Covid-19, Your Horse, Looking at the Silver Lining + Recipe for Hand Sanitiser
Some questions have been asked about our equine friends and Covid-19, so Dr Jen has provided some basic info and a great link FYI. Staying positive and finding the silver lining, we are focusing on using the time to get diets right. No better time really! And lastly a recipe for hand sanitiser for you to make up while spending time at home. :-)
Like everyone, at Jenquine we closely monitor the news and evolving science on coronavirus. The impact of event cancellations on competitors and businesses is almost too huge to fathom. And like many in the equestrian community, I expect memories of the national standstill and PPE measures associated with equine influenza and the PPE and diagnostics associated with Hendra virus are coming to mind. As a zoonotic (ie it infects humans and animals) we’re fortunate that the coronavirus currently circulating around the world does not affect our pets – including our horses.
An excellent presentation posted by Prof James Gilkerson, Professor of Veterinary Microbiology at University of Melbourne provides current information and advice on pets and COVID-19 and will answer many questions that you may have. CLICK HERE
We need to have plans to have horses looked after if we are not able, for whatever reason, to attend them. Some of the measures to be considered include:
having a trusted family member or friend to care for your horses if required
making a list of boarding or agistment facilities that can be alternative accommodation if you need to move your horse
ensure all vaccinations are up-to-date
The cancellation/postponement of many competitions and events often leads to changes in training and work schedules.
The diet should always match the work. If the daily feed is reduced to match the decreased energy, electrolyte and other nutrient requirements it’s still important to ensure the basic needs for essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals are preserved. Our new booklet provides additional information on our products and explains the science behind them.
Jenquine all-4-feet® is our new all-in-one feed balancer or replacer, a low starch/sugar source of essential amino acids, antioxidants, omega 3, biotin, vitamins and minerals. Fed with roughage (hay/ chaff/ beetpulp/ pasture etc), energy (oats and/or oil) and salt, all-4-feet® allows energy intake to be adjusted to match variations in requirements as workload varies.
Fortunately, Kristie, Yvette, our other team members and I are all able to work from home (or sitting on a hay bale in a stable for Yvette when her unreliable home internet service malfunctions). Please stay safe, take care and here is a home-made sanitiser recipe from the Centre for Veterinary Education at the University of Sydney:
Recipe for hand sanitiser shared by a GP
Hand sanitiser is 60-70% alcohol, also called ethanol, which dehydrates and kills the virus. Methylated spirits these days is actually 95% ethanol, so we can make hand sanitiser safely from this and use it in a spray bottle.
Recipe: 75mL of methylated spirits, 24mL water, 1mL of ideally glycerine but if you don’t have any, 1mL of liquid dish soap will work too, just to help the spread over hands. It might not smell pretty, but it works (add 2 drops essential oil if you like)
Mix the ingredients in a clean spray bottle, and make sure you are not spraying it in anyone’s eyes, face or near naked flames or lit cigarettes – it’s flammable! (Hint – quit smoking!)
You should be using enough hand sanitiser of any type to wet your hands for about 20-30 seconds, about the time it takes to hum ‘happy birthday to you’ with 3 hip hoorays.
The bonus is that this spray can also be used for cleaning hard surfaces like the kitchen bench. Thanks to the IFSM listserv for sharing these great ideas
Dr Jennifer Stewart
Equine Clinical Nutrition
