Thursday, May 20, 2004
The Goal is a Healthy Horse I recently was visiting with my vet, as he was stitching up Doug’s ankle from our little accident over the weekend and I was astonished to hear that he had recently lost a horse that had come in as colic case and turned out to be Tetanus. My vet further told me that he had lost a couple others to Tetanus in the last 6 months and some to Rabies as well. So I chatted with my good friend who relays to me that her vet basically told her the same thing recently while vaccinating her horses, losing horses to both Tetanus and Rabies in the last year. I was blown away because I just don’t understand why we are loosing horses to diseases like these when it is so easy and inexpensive to vaccinate them. Unfortunately it turns out that there are a number of people out there that just don’t vaccinate their livestock, not even the minimal 3 ways that are accessible at the local TSC for $7 to $14. Talk about being shocked. How is it that these horse owners can not justify that minuscule amount of money for protection when they spend that amount on a bag of sweet feed or double that for a hoof trim. What is scary to me is the rise in Rabies which is believed to be linked to the decline in vaccinated against it.General Info on Tetanus and Rabies:
Tetanus is caused by an organism that is always found in a horse's environment, and because horses are constantly being scraped and cut, vaccination against tetanus should be kept current. It is recommended that the Tetanus vaccine be given at least once a year but can be given more often. Since I’m in what is considered a northern region (with a short mosquito season), a spring vaccination is considered sufficient.
Rabies has increased dramatically in the United States over the past eight years with cases of rabies in horses being reported more frequently. Rabies vaccination should be done yearly. This is a very inexpensive vaccine and the fact that it is a 100-percent fatal disease should leave no reason to not vaccinate against it.
Seems that we have gotten lax in our vaccination programs as a whole across the country. This may go hand in hand with the number of parents and health care providers questioning the benefits and risks of vaccines for our children. In the 80’s there was a national TV campaign to publicizing the serious side-effects caused by the mandatory DPT vaccine (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus). The more I read about the controversy the more my head spins. See the Institute for Health Freedom for additional information on this. The biggest point in all this seems to revolve around the request for lawmakers and parents to question the long-term effects of these vaccines on children's health and consider the proper role of government in this area. Is it possible then that there is a change in how we as a nation view vaccinations? And is this new view is encouraging a number of people that take things to extreme by providing no vaccinations? With that said lets get back to my original concern, vaccinating horses. While I don’t make any claims of knowing all there is to know about vaccines I do know that I work closely with my vet to provide immunizations. I have not vaccinated against Potomac, Strangles, West Nile or a number of variations on the flu/Influenza virus. I am one of those people that prefer to vaccinate minimally. My horses are not in a high risk group since they are kept at home and I do not have boarders coming and going. I work closely with my vet to determine what threat poses enough risk to justify the vaccination and I thankfully have managed to keep my horses healthy. At any rate it is obvious that there are many choices that can be made in choosing vaccinations and I strongly recommend that each person take a serious look at their program and discuss with their vet what the best course of action is for them. Below are some links that I came across that might help to guide other horse owners in making choices that are right for them.
The Equine Vaccination Programs document from Okalahoma Cooperative Extension Service is also a good source of information.
This is also an interesting article from the Mane Points Horse Resource Center sponsored by Southern States about MRLS (Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome). This problem was brought to light by the huge number of stillborn and aborted foals in Kentucky not that long ago. It’s believed that caterpillars were at the route of the problem.
Another Article on the WNV Vaccine Written by Dr. Tom Lenz AAEP 2003 President has some interesting infomation regarding all the hoopla surrounding side effects of that vaccine.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home