INTERNAL MEDICINE

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Our veterinarian's are trained to provide general internal medicine treatment for your horse. This can include general internal medical conditions, neonatal conditions, neurological assessment and general ophthalomologic assessment. Complicated or complex cases would be referred to an internal medicine specialist in Saskatoon or Minnesota depending on the case.

 

In House Blood Monitoring

We have full in house blood labs to monitor your horses white and red blood cells, platelet levels and numerous electrolytes and body enzymes to accurately and quickly detect abnormalities. We use this equipment to monitor progress of treatment and detect abnormalities to hasten diagnosis.

A typical blood work up may include a complete blood count (CBC) and a biochemistry analysis (Chem). These two mainstay tests allow our veterinarians to get a good clinical picture of what is happening to the cells and organs of the body through the blood.

In addition, we have a stall side blood gas analyzer (iSTAT) which allows for rapid analysis of specific blood levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, pH, lactate, sodium/potassium/chloride and other acid/base related levels to help our veterinarians determine the best course of action in times of emergent need for your horse such as colics. This system is also used to monitor horses under general anesthesia to monitor for abnormalities and increase the level of safety for your horse during surgery.

We also have the ability to monitor clotting profiles in your horse as well as serum fibrinogen.

Any specialized tests required beyond our capabilities are referred out to reference laboratories for analysis and review by board certified clinical pathologists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serum Amyloid A

SAA is a type of protein produced in the horse's body in response to inflammation. This can be in response to infections, allergic reactions or injury and inflammation of a specific part of the body such as a joint. SAA is a cutting edge technology that Elders Equine veterinarians employ to help catch infections before they become a problem and monitor inflammation or joints to ensure treatments are successful.

As an example of how we use SAA in our daily practice, any horse that is about to travel or just finished traveling for 6 hours or more, is a candidate for SAA monitoring. With SAA monitoring, we can determine if the horse is fit to travel and when they arrive, we can determine if they will need vitamins, electrolytes and/or antibiotics or more advanced care depending on the values we get. In many case, the SAA is more sensitive than taking a temperature and detecting a fever - so SAA allows us to more quickly treat a horse before the infection fully develops, saving you and your horse time and heart ache.

SAA can also be used to detect joint infection vs inflammation. It is a key differentiating tool we can use to help ensure appropriate treatments are provided to your horse.

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Figure showing the difference between SAA detection of infection and traditional serum fibrinogen detection

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Elders Equine is the only equine practice in Manitoba to have this capability available stall side with our StableLab reader (www.stablelab.com). We have been using this technology a few years since it became available. We also can provide appropriate and proper interpretation of the result to best treat your horse.

Medical Endoscopy Service

We performed endoscopy services that include urogenital endoscopy - bladder (mares and geldings), urethra, vaginal, cervical, uterine as well as gastroscopy including esophageal examination for tears or diverticula. In addition, we performed respiratory exams of the upper and lower airways. Our internal medicine service typically uses the scope to examine the lower respiratory tract for conditions such as heaves, pneumonia and foreign body removal.