Miguel Angel Garcia Rodriguez. Veterinary Surgeon

I was born in the province of Salamanca in the Spanish Mid-West. My family has been dedicated since for over 6 generations to the dressage of horses and handling cattle and this has marked virtually all the events of my life.

Since age 7 I wanted to be a veterinary surgeon and finally I got it. I conducted my studies at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of León, where I had the opportunity to work as a boarder in the Surgery, Anesthesiology and Imaging Unit of the public consultation, at the Department of Medicine, Surgery and Veterinary Anatomy, led by Professor Dr. Jesus Sanchez Garcia, who was my teacher, mentor and, ultimately, good friend. He once asked me: "how can you tell if you have a career vocation when is not yet known in its entirety what it is?" And he was right, but working there, I actually found this vocation I was looking for medicine.

Family Stud Farm: http://www.yeguadalalancha.com

Cattle and horses have been my job as a veterinarian since then. To them I dedicate my effort, honesty and diligence, in the way my parents educated me, using all what I know about medicine and learning what I don’t know, as my teacher taught me.

Servet Veterinary Team: http://www.servetledesma.es

Short time after finishing my studies and my first steps as a professional, I joined a team dedicated to large animals. With them I've been able to grow as a professional and I have continued at work until December 2012, cooperating with my colleagues, at different disciplines, deepening into my specialty and attending emergency care out of hours, long periods on call in which I could count on the support and understanding of my wife, whose patience I put to test. A team in which mutual support from day to day and in continuing training, created an exceptional working environment which allowed us to deal with professional challenges and those which was presented to us by the life as a group.

My specialty was, and is still being, the podiatry in equine and cattle. I was also responsible for the area of equine medicine in the company. In addition, as director of Radiology facilities, I ran this service and actively participated in Ultrasonographic diagnosis.

But life put me to test due to the financial crisis: the government debt with my old company was insurmountable. As a result and, as a large number of colleagues, I lost my job and a challenge was presented in front of me: going abroad for work, with my knowledge and a suitcase, dragging my wife with me some months later, once I was established.

My new "workmate" at Derbyshire Veterinary Services

My destination: UK. I travelled from Spain on 21st April 2013, with my contract signed for working as Veterinary Meat Hygiene Inspector, an intermediate job before become Official Veterinarian in British abattoirs. But after seven months, I left this job when I was contracted as veterinary surgeon by Derbyshire Veterinary Services, my current company. A large team where they have achieved that I feel as at home and where they allow me develop my passion for veterinary medicine, alternating TB Tests with visits to the farms.

We are located at Derbyshire, in the Midlands, probably the most beautiful place I've seen in England, and I have had to travel a lot across the country working as Meat Inspector.

I love new challenges and learning every day.

To contact me, you can do it from my profile (to the right and below this page).

Stringhalt in Horses

Stringhalt is a disease of uncertain cause. Some plants seem to be involved in the "Australian Stringhalt": false dandelion (Hypochaeris radicata) or dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) have been found during outbreaks of the disease when horses are kept on the pastures. The cause remain unknown in other cases of Stringhalt, although some researchers believe it is related to abnormally fast growth rates.

Sometimes Australian Stringhalt resolves by itself within a period of some weeks to even years by removing the horses from the pastures. In other cases surgery is undertaken with unequal results, from total to partial recovery of the horse in some days or months, or even unsuccessful result after the Lateral Digital Extensor tendon tenectomy.

 

Australian Stringhalt. Two horses from the same herd were affected.

 

I've performed this surgery two times. The first one, a mare with unilateral stringhalt, recovered in two weeks, but relapsed again some months later. The second one, a horse with bilateral stringhalt got a total recovery after three weeks. They both were stock horses, but only the second one could come back to work successfully.

Podiatry I: Trimming Hooves

Hoof trimming jobs arise from the need to combat and, overall, prevent the different pathologies of the bovine foot.

In the dairy cattle it comes being done routinely for many years, to ensure the comfort of cows and avoid a decrease in milk production associated with the pain and discomfort that cause these diseases.

 

However, in the beef meat production, this routine begins to be important more recently. Due to the important selection endured by meat breeds looking for greater production, as well as the loss of hardiness and therefore minor environmental adaptation, they have worsened the limbs conformation and it has increased the need to intervene to correct these problems, which are exacerbated even more when feeding is not properly handled.

In the video we can see trimming performed to a Purebred Limousin sire with oversized claws and lameness in the hind limbs.

  

The problems in cattle in extensive regime are basically the same as in dairy cattle, although they differ in prevalence and severity. A sire with problems within their feet will have difficulties to follow the cows and to impregnate them. In turn, a walking lamely cow will have troubles getting pregnant if she can’t support the weight of the sire, and even pain mediators will interfere with reproductive function in addition to other problems.

Figure A: A healthy hoof trimmed. Figure B: a hoof with subsolar hematoma and an old ulcer on the back edge of the white line.

There are different types of shoes used to correct various problems. In Figure A you can see how we have placed two wooden shoes to relieve pressure in the dorsal portion of the wall, in a bull suffering a laminitis. In Figure B an ulcer in the posterior third of the outer claw has been released and we have placed a plastic shoe in the contralateral to prevent sets the injured foot and facilitate healing.