Equine Medical Service provides complete equine veterinary care to much of Fort Collins and the surrounding towns. We maintain full time ambulatory units, providing daily farm call visits as well as 24 hour per day 365 day per year emergency service. We also maintain a fully equipped clinic that allows for appointments, whether they are scheduled or emergency in nature.
Our ambulatory units are equipped with a complete traveling pharmacy, surgical instrumentation, IV fluids and administration equipment, radiology equipment and both reproductive and soft tissue ultrasounds. We also provide laboratory diagnostic capabilities including complete blood counts, blood chemistry, antibody analysis, cytology, and parasitology.
Our surgical capabilities include many scheduled procedures. We have established sufficient equipment and have the surgical expertise to handle many surgeries on site.
We strive to maintain strong relationships within the equine veterinary community and by doing so further enhance the capabilities we can bring to our patients. Relationships with specialists in the areas of equine internal medicine, lameness and orthopedics, ophthalmology, reproduction, and alternative therapies provide a constant source of information regarding cutting edge advancements in equine sport horse medicine. As our practice grows and develops so do these relationships, thus helping to foster new methods of diagnostics and treatment for our patients and improved service capabilities for our clients.
Equine Medical Service list of Services:
- General Medicine / Surgery
- Preventative Medicine / Vaccinations
- Emergency Service
- Equine Dentistry
- Reproductive Services
- Sports Medicine
- Portable X-Ray / Endoscopy / Ultrasound
- Lameness Diagnosis / Pre-purchase Exams
- Complementary Medicine
Going High Tech
The newest technology to be added to Equine Medical Services is a new digital radiograph (DR) imaging system. This new system has taken the place of the previous computerized radiograph (CR) scanner. The CR machine would use plates that had a type of x-ray “film” that once exposed to the x-ray beams, is scanned by a laser and converted into a digital radiograph. The procedure would take a several steps and could take several minutes to generate just one view of the horse. This involved shooting the x-ray beams though the part of the horse being studied and capturing these beams on the plate. Once the plates were exposed to x-rays, the films would then be taken out of the plate and processed by the CR machine using a laser to scan the films and turn the radiographs into digital files. Those digital files would then be fed from the scanner to a software program on a laptop. Once on the laptop the software program permitted the radiographs to be viewed and manipulated and enhanced if needed. The new DR machine now has a wireless plate that when exposed to the x-ray beams, automictically sends the x-ray data to a tablet computer that receives the data and converts it into an image. The tablet then displays the radiograph image within seconds. Once displayed the image can be viewed and manipulated for the best possible interpretation for the diagnosis. The tablet stores the radiographs and once connected to the internet, uploads the radiograph studies to a cloud storage website. The radiograph studies can also be downloaded onto a USB thumb drive for the client to have immediately. From the cloud storage website, the studies can be viewed by the doctor on any computer, tablet, or even smart phone with internet connection. Also with this cloud storage, studies can be easily emailed to other veterinarians for second opinions on potential surgical options and/or to have radiologists review the studies. Another advantage to the new DR machine is the images have so much more detail and can give a much better chance of an accurate diagnosis.
The benefits of digital radiographs include
- Radiograph examination that can be seen and reviewed within a few minutes
- Imaging software that can enhance the radiograph contrast to facilitate a more accurate diagnosis
- Improving the level of care the veterinarian can provide for their client’s horses
- Easy sharing with consulting radiologists for difficult cases
- Decreased radiation exposure to patients and personnel
- Improved radiographic quality
- Increased efficiency
As with any new technology and equipment, there comes an increase in cost. The cost of radiographs will need to increase to cover the cost of new equipment.