Preventive Care

• Dental Care
  Many of you have asked me “how do the Mustangs survive without dental work?” Here’s the answer: they chew more. The equine tooth evolved some 25 million years ago in response to changes in the earth’s vegetation. Available forage went from soft leaves to tough, fibrous grasses. In order to adequately break down this material, the horse developed hypsodont teeth, which erupt continuously throughout life. Each tooth is worn down by rubbing against an opposing tooth, creating an ever changing biting surface with ongoing wear of these surfaces determined by the horse’s diet and chew cycle.
• Vaccination
  Pregnant mares should be vaccinated 4-6 weeks before foaling. This vaccination is critical, and is protecting the foal as well as the mare. The antibodies created in response to this vaccination will be concentrated in the mare's colostrum, which is the milk she produces at foaling time. The foal has specialized cells in the small intestinal lining that are able to absorb the large antibody molecules present in colostrum. These cells only function for the first 24 hours of life, therefore
• Nutritional Counseling
  Clinical signs: There are several clinical syndromes associated with sand accumulation in the colon. Some horses will have intermittent diarrhea and weight loss, without obvious signs of colic. More commonly, horses show recurrent signs of mild to moderate abdominal pain, often accompanied by diarrhea and poor appetite. Horses will stretch out as if unable to urinate, spend long periods of time lying down, occasionally paw at the ground, and in more severe cases, roll. They often respond initially to medical treatment for colic, but signs usually recur within 12 to 24 hours of initial treatment.
• Comprehensive Examination
  Early, specific veterinary intervention is the key to successful treatment of colic. Your ability to get temperature, pulse, respiration, and evaluate gut sounds and gum color at the onset of a colic episode can provide information critical to your veterinarian’s treatment decision process. All you need is an inexpensive stethoscope and a thermometer. Here is a link to a good article in TheHorse.com https://thehorse.com/14385/the-basic-physical-examination/. Ask me to review your physical exam skills at your fall clinic appointment. I am happy to help!

Illness Treatment

• Parasites Treatment and Control
  Treatment involves immune-suppressive medication (steroids), destruction of larvae (dewormer) and surgical removal of the larvae, proud flesh and granular inflammatory deposits from the lesion. I surgically excised the summer sore from this horse’s lip, sutured the wound closed, and applied Alu-shield spray to the wound and SWAT around the area. The horse also received a carefully calculated dose of steroid, short-term antibiotics, and Ivermectin deworming.
• Skin Condition and Allergy Treatment
  Body Conditon As you get your horse’s feet in shape, start grooming! Get that winter hair loose, check for any skin conditions and feel your horse’s back and barrel – is their body condition what you hope for? Many horses gain or lose unnoticed weight under winter hair coats and blankets. Your spring clinic appointment is a good time to ask Dr. Chrysann about your horse’s nutrition program.
• Upper Respiratory Illness Treatment
  Upon completion of her residency and PhD program, Chrysann earned a position as Assistant Professor of Large Animal Internal Medicine at the Atlantic Veterinary College in eastern Canada. She remained in Canada for 4 years, teaching 4th year veterinary students, conducting research on the high speed treadmill studying the respiratory system of Standardbred racehorses, and serving as senior clinician in the busy hospital clinic as well as out in the field.

Infection Treatment

• Bacterial and Viral Infection Treatment
  All types of honey possess beneficial wound healing qualities. The antibacterial activity of most honey’s is due to the presence of hydrogen peroxide, which can be inactivated by enzymes normally present in the healing wound. In contrast, the antibacterial component of manuka honey is a small water-soluble molecule, methylglyoxal, that diffuses easily through the wound environment, and is resistant to enzymatic degradation. This compound also penetrates the biofilm which forms in wounds, protecting bacteria from the action of many systemic and topical antimicrobial agents. Finally, Manuka honey is available in sterile, medical grade preparations. Non-medical grade honey often harbors bacteria that are not dangerous when used for food consumpution, but which can colonize wounds causing secondary bacterial infections. For all of these reasons, medical grade Manuka honey products are the safest, most effective choice for wound treatment.

Chronic Condition Treatment

• Hip Dysplasia Treatment
  The diagnosis and treatment of lameness is a critical part of equine veterinary practice. As a horse owner, developing familiarity with the lameness examination and diagnostic workup helps you understand and evaluate information Dr. Collatos may present to you concerning your horse’s lameness. You will be better equipped to make the best decision for your horse concerning further diagnostics and treatment options the more you feel comfortable with the process of diagnosing equine lameness.
• Cancer Treatment
  We all love Reno’s 252 annual sunny days, but the sun, high elevation, and frequent high winds create the perfect opportunity for Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), a common malignant skin cancer of horses. SCC is a locally invasive, malignant tumor, seen most commonly on non-pigmented (pink) skin. It rarely spreads to other locations in the body, but it is does have a very high recurrence rate after treatment, because the cancer sends extensive “roots” of neoplastic cells deep into tissues surrounding the initial tumor site.

Emergency Care

• Wound and Fracture Care
  Wounds, especially those located below the knee or hock, are notorious sources of frustration for horse owners and veterinarians alike. Understanding how wounds heal is the first step in designing an appropriate wound management plan; choosing a wound dressing that supports the body’s healing mechanisms is second.

Surgery

• Veterinary Surgery
  At this point, I asked Mary if she had any questions, and how she wanted to proceed. Mary expressed her confidence that her horse was safe and that with our well defined time line she was comfortable moving forward with the diagnostic plan at home. Currently we still have no specific diagnosis for Flash. I am consulting with a colleague who is an American College of Veterinary Surgery diplomate while Mary continues to balance the value of more advanced diagnostics against the cost, and Flash patiently waits as Mary and I navigate the course of his care together.

Lab and X-Rays

• Laboratory Services
  Assuming your foal is delivered without complication, you should dip the umbilical cord in dilute chlorhexidine or 2% iodine within 30 minutes of birth. Do not cut or tie the umbilical cord, rather allow it to break on its own. When the placenta passes, collect it and save it in a bucket. Once the foal is up and nursing by 2 hours, give everyone a hug and a smile, and CALL THE VET to schedule your foal’s post-natal exam, which should happen when the foal is 18-24 hours old. It is critical to confirm that your foal has consumed adequate colostrum (the mare’s first milk) which contains essential antibodies. This will be confirmed during the post-natal exam with a stall-side blood test, and a full physical examination of the mare and foal, as well as placental evaluation will be performed.
• X-Ray
• Microchipping

Specialty

• Equine Vet
  I’ll be honest with you. Being a veterinarian to Camelids was not high on my list of professional goals when I moved to Nevada. Then I met Jeanette Miller and Kay Rodriguez, two charming and persistent alpaca breeders who each live within 5 miles of my office and who manage alpaca herds of over 50 animals apiece. They weren’t too interested in hearing about the Reno horse vet down the street, but they certainly were ready to reel me in as their new alpaca guru-in-training. Thirteen years later I guess you could say I’ve acquired a certain amount of experience treating these rather endearing, and often professionally challenging, creatures.