Veterinary Care for Large Animals and Equines

As a rural veterinary practice Fredericktown Animal Hospital is pleased to offer a range of services to local farms with food-producing and companion animals. Being able to offer quality large animal and equine services to area farms and families means that we are living up to our desire to be a complete veterinary practice.

Large Animal Veterinary Services

For farms with small to large herds of beef cattle, goats, sheep, etc., we understand that it is important that they work with a large animal veterinarian with the flexibility to perform a range of services onsite as well as within a modern haul-in facility. Frederick Animal Hospital is pleased to offer both of these quality service options to our large animal clients.

This flexibility is especially important and valuable to the majority of our large animal clients, who tend to have a range of animals, breeds and number of livestock. In some instances, such as for vaccinations, examinations or when an animal is too ill or injured, it is simply impractical to bring an individual animal or the entire herd to the clinic. In cases where an animal requires surgery, treatment for some diseases, or for services such as breeding soundness exams for bulls, we feel the interests of our clients and their animals is best served by bringing them to our haul-in facility.

Additionally, performing farm calls provides us with the opportunity to observe farm conditions and to help the owner and livestock perform at top levels of production.

In general, our services include:

Farm Calls: We will perform individual animal and herd examinations as well as review conditions on the farm to help the farmer maximize production and decrease likelihood of disease and injuries.

Vaccines: We are well versed in large animal vaccines that promote individual animal and herd health. We have found, and our medical experience dictates that we vaccinate against the most important pathogens to protect any given herd or animal.

Illness Prevention: There are a number of contagious diseases prevalent in our area. We are fully adept at offering preventative care as well as treating these diseases should they occur. For beef cattle these include:

• Respiratory infections
• Blackleg
• Anaplasmosis
• Calf scours

For other large animals, these include:

• Respiratory infections
• Foot rot
• Internal and external parasites

We also treat a number of other issues common to large animals:

• Foot injuries
• Bloat
• Deworming
• Pregnancy checks
• Breeding soundness exam
• Birthing complications
 

Veterinary Services for Equines

We provide a range of services to breeders, stables and those who keep horses at their home, commonly referred to as backyard horses. As such, we see and have considerable experience treating a number of equine breeds.

As with the care we offer owners of large animals and livestock, services for equines can be delivered either at our haul-in facility or through farm-calls to our clients. Of course, whether we would recommend a farm-call or bringing an animal into our haul-in facility is dependent upon the health of the animal and the services being provided. The determination of which venue is most appropriate will be made by your veterinarian in consultation with the owner.

It is our goal to always work in the best interest of your equine in a manner that ensures the best service to our clients.

The equine services we offer include:

Vaccines: Fredericktown and all of Madison County, Missouri, is a wonderful place to live, farm and raise horses. However, we are not immune from a number of dangerous diseases that can be devastating to horses. These diseases are also highly infectious by nature and could pose a very real risk to the health of individual animals as well as herds.

However, there are a number of vaccines that have proved to be very effective at preventing many equine diseases. Fredericktown Animal Hospital is well versed in the nature and application of these vaccines and has developed an equine vaccination protocol designed to meet the needs of foals, mature animals and equines in their senior years.

The vaccines we generally recommend protect against:

• Rabies
• Potomac Horse Fever
• Streptococcus Equi (Strangles) (For young horses and horses that show and/or mix with other horses)
• Rhinopneumonitis/Flu
• West Nile Virus
• Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis

Diagnosis and Treatment of Medical Conditions: Though we prefer to prevent illness as much as we possibly can, there simply is no guarantee that a well-cared for equine will never face a periodic illness or injury. Fredericktown Animal Hospital is experienced and able to diagnose and treat a wide range of medical conditions.

These include, but certainly are not limited to:

• Coggins testing for Equine Infectious Anemia
• Colic
• Coughing
• Dystocia (abnormal or difficult birth of a foal)
• Choke in horses
• Laminitis / founder
• Respiratory infections
• Diarrhea
• Dental Care
• Lacerations
• Wound management
• Eye injuries
 

Equine Dentistry: Horses and related equines often require some dentistry in order to keep their teeth and gums healthy, which in turn goes a long way toward ensuring they are able to eat properly and maintain good nutritional health. We are able to perform a range of dental services on equines, which includes teeth floating, extractions and balance work on incisors and molars.

Not only will these services prevent painful and uncomfortable tooth and oral conditions from developing, but they are important to ensuring your horse is able to properly chew and digest his or her food.

(These procedures are performed at our partner hospital: The Veterinary Clinic of the Mineral Area)

Reproductive Health: Breeding horses is one of the most interesting and compelling enterprises an owner of horses can undertake. It is important to farmers seeking to broaden and maintain their herd and it is an important endeavor for those seeking to produce the next great race or show horse.

Fredericktown Animal Hospital is able to offer guidance on breeding and maintaining the health of the mare or dam during pregnancy and delivery. We also offer reproductive ultrasounds during important stages of pregnancy as well as artificial insemination to ensure the best chance of conception.

Equine Surgical Services: As with the medical care we provide equines, we would much prefer to do all that we can to help prevent the need for surgery. To this end, we will offer advice on how to properly keep horses as well as observe conditions where horses and equines are kept and offer suggestions to ensure their health and safety.

However, there are times when surgery is in the best interest of your equine.

Surgeries we perform include:

• Castrations
• Laceration repair
• Mass removals
• Hernia repair