equine health
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The vet behind the PowerFloat
Ask any horse owner or equine veterinarian about the PowerFloat, and they’ll tell you that the rotary dental instrument is synonymous with equine dental care — an essential tool that’s well known in the horse community. The PowerFloat was the brainchild of Dr. Dennis Rach, a Calgary-based large animal veterinarian who has always liked solving problems. Rach has been practising …
February 06th, 2018 Full story »
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Reining in equine obesity
Imagine you’re a draft horse. The year is 1927 and you spend most of your time hooked up to a plow in the field, burning calories and muscle. You dine primarily on grain. It’s important to keep your energy up because you work hard every day and your family depends on you. When the tractor comes along, your role on …
October 23rd, 2017 Full story »
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Equine sarcoids: a mystery gone viral
Not all detectives wear fancy hats and trench coats with a magnifying glass tucked in the pocket. Some of them wear white lab coats and use powerful microscopes. “My dad’s a pathologist, so there you go. It’s the family business,” says Dr. Bruce Wobeser, associate professor of veterinary pathology at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). “What’s appealing to …
October 01st, 2017 Full story »
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A life-saving gift
It was nearly 20 years ago when Murray and Shirley Popplewell visited the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) for the first time – but it’s a story they still tell. The couple had just witnessed the birth of their first Arabian foal. The foal lay on the ground, its head limp. Beginning to worry, they picked up the baby …
April 14th, 2017 Full story »
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Horse Health Lines (Spring 2017) online
The Spring 2017 issue of Horse Health Lines, news publication for the WCVM’s Townsend Equine Health Research Fund, is now online. Check out the PDF version of Horse Health Lines. Inside this issue, you’ll find the following stories: • A life saving gift: A $200,000 gift from Saskatoon’s Murray and Shirley Popplewell is helping to establish the Rae-Dawn Arabians Equine Intensive Care …
April 14th, 2017 Full story »
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Early detection of EMS has big benefits
Weight-related health problems are a growing concern in the world of equine medicine just as they are in the world of human medicine. Excess weight can lead to serious health complications such as the development of insulin resistance – a condition linked to type 2 diabetes in people and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) in horses. Unfortunately, owners often don’t consider …
March 03rd, 2017 Full story »
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Drugs in my tack box
Much like human sport competitions, irresponsible medication use and a positive drug test can cause serious problems for both the horse and rider at equine events. “If you’re competing in a horse sport, the first thing you need to know is whose rules you’re running under,” says Dr. Trisha Dowling, a board-certified specialist in veterinary pharmacology and large animal internal …
February 12th, 2017 Full story »
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Vet students help Equine Expo gallop along
When it comes to the equine care available at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), clinicians have access to many advanced technologies and tools that allow them to provide cutting edge care. While those who work with them daily are familiar with them, many horse owners don’t get a chance to see these tools in action unless their animal …
January 27th, 2017 Full story »
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Location key issue in assessing wounds
Horses can suffer from all types of wounds, and while some wounds look much worse than others, the primary assessment of their severity is the same as that of gauging housing prices: location, location, location. This claim is backed by Dr. Suzanne Mund, a master’s degree student in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. …
January 12th, 2017 Full story »
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Horse Health Lines (Fall 2016) now online
The Fall 2016 issue of Horse Health Lines, news publication for the WCVM’s Townsend Equine Health Research Fund, is now online. Check out the digital edition of Horse Health Lines or view the PDF version. Inside this issue, you’ll find the following stories: • Dumonts double research dollars: Pat and Mark DuMont commit another $3000,000 to WCVM equine research. • Making …
January 07th, 2017 Full story »
