Vital Animal Podcast - Dr. Madalyn Ward: Horses -- feeding their needs, vaccine concerns

Dr. Madalyn Ward: Horses -- feeding their needs, vaccine concerns

11/17/20 • 34 min

#012 Dr. Madalyn Ward has been working with horses since well before vet school and joined a conventional equine practice early on.

We both graduated in 1980 and our paths crossed first in 1992 when we both joined the first Professional Course in Veterinary Homeopathy, taught for graduate veterinarians by Dr. Richard Pitcairn, in Eugene, OR. She traveled from Austin and I from Maui repeatedly for a year’s study (5 or 6 trips as I recall).

After that training, her practice changed fundamentally, as did mine.

When it came time for me to move to Austin, Dr. Ward graciously offered me a place to practice and her small animal clients, as she was too busy with the horses at that point.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

In the episode, Dr. Ward takes on two of the commonest horse health management issues:

how to feed horses appropriate to their “always browsing” nature
how to think about vaccinations in this, probably the most over vaccinated species

One of the most amazing revelations to me from her interview: these huge beasts can benefit from very small doses of whole food supplements. One might think an animal weighing 1000lbs or more would need a ton of supplements compared to a dog, she’s seen the opposite to be true!
For the show notes and links to this episode, please visit: http:/VitalAnimalhttps://VitalAnimal.com/12

#012 Dr. Madalyn Ward has been working with horses since well before vet school and joined a conventional equine practice early on.

After that training, her practice changed fundamentally, as did mine.

When it came time for me to move to Austin, Dr. Ward graciously offered me a place to practice and her small animal clients, as she was too busy with the horses at that point.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

In the episode, Dr. Ward takes on two of the commonest horse health management issues:

how to feed horses appropriate to their “always browsing” nature
how to think about vaccinations in this, probably the most over vaccinated species

Previous Episode

Breeders: Please STOP Doing This!

#011 As a blog writer and podcaster, I get a lot of email, especially when things have gone badly in an animal’s world.

One recurring theme that has always rubbed me the wrong way is the reports that puppies were vaccinated, often more than once, before they were sent home. As most leave for their new homes at 8 weeks of age, that translates to vaccines given to pups of 4 weeks or 6 weeks of age, and maybe again at 8 weeks, before they travel!

As there is plenty of science behind this being a dumb practice, I’m calling it out as such in this episode.

Minimally, the early vaccination of pups and kittens does no good but more concerning: every vaccine, given at any age, carries a very significant risk of long term damage to the recipient. Witness the explosion of allergic itchy skin and/or ears over the past many years. Most of this follows vaccination, but often a month later (so, unless you look for this pattern, you'll miss it).

It boils down to what’s long been known about Mom’s colostrum and “passive immunity.” We’ve generated data on that since at least the 1950’s! And that is the #1 reason for “vaccine failure,” meaning the hoped for immunization has failed.

As I understand the breeders’ intent (“We don’t want to lose youngsters to infectious disease!”), I do offer some safe and effective alternatives to all this crazy over vaccination.
Please join me for this discussion and tell me in the comments if you need anything clarified.

The show notes and comments for this episode are here: https://VitalAnimal.com/11

Next Episode

Kasie Maxwell: How to make the jump to raw

#013 Kasie Maxwell is back, this time sharing her decades of experience in helping pet owners make the transition to raw feeding. We discuss kittens, puppies, kibble addicted cats, and dogs and how each is unique in their needs to make the jump smooth.
Not only has Kasie worked through her SFRAW buying club to help people climb to a higher nutritional plane for their pets, she also shares how a walkabout in Kenya helped shape her recommendations on feeding your cats. She was lucky enough to live among the Masai for a spell and learned how lions actually eat. And what “normal” big cats stools look like!
If you’ve ever needed a little help getting your animals switched to raw, you’ll want to listen to this episode closely and read the accompanying material linked in the show notes.
Bottom line: all those groups of animals need a somewhat different transition but none of it is difficult when you learn from an expert like Kasie.
For the show notes and links to this episode, head on over to https://VitalAnimal.com/13