Archer County Advocate (Holliday, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 6, 2005 Page: 14 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Archer County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Archer Public Library.
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14 Thursday, October 6, 2005
Hey, Doc!
M
by David
Carlton, DVM
for The Archer
County Advocate
HORSE BOTS
Before I became a veterinar-
ian, Sunday lunch was a big family
affair. My father sat at one end of
the table and my mother at the
other and all the relatives sat in
between. Every week the menu was
the same-fried chicken, mashed
potatoes, gravy and biscuits, and
somekinda jello-salad shaped in a
fancy pan-what I called ‘funeral
food’. There was enough served
to feed ten ranches as we talked
about the garden, the weather, and
the new hat that Miss Iris wore to
church. Simple topics went around
the table as we took the time to en-
joy simple things. On the seventh
day we rested.
I tried not to wake the family
as I eased my old truck out of the
driveway. First, I needed to go. by
the hospital to examine the colic
surgery case that we finished at 2
a.m. Dr. Vest had stayed at the clinic
to monitor the horse’s recovery and
administer the post-operative care
while I grabbed a couple of hours
of shut-eye. I would relieve his
shift, then bounce across two coun-
ties from one emergency call to an-
other until I arrived back where I
started. There was a colic at Circle
J, a lacerated chest at Running G, a
calf delivery at Mrs. Miller’s place,
and a case of allergic hives at the
Polo stable. But I’d do my best to
be home for Sunday lunch.
Kelly was sittin’ at the table
when I walked through the back
door. I hadn’t seen my niece since
she had gone off to school. She
heard the screen door squeak and .
slap shut as my son reached for the
platter of chicken and I darted to
the sink to scrub my hands before
dining. My father was sitting at
the end of the table. Broke, single,
and twenty-two years young, Kelly
was full of chatter and future plans.
She had just graduated from col-
lege without a job and a degree in
finance, and she was moving into
an apartment in the heart of the city
to seek her new life. “Uncle, Doc,”
she mumbled, “I’m going to get a
big dog. Will you vaccinate ‘im for
free?” I shrugged my shoulders as
my father’s wisdom came to light.
“Girl,” he said, “you need a dog like
I need a hole in my head.” Kelly
was a banker’s daughter and a
pseudocowgirl. She was quick at
thought and long on the ability to
make money, but short on com-
mon sense. I could hear in her
voice the trap she was about to
fall in to. “Then, I think I’ll buy a
horse. They’re good exercise and
don’t take much upkeep.” Kelly
was no different from any other
pseudocowgirl. She believed that
she could just turn a horse out
into a pasture or find a nice stable,
and ride whenever it might be con-
venient—no upkeep, no expense,
just fun. I’d seen this episode a
thousand times before—move to
town, get a job, a boyfriend and a
credit card, then buy a horse. My
dad almost choked on the mashed
potatoes. He said, “Kelly, horses
and kids are all alike. The cheap-
est part is gettin’ one.” My boy
suggested she buy a hamster.
Then, he asked me, “Dad, what’s
the most common disease that
you see every day?”
My answer was two fold,
“Misinformation and compla-
cency.” The BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
of my pager interrupted the si-
lence at the table. I placed a
chicken leg on the napkin cupped
in my palm and motioned for Kelly
to come with me. We arrived at
Cotton Creek Stable a few minutes
later. Dan Todd was the stable
manager. He met us at the bam
entrance and pointed to a young
lady standing by the back door.
“Her name is Molly,” he said, “I
haven’t seen her in months. She
moved to town, and she got a job,
a boyfriend, and a horse. Then,
he skipped, she got fired, and, like
I said, she hasn’t been out here in
forever.”
Kelly gasped at the grue-
some sight behind the barn.
Molly’s horse, Poncho, lay dead
in the pasture. I motioned for
Kelly to follow my footprints.
Pacing a circle around Poncho I
observed that the gelding’s
haircoat was dull and shaggy. His
ribs were showing and his mane
was tangled with burrs. I knelt to
feel the dehydrated texture of his
skin, but noted that he wasn’t
bloated. Dan said, “Doc, he ate
fine last night but he’s been
droppin’ weight for awhile. He
ain’t been wormed or vaccinated
in a long time.. .because I couldn’t
get a’hold of the owner.” My ten-
tative diagnosis was colic due to
unknown etiology or cause, but I
had more questions than answers
so Molly agreed to a necropsy. I
pushed and strained to roll Poncho
on his back as Kelly peered over
my shoulder. With care, I entered
the abdominal cavity with a sharp
blade. Rancid odors filled the air.
Separating the abdominal muscles
I observed food materials floating
free inside the cavity, and said to
Dan, “This horse has ruptured a
gut.” Portions of the digestive tract
were discolored and hemorrhagic,
but the search for the perforated
bowel ended on the outside curva-
ture of the stomach. My next cut
was through the gastric wall to ex-
pose the cause of death. A shroud
of thousands of Bot larvae were
attached to the inner lining like en-
larged grubs eroding the stomach
wall. I could not stick the tip of my
knife blade between the too numer-
ous to count adhered parasites.
Most were larger than engorged fe-
male ticks. There were hundreds
of bots blocking the upper (cardiac)
and lower (pyloric) regions of the
gastric canal. “Horse Bots killed
Poncho,” I said. Dan shook his
head, Kelly turned green around the
gills at the sight, and Molly walked
away.
Horse Bots are the larvae or
immature forms of Bot flies, Gas-
terophilus species. The adult flies
only live about two weeks. They
are not parasitic and cannot feed.
They die as soon as the nutrients
acquired from the larval stage run
out, but not before laying their eggs
in the summer months. The Com-
mon bot (G. intestinalis) glues eggs
to the hairs of the forelegs and
shoulders. The eggs are light tan
to cream colored. The animal’s lick-
ing stimulates these larvae to hatch.
Eggs of the Nose bot (G.
haemorrhoidalis) are attached to
hairs of the lips and the larvae crawl
into the mouth. The Throat bots
(G. nasalis) deposit eggs in the fa-
cial or submaxillary regions. Lar-
vae of all three species stay embed-
ded in the tongue or lining of the
mouth for about a month before
ing or damage to the lining of the
stomach. At maturation the larvae
pass out in the feces and pupate in
the soil for 3-5 weeks before adult
flies again emerge.
When carbon disulfide was
used as a boticide (bot killing
agent), the most effective single
treatment was recommended after
the first frost when the adult flies
had disappeared and third-stage
larvae were vulnerable. However,
the first-frost worming program is
no longer a necessary protocol
with the advent of multi-seasonal
worming programs with products
that effect all stages of bot devel-
opment. Ivermectin, trichlorfon,
and dichlorvos products can be
used throughout the year in rou-
tine worming programs to control
bot populations more effectively.
When my niece and I re-
turned home, my father was still
sitting at the end of the dining room
table. “So, Kelly,” he asked, “what
did you learn about the horse busi-
ness today?” I washed my hands
and grinned, and my son listened
for her response. “Well..,” she said,
“I think I’m going to buy a Para-
keet.” I put another chicken leg on
a napkin cupped in my palm, and I
wondered what it would be like to
sit down for a real Sunday lunch
with my family. On the seventh
day, veterinarians work.
Dr. Carlton’s third book of
animal-vet stories “HEY DOC” will
be released Nov. 1,2005. Watch for
it! He will be signing his books at
the WRCA Ranch Rodeo Finals in
Amarillo, TX on Nov. 10-13th.
Then, at the National Rodeo Finals
in Las Vegas, NV on Dec. 2-12th.
Cotton Profitabil-
ity Workshops Be-
gin In October
Writer: Tim W McAlavy
Cotton producers can get
a leg up on planning their manage-
ment strategies for 2006 at any of
four cotton profitability workshops
sponsored by Texas Cooperative
Extension. “We will take a long,
hard look at higher production ex-
penses and how that may affect
your operating strategy,” said Dr.
Jackie Smith, Extension economist
based at Lubbock. “We know pro-
ducers will face higher energy
costs for irrigation, fertilizer, fuel
and ginning.
“We will also examine rental
arrangements, how energy prices
have affected them and how they
might need to be adjusted.”
The first workshop is slated
for Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon, in
the auditorium at the Texas A&M
University System Agricultural Re-
search and Extension Center at Lub-
bock. The center is one-half mile
east of Interstate 27 on FM 1294.
Three subsequent work-
shops are scheduled for Dec. 20 in
Plainview, Feb. 22 in Muleshoe and
March 23 in Plains.
Jeff Pate and Jay Yates, Ex-
tension risk management special-
ists based at Lubbock, will provide
an outlook for fuel, fertilizer, other
farm inputs and crop prices for 2006.
They will also discuss farm program
payments and possible production
budgets for irrigated cotton.
Smith will examine equitable
crop-share rental arrangements, fo-
cusing on how tenants and land-
lords can share the risk and invest-
ment in an equitable. He will also
discuss cash leases.
There is no charge to at-
tend. For more information contact
Smith at (806) 746-6101, or Exten-
sion offices in Lubbock County at
(806) 775-1680; Hale County at (806)
291-5267; Bailey County at (806)
272-4584; or Yoakum County at
(806)456-2263.
We Appreciate Tour Business
passing to the stomach and attach-
ing to the stomach lining with oral
hooks that induce erosions and ul-
cerations. Over a period of 8-10
months the larvae develop into large
grub-like parasites—some the size
of the end of your thumb, brown or
cream colored, with rows of spines
encircling their grub worm shape.
This is the most parasitic phase of
the life cycle. Large numbers of bot
larvae compete for the horse’s nu-
trition and cause severe weaken-
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Cooper, James H. Archer County Advocate (Holliday, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 6, 2005, newspaper, October 6, 2005; Holliday, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth993757/m1/14/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Archer Public Library.