Gilson Equine Veterinary Services
156 Fifth Line Peterborough, ON, Canada

We've had lots of people asking about the risk of EHV-1, which has caused severe neurological disease in horses in areas to the East and West of us. At this point, we do not have any cases locally, but it is still very important to implement routine biosecurity such as regular hand washing and disinfection. New horses coming into a barn should be isolated for 14 days. We do have a vaccine for EHV-1/4 and influenza (the "rhino-flu" vaccine) but it does not protect against the neurological form of this disease. However, the vaccine is recommended in barns where there is movement of horses, such as to clinics or shows. I will post here if we see or hear of any local cases. Picture below of Primrose, the matriarch of the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary, who passed away recently of old age, in her 47th year.

Holiday Hours: Thursday Dec 24th: Closing at noon Friday Dec 25th: Closed Monday Dec 28th: Closed Thursday Dec 31st: Closing at noon... Friday Jan 1st: Closed During the Lockdown, we will still be open for regular calls, with appropriate social distancing and PPE. As always, we have 24 hour emergency service. Happy Holidays everyone! See more

Happy Monday! We are without power at the office, so the phones are going to our answering service, but we are working today. If you leave a message with them someone will get back to you. If for some reason you cannot get through, you can DM me here. Drive safe today everyone!

Breeding season is winding down and we would like to thank all of our wonderful clients for your business! We foaled 30 mares at the clinic, many more on farms and bred just under 200 mares. We are grateful for a solid season in a bad year. I would also like to thank everyone for respecting our social distancing protocols and working with us to make medication pickups as safe as possible. We will be shifting to fall hours starting immediately. Our new hours will be 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. Of course we are available for emergencies 24/7 as always!

We are excited to announce that we will now be offering acupuncture to our list of services! Dr. Leah has recently completed her training in equine acupuncture at the Chi Institute and will start seeing patients in the coming weeks. Acupuncture can be used to treat conditions such as lameness, poor performance, behavioral issues, respiratory conditions, neurologic problems and so much more. Give us a call or send an email to: [email protected] to find out if your horse can benefit from acupuncture and to set up an appointment.

At long last we are thrilled to welcome our new Associate Veterinarian, Dr. Melanie Harness! Melanie grew up in Port Hope and has recently returned to the area. After graduating from the Ontario Veterinary College she completed an internship at TD Equine in Calgary. She then worked as equine vet in the Guelph area. Melanie's interests include lameness, reproduction, dentistry and general wellness. She is excited to join the team and getting to know our patients and clients! ...Dr. Leah Knox also continues to work with us part-time. She books up fast so if you'd like to see Dr. Leah, please book well in advance! We are continuing to be careful and respect social distancing through this time, so we ask that only one person per horse be present at your appointment, and our assistants may hold the horse for the vet. We thank everyone for staying safe! See more

Covid-19 Update. We will be decreasing our office hours and doing emergencies only for at least the next 2 weeks. Please call ahead for medication refills and we will leave it in the pickup box for you. We appreciate people not entering the office. If your horse has an emergency but you cannot go to the stable, please be assured that we will do everything possible to help your horse and maintain communication with you. Baby number 5...a boy in a pink blanket :)

In accordance with the State of Emergency declared in Ontario, boarding stables are to be closed to the public. At this point, we will only be attending urgent calls and emergencies at boarding stables (ie. no teeth/vaccines). We will continue to do routine work at private farms. Our office hours may be reduced or may change unexpectedly so please call ahead if you need to pick up meds/prescription refills and we can leave it in the pickup box if we are closed.

We wanted to let everyone know that, for now, we will remain open for regular business hours. If you are picking something up at the clinic, please feel free to call ahead and we can have it ready, to minimize your pickup time. If you have an appointment and you feel unwell, we can see your horse in your absence or feel free to rebook if it's not urgent. Our 24 hour emergency service will continue as usual. If you have any concerns please give us a call! P.S. Horses do not get COVID-19. This is Sheyore, a very special older donkey at the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary!

Happy Foal Friday! Welcome to our first foal to be born at the clinic this year! We are still seeing lots of colics...make sure your horses are warm enough and can get easily to their water supply. Hopefully spring will be here soon!

***Now welcoming new clients*** We are excited to announce that we have another Veterinarian joining our team this spring! We will have more details coming soon. We are accepting new clients effective immediately. Please call or message to find out if you are within our working range!

Welcome to 2020! We are adjusting our hours for the winter months. For January and February, we will be open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. If you need to pickup products outside of those hours we can leave it out for you! Our 24/7 emergency answering service will take calls outside of working hours. Cheers everyone!

Seasons Greetings from all of us at Gilson Equine! Holiday hours: Monday 23rd: Open till 5 Tuesday 24th: Closing at Noon Christmas Day and Boxing Day Closed.... Tuesday 31st: Closing at Noon New Year's Day: Closed Emergency on call service 24/7 as always! And hoping you and your equine friends stay healthy through this holiday season! See more

Welcome to our early winter! It seems this cold and snow has caught many of us off guard and in a rush to prepare for winter. We are seeing quite a few colics! Be sure your horse has easy access to fresh, unfrozen water and that they are actually drinking! Sometimes the cold weather will decrease drinking overall. Adding salt to the diet can help increase water consumption. Contact us if you have any questions! Picture of our minis breaking into the feed room...

Hey everybody just a head's up! We have seen no less than 5 suspected cases of Potomac horse fever in the last 2 weeks. It seems that we may have an increase this year due to the weather and humidity in particular. The first sign is that the horse goes off their feed and may (or may not!) seem lethargic. They often have a fever. It is usually a few days before they break with severe diarrhea. The earlier we start treatment, the better the prognosis! So...make sure you have a thermometer handy, and keep an eye on your horses for anything unusual such as a change in appetite!

We are pleased to say that Dr. Leah Knox is back in the area for a couple of months, and will be rejoining us part-time to help out before her next adventure. Hopefully this helps us get caught up a bit. For now she will be working Tuesday and Wednesday. If you'd like to book with her please give us a call!

Happy Long Weekend! This long legged beauty is foal #17 to be born at the clinic this year for proud owner Nancy Thompson. He is very special! Just a reminder, we will be closed on Monday for the holiday. Have a safe and happy weekend everyone!

Happy Foal Friday! Hope everybody has a great weekend!