With the lockdown in NZ, farriers are not deemed essential workers other than for emergency work, so some have been concerned their horses are overdue for trims, or at least to have their shoes pulled. Vets, feel free to share this post with your clients!
So, you don’t have a farrier or trimmer until the lockdown is over…. Don’t have a buffer, hammer, and shoe puller?
Crease Nail Pullers to the Rescue!
If you have only a single horseshoeing item in your horsetruck/trailer/float, a crease nail puller is the tool to have! Even a child can remove a shoe. Usually without trauma to either the kid or the horse!
If you’re in NZ, a supplier which is still open for essential goods is Shoof. They aren’t supplying those who don’t already have an account, but they have informed me they can sell them to me. I’m happy to purchase these and on-sell them to you if you cannot source them yourselves. Message me via the contacts page or ring me.
Here’s a vid I just made for you. There are horses around with shoes on, but none on my farm, and with the lockdown I can’t go next door to video theirs, either! (Yes, I’m an equine vet and an ‘essential worker’ but that’s only for emergencies. In COVID terms, this is not an emergency.)
So hope this helps you guys.
Let me know if you need a set of crease nail pullers. I can probably get rasps for you as well. Make sure you wear gloves and if you have them, chaps or thick pants to protect your legs.
Please stay safe, all.
Love from Waitawheta, NZ
xx
Lizzi, Maya and Tiggie (who was looking for hoof cookies… soon, dog. The horse needs a trim.)
PS, Stay home. Do groundwork. Love on your horses. 🙂
Being a burden to emergency services because you fell off won’t help NZ’s (or any other country’s) COVID response. And do you REALLY want to be in a hospital with COVID if you don’t have to?
Hello all you wonderful horse, pet, and production animal owners out there!
Emergency Basis Only, or
#Don’tBreakYourVet !
Most of your veterinarians are still allowed to practice and will remain available to you and your beloved animals ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS ONLY.
We are willing to risk our own health (though we should all be wearing mask, gloves, etc.) for the health of your lovelies. It is, as you are no doubt aware, not without risk to us.
As the incubation period is so long and the symptoms so variable, what you think was a little “cold” could actually be a case of COVID-19. I don’t want it and have no desire to infect my family. I have a heart condition and it would not be in my best interest to catch the dratted virus.
NO, not doing routine dentistry right now!
Please comply with your vets if they request you to wear a mask yourself and keep your distance if at all possible. If they want you to leave the animal with their staff while it is treated, or ask you to let them handle your horse themselves, please do so. We’re all under enough stress anyway, ALL people here. Maybe help get your horse into the stocks and let them work on the horses on their own. Please help them to help you and your animals.
I know all of my beyond-lovely clients will be happy do this for me.
HOWEVER…..
What’s an Emergency?
Clearly it’s not been made obvious to some. Some of the phone calls I’ve received have…. been… interesting. Mostly from new clients… such as:
requests for:
… routine dentistry, (as the owner will be off work for the next few weeks), or
…doing a pre-purchase examination, (never truly an ER)
… routine vaccinations… especially overdue ones…
…any other sort of routine vet procedures you could have scheduled several months ago that you want done now that you have time at home from work…
Clearly this didn’t happen overnight, but it sure looks like it needs help NOW.
Lockdown = QUARANTINE…
THIS LOCKDOWN IS MEANT TO BE A QUARANTINE, NOT A HOLIDAY! Enjoy it at home with your family, but don’t needlessly infect others!
They are the things you’d call us for on Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday, despite the emergency call fee, etc.
Things that could limit the lives of your horse or that if not treated now, will create pain and suffering for your beasties.
However…
LET THIS NOT PREVENT YOU from calling us if you THINK it might be an emergency. Or if you’re not sure. Even a little. Personally, I am HAPPY to field phone calls and look at a photo you take with your phone.
If it’s a colic, laceration, lameness, respiratory difficulty, the old horse who’s suddenly come to the end of his tether, or anything else causing you and them any distress, etc., for god’s sake, PLEASE be sure to ring.
This might be a good guide….
If i get sick (or dead) from treating your non-emergency cases, I won’t be around to treat your beloved horse or other animal life-threatening emergencies.
The phone is your friend. 🙂 When it works. There’s always Facebook. xx
When it clicked, it was so simple, she wondered why she’d never thought of it before!
She gathered some toothpicks and a handy equine skull and set about slipping (well, slipping probably isn’t exactly the word.. they are rather tightly packed, or should be, anyway) a toothpick into each of the interdental spaces of the maxilla and mandible and pushing them in as far as possible to approximate the plane of each space.
The Maxilla
Starting with the maxilla, after placing the little sticks, it becomes rather clear how much the angulation of the interdental space changes as one moves from mesial to distal, or rostral to caudal, if you use that terminology. SO, you’ll need to take your shots parallel to the toothpick to clearly visualise the alveolar crest and periodontal space of the interdental space which concerns you. Yes, that means you will likely need to take more than one view to see different interdental spaces within the mandibular arcades.
The Mandible
Radiographing the interdental spaces of the mandible is a completely kettle of fish. In some cases, the angulation between the interdental spaces can be straight or even a wee bit concave, rather than convex, as seen with the maxilla from the buccal side.
SO, if you want to radiograph the interdental space of the 208/209 for the maxilla, and then the same for the mandible, understand you might be taking two very different radiographs! However, unlike with the maxilla, you might get more than one interdental space well-visualized on one shot!
Toothpicks!
The concept is simple, but it’s made a big difference to Lizzi’s radiography. The response from the veterinarians she’s taught has been excellent.
Try it, you’ll like it!
Please, if you would, comment below to let Lizzi know how it worked for you and see invites you to share the link to this page with anyone you think would benefit!
Equi Still Stocks…
help minimize downtime in your practice by keeping you, your vets, and your techs safe.
Having your gear right there beside your stocks at every farm, every time, will also save you and your practice time, money and sanity! With our power setup, any practice vehicle with a basic running lights plug can be a mobile surgical vehicle. No need for special wiring in every truck!
Your clients know you have their best interests at heart when they see the safety features offered by our stocks. Safety for them, their valued equids, and your vets. A combination that can’t be beat.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss your needs.
Thanks for coming by!
We’re looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Kindest regards,
Lizzi Thompson
EA (Lizzi) Thompson, DVM, MANZCVS (Equine Dentistry), GradDipTeach
You need to capture that interdental space to see how far the periodontal disease has progressed.
The plate, (held by owner–in gown, with holder), is finally perfectly positioned.
You’re finally ready. One click, and your sedated patient shifts his feet. His head moves. Arggghhhh…
Big breath.
Start over…
Repeat…
It’s just too hard to take films on a moving target.
Sound too familiar?
Here’s help!
Since using my Equi-Still Portable Equine Stocks, the quality of my dental radiographs has improved sight out of mind.
A horse (or other equid: read horse, pony, donkey) is so much more stable in these solid stocks than standing free. Sedated equids lean against the solid wooden side or the padded front (or rear, depending upon positioning!) and can find the stability and relaxation that is lacking with unsupported sedation. This enhanced stability minimizes the frequency of startle responses commonly seen when patients move and find they cannot balance under sedation.
SO HOW DO I GET THAT IMAGE?
I like to place a folding table with a thick sponge pad on its surface in front of my sedated patient in the stocks. It’s important to have butorphanol on board for that nice head droop. This combination provides me with a stable head in a nice position for easily taking dental and other skull-oriented radiographs.
Taking radiographs on portable folding table with sponge pad.
What’s that you say? The zebra at the Auckland Zoo? Sorry, I haven’t been able to get the zebra off the ground and into the stocks yet… general anaesthesia at this point, but hoping we can try sometime!
Itika the Zebra at the Auckland Zoo having some special work done!
Just wanted you to know, I’m the dental care expert for AAEP this month. I’ll be answering horse owners’ questions on their website! What’s that, you say? AAEP? It’s the American Association of Equine Practitioners!
Other questions might be answered on this website here.
Did you know, there are plenty of images from Itika’s dentistry at the Auckland Zoo? They’re here. On the Blue Mist Equine Veterinary Centre portion of the website.
Check out the sites!
Take care out there!
Dr. Lizzi
It’s here, if the link stops working: https://aaep.org/ask-the-vet/dental-care-your-horse
So where are we now in equine veterinary dentistry in New Zealand?
Although New Zealand lags behind the northern hemisphere in terms of equine veterinary dental advances, with the efforts of a group of equine veterinarians with post-graduate education and certification in equine dentistry, we’re catching up… and bringing along many more veterinarians this year!
The education has always been available in the northern hemisphere, but now is readily available here and in Australia, to those veterinarians interested in improving their knowledge of current therapy in equine dentistry.Although in the past, some veterinarians have not been keen to perform equine dentistry, that seems to be changing fast.
Veterinarians already have extensive knowledge of oral and dental anatomy, physiology, pathology, diagnostics, treatment and pharmaceuticals.Veterinarians look at whole horse, not just the teeth, and are able to observe clinical signs within the oral cavity (mouth) or head which may indicate conditions requiring veterinary care in other parts of the body or organ systems, (eg: Cushing’s Disease).
Veterinarians can also offer tetanus prophylaxis, a very important part of dental, as well as of general veterinary, care as well.With their in-depth training, your equine veterinarian with current postgraduate training in equine dentistry is well placed to examine, diagnose, sedate and treat the dental conditions of your horse better than others in the field.
Some still believe sedation is unnecessary for good dentistry. I believe that sedation is necessary for a good examination. Sure, one can float a horse’s teeth without it, but exactly what are they treating? Do you want me to place a mirror into your horse’s mouth without sedation? 🙂 I used to think I did a pretty good job of dentistry without a full mouth speculum, a mirror, a good intraoral light and sedation.
The more I learned, however, the more I realised what I must’ve been missing. If you don’t look for oral disease, you won’t find any.It is all very well to feel what is going on in a horse’s mouth, but to get the full picture, one needs to see every tooth, probe them, and truly examine them. Use of a full mouth speculum, sedation, intra-oral light, and mirror on a fully-rinsed mouth allows your veterinarian to really evaluate your horse’s mouth for any pathology.
Stocks, (portable or stationary) allow the horse to be contained and offer stability to the sedated horse and provide a great method of stabilising the patient’s head. A horse standing quietly under short term sedation (ie, horse awake and fully ready to walk out of the stocks, for a routine dentistry, in less than half an hour), allowsthe best possible examination of your horse’s mouth, and also makes it as safe as possible for your horse, the handler and the veterinarian. This, to me, is the ultimate in horse, client, and veterinarian care.
Why I don’t call myself a ‘horse dentist’?
Throughout this site, you may note that I call myself an equine veterinarian with a particular interest in equine dentistry, rather than an “equine dentist”.
According to the Dental Council of New Zealand, The term ‘dentist’ is a registered title under the HPCA Act 2003.In order to legally use this title you would need to be a registered dentist, not someone who has taken a short course in “horse dentistry”, but a dentist:trained, examined and registered as a human dentist.
According to the DCNZ, one may use a title indicating an interest in dentistry (eg. a vet with a particular interest in pet or equine dentistry). SO, no matter how much training I receive, no matter how much “dentistry” I do, unless I go to a human school of dentistry, it would be unethical to term myself a “dentist” of any type! Sounds fair to me!
Your horse’s suboptimal performance or discomfort may be partly or totally due to mouth pain. If one doesn’t look closely, one won’t see oral problems!
Thorough veterinary oral examination plus appropriate treatment equals happy horse and happy owner….
Good things and bad things. Bad because of the number of animals we’ll have to cull and good because our current government is standing up and doing what needs to be done to prevent more pain and suffering of animals and our economy in the long run.
It may be too late, but looks like we’re going to give it our best shot. I’ve been impressed, under the circumstances they’re living with, with the support the farmers are showing on the pages I follow and contribute to, for doing the responsible thing for the long run of our national herd, starting with themselves. Bloody hard thing.
Hi all, we’re having a serious problem with M. bovis, or Mycoplasma bovis in NZ. It is not yet endemic here, as it in many other places.
Many people locally have been getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of information they’ve been able to find and asked for more specifics. People told me they want more information than they’re getting from the media.
I put something together for those of you who are interested on my veterinary website.
Four hours ago I created and shared the below page on only four FB pages and in that time, that new webpage has taken almost 500 hits.
I’m just a horse vet, but I can at least try to decipher some vet language for you and let you get the info… straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were.
We had a great time exhibiting at AAEP in San Antonio, Texas in November 2017!
Thank you so much to Dr. Lynn Caldwell for helping us out with prep and in the booth throughout the show,
and to son Elliot for coming along to assist manning the booth.
A little break during setup
Matthew and I sure appreciated the help, especially when it got busy! Thanks to AAEP for putting on such a great program and a great show! I made it to as many lectures as I could, thanks so much, guys!
Great job, Matt!
Thanks to those of you who dropped by to see us and stayed awhile! Loved your questions and have taken on board all comments!
We had some very small visitors…
And some bigger ones, but they were all very interested in the stocks! It was great to meet everyone! The view coming down the escalator was of our stocks, covered in fairy lights! Great idea, Lynn!
View from the escalator! Fairy lights!
Sold quite a few books, with all the horsey people there! My writing is… slightly horsey… 🙂 (I write historical fiction as Lizzi Tremayne… post injury… and I liked it so much, I kept going!)
Elliot and I took advantage of the fact we could eat Mexican food again… and again… and again. Serious Mexican food is virtually nonexistent in NZ… I was so lucky Elliot, who spent the first half of the week alone with me, loves Tex-Mex as much as I do! Especially the little hole-in-the-walls where little to no English is spoken! Did we eat it all week in Texas, and on the rest of the trip? YES. Definitely.
We stayed at the glorious old Menger Hotel across from the Alamo and had a celebratory dinner after AAEP was finished. That’s Matt on the far right. And one of my sons, Elliot, with me beside the tree at the Menger. The lovely lady on the right, Sara, the manager at the Menger restaurant, helped us with bits and pieces for our booth. Thank you, Sara!
We took a celebratory drive with a new friend Shyann (on the left next to Matt), an accomplished young carriage driver for Lollipop Carriage Company, who LOVES her horses,
and had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner in Texas. That’s Elliot beside me.
Finally, we drove around… a LONG way around… showing the stocks and finally delivered them to their temporary home, en route to our new manufacturers. Thanks so much to Cliff and Lorie!!!
Looking forward to seeing you all next year at AAEP San Francisco 2018!
Our Equi-Still Portable Equine Stocks have received their compliance certificate from the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM) in the USA for 2018!
It was a long haul, but the stringent requirements of the NATM compliance program means our Equi-Still Portable Equine Stocks should be compliant for registration in all fifty states! They had their compliance examination just before AAEP opened in San Antonio!
Great job from our NZ engineer and manufacturer. Thanks so much, Jeff!
As we’re not currently members of the NATM, we’re no longer allowed to display their logo, but if you’re interested in what the NATM is all about, just click here to see their website.
We’ve found our manufacturer in the USA and they’re ready go get started! The stocks you may have seen at AAEP in San Antonio are currently with our new manufacturers to assist in their first build, then those stocks will be available for sale. They already manufacture the exquisite Tuffy Tilt Tables, so they can build our stocks.
Thanks to those of you who expressed interest at the San Antonio American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention last November! I’ve just sent an email to everyone on our collected list. If you didn’t receive an email,
So where are we now in equine veterinary dentistry in New Zealand?
