Spring Shots and Dentistry

Vet visit yesterday...scheduled, thank goodness.  It's the unscheduled ones that typically mean reason for concern.  Mimi got her spring shots and her teeth done.  No pictures, because I was too busy socializing...quite a few of us at the barn had stuff done, which meant being able to split the farm call among several parties.  That is a perk of being at a boarding facility...there's almost always at least one person to split a farm call with.

Mimi was routine...she is sooo good for the vet.  She likes our vets, which always helps.  But she's just a good girl that way. And she never fails to get a "She's so cute" comment out of the vet techs, usually coupled with "She's how old?" or "She's really a POA?".

An interesting conversation with my vet about how the shots have all gone to 4- or 6-way...multiple vaccines, one injection, and whether or not this is harder on the horse's system, having it all in one like that, or if it's better than giving multiple injections at once.

I was actually kind of surprised when he said it was easier on their systems...it's typically the carrier of the vaccine that horses are reacting to, so by sticking everything in one shot, they are actually exposed to a smaller amount of carrier...multiple vaccines, one carrier, versus multiple vaccines all in their own carrier.  That made a lot of sense, and actually made me feel better about having to vaccinate.

I still don't love having to stress their systems with vaccinations, but when I consider the alternative -- coming down with some of the things they vaccinate to prevent -- I'll take the temporary system stress and slight negative impact on their feet.  I take a proactive approach to post-shot management...she went into the appointment with freshly-trimmed hooves, so there's no additional stress of unbalanced feet and uneven movement, and then I won't have to do any drastic trimming on her later.  I'll stay very proactive on her feet for the next month...I'll probably rasp her every week, so her feet stay very under control.  She has turnout every day, but I'll make sure she also gets some really good exercise and forced movement.  I gave her a dose of a more concentrated probiotic to boost her system, and I'll give her another dose this weekend.  She also got a dose of bute afterwards to help keep any swelling down.

Teeth floating was par for the course...my vets are awesome about taking into account my pony is a total lightweight when it comes to anesthesia, and they know exactly how much to give her to be able to do her teeth, but not so much that she can't stay upright.  (Give her a full suggested dose for her body weight and she'll be on the ground.)

I've used East Valley Equine ever since I've owned Mimi, and both vets -- Dr. Christensen and Dr. Cooper -- are both awesome.  If you're in the East Valley area and need a good vet, they'd be my first recommendation.