Page 26 - March 2008 The Game

26 The Game, March 2008
Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Game
Health & Nutrition 2008
Special Advertorial Feature
CAonvenience & Expertise at Caledon Equine Hospital By Dave Catsimbras
n established young veterinarian by the name at their winter destinations. However the upcoming they are needed.”
of Dr. Bruce Watt began renovations on an old foaling season could bring more patients with anything As for the facility itself, not much has changed since the
standardbred yearling paddock which he fashioned into an equine veterinary hospital. The renovation was extensive and Dr. Watt was on hand to oversee every detail so that it was built and laid out to his exact speci cations.
from birthing complications to tending to newborn foals. The slower winter months allow Dr. Watt and his staff
hospital opened in July of 2005. The hospital is very well maintained and has state of the art equipment such as the mobile x-ray machine, where all development is done on site, so Dr. Watt can show his patients’ owners the results within minutes. Other features of the hospital include ten general stabling stalls, 1 anesthesia induction stall and 1 anesthesia recovery stall, three examination rooms, one in which has an adjustable stock stall for standing laparos- copy surgery.
I recently visited with Dr. Watt at his Caledon Equine Hospital to see how things have progressed since opening his doors nearly three years ago.
to maintain the hospital’s equipment and stock up on inventory in preparation for the generally busy spring and summer seasons when the majority of their patients begin racing again.
It was early February and Dr. Watt and his staff were not overly busy with equine patients as it is typically
a slower time of year with horses on lay-off or racing
Caledon Equine Hospital is open 24 hours a day seven days a week, “As far as the 24/7 time requirements, it just depends on the cases in the building”, Dr. Watt explains, “We make sure that there is someone there if and when
The main surgery hall features padded induction and recovery stalls each with
innovative features, such as hoist ropes in the recovery hall which aid the horses coming out of anesthesia. The surgery table has a special heated water mattress, which reduces pressure on the muscles and nerves during surgery.
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There isn’t much that Dr. Watt and his employees haven’t seen when it comes to injured horses. Though, when asked about whether or not the new racing surface at Wood- bine has changed the injuries to horses, Dr. Watt could only recall on what he has heard from owners and trainers who state their may be an increase in back and hock injuries as well as soft tissue and hind leg injuries which are becoming more common compared to the typical bowed tendon and bone chips in the knee that were seen with the traditional dirt surface.
The horses are in good hands with Dr. Watt and his staff. Dr. Watt’s twenty years of veterinary experience and ten years of surgical expertise are at the top of his resume along with credentials as
a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario, an internship at the Illinois Equine Hospital just outside of Chicago and Instructor of Surgery at the University of Florida in Gainsville.
Dr. Watt does enjoy the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction of bringing an equine patient from an ailment to full recovery but explains, “Until they go out the door and until they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, I’m a little conscience about telling owners that a horse is exactly 100 percent.”
So with their busy season just around the corner Dr. Watt and his staff at the Caledon Equine Hospital are ready
to get to work. New clients
are welcome with no referral necessary.
For information call Caledon Equine Hospital
at (905)-838-0038 or visit www.caledonequine.com for directions to the facility.
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