion well in areas sustaining high repeated loads but we showed that there was an increase in the bone volume surrounding the damaged areas suggesting that this stronger bone may shield the area that is sustaining damage allowing the cells to perform their role of bone replacement,” he explained.

In other words, since the site of the fatigue fracture is difficult for the body to remodel because of the con-stant load, the areas near it take some of the load so that the body can repair the weaker bone.

The observation of excessive scle-rosis of bone around joints on radio-graphs is a sign of skeletal overload, according to Whitton, who suggested that the work loads of affected horses be examined and modified.

“There are limits to how much you can work a horse at high speeds be-

cause bone is not replaced very well in many horses in full race training and their bone is fatiguing,” Whitton said. “Bone replacement only appears to increase once damage has occurred, which is too late.

“We need to learn a lot more about how much loading the equine skeleton can take before injury occurs so we can work horses at safer levels.” MeV


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The body can have trouble remodeling the site of a stress fracture because of the constant load, so the adjacent area takes up the

load to enable the repair.


Stress fractures —

For more information:

Whitton RC, Mirams M, Mackie EJ, et al. Exercise-induced inhibition of remodeling is focally offset with fatigue fracture in racehorses. Osteoporos Int. 2013 Feb 1. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23371360

a heavy load to repair

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Icing the lower portion of the forelimb is just as effective for laminitic horses as wader boot treatment, which ices the leg up to the knee, according to a study out of the University of Cornell.

If applied early, cyrotherapy

helps dampen the inflammatory cascade that results from the laminitic insult and can amelio-rate the severity of digital lami-nar lesions in horses with acute laminitis.

“Laminitis causes a big cas-

cade of inflammatory mediators that promote more inflamma-tion. Other studies have shown that cooling the foot before these inflammatory changes oc-cur can keep them from occur-ring. They have been shown us-ing a big rubber wadding boot that comes up to the knee. You fill it up with water and ice, and it cools the horse's leg effective-ly,” said Jonathan Cheetham, VetMB, PhD, research scientist

Cool it down a notch


oRThopediCS

Icing lower limb just as effective for acute laminitis as icing up to the knee.


Applying and measuring ice bag filled with ice slurry. The ice bags are a low-cost, practical system for cooling the limb and providing adjunctive therapy for acute laminitis.


Reesink HL, Divers TJ, Bookbinder LC, et al. Measurement of digital laminar and venous temperatures as a means of comparing three methods of topically applied cold treatment for digits of horses. Am J Vet Res. 2012 Jun;73(6):860-6. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.73.6.860. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22620701

Cool it down a notch

and equine surgeon at Cornell University, College of Veteri-nary Medicine in New York.

However, the wader boots can be difficult and impractical for many owners to use.

“We wanted to look at a sim-

ple, practical low-cost system that you could use to cool the horse’s foot and compare it to the wader boot system,” he said.

They compared three differ-ent methods of cyrotherapy in healthy horses and measured

their cooling effects: 1. wader boot (63-cm tall

vinyl boot filled with an ice slurry of water and ice);

2. a gel pack boot; and 3. an ice bag filled with ice

slurry.They found that the gel packs

were not helpful because they did not substantially cool the digit, but the ice bag was just as useful as the wader boot at cool-ing the digit.

“The ice bag gives you a low-cost, practical system that any owner can use in cooperation with the veterinarian,” he said.

Based on these findings, he has been using the ice bag at the Cornell equine hospital.

“We use a fairly long period of cooling. We recommend contin-uous cooling, which may require replacing the ice every couple of hours,” he recommended.

Depending on the initial pre-sentation and cause, he would ice the hoof affected by laminitis for at least three days.

In addition, use any medical treatment, such as anti-inflam-matories, which would normally be prescribed for acute laminitis.

Horses are very tolerant of cryrotherapy. MeV

There are many issues to consider when choosing a horse, but most people probably don’t think about how dependent that horse might be on human guid-ance. In certain situations, a horse that depends too much on human intervention might not be able to solve problems on its own.

“In some situations, such as undulating or uneven ground, for example, it could be safer to own a horse that is better able to make its own decisions,” said Clémence Lesimple, PhD, from the Labora-toire d'Ethologie Animale et Hu-maine at the Université de Rennes in France.

Several studies have shown that domestic animals, such as dogs and horses, are good at detecting human cues, but Lesimple and her

colleagues wanted to know if they were self-sufficient enough to solve problems without human inter-vention.

They studied 46 horses that were used by a riding school. Each were given an instrumental learn-ing task called the “chest test,” in which they were required to lift the lid of a wooden chest to find food. Each horse was shown the food in the chest and then given 3 chances lasting 3 minutes each to figure out how to open the chest. Before each trial, the same researcher demon-strated how to open the chest.

If the horse could not figure out how to open the box within 3 min-utes, it was given more time — up to 9 minutes in three separate tries — to figure out that it had to use its head to push open the box. The


Some horses have difficulty

solving problems on

their own.


Too dependent onpeople?

test stopped as soon as it succeeded in opening the chest.

If the horse could not open the chest during the first 3 minutes, the experimenter demonstrated open-ing the chest for food a second time, and the horse was given 3 more minutes to open the chest. If the horse could not open the chest, the experimenter repeated the demonstration and then the third trail began.

“During the experiment, we re-corded the number of trials and the time required to open the chest,” Lesimple said. They also recorded the looks and behaviors the horse exhibited toward the chest, the re-searcher and the activity.

They found that about half of the horses were more interested in the researcher than the others were. These horses were less likely to open the chest or required more time and chances to succeed in the experiment than horses that were not as interested in the researcher. They seemed to expect the person to open the chest and feed them.

However, horses that displayed

more interest in the presence of the person did investigate the chest more than those that did not. “Thus, they clearly associated the human with the chest and the food, even if they did not open it. Interestingly, if they investigated the chest more, they also made fewer real attempts to open it (lift the lid),” she said.

Lesimple said there were prob-ably a combination of genetic and environmental factors that re-sulted in whether the horse could open the box, but that the human-animal bond also influenced the horse’s behavior.

“The quality of the human-horse relationship will also prob-ably impact the investigative be-haviors of the horse toward the experimenter,” she said. “However, it seems that the domestication and selection processes may have led the horses to better understand the human signals, but also to a decrease of their self-sufficiency when faced with unusual chal-lenges.

“Scientists have argued that

domestication and the associated selection led animals to improve their cognitive skills concerning the detection and understand-ing of human signals. We wanted to see if there could be a sort of ‘compensation’ to the detriment of other skills,” Lesimple told The Modern Equine Vet.

“However, I don’t think that dependency to humans is neces-sarily a ‘bad thing.’ It depends on what the owners want to do with the horse. But I think this is an im-portant thing to take into account when buying a horse, considering the wanted use,” she said.

Might not be less intelligentThe horses that could not per-

form the task were not necessarily less intelligent than other horses, as all of the horses were used by the riding stable for riding lessons, so they were all trained to do a par-ticular job. It would be near impos-sible to tell the horse’s intelligence in this experiment because they only tested one type of learning: instrumental learning. In other tasks, such as spatial learning, the results could have been different, she explained.

“We have no way to know if they did not lift the lid because they did not understand how to do this, or if they did not really try, waiting for the human to give them the food, which could be considered a less wasteful strategy,” she said.

An animal’s dependency on people would be only one part of its abilities, and should not be consid-ered separately from other traits, such as general human-horse rela-tionship or temperament, accord-ing to Lesimple. MeV


behaVioR


Lesimple C, Sankey C, Richard MA, Hausberger M. Do horses expect humans to solve their problems? Frontiers in Psychology. 2012;3:1-4. http://www.frontiersin.org/Comparative_Psychology/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00306/abstract


Three inter-related psychological factors help determine how suited a horse is for performance. Matching the horse's mood,

emotion and temperament to its job can enhance its perfor-mance, as well as make it safer for the rider, according to a recent study in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Veterinary Research.

In a comprehensive review of psychological factors affect-ing equine performance Sebastian McBride, BSc, DPhil, and

Daniel Mills, BVSc, MRCVS, PhD, looked at how current be-havioral research and behavioral modification techniques could

be applied to enhance the performance of animals at competition level. This includes matching a horse’s

temperament to different equestrian disciplines. For example, flightiness can be good for racing but detrimental for dressage.

“Another important consideration is the horses mood and emotional reaction. Al-though these have an intrinsic baseline ob-

servable in the young, untrained horse, they can be influenced by training and they also de-

pend on the interaction between rider and horse. Competition riders are well aware how a strange envi-

ronment, and nerves on competition day, can affect their horse’s perfor-mance,” said McBride, visiting fellow at the Royal Agricultural College.

“The increased competitiveness and performance level of equestrian sport means that for each horse-and-rider pair physical and psychologi-cal behavior must be considered when designing training conditions and increasing motivation to perform at the optimum level of athletics," he said.

"They must also be applied to reducing over-emotional reactions on competition day and, given the trained horse’s high motivation to suc-ceed, to decrease any negative experiences at competitions which may otherwise impact on future events,” said Mills, professor of veterinary behavior medicine at the University of Lincoln, School of Life Science in the United Kingdom. MeV

If only horses could wear

Mood, emotion and temperament can enhance performance.

For more information: McBride S, Mills DS. Psychological factors affecting equine performance. BMC Vet Res. 2012 Sep 27;8:180. doi: 10.1186/1746-6148-8-180. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/8/180

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By Deborah Reeder, RVT, VTS-EVNAAEVT Executive Director

Terminology can be a bit confusing, especially when we are faced with deciphering all of the letters of the alphabet that occur after a person’s name today. But these letters carry an important significance — not only to the growing recognition of our industry, but to those who have gone the extra mile to achieve these credentials.

To add to this confusion, there is no national creden-tialing or governing body for veterinary technicians, so you must know what state has recognized these creden-tials, and what laws and regulations govern that status. State VMA’s or State Boards are usually the governing body for most technicians. The rules and regulations re-garding what a credentialed veterinary technician vs. a non-credentialed technician can do vary state by state,

and are often small-animal driven.There is also no reciprocity among the states, so a

technician that is credentialed in Texas and moves to Il-linois, must first meet that states qualifications to sit for their state practical exam and then pass it to work as a credentialed veterinary technician in that state (even if they have already passed the national VTNE).

With the downturn in the economy, this has ham-pered veterinary technicians trying to find employment. The AAVSB has a resource for finding the individual state requirements regarding technicians: http://www.aavsb.org/DLR/.

important Terminology to Understand:Veterinary Technician: An individual who has re-ceived a credentialed status: CVT (certified), LVT (li-censed), RVT (registered) or AHT (animal health tech-

nician). Accepted terminology: Credentialed Veterinary Technician. These individuals have graduated from an AVMA accredited two- or four-year program and re-ceived an Associates or Bachelors Degree. They have taken a national board exam (VTNE or equivalent) and a state practical exam, if required, or they were grandfa-thered in or received their credentials by proclamation. They must also complete annual state continuing educa-tion requirements to maintain their credentialed status.

VTS-EVN: A credentialed equine veterinary techni-cian who has completed the application process for the Academy of Equine Veterinary Nursing Technicians, submitted all requirements, and successfully passed an examination. Recognized as a Veterinary Technician Specialist-Equine Veterinary Nursing and is a member of the Academy AEVNT.

Veterinary Assistant: An individual who has been trained solely on the job, or may have a Bachelor of Science or Horse Husbandry degree but has not gone through the accredited process or taken examinations. Many states have restrictions on what an assistant can do or the level of supervision required for them to perform duties.

AAEVT Certified Equine Veterinary Technician/ Assistant: An individual who has successfully complet-ed all components of the ACT AAEVT on-line Equine Certification Program. An individual must successfully complete the online three-course program comprised of 10 areas of study equine focus, complete a list of compe-tency skills, and attend an AAEVT Regional CE Sympo-sium and participate in the wet labs and be signed off on horsemanship skills.

Alphabet soup: What those initials really mean after your name

TeChniCian updaTe

The rules regarding what a credentialed veterinary

technician vs. a non-credentialed vet tech can do varies state

by state, and are often driven by small animal medicine.

Deborah Reeder, RVT, VTS-EVN

“

”

Mood rings


TeChniCian updaTe

In our profession, these creden-tials have expanded to now include the VTS or veterinary technician specialty. An Academy designates veterinary technicians receiving rec-ognition as a specialty and is restrict-ed to credentialed veterinary techni-cians, who must complete a formal process of education, training, expe-rience and testing to qualify. There are currently 11 Academies of spe-cialization for technicians, includ-ing critical care, dentistry (small animal), nutrition, behavior and in-ternal medicine. These Academies are overseen by a specialty commit-tee within the national technician association (NAVTA). The AAEVT organized the first specie-specific Academy in 2009 — The AEVNT — Academy of Equine Veterinary Nurs-ing Technicians. The members of the Academy receive the initials VTS-EVN — noting they are a veterinary technician specialist in equine veterinary nursing. The AEVNT exists to promote excellence in the discipline of

equine veterinary nursing. There is a fairly difficult credential to achieve. It involves a thorough application and letters of recommendation, CE requirements of at least 50 hours, and work experience in the specialty field of at least 5,000 hours. The can-didates must also complete an ex-tensive Equine Veterinary Nursing Clinical skills form, and participate in and document a minimum of 50 case studies, which include detailed reports on at least five cases. Upon approval of the application, candi-dates must then sit for an exam with at least 250 questions and pass with at least an 80%.

The AEVNT has held two exami-nations and we now have a membership of 12. Butler Schein Animal Health is a proud sponsor of the AEVNT and provides recognition of these individuals at our These individuals have strived to expand their profes-sional careers, and will serve as mentors and leaders of our profession. MeV


Contact Jessie Loberg, CVT, VTS-EVN at [email protected] or the application and more information can be found on the AAEVT website AEVNT link: http://aaevt.org/aaevtacademy.html

The NAVTA website also provides an overview of all of the Academies: https://www.navta.net/specialties/specialties

VTS-eVn denotes

that the holder is a

veterinary technician

specialist in equine

veterinary nursing.

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AAEVT MembershipAAEVT* membership is open to US and international equine veterinary technicians, assistants, practice managers, and support staff employed in the veterinary industry. It is also open to students of AVMA/CVMA accredited programs

AAEVT MembershipBi-Annual NewsletterWeekly “HoofBeats” email NEwsblastFull access to www.aaevt.org, including the Career Center and the LibraryUp-to-date information on the AAEVTDiscounted registration for AAEVT Regional Meetings and the annual AAEP/AAEVT ConventionNTRA, Working Advantage and Platinum Performance BenefitsThe opportunity to participate in the AAEVT Online Certification Program or to become a member of the AEVNT Academy-Specialty in Equine Veterinary Nursing Scholarship opportunities. AAEVT’s Equine Manual for Veterinary Technicians (Blackwell Publishing 20% discount on purchase price)Subscription to THE HORSE Magazine, compliments of Intervet Schering/Plough Opportunity to attend Purina’s Annual Equine Veterinary Technician Conference - All Expenses paid!

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AAEVT ObjectivesProvide opportunities for CE, training, communication, and networkingEducate the equine veterinary community and the public about our professionInform Members of issues affecting our professionAssist in providing the best medical care to improve the health and welfare of the horse

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AAEVT Online Equine Certification Program

For more information visit www.aaevt.org*American Association of Equine Veterinary Technicians and Assistants

AAEVT Mission Statement: To promote the health and welfare of the horse through the education and professional enrichment of the equine veterinary technician and assistant.

A three course, 10 module, equine-only online program offered through ACTGeared toward Credentialed Veterinary Technicians, Assistants, Support staff, & StudentsAreas of study include: equine medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, parasitology, laboratory, diagnostics, equine basics (breeds, wellness, husbandry,) diagnostic procedures, emergency medicine, restraint, pharmacology, surgical assistance and anesthesia, equine office proceduresA certificate of completion is awarded to those who: Successfully complete required courses Complete the list of required skills (per a supervising DVM who is an AAEP member) Attend an AAEVT regional CE symposium and participate in the we labsThose individuals who successfully complete the programs will be recognized as AAEVT Certified Equine Veterinary Technicians / AAEVT Certified Equine Veterinary Assistants depending on their current designation. The certificate is recognized by the AAEVT and the AAEP but does not grant the credentialed status by the AVMAFor more information go to www.aaevt.4act.com or call 800-357-3182

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among households

that own horses as

pets, 53.8% had

at least one visit from a

veterinarian in 2011, a

decrease of 11.9% since 2006.*

*aVMa, 2012 US Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook

include your regional, national or international meeting. Contact us today with the information and a link.

2013 Calendar

June 12-15: ACVIM Forum. Seattle, Wash. www.ACVIMForum.org

July 20-23: AVMA Annual Convention. Chicago. www.avmaconvention.org

aug. 15-17: TEVA 5th Annual Symposium. Marble Falls, Texas, http://teva-online.org/

Sept. 11-14: BEVA Congress. Manchester, UK, http://www.beva.org.uk/congress/FutureCongresses

oct. 3-5: World Equine Veterinary Conference. Budapest, Hungary. https://www.weva2013budapest.com/

oct. 9-13: Wild West Veterinary Conference. Reno, Nev. Oct. 9-13, http://www.wildwestvc.com/

oct. 11-13: Purina Equine Veterinary Technician Conference. St. Louis, Mo. www.equinevetnutrition.com

oct. 24-26, 2013: 2013 ACVS Veterinary Symposium: The Surgical Summit. San Antonio, Texas. http://www.acvs.org/Symposium/

dec. 7-11: 59th Annual AAEP Convention. Nashville, Tenn. https://www.aaep.org/convention.htm

We are not responsible for any errors or omissions.

CalendaR

FAST STAT

[email protected]


newS noTeS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently an-nounced its plan to process an application for in-specting horse slaughter at a New Mexico facility.

If the application is approved, Valley Meat Com-pany LLC will be the first facility in the U.S. to slaugh-ter horses for human consumption since 2007, when the few remaining plants closed and Congress sus-pended funding for horse meat inspections.

Several organizations, including The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), The Humane Soci-ety of the United States (The HSUS) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest oppose this applica-tion.

U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Lind-sey Graham (R-S.C.) and Reps. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduced bipartisan legislation that would stop the inhumane killing of American horses for human consumption and prohibit the transport of horses across the U.S. border for slaughter in Canada and Mexico.

The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act would prevent horse slaughter operations in the U.S., end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from con-suming toxic horse meat.

Last year, more than 160,000 American horses were exported for slaughter for food.

US horses are raised for use in show, sport, work and recreation. Animals raised for food are regulated to prevent certain chemicals from entering the hu-man food supply. A hodgepodge of drugs, including cobra venom and cocaine, are used in performance horses. There is no system in the U.S. to track medi-cations and veterinary treatments given to horses to ensure that horse meat is safe for human consump-tion, the organizations argue.

This surprising move toward a resumption of do-mestic horse slaughter comes in the wake of the scan-dal unfolding in the European Union, where con-sumers have been alarmed by the discovery of horse

uSda considering u.S. horse slaughter application

Quarantine lifted after negative ehV-1 tests found in florida

meat mislabeled as beef in prepared food products ranging from lasagna to meatballs.

The federal government could potentially spend millions to open new horse slaughter plants at a time when spending cuts could curtail food safety inspec-tions for other U.S. meat products. MeV

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services lifted the quarantine affecting more than 1,000 horses that had been exposed to equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) at the Horse Shows in the Sun (HITS) show grounds in Ocala.

“We appreciate the cooperation of those who were affected by the quarantine,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Put-nam. “Together, we were able to treat the horses affected and pre-vent this potentially fatal disease from infecting other horses in Florida or around the country.”

The department confirmed the first positive case of EHV-1 on Feb. 20 involving a horse that had been at the HITS show grounds. The case was referred to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine after showing clinical neurological signs. A second horse exposed on the HITS show grounds also developed neurological signs and was referred to the college and iso-lated for treatment. Both horses have recovered and tested negative to three con-secutive tests and are being moved out of isolation.

Eight more cases of EHV-1 that were linked to the horse show were confirmed in Florida. The department issued a quarantine order to the entire venue hosting the event and other areas where exposed horses had traveled. In all, horses on 15 sites, including the show grounds, were placed under quarantine. Other horses were released as they meet quarantine release requirements.

Horses under quarantine were monitored for signs of viral infection, including fever and nasal discharge. The department worked with management, trainers and veterinarians on the site to help prevent the further spread of disease.

EHV-1, which can result in neurological disease, respiratory disease, abortion and neonatal death, is spread by direct horse-to-horse contact through nasal secretions or contact with physi-cal objects contaminated with the virus. The virus does not affect humans. MeV

last year, more than 160,000

american horses were exported for

slaughter for food.

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Dr. Miller’s books and videos are available for sale at www.robertmmiller.com

By Dr

. Rob

ert M

. Mille

r

I have to admit, I don’t really like to think about where my food has come from (or where it’s been), and I know many other people feel the same way.

I have a friend who was a kid when she really started thinking about the origins of her food. A rela-tive sat at the dinner table and “walked” two chicken legs across the table — and it dawned on her what that fried chicken used to be. She stopped eating meat, and to this day, is still a vegetarian.

Me? I can’t help it. I’m a meat eater myself. I like cooking it, and I love eating it. But the only time I think of the cow, the chicken, or the pig as a living entity is when I am throwing a live lobster into the pot. It gives me a moment of pause, and I always hope that God is not a lobster. Boy, I’m in trouble if He is.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t care about how ani-mals are treated — all animals, even those raised for food. It would be a perfect world if all animals were raised and treated humanely.

Horse slaughterI started thinking about this when I read

about a new bill in Congress concerning horse slaughter.

As you well know, this is a very controversial issue. Just as with most controversial subjects, there is more to it than just eating horse meat or just killing animals.

What to do with unwanted horses is just as serious an issue in this country. There are hun-dreds of thousands of horses that are abused, neglected and abandoned. I don't know the number, but 160,000 horses were sent over-seas for slaughter. If you don't slaughter these horses, what becomes of them? If they are just euthanized, what becomes of the carcasses?

And many people in the world are starving. According to World Hunger, 925 million people went hungry in 2010.

Why not have a humane system in place to handle both of these problems?

However, there are at least two problems with horse slaughter, over and above the "aes-thetics":

1. Horses are not always killed humanely.2. Horses that are not raised specifically for

food can contain chemicals that could be toxic to people.

Think about it. What drugs are used in the racing industry alone? Do we really want sub-stances like bute, cocaine and cobra venom in our diets?

The US Department of Agriculture recent-ly said it would process an application for in-specting horse slaughter at a New Mexico facil-ity. Several organizations are opposed to this, and both the Senate and the House have intro-duced legislation to stop the killing of Ameri-can horses for human consumption and prohib-it the transport of horses across the border for slaughter in Canada and Mexico.

That’s all well and good. But somewhere, someone has to develop a

plan to care for the unwanted horses in this country.

Marie Rosenthal, MSEditorThe Modern Equine Vet

Many issues must be considered when discussing horse slaughter in uS

finiSh line

fRee diGiTal MaGaZineRead uS Today aT www.ModernEquineVet.com

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