The Horse Doctor

The oldest pony " sugarpuff " has died at the age of.....get this....56 years old. The oldest I have ever seen was a 44 year old pony when I was working in Ocala Fl. I was always told there were 2 kinds of ponies, those that had foundered and those that were going to. That old one had foundered at 20 and was on 1 gram of bute daily for 24 years. (Sugar Puff, a 10hh Shetland-Exmoor gelding was put down at home in West Sussex on 25 May following "complicated problems" with his health. Owner Sally Botting told H&H: "His organs packed up. He had been fine in the morning but then just collapsed. The vet said no more could be done.") There was a report several years ago of a Florida cracker-horse that was 55, it was a search done by Purina for their Equine Senior diet. Either way it shows that horses and ponies can live a really long time if you keep up with good health management.

This seems to happen every few years, an outbreak of plague. If you can remember it's always out west...Colorado, Arizona . ect. The Plague, Black Death, Bubonic Plague, is caused by a bacteria called Yersina Pestis ( primarily transmitted by fleas, hence-"pestis") . The Plague that ravaged Europe in the 1300's originated in the East( probably Ch ina...all diseases come from China) and arrived in Spain ( probably on infected rats on ships) and spread rapidly across Europe. Here's the daily history lesson ( I used to teach History during the summers while in College). The great European famine occurred from 1314-1317, then the Hundred years war started in 1337, then "ta-dah"....the Black Plague arrives in1347. Europe was primed for this, famine and war mean a lot of dead bodies and loss of sanitation and you guessed it.....rats. The Plague killed an estimated 25 million people in just 5 years. In 2000 I had the privilege of attending the Passion Play in...

Yesterday was my birthday, after a great night away with my wife we returned for a short work day and my youngest boys performance at school. Fishweir Elementary is a small public school near our house where my Mother in Law went to school as well as my wife and all our children. They are a magnet school for the arts and do several performances a year. This year was their 90th anniversary and they celebrated each decade with music from that era. Mac represented the 90's doing Micheal Jacksons "Thriller". What a hambone. Here's the link to YouTube. It was classic. If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is a link to the video.

A mother bear and her cub were rescued from the wildfire in North Florida. It's burning around and thru Bugaboo island in the Okefenokee swamp. It jumped a major Highway yesterday and is closing in on Lake City. To make things worse there is a water shortage in the area. The bears were spotted in a burned out area and the cub was up a tree. The Florida Fish and Wildlife commission were called in and darted the pair. They were then transfered to the University of Florida College of Vet Med. The Sow has burns on her feet and some lung damage but appears to be doing well. As with any wild animal in captivity the stress can be a killer. Here's to UF....Go Gators.

I just received more photo's taken from the Waycross and Bugaboo fires. WOW....it sure looks bad.

We are once again under a fire alert and smoke is in the air. While there is a large fire near lake City and one in Georgia burning through the Okefenokee swamp.....we haven't had many in Jacksonville ....YET. In 1998 we had a huge number around us requiring constant evacuation and shuffling of horses from barn to barn. What I have seen lately is an increase in respiratory cases seen in our practice. Depending on the location and wind direction , the smoke levels can vary drastically. What should you do? At this time it depends on your horse. If you have one with any respiratory compromise than you must be careful as there may not be enough lung reserve in your horse to handle the stress. One way to manage these compromised horses in to keep them in during the worst parts of the day and let them out at night when the dampness in the air can reduce the smoke levels. If you have alot of smoke in your area and can't evacuate your horses you can also put A/C in the stall.....don...

For those of you with a horse suffering from "Cushings disease" and have been treating it with Pergolide, there is some good news. It appears that Pergolide may remain available for use in horses.Cushings disease is caused by an adenoma on the pituitary gland that causes the increased production of POMC or proopiomelanocortin and cortisol precursors. This leads to hirsutism(long hair coat) laminitis, hoof abscesses and chronic infections. Pergolide has been the best treatment we have had for this condition and recently it has become unavailable for humans where it is used as a treatment for Parkinsons disease due to cardiac health concerns. Here is a link to a blog set up for the issue and a petition if you are interested. Fran Jurga has also posted about it.Here is a copy of a recent letter that should give us hope that the FDA will make it available for Veterinary use. The AAEP has, for the past several years, been working closely with the Center for Veterinary Medicine ...

Someone just sent me some very interesting photos showing the size of the Earth compared to other planets , the Sun and other known stars. Sometimes we really think that we are the center of the Universe and that the Earth is soooooo BIG. When looked at this way it puts things into the proper perspective. In the 1970's we worried that there would be a new ice age, Global cooling. Now it's Global warming and how we are heating up the planet with CO2. We really are an arrogant species.When you look at how large the sun is you can see just how much of an impact even a small change in solar output can have on our climate. Looking at the images from the Hubble telescope really can make one feel small and just how awesome our creator is. This shot is from one of the darkest regions that was seen. Some of the Hubble images are incredibly dense and bright, packed with stars like Antares and Betelgeuse that dwarf our precious Sun. When looked at this way...how small we become.

There is a new tropical depression forming off the Carolina's that is pushing HUGE surf our way. The down side for North Florida surfers is that alot of the swell is swinging past us and pounding South Florida ( Satellite Beach). The Morning report says May 7 , 8am: Well overhead and bombing!!!! Forget the family, the job .... only thing that matters today is how fast you can get off the computer, get your board and get to the beach. Go surf NOW. btw ... sorry the sites been down ... my computer caught an infection in the panhandle .... get some for me ...Shrimp sucks!!! " Report from 2nd light Report Date: 05/08/2007 Location: Satellite Beach Report Time: 7 a.m. Size: 10-12 (ft) Conditions: Glass Comments: Epic The forecast for Jax is for the wind to shift offshore in the morning with4-6 foot swells. The St Augustine bouy is reading ...