Franklin Vets
Franklin Vets - excellence in veterinary care for dairy, farming, lifestyle, equine and household pets. BESTPRACTICE ACCREDITED NZ.
We recommend:
As part of our proactive approach, we recommend an annual wellness check. This includes:
We often also combine the annual wellness check with a thorough visual oral examination under sedation to check no subtle early signs of common dental disease are present; if needed a dental float will be provided as part of this procedure. For dental checks we use our portable crush which can also weigh your horse.
Book your annual wellness check now. Call 09 238 2471
Vaccinations are vital to equine health management, helping to protect against a number of infectious diseases. Often pathogens that affect horses appear without warning so waiting until your horse appears at high risk may be too late to avoid serious illness, a large bill and potentially death.
We recommend:
Tetanus (Lockjaw)
Caused by bacterium commonly found in manure and soil. It enters the body through wounds, particularly puncture wounds. Infection can also be acquired via the intestine after eating contaminated soil or droppings, through gastric or intestinal ulcers. Treatment is always costly and often results in death despite best efforts due to spastic paralysis of all muscles including those in digestion, respiration and cardiac function.
Vaccination protocol (highly effective if followed):
1st vaccination at 3 months of age
2nd vaccination 4 weeks after the 1st
3rd vaccination 1 year after the 2nd
Followed by booster injections every 1-3 years.
If you cannot be certain if they are up to date with their vaccinations and your horse has suffered an injury and is therefore at risk of tetanus, we can administer an anti-toxoid which will give it 2 weeks cover. We recommend starting vaccination at this point for future risks.
Read the latest blog on tetanus from our equine vets
Strangles
A highly infectious and contagious disease. Visible signs include swollen facial glands, thick, nasal discharge and fever. Lab tests on discharge or throat swabs are used to detect active infection. Horses that are infected or showing signs need to be isolated with separate handling. Vaccination reduces the likelihood of preventing this disease, but it doesn’t fully prevent it. If a fully vaccinated horse gets Strangles, the disease tends to be less severe with less time off work & less treatment.
Vaccination protocol:
3 injections, 2 weeks apart.
Followed by an annual booster.
Herpes (EHV)
Equine Herpes Virus causes a range of diseases, most commonly associated with respiratory disease or as a cause of abortion. There is no specific treatment – Rest and nursing care will help minimize secondary bacterial complications. Antibiotics can be issued for a secondary bacterial infection.
Vaccination protocol: (should begin when foals are 4-6 months old).
2nd dose 4-6 weeks later.
3rd dose at 10-12 months.
Booster injections are required.
Vaccination programmes against EHV should include all horses that travel to high-risk destinations (racetrack, showgrounds) and all horses on the premises. All pregnant mares should be vaccinated at months 5, 7 and 9 of pregnancy to reduce abortion risk.
Contact us to get your horses protected from these nasty yet preventable diseases. Call 09 238 2471
Parasite control & drench management
We have a forward-thinking approach to parasite control.
Our aim is to:
Research has shown that 50% of horses should only be de-wormed twice a year. Horses have genetic traits that allow them to fight off worms themselves.
By identifying individual horse de-worming requirements (rather than blanket treating every horse at set intervals) we will start to address the very serious problem of drench resistance in NZ. We do this with faecal egg count monitoring. Simply drop your clearly labelled, fresh samples (within 24 hours) into our clinic and once results have been received, we will advise the course of action.
In Spring, we recommend all horses receive a moxidectin based de-worming treatment, contained in Equest Plus or Ultramox. Moxidectin is the only product that helps to treat all stages of the Cyathastome or redworm and is also the only product to-date with no documented resistance in NZ against redworm. Redworm is the major disease-causing worm in horses in NZ.
Contact us for advice on how to control parasites on your property. Call 09 238 2471
Franklin Vets - excellence in veterinary care for dairy, farming, lifestyle, equine and household pets. BESTPRACTICE ACCREDITED NZ.
