VETERINARY NEWS LETTER SUMMER 2005

Meet the Staff

Dr. Kim Sergent - Dr. Kim as many of you call her is the owner of the practice. Her interests lie in lameness, alleviating pain, and performance medicine, where she can combine her veterinary, chiropractic and acupuncture skills on horses as well as dogs and cats. Her family consists of her husband Kevin, 9yr old daughter Krystelle, six equine critters (including 2 mules), three dogs, three cats and nine chickens. Dr. Kim enjoys swimming, gardening, nature, hiking, camping, skiing and horseback riding.

Kevin Menefee - Aside from being Dr. Sergent’s other half, Kevin is also the practice manager. He and Dr. Sergent started the practice from scratch 4yrs ago. Kevin, not knowing much about the horse world or what he was getting himself into, had to learn a lot in a short period of time to get the practice going. He did an awesome job at it and continues to do so. A former champion skateboarder and race car driver, some of his interests include, playing guitar, writing and recording music, hiking, camping, and hanging out at the beach.

Brandi Washer - Brandi has worked for Dr. Sergent for a little over a year. She is involved in almost all areas of the practice (i.e. Reception, fieldwork, inventory etc...).Her “family” consists of her boyfriend Carson, dogs Drifter and Detroit, cats MiMi and Weeble as well as their four horses Snoopy, Snorty, Gator and Cracker. She has been around horses and barrel racing her whole life and she enjoys starting young horses, off-roading and her job _.

Summer is here!

Yes it’s that time of the year to get out the sun block and fans. Here are a couple of tips to keep you and your horse healthy and comfortable during the hot season.

  • FRESH, CLEAN WATER
    • Fresh water encourages drinking, which prevents dehydration and colic. Horses are more likely to drink their water if it is in a clean container, free of algae, dirt and other debris.
    • Remember in a herd situation some horses may not allow others to drink from a common water source. Horses in this situation should be monitored to be sure that horses low on the totem pole get a chance to drink.
  • FLY CONTROL
    • Fly Masks should be worn during the day to keep the flies and gnats from irritating your horses eyes and ears.
    • Fly Spray, Fly Predators
    • Keeping pens clean
  • SHELTER FROM THE SUN
    • Horses should have access to shade at all times
    • Sunscreen can be applied to horses with pink noses to prevent sunburn.
  • OUT ON THE TRAIL
    • Be sure to plan ahead when going on a long trail ride. Bring water with you for both you and your horse or arrange to stop somewhere where water is available. Horses can dehydrate quickly, leading to colic. Therefore it is important to keep your horse’s hydration status in mind during exercise.
    • Electrolytes can be added to water to replace lost nutrients through sweat. Be sure to offer both plain water and water with added electrolytes, as some horses will not drink water with added electrolytes.

Appointment Scheduling

As we continually strive to provide the best service and care for you and your animals, one of the aspects of our business that is frequently a topic of conversation in our office is how to improve our scheduling process.

With our practice area reaching from Ramona to Imperial Beach and inland as far as Boulevard, and now with two doctors, it is important for us to group appointments by location as much as possible. More important, however, is to allow the vets ample time at each appointment so that you, the doctor, and especially your horses, don’t feel rushed. One thing that we have done to help facilitate this is, that when we give you an appointment time, we quote the time as a one-hour range as to when the doctor will arrive, rather than an exact time. This gives the vets a little leeway, as we never know in advance exactly how long a given procedure will take on a particular horse, how many questions the client will have for the doctor, or what traffic will be like going from one appointment to the other. Plus we never know when we will have to squeeze in that inevitable emergency. Please realize each doctor will typically have six to eight appointments each day. It is extremely helpful to us, if you have additional unscheduled things to see that you let us know in advance as soon as possible. This allows us to adjust the schedule to make more time for you and your critters without causing us to rush your appointment and those after you.

As always, we will try our best to accommodate your busy schedules and now for your convenience offer early morning, evening, and Saturday appointments.

Routine Dental Care and Why it Matters! (abridged version) for full story click here

Many of you may have called our office recently to make an appointment for vaccines or other services, and received a friendly reminder from Brandi that “your horse is due for a dental exam”. A WHAT? Many of you may be wondering when we say such things. We receive many questions about routine dental care in horses every day, which is good, because dental care is crucial to your horses overall health. Hopefully, this article will answer some of the more commonly asked questions about equine dental health.

What does it mean to “float” a horse’s teeth?

“Floating” is a general term that means filing down sharp points in your horse’s mouth, along with reducing the height of teeth that are overgrown. It also can mean evening out the chewing surface of the teeth so that they are better able to chew food.

Why does my horse need his/her teeth floated, but my dog or cat do not?

Horses are different from many animals, including people in that their teeth erupt constantly throughout life. As a tooth erupts it is ground down by the tooth that opposes it. The constant grinding motion of chewing wears down the teeth so that they don’t get too tall. Many times a tooth, or a part of a tooth, won’t directly oppose another tooth and is allowed to continue to grow without any restriction. This creates spikes, peaks and waves that can begin to inhibit the grinding motion of the horse’s mouth when he/she eats, thus creating even more problems.

Who needs a routine dental exam?

Every horse over the age of five should have a routine dental exam once every twelve months. This exam includes mild sedation and an exam with a dental speculum. By doing this, we can assess the back of the horses mouth, where most points and peaks develop. Older horses will sometimes need a dental exam done every six months instead of once a year to stay on top of issues that may arise in our geriatric or “problem” mouths. It can be beneficial to have a dental exam done on a young horse before it enters training. We can then alert the trainer of any “baby teeth” that are about to come loose (in a horse less than five years old), and address any possible bitting issues, before training begins. In addition, some horses have what we call “wolf teeth”. These are small teeth that are in front of the first molars. These teeth can interfere with the bit and cause pain during riding. We will commonly pull wolf teeth before a horse begins training. A “bit seat” is frequently created to allow proper positioning of the bit in the horse’s mouth.

What are the signs of dental problems in horses?

Signs of dental problems can range from very subtle to very obvious, they include:

  • Resistance to the rider’s aids
  • Flipping of the head when ridden
  • Difficulty bending one direction (or both)
  • General “bad attitude”
  • Weight loss
  • Dropping of food when chewing and excessive drooling

My horse isn’t dropping food or losing weight, does he/she really need a dental exam?

Yes! Weight loss and dropping food from the mouth are usually the last signs seen and indicate severe dental problems. We will commonly examine horses that are not loosing weight or showing other signs of dental problems and find severe points on the teeth causing ulcers in the tongue, and gums. Don’t wait until your horse is losing weight to have his/her teeth checked, make it part of your yearly preventative medicine program for your horse.

For those of you with new foals that are wondering what vaccines they need and when they need it... Wonder no more!

Foal Vaccine Recommendations:

Foal from mare that was vaccinated 30d prior to foaling

    2mo- 3-way
    3mo- 3-way booster
    6mo- Flu/Rhino & West Nile
    7mo- Flu/Rhino & West Nile booster
    1yr- Flu/Rhino

Foal from mare that was not boosted

    2mo- 3-way & West Nile
    3mo- 3-way & West Nile booster
    6mo- Flu/Rhino
    7mo- Flu/Rhino
    1 yr- Flu/Rhino
Back