Cathels Equine Veterinarians | Veterinary surgeon

Cathels Equine Veterinarians

Phone: +61 3 5998 2666

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25.01.2022 Now is the time of year we are seeing many skin conditions in your horses. The weather has become wetter, and it's still warm, which predisposes horses to infections of the skin leading to conditions known as "Greasy heel" "Mud Fever" and "Rain Scald". There are many different organisms which can cause these conditions, they are usually bacterial or fungal in origin. They are more common in wet conditions and in unpigmented skin, but can occur at any time and on any coloured... skin, and on any area of the horse. The lesions usually involve scabs, crusting and scaling, and can progress to swellings and moist or pussy lesions if they progress. Owners can often treat these conditions themselves by trying to keep the areas as dry as possible, which may involve a change of paddock, or location for your horse. You can clip the affected areas if they are very hairy, and a periodic wash and through dry of the affected areas with a medicated or antiseptic wash may also help. Applying an antiseptic cream may help in some circumstances. If symptoms get progressively worse, your horse is unwell at any stage, or you are having trouble getting on top of the condition then it becomes a job for us. We are happy to help at any stage.

24.01.2022 Our thoughts and well wishes go out to all our family, friends and clients affected by the fires this week. It's business as usual here at Cathels Equine, so we are happy to assist in any way we can. Please call us on 0359982666 for assistance.

24.01.2022 This horse has a tiny piece of what is probably wood in it's eye. you can see it right at the top. He was squinting and the eye was watering. Because we found it early and removed the offending wood, he made a rapid recovery with treatment that involved pain relief and medicating the eye for a few days. Please be proactive with eyes, and contact us if you have any worries about your horse's eye. If you see something in there, flushing it out with saline, if you can, is a really great thing to do. Horses have large, prominent eyes, so foreign bodies and ulcers are very common. If treated properly, they usually heal really well.

22.01.2022 Something a little different today. Even wild animals develop medical problems. Here is a giraffe in the wild in Botswana with some sort of skin condition, most likely a tumour of some description.

22.01.2022 Flossy here is the surrogate mother for this colt. He is one of our embryo transfer babies from last year. She’s a lovely mare doing a great job with him. Thanks to Dr Kath McIntosh at Northern Rivers veterinary clinic for implanting the embryo we flushed and transported. We found Flossy for Kath’s recipient mare herd, so it’s a really satisfying story for us all.

19.01.2022 Know your horse’s normal temperature and take it regularly. It’s surprising how often a temperature is the first sign of illness in our horses. A normal adult has a rectal temperature of 36.8-38.3 degrees Celsius.

18.01.2022 This is what racing is all about, we are delighted for our long term clients the Woods family for winning the Australian Pacing Gold consolation.

17.01.2022 This horse has a "Quarter crack". These can occur anywhere around the coronary band, but are typically in the back half of the foot. They start at the coronary band and descend down the foot. Quarter cracks are associated with a varying degree of lameness, from not lame at all to lame at the walk. Typically these horse's are sore to touch around the origin of these cracks at the coronary band. They are usually caused by concussive forces in athletic horses, and rarely occur i...n horses at rest. There are various treatments for quarter cracks, typically placing a bar shoe on the foot and 'floating' the back portion helps the comfort of the horse and may allow it to remain in work while the crack grows out. Farriers may also use wire to pull the crack together while it heals. If the horse remains lame, a period of rest and anti-inflammatories is necessary for the symptoms to settle down. Addressing the cause of these is important and may involve X-rays to ensure adequate foot balance to try and make sure the quarter crack doesn't re-occur once the horse resumes work. See more

17.01.2022 This video is of a horse with "Wobbler Syndrome". The unsteadiness of the hind legs is due to pressure on the spinal cord in the neck. Horses can develop this condition as they grow, and is more common in breeds such as thoroughbreds and warmbloods. The first signs usually start to show sometime between 6 months and 3 years of age. They can also develop these symptoms after having an injury or fall that damages the neck. Symptoms can be very subtle, or very obvious, and everything in between. Usually the diagnosis is made with X-rays of the neck, and sometimes also a myelogram.

15.01.2022 We operate an after hours service for emergencies, should you need to contact a vet outside of normal business hours. The phone number is 0417436257 to contact the vet on call. Please only use this number when you have a horse who you believe needs treatment after hours. If you are not sure, ringing this number is a perfect way to establish if your horse needs to be seen! 0417 436 257

14.01.2022 20 minutes old and just learning to stand!

14.01.2022 The annual Bain Fallon conference was on in Sydney last week. With a reproduction focus, boss man Hugh made an appearance. He insists he went to all the lectures as well as the gala dinner here!

12.01.2022 This horse has a case of Ringworm. Ringworm is caused by a fungi, it's not a worm at all. There are many different species of fungi that can cause what we call ringworm. The first signs are slightly raised lumps anywhere on the skin, followed by the familiar, generally circular bald patches. Once the hair starts growing through these patches, the horse is on the mend, this generally takes about four weeks. Almost all horses will get ringworm at some stage in their life, it... is highly contagious and spread by direct contact, or by sharing equipment such as headcollars, girths, brushes, and us. Although it is generally self limiting, and the horses are rarely sick, it is advised that it is treated because of how easy it is to spread to other horses, and to us! The main things we use to treat Ringworm are Betadine, or an anti-fungal shampoo such as Malaseb. Wash and dry all rugs and gear that the affected horses come into contact with. Please make sure your infected horse does not come into direct, or indirect contact with other horses, to try and stop the spread. See more

11.01.2022 We are excited to say that the first foals for this 2020 season have hit the ground. Wishing everyone with a new bub on the way this season a safe arrival. Please note that under the stage 3/4 Covid restrictions, caring for your horse is deemed to be an essential requirement. We are still available for on-site visits. Please wear a mask at all times and our clinic is available on the phone to verify your reason for travel if your horse lives at a different location to you. ph 03 5998 2666 If you, or one of your contacts is sick, or waiting on a Covid test result, please let us know. We will be able to see your horse, but will have to make alternative arrangements to liaise with you. This is very important for us, because if we have to isolate, we will not be able to visit any horses during this time.

07.01.2022 When you have a newborn foal one of the most important things is to make sure they are on their feet and drinking within around 4 hours of birth. Many foals will do this much more quickly than this. It's not enough to see the foal nuzzling around the mare's udder, as many foals will do this and not actually be latched on and drinking. Stand on the opposite side of the mare, and make sure you can see the foal has the nipple in it's mouth and is drinking. Normal foals will form a seal with their tongue, so look for this too. The photo here shows a normal 12 hour old foal, forming a good seal over the teat and drinking well. We love seeing this!

07.01.2022 Welcome to the first foal of the season! A bay thoroughbred colt at Bombora Downs. Mum and Bub are healthy and happy!

06.01.2022 https://www.sbs.com.au//overwhelming-response-to-insight-s So sad, but important this is getting public recognition.

05.01.2022 This mare has been a very successful racehorse, and she fractured one of her hind Cannon bones in a race in September. She was transported to our clinic where six screws were placed in the cannon bone, across the fracture to stabilise it. This was done with the horse standing, with the mare sedated and local anaesthetic used to block the leg from the hock down. The horse then spent time restricted to a box with the leg bandaged while the fracture healed. She has made an excel...lent recovery, and, although she will potentially be sound enough to race again, she has been put in foal and we are excitedly awaiting the arrival of her foal next season. We can only hope that her foal likes licorice as much as our patient does! Please note: her race photo is not our photo, and the surgery photo is also not ours, it's a different horse (this is a front leg and our horse was a back leg), but the set up and procedure were very similar.

03.01.2022 This horse has developed a very impressive skin reaction. This is most likely due to an insect bite. These reactions are very common, particularly at this time of year. The raised skin lumps settled uneventfully with veterinary treatment.

03.01.2022 Today we have a case that serves as a warning! This is the X-ray of the forearm of a horse who was kicked by his paddock mate. There was a tiny, very superficial cut just above his knee, but he was much more lame than expected given how small the cut was. We took an X-ray of his forearm and you can see a hairline fracture. Fractures of this nature can be very dangerous, because if the fracture opens up and becomes destabilised, the horse may be in a lot of trouble. This hors...e must be box rested until he is no longer lame and the fracture has healed on X-ray. This horse serves as a warning, that when a horse is lamer than expected with a cut or minor wound we must look for complicating factors. These may include infection, fractures or involvement of important structures such as joints and tendon sheaths. These can affect the horse's prognosis and may change how we treat them, and are very important to investigate. With appropriate treatment many of these horses will be just fine, so it pays to be observant.

03.01.2022 Foaling Season has arrived. There are a few things that need to be sorted as your mare gets close to foaling time... Make a decision on whether you will foal her down yourself at home, or send her to a more specialised facility where they can monitor mares more closely, as well as recognise and intervene as soon as there is a problem. There's a reason most human babies are born in a hospital! If you do decide to foal her down yourself, please have a system of regular checks a...s she gets close to her due date and an alarm system to help you as well. We use foal app. Remember, most foals are born in the middle of the night! A supervised foaling is the best way to protect both mum and baby. Your mare should be not too fat and not too thin as she approaches her foaling date. Make sure she has had her feet trimmed recently and that she's had a tetanus and strangles vaccination in the six weeks before she is due. This will help to protect her foal from these diseases once it is born. Good luck! It's a high risk time of year, but so much fun now the foals are hitting the ground.

01.01.2022 We love friendly foals! This little fellow is 4 days old and begging for a scratch.