Archive for the General Category

Liphook Equine Hospital – Christmas and New Year Opening Hours!

We hope you and your horses have a happy and healthy holiday. However, should your horse need us we are open for emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Laboratory Christmas & New Year Opening Hours

ESSENTIALS OF EQUINE PRACTICE: Friday 7th June – Sunday 9th June 2019

Do you have any members of the practice that would be interested in attending our Essentials of Equine Practice course?

This is a 3-day residential course held at West Dean College, Chichester, and at the Liphook Equine Hospital. The course is aimed for recent graduates and more experienced colleagues wishing to refresh their knowledge of general equine practice. The course is also suitable for final year veterinary students. The course focuses exclusively on what you need to know in ambulatory equine practice and has a very practical emphasis.

There is a charge of £495 which includes 2 nights’ accommodation, food and entertainment for all 3 days.

For further information please click here

If you would like to book a place (or places), please complete a booking form. For further information please email tasha.wilson@theleh.co.uk

Our Autumn e-newsletter is OUT NOW and packed full of information.

What’s inside this issue:

– Atypical Myopathy – How vets diagnose and treat this highly fatal muscle disease

– Case Study – From Laminitis to HOYS

– Equine Nutrition – How to achieve the ideal body condition score

– LEH Vets Travel to Ukraine – Last month 3 of our vets travelled to Ukraine with the charitable arm of the British Equine Vet Association called BEVA Trust

– Q&A – Staff profile – With Veterinary Surgeon Rachel Tucker

Plus much more…..

To make sure you don’t miss out, sign up to our e-newsletter by emailing tasha.wilson@theleh.co.uk.

PLEASE VOTE FOR STUART DUNCAN! – Horse & Hound eVetDrug Vet of the Year Award!

PLEASE VOTE FOR STUART DUNCAN!
 
Horse & Hound eVetDrug Vet of the Year Award!
 
Stuart Duncan has made it to the final 4 of the Horse & Hound eVetDrug Vet of the Year Award.
 
“Appreciating the singular difference this skilled veterinary professional has made to a horse or horse’s lives — in sport and/or leisure.”
 
TO VOTE FOR STUART PLEASE  CLICK HERE
 
You may submit one (1) vote for each award on the Website. In the event that you submit more than one (1) vote per award on the Website, all votes submitted by you will be declared void.
 
You must select one (1) name only for each chosen category. If you select two (2) or more nominees for any category, your vote for that category will be declared void.
 
Voting closes at 23:59 on 18 October 2018
 
Thank you!

Liphook Equine Hospital invite you to an evening on: Keeping performance horses at the top of their game

Click Here for the poster

 

Monday 29th October 2018 

Venue: University of Surrey, Vet School Main Building(VSM), Daphne Jackson Road, Guildford, GU2 7AL 

Doors open 7pm / Prompt 7.30pm start 

 

A review of recent advances in Standing Surgery – The story so far! 

Tom Hughes MA VetMB CertES (Orth) DECVS MRCVS is a Clinical Director and Surgeon at Liphook Equine Hospital and is an RCVS and European Specialist in Equine Surgery 

 

A complete guide to Equine Gastric Ulcers – Signs,pathophysiology and treatment 

 Andy Durham BSc BVSc CertEP DEIM DipECEIM MRCVS is a Clinical Director and Head of the Medicine Referral team at Liphook Equine Hospital and is an RCVS and European Specialist in Equine Internal Medicine 

 

With guest speaker International Showjumper : TREVOR BREEN

Trevor Breen has had a great deal of success to date both competing on the National and International circuit as well as sourcing, producing and selling some top international horses. He has been a regular member of the Irish International team since 2007 and on the Olympic long list for the London 2012 and Rio 2016 games

 

To book your FREE place, please contact our reception team on:  01428 723594, or via email to tasha.wilson@theleh.co.uk 

Kindly supported by Equitop Myoplast

 

Yard Manager Vacancy

Liphook Equine Hospital is looking to recruit an exceptional individual to join our yard management team who are responsible for the management of our team of grooms and nurses and for overseeing the smooth running of the yard with stabling for 50 horses.
 
Candidates must possess the highest standards of stable management, have experience of running a big yard and managing a team and must be highly competent and confident in handling a wide variety of horses. We are looking for a strong leader with an eye for detail and aspirations of excellence in all things. Nursing experience and/or qualifications would be very desirable but are not essential.
 
The role will be based at our state-of-the art hospital in Liphook Hampshire and the successful applicant will be expected to work flexible shifts which will include weekends and some night duties. A highly competitive salary and package is offered.
 
To apply please send a CV with covering letter stating current salary and including two referees FAO Carrie Goodbourn, by email to carrie.goodbourn@theleh.co.uk or by post to Liphook Equine Hospital, Forest Mere, Liphook, Hants, GU30 7JG, by COP Friday 28th September 2018.

DEAD OR ALIVE? – A new major advance in Strangles Testing

There is no doubt that molecular biologic technologies such as PCR testing have dramatically increased the sensitivity of diagnostic tests designed to detect the presence of several infectious pathogens including Streptococcus equi subsp. equi (Strep equi), Salmonella sp., CEMO and Dermatophytosis. Following on from an outbreak of strangles it is important to establish freedom from infection in all affected animals before “a line is drawn” under the outbreak and horses are free to mix and attend shows. Evidence suggests that guttural pouches are the only logical target for post-outbreak sampling with latest research indicating a greater than 50 times chance of detecting the presence of Strep equi in the guttural pouches of carriers compared to their nasopharynx (Boyle and others 2017). Furthermore, recent studies indicate that around 40% of culture-negative strangles submissions may be positive by PCR (Boyle and others 2017; Pusterla and others 2018).

However, the main drawback to reliance on PCR testing is that the technique simply detects the presence or absence of the DNA or RNA of the organism in question, whether or not that material is present in live or dead organisms. Indeed one recent study indicated that less than 20% of PCR positive and culture negative samples contained viable organisms (Pusterla and others 2018). It has been suggested that the lack of mucociliary clearance mechanisms in the guttural pouch could facilitate retention of DNA from dead Strep equi organisms leading to positive PCR results that do not actually indicate any risk of contagion.

A new PCR assay has been developed at Liphook which can distinguish live from dead Strep equi organisms. Use of this PCR will enable much greater confidence in the clinical relevance of positive PCR results. Results from examination of 10 washes, 5 of which had been boiled to kill the organisms, is shown in the graph below. The PCR was able to distinguish the live from dead organisms. Further validation in greater numbers of samples is ongoing.

In order to avoid the possible confounding effect of death of organisms between sampling and testing, it is important that samples are shipped in chilled saline (ACTH chiller packs for example), as previous evidence indicates that viability of Strep equi is excellent in cold and wet conditions (Durham and others 2018).

BOYLE, A. G., STEFANOVSKI, D. & RANKIN, S. C. (2017) Comparison of nasopharyngeal and guttural pouch specimens to determine the optimal sampling site to detect Streptococcus equi subsp equi carriers by DNA amplification. BMC Vet Res 13, 75

DURHAM, A. E., HALL, Y. S., KULP, L. & UNDERWOOD, C. (2018) A study of the environmental survival of Streptococcus equi subspecies equi. Equine Vet J

PUSTERLA, N., LEUTENEGGER, C. M., BARNUM, S. M. & BYRNE, B. A. (2018) Use of quantitative real-time PCR to determine viability of Streptococcus equi subspecies equi in respiratory secretions from horses with strangles. Equine Vet J 50, 697-700

Part Time Groom Required

We are seeking to employ an additional, hardworking and enthusiastic individual to work within our state-of-the-art equine hospital based in Liphook, Hampshire. You will be responsible for providing first class care for horses, ponies and donkeys. Applicants must have a proven record of excellent horse handling, horse care and top class stable management, plus experience of working in a professional yard. We require reliable, conscientious, self-motivated applicants with extremely high standards. Nursing skills are not required.

The candidate will be required to work every weekend from 7am until 1pm, Saturday & Sunday. Additional hours may be available, based on zero hours contract.

Please apply to the Yard Manager enclosing your CV and the names of at least two referees. Please include details of your notice period and current salary package.

Applications should be sent either by mail to Liphook Equine Hospital, Forest Mere, Liphook, GU30 7JG or by email to post@theleh.co.uk

Liphook Equine Hospital joins forces with Vet Partners

We are pleased to announce that on the 8th August 2018 Liphook Equine Hospital has joined forces with Vet Partners, one of the leading veterinary groups.  Joining the group positions LEH to take the business forwards and, with the backing of an experienced partner, we will be able to develop the practice and continue to invest in the facilities and services that enable us to remain at the forefront of equine veterinary care.  The entire team of directors, veterinary surgeons, nursing and support staff remain unchanged and our clients will see no change in the day to day interaction with the practice and the care that we provide to your horses.  The relationship offers great opportunities for the excellent team at LEH giving them even more opportunity for development and career progression.  Vet Partners has a base of small animal practices across England, Scotland and Wales, and moved into equine and mixed practices earlier this year.  These are exciting times for the practice and we look forward to new developments and to continuing to provide the very best care possible for you and your horses.

 

 

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