Horse vet day!  The boys don’t necessarily like their immunizations but it’s gotta be done.  (I'm not a fan of needles either guys)  They handled it like champs and went right back to eating. Their spring appointment next March includes the horse dentist.  Boy is THAT a good time.  HAHAH!  

​

Equine vet care is quite different from what we are used to with exotics vet care.  One of the most surprising things for us is the 24/7 care like dogs and cats have access to in many places.  That means holidays and weekends too when the office is closed.  Even the middle of the night, though we haven’t needed that just yet. HA! Hopefully we never do.  Exotic veterinarians could take a page from their books...

​

We’ve often said that we wish exotics had 24/7 proper care by properly trained doctors but we hear the "reasonings" about “time off” and the how long it takes to diagnose the problem after working hours so the exotic can be treated, …we've heard it all.  So, let's talk about the time it takes to diagnose a problem.

​

Fun story… Kermie, my horse, is a clumsy guy.  He can trip on air!  I’m not even kidding!  One evening while we were on a ride last April, he tripped and went down pretty close to the ground, but continued on without any issue. There was nothing noticeably wrong at the end of our ride and we figured he just tripped as usual.  His leg felt fine.  We went to look in the area where he tripped and found a perfectly sized horse hoof hole.  Go figure that he would find the only sink hole on the property sized for his foot.  Come to find out, his leg went straight down about two feet into the ground!  He was fine that evening.  The next morning, he was lame.  It was a Sunday so the veterinarian office was closed.  I was scared that he had a fracture or something and immediately looked for a 24 hour vet. Imagine my shock to find out that his veterinary office is available every day, every hour, including holidays for emergencies!  An hour and a half later, a veterinarian was out here to assess my boy’s leg.  We didn’t even have to trailer him to the office.  Anyone who wants to talk about taking a while to diagnose the severity of an issue… try maneuvering the leg of a 1,300+ pound animal onto a stool in order to obtain x-rays.  When that doesn’t go well, try doing it with a sedated 1,300+ pound animal!  Whoooo, but we got it done.  Thankfully, no break, no fracture, just a sore boy who is a clumsy guy.  He was put on pain medication for 3 days and good to go.  Come to find out, this is a normal practice for many equine veterinarian offices.  What an incredible piece of mind it provides to know a doctor is always available!   It was good to know that he was alright, just sore.  Totally worth the emergency charge.

​

Though it’s a hot topic for some, I stick by what I say when it comes to veterinary care for all animals. Sufficient veterinary staff means someone should always be available 24/7 on a rotating basis.  Animals don’t wait to get sick or injured when it is convenient or when the office is open.  Some take offense to these statements, or maybe the truth just hurts.  Perhaps exotics (birds, lizards, small animals, etc) are the only species who get sick or injured when their veterinary office is open for appointments.  Ask the dog, cat, and equine veterinarians... there is an obvious reason why there are so many available 24/7, they get it.  We're appreciative of that!  :-)