Currently on the Paton and Lee News Page: Half Price Visit Fee Days - Save Money On Your Vets Bill Now! Metformin - Helping with Weight Loss and Laminitis Equitop Myoplast - Getting Competition Fit Preventing Summer Sweet Itch Prescriptions from Paton and Lee  Credit Crunch - Top 5 Tips for surviving the hardship...   Half Price Visit Fee Days In recognition of the financial squeeze affecting us all, we have now introduced half price visit fee days for routine veterinary work. We have divided the practice territory into six zones and the half price days are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Each of the six zones is therefore visited once every fortnight. Click here for a .pdf version of the Zones Map. Exact times for these half price visits cannot be offered in advance, and owners will not be able to choose the specific veterinary surgeon they would like to carry out the work. Owners will be contacted the day before their appointments to be advised of their allotted time. If more than one owner is being seen at a single yard, then the half price visit fee will still be divided between the owners as normal, making a further saving. Click here for a .pdf version of the timetable for half price visit fee days.   Equine Metabolic Syndrome - a weighty problem It's that time of year again - the worst of the frost should be behind us and we are getting the lawn mowers ready for action again. As the grass starts to grow going into the spring, the vets at Paton and Lee will begin to see more and more cases of laminitis. Some of these cases will be very severe, and it is a sad fact that we lose several patients to laminitis each year. It is a problem to be taken very seriously, and prevention is undoubtedly better than cure. Luckily, we understand more about the prevention of laminitis than ever. One condition implicated as a risk factor is equine metabolic syndrome, or insulin resistance (IR). Horses and ponies have evolved in the wild to have plenty of food and energy in the summer months, and to lose weight and struggle through the winter. Domesticated horses don't tend to go through this natural weight loss period, and by remaining in good condition all year can develop resistance to the hormone insulin. The role of insulin is to encourage sugars in the blood to move into cells and get metabolised. When IR develops, horses become less able to metabolise sugar. They lay down more fat and can develop persistently high blood sugar and insulin levels, which can then lead to the development of laminitis. We can test whether a horse has IR or not with a simple blood sample taken in the morning before feeding time. High sugar and insulin levels will indicate insulin resistance and a risk of laminitis developing. (It is sometimes possible to have a 'false negative' blood test in horses that actually have IR, and a more complicated test is then required to make a diagnosis.) If you havea horse with a history of laminitis that has been difficult to treat, or a horse that has not dropped below condition score 3 throughout the year, it would be worth phoning us to discuss having this blood test performed. A new drug is now available to combat the effects of insulin resistance. Metformin is a prescription only medicine developed for use in humans with IR. By giving metformin to horses, the effects of IR can be treated, helping these patients to lose weight, and reducing the risk of laminitis occurring. The good news for horse owners is that Metformin is not an expensive drug, so patients can be tested and treated without running up a huge veterinary bill. If you would like more information on Metformin, or if your think your horse or pony might benefit from treatment, ring the practice now for further advise.     Equitop Myoplast Having been used in Germany for a number of years, Equitop Myoplast is finally available to horse owners in the UK. Designed to support growth of lean muscle tissue, Equitop Myoplast contains 18 amino acids within 'power pearls' that are given in food to increase your horses strength, speed, stamina and power. Equitop Myoplast is indicated for horses during periods of intensive training and competition, when horses are coming back into work after a period of rest or in young horses working for the first time, in older horses that struggle to maintain their condition and in brood mares that have an increased need for protein. Further information can be found on the Myoplast website www.equitop-myoplast.co.uk or click to see the Myoplast brochure.  Equitop Myoplast is available now from Paton and Lee. The normal price is £65 for a tub, but if you are trying the product for the first time on your horse, follow the links on the Myoplast website and fill in a £15 discount form. You need to send the completed form to Paton and Lee before you can recieve your £15 credit. If you are not sure whether Equitop Myoplast could benefit your horse, call the practice now and ask to speak to one of the veterinary surgeons.     Preventing Summer Sweet Itch - A New Weapon In 2010   There is new hope for sufferers of sweet itch this summer, and now is the time to act to give your itchy horse or pony the best chance of relief from the midges this year. Cavalesse and Cavalesse Topical help maintain and support a healthy skin in horses prone to summer skin allergies. Cavalesse is a natural food supplement containing a specialised formulation of water-soluble vitamins and minerals, including nicotinamide. Once a month the contents of each sachet are simply dissolved in water to form an oral solution, which can be administered daily via a special pipette, either by sprinkling over a small handful of feed or adding to a treat such as a sugar lump. The supplement helps horses maintain a healthy skin and promotes normal immune function. To complete the Cavalesse skin management range, Cavalesse Topical is a skincare gel that can be used in combination with the Cavalesse solution. The gel can be applied to the skin to help support natural immunity from the outside, whilst the oral solution works in partnership from the inside. Click here to see some Cavalesse Case Studies - Case 1 : Case 2 : Case 3 Cavalesse is now available from Paton and Lee by prescription only. If you think that this new treatment could help your horse or pony, why not call the office and ask to speak to one of vets. We can then arrange an appointment and start treatment straight away.     Prescriptions from Paton and Lee   Prescriptions are available from Paton and Lee for £11 per prescription. Prescriptions can only be written for patients with a condition that is currently under the care of one of our veterinary surgeons. If you would like further information about getting a prescription for your horse or pony, please contact the reception.     Credit Crunch - top tips for surviving the hardship with a horse. We all know that it's time to pull in the purse strings and look after the pennies... all except for our horses of course!  Unfortunately, our equine friends have not realised that they are not supposed to get sick / lame / broken until the global recession recedes, so here are our top five tips for surviving the credit crisis without compromising on horse care. 1. Share your visits - It sounds obvious, but visit fees are a large part of any veterinary bill. At Paton and Lee, we only ever charge a single visit fee to any location, so if you are on a livery yard and can get together with just one other owner to share the call out, your visit fee will be cut in half, saving you pounds. If you can get half a dozen different clients together, your call out fee will be virtually free! 2. Be organised: check your vaccination card now! - It happens every year... you know that there is something on the back of your mind, but can't put a finger on it. Then, too late! You realise that your horse's annual booster vaccination is overdue. Re-starting a course of vaccinations is an expense that you could do without, but if you take your horse to any competitions, your vaccinations must be up to date. Once your horse is overdue, there's nothing we can do! 3. Kill many birds with one stone - If you have to call us out, get as much done as possible during the same visit. When you have your horses vaccinations done, get their teeth checked and if neccesary rasped by the vet too. Paton and Lee vets provide an excellent level of dental care for all horses, and can sedate without delay if required for a thorough rasp to be performed. If you plan ahead, you can also tie-in any sedation required for clipping or shoeing with your routine dental work, saving extra visit fees and drug costs. 4. Keep up the insurance payments! - If you have an equine insurance policy, now is not the time to cancel it to try and save a little cash. In our experience, horses and ponies tend to be well versed in 'sods law', and tend to get broken the minute any insurance cover expires. Keeping your pet insurance going through the tough times could well end up saving you great expense and / or heartache if things suddenly go wrong. 5. Get on the phone! - Unlike many professions, we veterinary surgeons are quite unique when it comes to giving advice on the phone because to speak to us is totally free! Brilliant! There are not many things free nowadays, but if you have any concerns about your horse, just call the practice. If we can't speak to you immediately, we will get back to you asap and answer your questions. That saddle sore you are so worried about might be easy to treat yourself. Those swollen legs might need seeing right away. Whatever the situation, call Paton and Lee for free (you will have to pay your phone bill!) and prevent a simple problem from becoming an expensive disaster.