Stanley House Veterinary Group - Farm & Equine

Focusing on youngstock health on farm
It is vital to give your calves the best start in life to ensure they are productive in the future! Youngstock rearing is the second highest fixed cost on most farms. Husbandry in early life affects the way youngstock perform up to 3 years later. Calves which suffer from diseases such as pneumonia and scours can have reduced lifetime productivity.
Dairy calves with a history of bovine respiratory disease have: ... • 525 kg decrease in first lactation milk production • 30 day increase in time to first calving
Beef calves with a history of bovine respiratory disease have: • Decreased growth performance by up to 6kg/month • Longer fattening period (+33 to 59 days)
MSD have launched a calf checklist which one of our vets can use on your farm. This enables vets to assess calf health and management across 5 core areas to help establish the current situation on farm and illustrate areas to improve efficiency of production and minimise costs:
1.Set goals and measure 2.Good colostrum 3.Good nutrition 4.Low infection pressure 5.Healthy environment
More information can be found at: https://www.msd-animal-health-hub.co.uk/D NOMF/Youngstock
If you would like to discuss youngstock health on your farm or learn more about how the calf checklist can help please contact the practice on 01282 868748 or enquiry@stanleyhousevets.co.uk
See More

View from Ashlar House.... Well at least it is not raining!!

This may be useful for many of our clients who are already busy lambing or will be soon!

Laminitis – A Warning
During the spring of 2019 we saw an unprecedented amount of laminitis in overweight horses and ponies throughout our practice area. This was, in part, due to the very mild winter of 2018/2019.
So far the winter of 2019/2020 has followed the same pattern, and we would very much like to avoid a repeat of last year. The best way to achieve this is to allow our horses and ponies to enter spring in the best possible health, the best possible fitness and the... best possible condition. In many cases this means they need to lose a little – or a lot – of weight. A detailed breakdown of why weight management is so crucial laminitis prevention can be found in the accompanying link, but the text is unavoidably wordy. For those who are interested it makes for an interesting and informative read. For those with less time, please have a look through our top tips for weight management below:
Top Tips for Weight Management
· Weigh your haynets. Most horses and ponies require 2.5% of their bodyweight per day for maintenance, and 1.5% bodyweight for weight loss. Up to 0.5% of this can be given as concentrate feed, but this is often unnecessary, as can be seen below.
· Soak hay for 8-12 hours – this reduces soluble carbohydrates, leading to a far less calorific diet.
· Cut out the hard feed. Very few leisure or low intensity competition horses or ponies require hard feed at all, so consider a low-calorie chaff if you feel you have to feed.
· Exercise, exercise, EXERCISE! Whether this is schooling, hacking, lunging, a horse walker or in hand work, exercise improves the metabolism by increasing muscle mass, which then in turn burns more energy and encourages further muscle growth and breakdown of fat. Less fat means less adipokine, a reduced risk of laminitis. Fitter horses also have more energy, meaning that ‘hard feeds can be even further reduced. ‘
· Measure your progress – weigh tape measurements, neck scores, body condition scores and photographs are all great ways to see how far you have come.
· Consider double netting or using haynets with small holes to slow eating.
· Stop the sugary treats – unfortunately this includes everything from polo’s to apples.
· Don’t give up! As with many people, weight loss often takes time before the results.can truly be seen, but once you can you will understand why it was worth the effort.
The pictures show the lovely Mickey. Very well done to his owner who has worked hard to reduce his weight. Mickey is now much happier and healthier. We would love to see photos of your horses' weight loss. Please share in the comments below.
See the pictres below for a more in depth look at weight management and the control of Cushing's disease and equine metabolic syndrome.
If you have any questions about feeding or weight management, or would like further advice, please call the Stanley House Vets Farm and Equine Department on 01282 868748 or email enquiry@stanleyhousevets.co.uk
See More

Improvements to our equine diagnostic suite.
The Stanley House large animal team are pleased to announce a range of new and improved diagnostic equipment, which fits in very nicely with our new and improved building.
For equine lameness and orthopaedic investigation we now have access to both an Agfa Musica digital x-ray processor, which allows us both portable and superior quality x-ray capability, and a Sonoscape X5V ultrasound scanner. This scanner, which is also portab...le, comes equipped with a linear ultrasound probe for lower limb soft tissue scanning, and a sector probe for abdominal and large joint imaging.
With both of these improvements we are very pleased to be able to offer enhanced diagnostic services, both at Ashlar House Barn and at your own yard. Please call the office on 01282868748 for further information.
See More

A great competition ran by the informative Keep Britain’s horses healthy campaign! A chance to win a visit from their coughy van to your yard, free cake and coffee and information about equine flu! We’d be thrilled if one of the yards we care for was to win! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

We would like to thank everyone who has supported our healthy horse pub club for the last 12 months. We really appreciate your support and have really enjoyed the evenings. Unfortunately we are going to have to take a break from the club for the time being. Any future meetings we will post on here with information.

The most recent major equine influenza (‘flu’) outbreak now appears to be under control. The number of new cases being diagnosed has reduced significantly, with no new cases being confirmed since December 2019.
However the threat of equine flu has not gone away. With the competition season just around the corner it is really important to make sure you horse is up to date with their vaccinations. Vaccination will mean your horse is protected should it come into contact with... the disease, as well as preventing spread to other horses.
It is recommended that all horses are vaccinated for equine ‘flu’ by receiving a primary course of 3 vaccines. Current recommendations from the manufacturer state that horses should receive an annual booster following the primary course.
Affiliated bodies such as British Dressage and British Eventing as well as some popular competition venues such as Somerford Park are now adhering to FEI (International Federation of Equine Sports) rules.
FEI rules state that horses must have received a booster vaccination within 5 months and 21 days but not within 7 days of competing.
If you would like any more information on vaccinating your horse, please contact the Stanley House Large Animal Department on 01282 868748.
See More

Equine Herpes Virus – January 2020 Hampshire Disease Outbreak
As many of our clients will already be aware there has been a confirmed outbreak of Neurological Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in Hampshire. As means of reassurance to all of our equine clients please find further information regarding EHV below:
o EHV is relatively widespread, but latent, within the equine population at all times, meaning that it is always present but usually in an inactive form (similar to coldso...res in humans.)
o The usual presentation is as a respiratory illness with a fever, cough and nasal discharge, which is easily controlled with appropriate medical treatment and good management.
o Much more rarely the neurological presentation develops – with weakness and in-coordination of the hind-limb which leads to paralysis. Unfortunately there is no treatment for this, but it is very rare and as the current outbreak is not in our area it is unlikely to be something we need to be concerned about.
o Unlike Equine Influenza (‘Flu’) the virus does not travel very effectively in the air. This means that unless your horse has had direct contact with another horse exhibiting signs, or has been to the competition venue currently affected, he/she is at no greater risk than at any other time.
o If nothing else this outbreak should be used to highlight the importance of good hygiene and biosecurity both at home and whilst away competing.
o A vaccine is available for EHV, which is usually administered to broodmares as the virus can also cause abortion. The vaccine will reduce the severity of clinical signs, but does not stop contraction of the disease. As the disease is currently distant to our practice area we are not recommending vaccination at this time.
o For further information regarding the current disease outbreak, and information about improving biosecurity, please visit the Animal Health Trust website at: www.aht.org.uk.
o If you have any further questions regarding this, or any other disease issue, please do not hesitate to contact the Stanley House Vets Farm and Equine Department on 01282 868748 or email enquiry@stanleyhousevets.co.uk.
See More

We would like to wish all of our clients and their animals a very Merry Christmas!
Our office will close at 4 pm today but of course our vets are on call throughout the festive period in case of emergencies.
Nelson is feeling festive in his Christmas jumper, we’d love to see photos of your animals celebrating too! Please post any photos in the comments below.... Have a lovely Christmas!
See More

We look forward to seeing you this evening at the last pub club of the year!

Even on a wet day the views from the windows at our new surgery are great!

Tonight’s pub club is covering Cushing’s disease. Come along to find out more about signs and symptoms as well as managing the disease. We look forward to seeing you at 7pm.

Tomorrow’s meeting is all about Cushing’s disease. We will be joined by 2 guests speaks from boehringer. We look forward to their informal presentation and then will be open for any questions you may have.