As horse owners and competitors, we want to give our equine athletes every opportunity to feel and perform their best. Keeping up to date with the latest news in horse health and medicine is an important part of that, and it’s why Medivet Equine is bringing you the latest in horse health news each week.
Following the medical model of “do no harm,” MediVet Equine develops scientifically based therapeutics enabling the horse to call on its own healing ability, thus achieving its full performance potential. MediVet Equine provides effective, all natural, drug free products and lab services designed to optimize the overall health of performance horses. They specialize in regenerative treatments that help the body heal itself to get stronger naturally. Boyd Martin has several of his top competitive mounts on MediVet ACS, and has had terrific results!
This Week in Horse Health News …
What your horse really wants for Christmas is a little enrichment. Enrichment is something that improves an animal’s quality of life generally by allowing them to perform natural behaviors and therefore improving their wellbeing. The Horse has put together a helpful bunch of enrichment ideas that your horse would love to receive for holidays. [The Horse]
France’s low rate of equine influenza is very likely due to its high rate of vaccination. Between 2015 and 2018, there were actually no cases of equine flu identified in the country. Researchers tested over 3,000 archived serum samples drawn during this period of time and found there to be 84.6% immunity coverage. For comparison, studies on immunity coverage in humans is often below 60%. Unfortunately, a new flu sub-strain that has invaded Europe was detected in France last December. The new strain will challenge the country’s vaccination coverage, but the high level of immunity should still reduce transmission and lessen the severity of the disease. [HorseTalk]
A new drug for treating fever in horses has been approved by the FDA. Zimeta™ (dipyrone injection), which is made by Kindred Biosciences, Inc., is actually the first and currently only FDA-approved medication for treating fever (also known as pyrexia) in horses. Zimeta is classified as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and it works by targeting fever where it originates in the brain. It is administered via intravenous injection. [EquiManagement]
