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Ask the Vet – Blister beetles, clover slobbers, mineral oil, and more! – September 2019

Posted on: September 06, 2019 by SmartPak

 

 

You asked, we answered! In this episode of our monthly series, Ask the Vet, Dr. Lydia Gray and SmartPaker Dan answer 5 new questions on topics like whether or not to give mineral oil to prevent colic, the amount of salt a horse should get every day, slobbers, pre-purchase exams, blister beetle toxicity, and so much more!

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If your question was answered in this video, reach out to us at CustomerCare@SmartPak.com and let us know! We’ll get your gift card out to you as soon as we can! Have some of your own questions? Ask away using #AsktheVetVideo! If your question gets selected to be in one of our Ask the Vet videos, you win a SmartPak gift card! How awesome is that!?

Additional reading/watching material mentioned in the video:
Ask the Vet individual topics playlist
Ask the Vet blogs
Horse Health Library videos
Ask the Vet form
Colic-related Ask the Vet videos
ColiCare from SmartPak
Ask the Vet – Toxic plants, kinesiotaping, arthritis, and more! – August 2019
Ask the Vet – Can horses graze in a freshly mowed pasture?
Ask the Vet – Choke in horses
Ask the Vet – Warts and aural plaques in horses
Ask the Vet – Cataracts in senior horses
Ask the Vet about new horse ownership
Equine Pre-Purchase Exams featuring Dr. Andy Kaneps
Dr. Gray’s article on PPEs
What to do if your horse is colicking

Questions answered in this episode:
1. Should I give my horse mineral oil to keep her from getting colic?
2. How much loose salt should I feed daily? I live in Florida, so my horse occasionally sweats and seems to not drink much. Please help!!
3. Every summer my horse and other horses at the barn start with the slobbers from red clover. Is there anything that can help slow down the amount of drooling without limiting the horse’s turnout?
4. Why are pre-purchase/adopt vet checks so important? What health things do vets typically search for when doing an examination of a horse that someone is going to buy? And what happens if the horse doesn’t pass the vet check?
5. I’d like to add alfalfa cubes to my horse’s diet but I’m concerned over blister beetle toxicity. Are hay cubes just as likely to carry blister beetles and, if so, how can we tell which are the good ones to buy?