Here at Alpine Veterinary Hospital, we pride ourselves on having high quality, top of the line medical and surgical treatment of all animals. We service cattle, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, poultry, and pigs.
Ambulatory Field Service
Our ambulatory trucks are fully stocked to make on-site farm calls so we can bring the medicine to you!
Both hospitals boast sorting pens, alley ways, and chutes to work cattle efficiently and safely. We have a state-of-the-art hydraulic chute system in the Monte Vista hospital for all mature bull work, as well as a tilt-table for any bovine orthopedic needs.
There are calving stalls with head catches at both hospitals as well for dystocias and cesarean sections.
We examine all vital signs (pulse rate, temperature, and respiratory rate), rumen motility and contractions, udder health, reproductive organs, teeth and gums, eyes, limbs and hooves, and overall body condition as nutrition is (and should be) a large focus in these animals.
Testing and Vaccinating
Brucellosis is a reproductive disease seen mainly in cattle and sheep. Brucella abortus, or Bang’s, vaccines are required in all female cattle under the age of 12 months and must be administered by any one of our USDA accredited veterinarians. Many ranchers will schedule to Bang’s vaccinate their heifers in late fall to late winter.
Tritrichomonas foetus is another reproductive disease seen in cattle that causes abortions. T. Foetus has to be tested for in all bulls sold for the purpose of reproduction as well as for any bulls being grazed on BLM or US Forest Service permits. Trich testing has to be performed by any one of our USDA accredited veterinarians, and should be done with all bulls on a yearly basis (even within private herds).
Tuberculosis and Johnne’s Disease are two additional diseases that may be tested for by a USDA accredited veterinarian.
Imaging: Radiography and Ultrasonography
Our X-Ray and ultrasound machines are versatile and can be used in-house and in the field! Radiographs allow us to see things that we are unable to feel or see with the naked eye. Many diagnoses require the use of imaging such as claw (or toe) fractures or abscesses, broken legs, pneumonia in young animals, lumpy jaw, and more.
We use ultrasonography to evaluate both cattle and small ruminant pregnancy, as well as some disease processes.
We plan on being able to do whole-herd preg-checking via ultrasound in the near future.
We are equipped to perform general field surgeries on many types of livestock including mass removals, castrations, enucleations, and caesarian sections.
We are able to evaluate bovine pregnancy through rectal palpation from 30 days onward and plan on having an ultrasound specifically for preg-checking in the near future to aid in better aging and diagnosing reproductive problems sooner.
Our ambulatory truck allows us to make farm calls to assist in deliveries and difficult births, uterine and vaginal prolapses, and caesarian sections.
Necropsies are a very important part of food animal medicine and whole herd health. If an animal dies, we may be able to help in preventing further deaths by examining the body and sending samples to laboratories for answers.
We have blood machines that help us to evaluate multiple parameters in our small and large animals including CBC and Blood Chemistries. A CBC, or Complete Blood Count, assesses the animal’s white blood cells (infection fighting cells), red blood cells (oxygen carrying cells), and platelets (clotting cells). The Chemistry panels help us to evaluate the health of multiple organ systems including the liver and kidney.
Our doctors and veterinary technicians are also proficient at preparing microscope slides in order to evaluate blood and tissue smears, cytologies, bacterial samples, fecal floats, and more.