Kern Road Veterinary Clinic

Fall Newsletter 2006

Although it doesn’t seem possible that 2006 is almost over, November is here and cold weather is with us. 2006 has been an exciting year at Kern Road Veterinary Clinic, a year filled with many changes. Dr. Kristina Woody and her husband Dr. Rick Baszler moved to Grand Haven and are now the proud parents of Charlotte Annette, born in September. Dr. Rachel Schrader and her husband Bret welcomed the arrival of their second son William (Will) Stacy, also in September. Dr. Becky Balavitch and her husband Mike became the proud parents of Elena Rose in May. We congratulate them all as they start or expand their families.

Courtney Horst, one of our veterinary assistants, was accepted to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University and started classes in September. Ashley Shuck, another one of our veterinary assistants, resumed full time classes in veterinary technology at MSU and Sami Sprague joined her mother in Springfield, VA to continue her education. We wish them well in their educational pursuits.

Welcome Dr. Heffelman

We are proud to welcome Dr. Richard Heffelman, II to our professional staff at Kern Road Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Heffelman is a graduate of Colorado State University and brings to our small animal clinic an impressive background in small animal medicine and surgery. We hope that you will have an opportunity to meet and welcome Dr. Heffelman soon.

Welcome Heather Alflen

Heather Alflen has joined the Kern Road team as a Licensed Veterinary Technician. Heather received her degree from Baker College and is a welcome addition to our small animal team.

Client Appreciation Day

We would like to thank everyone that attended our Client Appreciation Day in August. The weather co-operated and we hope that all who attended enjoyed themselves and we look forward to making this an annual event.

Website

Recently our website has been updated, including the addition of a “Client Education Center” to provide more information about our services and current information that is pertinent to the health of your animals. We encourage you to visit our website and please make suggestions if there is information that we can provide that would be helpful to keeping your animals healthy.

Clinical Updates

West Nile Encephalitis

After a relatively calm year in 2005, West Nile Encephalitis cases were on the increase in 2006. This disease will be with us for the foreseeable future due to the fact that it is well entrenched in the wild bird population. The virus is spread from birds to horses via mosquitoes. The vaccines available have proven to be very effective in producing immunity in horses and have been responsible for the decrease in clinical cases. We recommend vaccinating twice per year to maintain maximum immunity. Most cases appear in late summer and early fall which is one reason that we recommend the second vaccination late in the summer. Another reason is to maintain a high level of immunity throughout the season when horses may be exposed. Minimizing exposure to mosquitoes is also very important in preventing West Nile Encephalitis.

Equine Herpes Virus

The neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus has been an active topic again this year. Recently the Racing Commissioner has mandated that all horses that enter Michigan’s racetracks have been vaccinated within 6 months for EHV. EHV (Rhinopneumonitis) is endemic in the horse population and the neurological form surfaces periodically. While no vaccine is specific for the neurological form, it is recommended to vaccinate regularly for EHV to have as much immunity as possible against this disease. The vaccine for EHV is a part of our annual spring vaccines and we recommend boosters every 6-8 weeks throughout the showing season.

Rabies

This year there were several confirmed cases of rabies. The rabies virus that was isolated from the affected horses was the variety carried by skunks. Because there is no totally effective way to prevent possible exposure to wildlife, including skunks, it is vitally important to maintain annual vaccinations to protect against the disease.

New Services

Several newer treatment modalities that we are using have been proving to be very effective. Shockwave therapy has been helpful in certain lameness conditions. IRAP therapy has also been very promising in tendon and ligament injuries. Microchipping for permanent identification of horses is a service that we recommend for all horses that are not permanently identified by other methods. Please visit our website at www.kernroadvet.com for more information on these services and other pertinent information.

We would like to remind everyone that we do have facilities for ship-in services and we encourage everyone to utilize this. Also, we strongly encourage that all horses’ teeth be examined and all dental work be done during the winter season when most show and work schedules are lighter.



As always if there are any questions about the topics in this newsletter or any other topics please call us or visit our website. All suggestions about our services or new services that you would like are encouraged.