New equine facilities open at Veterinary Clinic and Hospital
Press release
29 October 2008
A state of the art trot-up track for detecting lameness in horses and five newly refurbished boxes for treating foals have been opened at the University of Melbourne’s Veterinary Clinic and Hospital based in Werribee.
Equine staff at the Centre now also have access to a mechanical ventilator for animals in need of respiratory support.
These new additions mean the Equine Centre, with two specialist clinicians in Equine Medicine and another as Dean of the Faculty, can offer support to clients – from stud farms as well as individual horse owners – that is unparalleled in Victoria.
With lameness one of the hardest diagnoses to make with horses, the new trot-up track is a vital facility for the hospital.
The purpose-built, hard, flat track and adjacent soft sand track will complement the soft surface inside the equine school where animals can be ridden or lunged to ensure Dr Chris Whitton, a specialist in lameness, and his staff have the best chance of identifying the cause of horses’ problems.
“I like to be able to see a horse trot away and towards me in a straight line on a hard and soft surface as well as lunging in a circle in both directions and now we are able to do this,” said Dr Whitton.
The new tracks allow detailed assessment of horses at a variety of gaits on different surfaces and are designed to be used in conjunction with the Centre’s high speed gait analysis system, which utilises high speed cameras and motion analysis software.
“We see a lot of lame horses here because of the quality of the equipment we have and our expertise and experience, but investigating the causes of it is one of the hardest challenges for any veterinarian,” he said. “Often they are very subtle and complex and, in performance horses especially, there can be multiple niggling injuries that take several days to identify.
“This now gives us a dedicated area to carry out this process thoroughly.”
The new foal facility has been installed over the past twelve months and includes mare and foal stalls with foal enclosures where foals can receive intensive care on supportive mats with intravenous fluids administered via infusion pumps and ventilators with the mare still able to maintain contact with her foal.
Facilities for mechanical ventilation of foals in need of respiratory support are also available. The refurbished foal boxes also allow staff to maintain animals in isolation if they are suffering from illnesses such as diarrhoea.
Laura Fennell, an equine medicine resident, said: “We now have the latest equipment, which means the standard of care is even higher. With the mechanical ventilator in particular we can treat animals that in the past we might have had to put down.
“The hospital now has 30 boxes in total, of which five have been designed especially for foals in need of intensive care. Prior to opening these five boxes, we were using bigger ones designed for mares and foals, which meant we couldn’t isolate the foals.”
Part funding for the new foal facility was donated by the Victorian Wakeful Club.
For further information please contact the Marketing Manager, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 8344 7844 or email: vet-communications@unimelb.edu.au