Equine Veterinarian San Diego County

It is best if appointments are for preventative care.  These are routine checkups,  immunizations, needed lab tests and dentistry.  These are the good appointments.  An urgent care appointment means that a horse is injured, ill or something is going very wrong.  Appointments requests are best done by Text message (760-419-9011).  Emergency and Urgent same day visits are done by calling our message service (760-471-3239).  

An emergency is when a horse is injured or sick.  Symptoms like Colic, not eating, breathing rapidly, change in mental state, trembling, severe lameness, swelling of a leg or eye, hives that area closing the eyes and nose, injury that is causing bleeding warrant immediate veterinary contact and a visit.  This type of urgent care visit is made by calling (760-471-3239).  The emergency service will contact the doctor.

Lameness and soreness is a common issue in horses. Performance athletes are often injured in competition and need special attention.  The practice provides the best diagnostic and therapeutic methods.  Digital X Ray, tendon/ligament ultrasound, video respiratory and  gastric endoscopy, PRP and Stem treatments are routine.  

Horses need vaccines.  The goal is it protect the horse with the minimum number of shots.  The minimum vaccine series is an annual that includes tetanus (from the dirt), sleeping sickness/West Nile (from mosquitoes) and influenza (travels in the wind).  Show, boarded and young horse need a broader vaccine series and often more than annual shots to qualify for competitions.

Horses need dental care.  The practice has set the standard in equine dentistry for many years.  Depending on the need, dental care may be just an annual teeth float. But malocclusion and complex dental disease may require extensive intervention.  Our dental goal is always to save the horses teeth from extraction.  With detailed care and medical support we usually accomplish this goal.  Too many horses are having extractions that are unnecessary. Through proper dental equilibration and occlusion adjustment most can be saved.   Performance horse dentistry is also a specialty of the practice.  It is amazing what a properly done performance dental can to for an athlete.

Horses are living longer.  This is because of good preventative care and the recognition of age related conditions early.  Screen tests for Cushings disease, low thyroid conditions, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease and allergies can prevent catastrophes like Colic and Laminitis from happening.

Equine reproductive services provided in season.  This includes embryo transfer, insemination with both fresh cooled and frozen semen.

Full service stallion management services provided.  Shipping of collected semen, stallion evaluations, frozen semen created and stored.

General surgery provided to regular patients and outpatients.

Management of any shipping of horses through Health Certification, Coggins testing or any international quarantine or testing needed.

Horses not eating are in pain, have a fever or are ill.  Taking a temperature rectally is a good start.  A reading over 101.0 is an elevated temperature and will take most horses off feed.  Discussing the temperature with the Doctor is a place to begin in deciding what medical action to take.  

Checking the foot is a good place to start. Look for injuries, wedged rocks or nails in the foot. On a cold day often heat in the foot can be found.  Check for swelling in the sore leg.  Common issues are infections in the sole of the foot (sole abscesses), wounds around the coronet band or other related injuries up the leg.  Discuss the findings with the Doctor to determine the best course of action.

Most injured horses need veterinary care.  Testing a photo of the wound to the doctor is a good place to begin.  Several photos at different angles aids in determining if stitches are needed.  If the wound is bleeding, pressure bandage over the area is best until medical attention arrives.  Do not use wound sprays until the doctor says so as this will complicate suturing.

A colicy horse is up and down, often rolling and frequently in visual distress. They are often sweating and have a look of panic in the eye.  These animals require immediate attention.  Attempting to hand walk the horse is best until the doctor is contacted.  

Allergies are common in horses.  Hives, itching, chewing the skin and hair loss are common skin expressions of allergy.  This required medical attention and discussion with the doctor about the best treatment options.

Quidding is dropping chewed food on the ground when fed.  This suggests a painful area in the mouth.  I can suggest a wound, infection of a tooth or a dental fracture.  Quidding is best managed first with a detailed dental examination.

Shockwave therapy is useful in managing injuries that are a bit chronic.  The sound disrupts fluid pockets and areas of focal chronic inflammation.  this allows  enlarged things to shrink down and work better with the surrounding structures. this reduced soreness.  Often 1000/pulse or shock treatments are done once or twice weekly initially followed by less frequent treatments. 

This treatment is very useful in managing injury.  Platelet injection stabilizes acute injuries (like ligament or tendon tears) preventing internal bleeding in the area. this treatment also activates local stem cell healing properties to reduce healing time.  This treatment is often done in conjunction with soft casts to maintain the ligament size until healing is underway....preventing the bowed-tendon appearance of a poorly managed tendon injury.

Ultrasound allows seeing inside the horse.  This is a cornerstone of injury management and it seems impossible to imagine equine care without it.

In athletic horses, soft tissue injury is far more common than bone issues.