Finger Lakes Equine Practice

04/18/2025

Believe it or not green grass is here! At this time of year the sugar content in grass can be especially high. This means it's time to make sure our mini's, ponies, EMS/metabolic horses and laminitic prone horses are on dry lots or wearing grazing muzzles.

04/07/2025

The ice is finally gone and ticks are back! (Though they never really left!)

A reminder for careful tick checks when grooming, pay special attention to the areas under the jaw, in the armpits, and the groin.
Fly sprays, and other products like EquiSpot and Seresto collars (generally 1.5 large dog collars per average sized horse), can all work in helping to deter them as well.

If you find a tick bite we generally recommend removing the tick and treating topically with triple antibiotic ointment. If you are worried your horse is showing signs of illness from a tick bite (fever, lethargy, inappetence…) please call FLEP!

03/19/2025

Warm weather and spring are finally here! That means it’s mud season and also time for spring shots and dental care!

If you haven’t scheduled your routine wellness care yet for this spring please call our office to get on the calendar.

01/31/2025

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting our client appreciation brunch on February 15th this year! The event will take place at Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Cortland, NY. In the past this has been a great success with the opportunity to connect with other clients from different disciplines and breeds. Talks will focus on current developments in equine veterinary medicine. Once again we will have opportunities for interactive participation, so bring your cell phones.

The brunch will start at 11:00 am with presentations beginning at 12:30 pm lasting about 60-75 minutes in length.

There is no charge to our clients and their guests for this event. Space will be limited to 200 people. An RSVP is required, so give us a call to reserve your spot. We appreciate your business, so c’mon out, have some fun, and enjoy reacquainting with those you may have met last year or meet some new nearby horse folks.

Hope to see you there,
The FLEP team!

01/22/2025

Hi everyone! We wanted to give all our clients the heads up that Dr LaPoint, Shari, and Jill are in Santa Barbara for the remainder of the week (they claim for a business meeting but maybe just be escaping the weather!).

We will be open for our normal hours, with Drs. Nash and Olson seeing scheduled appointments and emergencies as needed. We appreciate your patience while Patti and Gabby are assisting you from the office. Stay warm!

12/03/2024

Next week Dr LaPoint and Dr Olson will be attending the annual conference for the American Association of Equine Practitioners in Orlando. It’s a great opportunity for our practice to stay up to date on all topics of Equine Veterinary medicine . This does mean next week we will only have Dr Nash in town for appointments and emergencies, so we thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our team works to help you and your horses.

10/31/2024

While we are all out enjoying this lovely autumn weather, we want to remind everyone that this time of year ticks are especially active in spreading disease. Careful grooming and tick checks are important for prevention. Common places to find ticks are under the jaw and around the head, behind the elbows, and groin. Signs of an acute infection caused by ticks are inappetence, fever, lethargy, and swelling of limbs/belly. The normal temperature of horses is between 98.0F- 101F, we consider a fever a temp over 101.5F (re**al temperature can be taken using a common digital thermometer). If you think your horse is feeling unwell or is exhibiting any of these signs please take their temperature and call FLEP at (607) 347-4770.

09/11/2024

We had an amazing time (as always) at this year’s cardboard boat race, raising money for Family & Children's Service of Ithaca!

This year we built a Trojan horse, with our boat “The Gift Horse”. Many,many, hours were spent drawing wood grain on strips of cardboard to make the “lumber” for our construction!

In past years the FLEP team has won awards for fastest boat (2023), and the “people’s choice award” for best boat (2022), so going into the race this year we had our hearts set on the only award we haven’t won… “Most spectacular sinking”!

We had plans for a dramatic sinking halfway around the course, and even had plugs to pull out in the bottom of our boat, but it turns out we didn’t need to worry as we never made it that far! It didn’t go as planned but was still spectacular and won us the award!

This is such a fun event and we always have a blast building and participating. We’re already discussing ideas for next year and hope to see many of you there!

09/02/2024

Join us this Sunday September, 8th for the Family and Children’s Services of Ithaca’s annual cardboard boat race!

This is our FOURTH year entering a boat and for this great event! The cardboard boat race helps to raise money to support this wonderful organization that provides vital mental health services to our community.

The race is at the Ithaca yacht club, it opens at 1:30 with the race beginning at 2:30.

You can find information on donating and purchasing tickets at:

https://www.fcsith.org/events/2024-cbr/

08/29/2024

Cases of EEE in horses continue to be reported, with 14 cases confirmed in NY so far this season. Affected horses have been either unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.
As this disease has a very high fatality rate we are recommending revaccination for any horses whose last vaccine was prior to April of 2024, particularly for those residing in the northern portion of our practice (Onondaga, Cayuga, Madison, Oswego and Oneida counties).
If you are unsure of your last vaccination date or would like to schedule an appointment for boosters please contact our office.

08/20/2024

There have been multiple positive cases of EEE in NYS and other states this summer.
All of these horses that were infected were unvaccinated or undervaccinated.

EEE is transmitted by mosquitoes and is nicknamed the "sleeping sickness." It is a viral disease that causes inflammation in the brain and spinal cord "encephalitis."
This disease is not new to the area. Each year there are positive horses, almost every case being unvaccinated. There were 9 cases of EEE and 5 cases of west nile virus recorded in horses in 2023.

It is VERY important to make sure your horses are up to date on their core vaccinations BEFORE mosquito season. This disease is more prevalent in late summer and early fall. Horses that have been vaccinated within the last year should have adequate protection, however if it has been greater than 6 months horse can be have an additional for additional caution. There are also positive cases of West Nile in the area, but they are less fatal than EEE (up to 40%).

Symptoms include:
Anorexia + Depression
High Fever
Lethargy + Drowsiness
Acute onset of neurologic signs - ataxia, tremors of head and neck, head tilt, droopy lip, convulsions, recumbent/paralysis

There is no treatment for EEE and it has a 95% fatality rate.
Death will occur within 2-3 days of onset of clinical signs.

Prevention:
Vaccination
Mosquito control
- Removing any unnecessary standing water
- Applying fly spray liberally and frequently

Other resources:
https://www.equinediseasecc.org/eastern-equine-encephalitis
The Equine Disease Communication Center is a great resource for updates on infectious diseases.

https://aaep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/EEE_DZ_Guidelines_Final_2023.pdf
The American Association of Equine Practitioners has many client resources on different diseases and disorders.

04/11/2024

Recently there has been a confirmed case of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) in Tompkins County. The affected farm is currently quarantined and under supervision of the state vet. There are currently no extra precautions that need to be taken for your horses. A Flu/Rhino(EHV-1&4) vaccine is recommended for horses showing or traveling, particularly where they could come in nose-to-nose contact with other horses. You can learn more about EHV at the link below.

Almost all horses have been infected with the virus and have no serious side effects. It is currently unknown what causes some infected horses to develop the serious neurological forms that may be fatal.

01/20/2024

FLEP is pleased to announce that we will once again be providing two client appreciation brunch events in February! This is a really fun event and a great opportunity to connect with other clients from different disciplines and breeds.

The brunches start at 11:00 am (the food is agway delicious!) and are followed by presentations on a variety of topics in Equine medicine.

Saturday February 10, 2024 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM at The Inn of the Seasons located at 4311 W. Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse

Saturday, February 17, 2024 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM at Greek Peak Mountain Resort. Venue "The Lookout at Hope Lake". 2177 Clute Rd. Cortland NY 13045

There is no charge to our clients and their guests for these events but space is limited to about 100 people at each location. An RSVP is required, so give us a call to save a spot at the location of your choice.

Please call the office to reserve your spot.
Looking forward to seeing you there!

12/22/2023

Dr Olson and his wife Omyia welcomed their daughter Daphne on 12/13, everyone is healthy and home and settling in. Dr Olson will not be seeing appointments for a little while to spend some time at home with his family. We appreciate your patience with scheduling while we are down to two vets on the road.