Surgery The provision of high quality surgical care has always been a focus at Moore & Company. We currently have 2 full time surgeons on staff; Dr. Michael Scott and Dr. Shawn Mattson both of whom are board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. Our current surgical facilities include one operating room with 2 connected padded recovery rooms. We have state-of-the-art anesthetic equipment including a gas anesthetic machine with ventilator, electrocardiograph (ECG) monitor, direct blood pressure monitor, and indirect blood oxygen monitor (pulse oximeter). Every case is handled by a surgical team consisting of a chief surgeon, assistant surgeon (usually an intern veterinarian), anesthesiologist, and vet technician staff. The surgical team works together throughout the process, from pre-surgical preparation to post-operative care. We perform approximately 600 general anesthesia surgeries per year, including elective and emergency procedures. We routinely perform emergency colic surgeries, arthroscopic surgery for joint injuries, general soft tissue surgery and orthopedic surgery. A significant portion of our surgical caseload is referred from veterinarians throughout western Canada and the Northwestern U.S.

Lamness & Pre-Purchase Examinations.
A large part of our in clinic and ambulatory practice revolves around lameness and prepurchase examinations. We service a large number of horses in stables of all sizes with front line in depth examinations. It is our philosophy to conduct examinations in a thorough methodical way, ending with the use of the significant diagnostic imaging services mentioned below. We have dedicated a large portion of our "lameness barn" to this end and many people enjoy using this as a one stop lameness centre.

Diagnostic Imaging
Our society's advances in technology are reflected in the continual revolution of modern medicine, and these rapid advances are also benefiting today's standard of veterinary medicine. It is a focus at Moore & Company to be at the forefront of this advance, and to provide technologically advanced veterinary services based on sound medical principles. This is most obvious in our efforts in diagnostic imaging and the services we provide:

• Digital Radiography - We currently offer state-of-the-art digital radiography both within our hospital and on the farm, through the use of one of our 3 portable digital radiography units. Digital radiography provides several advantages over conventional film radiography, including improved image quality, ability to see the results immediately, and computer-based image enhancement, storage, and transmission. We also continue to use conventional film radiography, as there are some applications where this is still preferable such as spinal radiography or thoracic radiography.


• Nuclear Scintigraphy - Commonly referred to as a "bone scan", nuclear scintigraphy is an exciting new imaging modality at Moore & Company. This technique has been in existence for over 10 years in veterinary schools and large equine hospitals in the United States, but we are the first veterinary facility of any type in Western Canada to offer this service. This technique is used to evaluate the musculoskeletal system for injury, using a radioactive marker called technetium99 which we obtain through the generous collaboration of the radiopharmacy at Foothills Hospital in Calgary. The technetium99 is administered to the horse and allowed to distribute into the skeleton, and after a few hours the horse is scanned with the gamma camera, a large radiation detector with an attached computer. The technetium99 will accumulate in the skeleton in higher levels in regions of increased bone remodeling activity, which can indicate areas of injury. The main difference between this technique and other imaging methods is that it will highlight the metabolic activity of bone, rather than the anatomy of the bone.
  
  Scintigraphy is also highly sensitive, detecting subtle bone activity the signs of which would never be visible on an x-ray. Because of these differences, it can identify areas of injury that can not be visualized with x-rays or ultrasound due to location, or areas of injury where there is nothing to see because the damage has not resulted in an obvious physical chance such as a fracture, bone chip, spur, or bone proliferation that would show on an x-ray. Examples of the types of injuries identified include stress fractures, pelvic injuries, spinal injuries, chronic ligament injuries, and arthritis with no visible radiographic evidence. Scintigraphy does not replace other more traditional imaging methods - usually once an area of suspicion has been identified on the bone scan, additional imaging with x-rays or ultrasound is also performed in order to look for concurrent physical evidence.

  Nuclear scintigraphy is very useful for evaluation of injuries or lameness where: -- the diagnosis has not been clear with other imaging methods,

  • the source of lameness can not be localized because it is high up the leg,
  • there is subtle lameness or reduced performance that can not be localized to any specific location
  • there may be multiple sources of pain or injury.
  • It is also has the potential to be very useful for pre-or post-sale evaluation
  • evaluation high performance equine athletes prior to periods of intense competition, as it can identify subtle signs of developing or potential injury.
  

  Nuclear scintigraphy is a procedure routinely performed on human patients worldwide, and is safe and non-invasive. The technetium99 is a 3-4 cc intravenous injection, and the scan is performed with the horse standing and moderately sedated. The process takes approximately 4 hours for image acquisition, and 2-3 hours for image evaluation. The horse is kept in an isolation stall for 48 hours after isotope administration in order for the radioactivity to disappear, so the whole process requires a 3 day hospital stay.

• Diagnostic Ultrasonography - vitally important in the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal injury, lameness, routine reproductive evaluation, emergency colic cases, cardiac disease, respiratory disease, and an ever expanding number of medical applications. Diagnostic ultrasonongraphy is our most useful tool for the non-invasive evaluation of soft tissue structures within the body, for looking at everything from the heart to the small intestine to the cartilage in a joint. We have 6 portable ultrasound units with varying capabilities and a large in-hospital unit. Depending on the system used, we have a diagnostic spectrum ranging from 3.5 megaHertz (mHz) probes for evaluation of large, deep structures such as the heart or abdominal viscera to 15 mHz probes for fine, high detail assessment of structures such as ligaments and tendons.
• Endoscopy - We offer portable fiber-optic endoscopy and in-hospital video endoscopy services. Using these tools, we are able to look inside the patient to evaluate areas such as the respiratory tract, esophagus and stomach, urethra and bladder, and uterus. Usually these procedures are performed on the standing, sedated horse. Our videoendoscope is equipped with a monitor that allows the client to see these anatomical structures during the exam, which helps to strengthen the client's understanding of the nature of their horse's condition.
• Gastroscopy - Gastroscopy is currently the only reliable method of diagnosing gastric ulcers in the horse. Gastric ulceration is a common condition in the racehorse, and in some horses subjected to stresses such as intense competition, transport, and recovery from disease or injury. It is also commonly suspected in normal horses, but is often not present. Based on fact that that this condition is both common and commonly mis-diagnosed, we feel that gastroscopy is very worthwhile in order to obtain a definitive diagnosis in cases where gastric ulceration is suspected. We have a specialized 3 meter long videoendoscope, long enough to enter and fully evaluate the interior of the horse's stomach. This process is performed on the standing and sedated horse, and is well tolerated by the patient. It does require the horse to be starved out for 12 hours or more, so often a hospital stay is necessary

Reproductive Services
Moore and Company has recently started a new Reproductive Centre located at Canadianna Farms west of Airdrie. Check out all it's own section on the webpage to get all of the details

We have always been involved in bovine reproductive work by being the attending veterianarians for Alta Genetics of Balzac. We also do all the work for the Beef Booster organization which involves semen testing, conformational evaluations and pregnancy testing.

Equine Dentistry
Spearheaded by Dr. Rach, Moore and Company has a significant focus on equine dentistry. We feel that equine dentistry is a very important part of the herd health approach in both large stables and individual farms. As well as routine yearly or biannual examinations and floating the correct application of performance horse dentistry is invaluable for horses performing at any level of competition. There is also a focus on geriatric dental care and just as in humans, people feel that this is one of the reasons horses are living much longer these days. There has been a swing to intraoral surgery including standing extractions, diastoma repair, root canals and bite alignment. All of our clinicians who do dentistry have taken extensive courses as well as being mentored by Dr. Rach who has given dental courses all over the world

Shock Wave Therapy
Shock wave therapy is a treatment modality used to enhance the bodies own healing response by sending a high frequency wave though the affected tissue that has been proven to increase the chemicals involved in the healing process. This therapy is an offshoot of that used to break up kidney stones in humans so it's ability to penetrate is unquestioned. We feel that this is doing what people have been trying to do for centuries by firing or blistering. It is used for slower healing areas such as ligaments and tendons as well as some joint related problems.

Alternative Veterinary Treatments
To augment our traditional training Moore and Company has four clinicians trained in these therapies. Two have chiropractic designations, three have acupuncture training and one has mesotherapy training. The use of these therapies coupled with the western veterinary training that they all have received is very powerful and allows us to "work on the whole animal as well as it's components". These clinicians work on their own or consult to our other practitioners or to consulting veterinarians. These modalities have been used in lameness's, reproduction, respiratory disease, colic treatments and many others.