06/03/2026
February Farm & Equine blog
A late addition to the monthly blog – we shall blame the madness of Spring time!
Over February we have had a big upswing in farm animal calls, especially calvings. There have been some very challenging caesarean sections over the past few weeks, from down cows, to twisted calves and uterine ruptures, but thankfully we have had some miraculous survival stories in the mix, despite the difficulties. I am so grateful for the team we have here at Donview, as there is always a helping hand available for these more difficult cases, where 2 vets are often better than 1!
We had a great day at the Spring Show at Thainstone on the 25th. A big thank you to Sarah for organising a great display table, and we had lots of entertainment with our “Guess what’s in the box” addition this year. It’s always nice to chat to our existing clients at these events, but great to see some new faces interested in meeting the team and hearing about what we do as well.
The equine side of things has been a bit quieter this month, but we have had a few guttural pouch washes and scopes, and a few sets of Xrays for early laminitis cases. With the grass starting to grow again, the laminitis risk is increasing so a friendly reminder to keep an eye on our EMS prone steeds. If you have any concerns regarding this, feel free to give us a call to chat to one of our vets about the best approach to managing this condition.
Finally, we are in the process of setting up a new information sharing group – The Donview Farm Hub. We will have a separate group for sheep and cattle, and the method of distribution (email, WhatsApp, newsletter etc) is still to be determined. This group will include short informative messages throughout the year dealing with the seasonal challenges to each farm species. For example – Nematodirus in lambs in spring, or Pneumonia is cattle at housing. We will share a brief explanation of the disease or challenge, what to look out for and how best to treat/manage/prevent these issues. Our aim is to simply inform farmers about issues we are seeing at different times of the year, and how they can best manage this on their own farm. If you are interested in being part of this Hub, please register your interest with Sarah!
Outside of work I have been taking advantage of the appearance of the sun with a few nice walks locally – Kirkhill and Bennachie being my favourite two. I have also been treating my own horse, Prim, for some persistent mud fever as well as gastric ulcers, never a dull moment being your own vet! Thankfully she is on the mend again and I am hoping to get out competing on the weekends again once spring calms down, and when she isn’t playing Cinderella!
Thank you,
Deanna
