facilities for intensive care,

but we can offer a wide range

of surgical needs, such as

cryptorchid castration, eye

e n u c l ea t io n s , tu m o ur

removal, and much more.

If you would like to know

more, please find us on

Facebook, check out our

website or call the clinic

today.

At Adelaide Plains Equine

Clinic (APEC) we strive to

provide compassionate and

practical care for your horse.

We know you as owners,

carers and lovers of horses

want nothing but the best

and that’s why we have

obtained the latest in

diagnostic services.

Our wireless, fully portable

digital x-ray is top of the

range and produces crystal

clear bone images. This is

complemented by our state

of the art ultrasound and

endoscope for soft tissues.

A new addition is our in-

house blood analysis

machines. These can produce

a full equine blood profile in

30mins and allows us on the

spot work-up of medicine

cases.

All of this equipment permits

us to perform our wide range

of surgical, medical,

reproductive and dental

services to the highest

standard.

Not only do we have hospital

An equine kidney as

imaged by our state of

the art ultrasound. You

can see the spleen

sitting on top of the

kidney.

Leading Equine Veterinary Services

1951 Two Wells Rd

Gawler SA 5118

(Find us next to the

Gawler Harness Racing

Track)

Phone: 08 8523 4777

Fax: 08 8522 7651

Inside this issue:

Leading Equine

Veterinary Services

1

Don’t forget the

teeth!

2

Melanomas in the

Horse

3

ISER Meeting 4

Equine Dental Vets

Conference

5

Fodder Store

Contacts

6

We are open on the following times: 9:00 - 5:00 Monday-Friday 8:00 - 12:00 Saturday 27/4 emergency call service

DID YOU KNOW?

April, 2014

Adelaide Plains Equine ClinicAdelaide Plains Equine Clinic

E-mail: apechorse@internode.on.net Website: www.adelaideplainsequine.com

Many people think that

equine dentistry is just

floating the teeth, and many

owners believe that just

about anyone can perform

equine “dentistry” from the

trainer to the farrier.

So why should you consider

your local veterinarian for

your horses next dental?

Just as you wouldn’t take

your precious dog or cat to

someone other than a

skilled, licensed individual,

your horse deserves the

same care and protection.

Equine dental veterinarians

have the training, licensing

and skill to provide that

piece of mind.

Why are teeth so

important? Why not!

Imagine your own teeth,

and when things go wrong.

Just like our teeth, horses

teeth possess nerves and

blood vessels and they

experience pain just as we

do. Any dental pain can

then affect performance

and comfort, and proper

dental care is crucial to

giving your horse good

quality of life.

Oral care is also important

for feed utilisation. The

mouth is the only time that

food is ground up for

consumption, so dental

problems can result in

undigested food.

Back to the vet—why

bother? Veterinarians spend

a minimum of six years

learning how disease

processes work, how to

recognize them and then

how to treat them. A lot

more than sharp points can

develop in a horses mouth.

Young horses can have

c o n g e n i t a l d e n t a l

abnormalities (growth

d e f e c t s ) s u c h a s

malocclusion (parrot or sow

mouth), cleft palate and wry

nose, which severely affect

a horse’s ability to graze

efficiently. The key to these

conditions is early detection

and correction.

Horses can also develop

periodontal disease. Tooth

abnormalities can lead to

packing of feed material

against the gum, leading to

gingivitis and eventually

tooth abscessation. Without

sedation and careful oral

examination with a light and

mirror, these conditions are

often missed by non-

veterinarians and can lead

to on going oral problems

despite your horse recently

having a ‘dental’.

I have recently undergone

further training in equine

dentistry to augment my

current knowledge and

become further experienced

on diagnosing and treating

oral disease, as well as

performance floating and

geriatric dental care.

Dr James Meyer

Don’t forget the teeth!

Page 2

Dentistry is more than

just a quick rasp; dental

disease can be a big

problem and often goes

undiagnosed.

Thorough oral examination

using a light, mirror and

pick in a sedated horse is

crucial to dental care.

“Imagine your own

teeth, and when

things go wrong.

Horses experience

pain just as we do.”

We regularly perform routine and cryptorchid castrations, umbilical hernia repairs, and enucleations as well as emergency surgical procedures, and much more.

DID YOU KNOW?

Adelaide Plains Equine Clinic

Melanomas in the Horse

ignore large or fast growing

ones.

Melanomas in young horses

are particularly worrisome.

We recently saw multiple

melanomas in a 4 year old

pony that were growing at a

rapid rate. Our feeling is

that this pony will not have

a long life unless something

is done to arrest the

development of the

tumours.

The treatment of choice has

been cimetidine (Tagamet)

which can be bought over

the counter. This drug has

to be given for the life of

the horse and has had

limited success. Other

t r e a t m e n t s i n c l u d e

chemotherapeutic agents

such as cisplatin, which is

highly toxic and expensive.

In researching what is new

about melanomas and

possible treatments, we

came across a team of

r e s e a r c h e r s a n d

veterinarians doing trials in

dogs with an inexpensive

vaccine. This vaccine can be

made very inexpensively

and Adelaide Plains Equine

Clinic have joined forces and

we are busy trialing this

vaccine.

The trial involves injecting

the “vaccine” into a tumour

and then waiting 3-5 weeks

for a response. Of course J-

Lo was our first trial horse.

We measured her tumours

with our ultrasound and

then injected one of the

masses.

She was perfectly normal

the next day and

subsequent days. It is still

early days, but in a few

more weeks we should

know if this is going to work.

While it may only work in

one-in-ten, we would still

consider this a viable option

for other horses.

Dr Elizabeth Herbert

Don’t panic! Most horses

are going to die with their

melanomas, and not

b e c a u s e o f t h e i r

melanomas.

Take our beloved J-Lo for

instance. She is a walking

storehouse of melanomas,

but hers are in the places

that really don’t cause her

problems, and they are

growing at a very slow rate.

The common sites we see

are the tail, anus, vulva,

commisures of the lips and

salivary glands. But they can

be anywhere.

Once in a great while they

are significant and should

be removed. The ones near

the anus can spread into the

anal sphincter and cause a

loss of anal “pucker” or

distort the anus so that

defecation is difficult.

Twice we have seen them

grow so big they have

caused tails to fall off. Don’t

Page 3

April, 2014

James Meyer and Naomi Wigzell,

one of our nurses, ultrasounding

a melanoma mass before

injecting it with the vaccine.

Elizabeth Herbert and Leontien

Hessel, a visiting veterinarian from

the Netherlands, injecting a

melanoma mass with the

vaccine.

“We have joined

forces and are busy

trialing an

inexpensive tumour

vaccine .”

We provide internal medicine and intensive care facilities and services. Our hospital allows us to monitor patients on a 24/7 basis for emergency cases.

DID YOU KNOW?

T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Symposium of Equine

Reproduction (ISER) is held

only every four years. It is

primarily for researchers to

present and discuss new

information about equine

reproduction. This year they

invited practitioners like me

to attend.

I met the elite of the elite in

the science and practice of

breeding horses, and

learned up to the minute

new things to help us get

your mares bred and semen

handled.

Jan Rosier was one of the

main presenters at the

symposium. She knew my

father and even had a book

I wrote at home, given to

her, from my father. She

asked to take a picture with

me!

Finally they had a John

Hughes memorial lecture

which I attended. John was

my father’s classmate and

each was best man at each

other’s weddings. John

Hughes was a pioneer in

equine reproduction, but he

didn’t see the numbers of

horses my father did. So

when John had a new drug

or idea to try, my Dad was

the lucky recipient of John’s

hard work and connections.

It is through those

connections that I learnt my

trade. These meetings are

vital to learn what is new

and to make connections

with people who really want

to help practitioners like

James and me. The fly

fishing later wasn’t hard to

take.

Dr Elizabeth Herbert

ISER Meeting

Page 4

Adelaide Plains Equine Clinic

“I met the elite of the

elite in the science

and practice of

breeding horses.”

Jan Rosier and Elizabeth Herbert;

pretty good for old girls!

We offer equine frozen semen storage for $25 per month or $100 per 6 months. We also perform artificial insemination (AI) and other reproductive services.

DID YOU KNOW?

Jan Rosier was talking up a storm about a California Symposium

with some of the “Gods” of Equine Reproduction; Ed Squires, Barry

Ball and Pat McCue.

Equine Dental Veterinarians Conference

tutorials and hands-on

practicals; both with

cadavers and live horses.

The importance of sedation

a n d d e t a i l e d o ra l

examinations was a real eye

opener due to the number

of conditions that go

undiagnosed by lay-dentists.

T h e t h o r o u g h

understanding of anatomy

and pathology from our

undergraduate training

provides us with a unique

ability to recognise and

treat these conditions.

Practicals were both fun and

intense and gave us the

perfect opportunity to

immediately put into

practice the theory. We

were given the opportunity

to perform pulp capping on

exposed pulps (the blood

and nerve centre of the

tooth), wolf tooth

extraction, molar extraction,

along with performance

floating and corrective

dentistry.

Spending the week with like

-minded, enthusiastic

people generated a great

teamwork atmosphere and

also allowed for some after

hours adventures. Our

shared goal is also

supported by the EDV

o r g a n i s a t i o n

(www.equinedentalvets.co

m.au) where you can search

for local equine dental vets,

watch educational videos

and read up on the latest

dentistry issues.

Dr James Meyer

Equine dentistry is

increasingly being realised

for its importance in overall

equine health and wellness,

performance and welfare.

Traditionally horse owners

have had ‘dentals’

performed on their horses

by farriers, or lay-dentists,

or even not bothered at all.

Now more people are

recognising the significance

of oral health and seeking

the advice and care of

veterinarians for their

horses wellbeing. To meet

this need and provide even

better dental services to

you, our clients, I attended

the Equine Dental

V e t e r i n a r i a n s ( E D V )

Conference in Grafton,

NSW.

The week long conference

was jam packed with 12

hour days of lectures,

Page 5

April, 2014

“I got hands on

experience with both

routine and advanced

dentistry

techniques.”

We provide equine dental services including oral examinations, performance floating, wolf teeth removal, treatment of periodontal disease and much more.

DID YOU KNOW?

James Meyer and fellow

veter inar ian Emma

J o h n s s o n a f t e r

successfully removing a

molar tooth from a

cadaver.

All of the conference participants and

lecturers including Oliver Liyou, Gary

Wilson and Shannon Lee.

Adelaide Plains Equine Clinic

Nutrition is important for both reproductive performance and oral health. Once you’ve spoken to us about your

feed plan and browsed our range of supplements, check out your nearest fodder store for your equine feed needs:

Fodder Store Contacts

Visit our website today!

www.adelaideplainsequine.com

We have a huge range of advanced diagnostic equipment including state of the art radiograph (x-ray), ultrasound, and endoscope along with full in-house blood analysis.

DID YOU KNOW?

1951 Two Wells Road

Gawler SA 5118

(Find us next to the Gawler

Harness Racing Track)

Phone: 08 8523 4777

Fax: 08 8522 7651

E-mail:

apechorse@internode.on.net

Klemm’s Grain & Fodder

2-4 Johnson Road, Kapunda

08 8566 3111

Tanunda Fodder & Grain Store

5 Shirley Drive, Tanunda

08 8563 3350

One Tree Hill Fodder

Shop 4/9 Blacktop Road, One

Tree Hill

08 8280 7680

Mallala Feed Barn

Corner Dublin & Balaklava

Roads, Mallala

08 8527 2244

Sander Brothers Grain &

Fodder

Corner 22nd & 23rd Streets,

Gawler South

08 85 224 450

Angle Vale Seed & Fodder

Lot 207 Angle Vale Road, Angle

Vale

08 8284 9313

Angle Vale Hardware & Fodder

Corner Angle Vale & Broster

Road, Angle Vale

08 8284 9572

R & J Rural

3 Applebee Road, Two Wells

08 8520 2287

Balaklava Hardware & Fodder

19 Edith Terrace, Balaklava

08 8862 1063

Dublin Pet & Fodder

Shed 3, 9 Port Wakefield Road,

Dublin

08 8529 2306

Birdwood Grain & Fodder

12 Olivedale Street, Birdwood

08 8568 5499

Globe Derby Fodder

Lot 13 Whites Road, Globe Derby

08 8281 2011