Happy Holidays...planning for the New Year

Happy Holidays everyone,
Wow, a very crazy end to this year! First the fires then a lot of rain. I know that the rain wreaked some unexpected havoc on many local ranches and impacted the recent Greater San Diego Hunter Jumper year end Championship show. But, with a little humor and a lot of perseverance everyone seemed to have gotten through safe and sound and very ready to celebrate with family and friends during the holidays. I even managed to fit in our year end Equine Veterinary annual conference in Orlando, Florida. Here's a funny little video I came across to maybe get everyone in the Holiday Spirit. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C8DB9A442F6B5F24

I know that one is supposed to update their blogs every week or so but I've had a little writers block. As much as I like to talk you wouldn't think that would be a problem! What I thought would be a good idea to focus on as we approach the new year is equine Insurance. It may sound boring, but I have found that it is an important consideration if you own a horse. Many of my clients have found insurance to be very beneficial when a complicated medical condition, lameness, injury or colic situation occurs. Insurance has allowed us to delve deeper into complicated lameness issues using more sophisticated diagnostics such as nuclear scintigraphy and cutting edge therapeutics such as stem cell therapy. Also, imagine if your horse suddenly has colic that needs surgical intervention. This can cost easily from $5.000-$7,000 as a minimum. Insurance can give you assurance that if a critical injury arises for your horse that you will not incur a huge financial burden to help cure your animal. I do not work for any insurance companies I have just seen the difference it has made in cases I have worked on. No one likes to make life or death decisions for their pets based solely on finances. Insurance may be a way to mitigate the impact of these unexpected situations. So, perhaps after the holidays wind down and as you're are making plans for next year, you may consider investigating equine insurance. I know there are a handful of companies that advertise in the Southern California Horseman's Directory.

On a lighter note, I wish you all a wonderful, peaceful, fun Holiday Season. I have many memories to reflect upon with you my clients from this last year. Who knew at the beginning of the year I was going to pull a horse out of a ditch with a local fire department, save a foal being born who was in the wrong position, use brand new regenerative cell technology to repair sports injuries and work with one of the Olympic team vets this year! You never know what's ahead. Here's to an even more exciting and rewarding New Year! Lisa

San Diego Wildfires 2007

http://www.drlisagrim.com/

This “firestorm” has affected almost everyone I know and everyone who owns a horse. I personally was involved in helping evacuate horses and helped horses at the evacuation centers who had health problems. So far I know of two clients of mine who have lost their homes and my heart goes out to them. Fortunately, their horses are safe. So far I have not heard of any of my patients suffering major injuries from the fires or the evacuation process, Thank Goodness! As always horse owners come together and selflessly help each other. I felt that this year the evacuations actually went smoother and with less injuries than the 2003 fires. I think this was due to more advanced notice, people willing to evacuate sooner and perhaps a little experience. I know we want to get on with our normal lives and not dwell too much on this stressful event, but it is always good to take a few moments after a disaster and evaluate. How prepared were you? What could we have done better? Obviously I haven’t heard all the stories yet, but I would welcome all of your input. Send me your stories, pictures, where did you evacuate to? What do you think you could have done better? How could someone else or an organization possibly help out? Any tips or tidbits are welcome. I’ll follow here with a general disaster preparedness plan and will send you other ideas as they come in.


Are you prepared?

When disasters occur and we face evacuating and caring for our horses, it takes a little more effort and planning. Obviously the biggest concern in our area is the need to evacuate in the case of a large wild fire. However, being prepared helps even if your horse is ill and needs to be moved to an equine hospital.

Emergency kit

Consider having an easy to access emergency kit. Remember in an emergency everyone tends to get anxious and you want things handy. You may choose to have general first aid items here including antiseptic soap and ointment and some bandage material, but also consider having your horse's normal daily medication here if they are on a prescription. Bandage scissors, a working flashlight, and emergency phone numbers are helpful. This includes my number, your trainer or neighbor, a trailering service if you don’t own a trailer, fire dept., sheriff’s dept., animal control/rescue, and a list of potential evacuation sites.

Trailering Options

One of the biggest issues in this large equine evacuation event was the lack of horse trailers. Some people were able to get some of their horses out, but on return were not allowed back in to get the remainder of their animals.
Do you have a trailer? How many horses do you have and will they all fit in your trailer(s)? If the answer is no to these you might spend some time researching alternatives in your area. I already know that several of my clients have plans to buy a trailer next week, but in some circumstances it does not make sense to have a horse trailer sitting around for each horse (i.e. large stables) But, have a plan, even if your horse needs to go to the hospital in the middle of the night. There are several transportation companies in the Southern California Horsemen’s Directory. Also there are many friends and neighbors that are willing to help out in an emergency. Have more than one option and the phone numbers handy. I will be working with the county Disaster preparedness chief veterinarian about the possibility of collecting names and numbers of people at evacuation sites willing to come out and help with evacuations once their stock is safe.
And…..if you are ever in this situation again and are having a hard time getting a hold of someone, please give me a call, I will do my best to help you out.

I am so glad to know that everyone for the most part now is safe and sound. I know a lot of us are mentally regrouping, but I see people starting to ride this week and the partnership we have with these equine companions of ours always helps us to feel grounded. Unfortunately some of our friends in Ramona have not faired so well. There were a lot more homes and barns lost in this area. If you have any interest there is a group working on bringing in donated hay to those who lost their entire Winter supply of hay....you can donate at this website http://www.hswhs.org/.

If you know of any other needs in our equine community please write. And please share here your stories, insights and even humor through this whole week. Also, you can access my website directly at http://www.drlisagrim.com/.

Thanks and God Bless,
Lisa

Lisa Grim, DVM, Inc.
858-759-5144