Information For Owners
Inpatients
Each of the inpatients will be under the direct care of one of our veterinary surgeons who will also liaise with our team, who assist in the day to day care of your horse. On arrival a nurse or intern will ensure that they know about your horse’s daily routine, feeding requirements, any special requirements and therefore ensure that appropriate care is given.
Daily Updates
Once morning rounds have been completed, the veterinary surgeon in charge of your horse will telephone you with an update.
If you telephone the hospital at any other time please understand that the veterinary surgeon may not be able to leave another horse immediately to speak to you, however, they will return your telephone calls.
If there is something important to discuss or we are concerned about your horse, the vet will call you.
Surgical Patients:
If you are bringing your horse to the hospital for surgery, please see the factsheets below for futher information.
General anaesthesia surgery factsheet
Lorries and Trailers
You are welcome to leave your trailer or lorry in the hospital car park whilst your horse is an in-patient but can we please ask that you:-
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Park it neatly at the top of the lorry park.
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Accept that it is left entirely at your own risk and that Endell Equine Hospital can accept no responsibility for any loss or damage.
Visiting
You are welcome to visit your horse during its stay at the hospital, between 11am and 3pm on weekdays & 4pm and 5pm on weekends by prior arrangement for a maximum of 1 hour. Please keep us informed if this arrangement needs to change. We ask that you do not visit outside these times as it may interfere with ward rounds, feeding, rest periods, medication or treatment of other horses. In certain circumstances, we will permit visiting outside these times but only by prior arrangement. Please do not feed or walk out your horse without the prior approval of a vet or nurse. For safety reasons do not enter any stable which has a radioactive warning sign on the door. Please respect the confidentiality and privacy of the other owners and their horses.
Please note that owners will not be allowed into the hospital/clinical areas during an examination/procedure and are legally not allowed into x-ray rooms at any time. This allows our team to work efficiently and safely. In certain limited circumstances, exceptions may be made to this rule but only with express permission from the practice manager or clinical director.
We also require that our nurses and grooms handle the horses for the vets as they are experienced in doing so for veterinary work in a foreign environment to the horse. If this is declined for work outside the buildings, we are not liable for any accident or injury that may occur. Endell staff will always be handling horses inside the buildings.
Discharge instructions
When your horse has been an inpatient at Endell Equine Hospital, you will be given a written set of discharge instructions. These written instructions will also be copied to your veterinary surgeon.
What should I bring?
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Passport
Under current legislation, all horses must have a passport. Please bring it with you so that it can be checked on admission. According to EU law, many drugs can only be administered if that part of the horse’s passport that certifies that the animal is not for human consumption has been signed. Whilst we will not decline treatment of your horse if the passport is unavailable, we will treat your horse as though you have agreed that it will not be used for human consumption. It will be your responsibility to complete the passport, when it becomes available, to this effect. We do not need to keep the passports at the hospital.
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Insurance Details and Claim Form
If your horse is insured for veterinary fees, loss of use or mortality, please ensure that you bring details of your insurance cover and a claim form.
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Rugs
If your horse is likely to be admitted as an inpatient please bring any day or night rugs that your horse might need.
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Feed and Dietary Supplements
We stock most usual feedstuffs and on admission, the nurse will ensure that we know what your horse is currently being fed so that we can feed an appropriate diet to your horse whilst it is an inpatient. If your horse has unusual supplements or feedstuffs please check with the hospital before admission to see whether you need to bring them with you.
If Your Horse Is Coming in for a Lameness Examination
Please bring the tack that you normally use for the horse as it may be necessary for our veterinary surgeons to see the horse being ridden under tack. Our staff will not ride your horse, so in this scenario, please ensure that the horse’s regular rider is available.
Ideally your horse should be kept in light work until the appointment date unless your veterinary surgeon has advised you otherwise. This ensures that your horse is lame at the time of admission. It is frustrating for owners to make long journeys to be told that their horse is not lame enough to allow a lameness examination to be performed.
All horses that are normally shod, should have shoes on, preferably in the type of shoes that they have been wearing in the weeks before the appointment. Unshod horses often become foot-sore when trotted up for lameness examination. This can be confusing and complicate the diagnosis of the true cause of lameness.
All anti-inflammatory drugs or pain-killer medication should be stopped at least 48 hours before your appointment date unless you have been advised otherwise by a veterinary surgeon. These drugs can mask lameness and make assessment of the horse’s true lameness difficult.
General anaesthesia risks:
It is fairly well understood in the equine community that general anaesthesia carries risks to horses, which are gnerally higher than other species. Anaesthesia morbidity and mortality are reviewed frequently with new results published every 5-10 years to keep up with advancements in the field. The most current study is due to be published imminently. Currently here are some of the key results from the last major review, which included 41,824 cases:
- The overall anaesthetic death rate was 1.9% (a futher 4.8% were put to sleep for reasons associated with their condition).
- Early results from the current study appear to indicate a further reduction of 1% since this review
- Non colic cases had a death rate of 0.9%
- Colic cases and C section had a death rate of 11.7%
- Causes of death associated with anaesthesia included
- Cardiac arrest including cardiovascular collapse (33%)
- Fractures and myopathies (32%)
- Other such as neurological, respiratory complications and post-op haemorrhage
- Risk factors for increased anaeshtetic risk
- Horses over 14 years old were at a slightly higher risk than other age groups
- Fracture surgery had the highest risk of any surgery type
- Out of hours surgery (weekend and 12-6am)
- Inhalation anaeshtesia
- Factors that reduced risk
- Total intravenous anaesthesia (0.3% risk of anaesthetic death)
- Pre-operative sedation (ACP)
Please let the team know if you wish to discuss these risks in any more detail.
If you have any questions before admission of your horse please call us on 01722 710046