animal health consulting

Christine King  BVSc, MANZCVS (equine), MVetClinStud

Here are some of my past and current publications on animal health, written for owners, trainers, farm/stable managers, and other caretakers. Like me, it's a rather ecclectic mix. I'll be adding to it as time permits.

You are welcome to download, print, and share any of these articles with your friends and family. But if you want to publish them in any way, such as in a newsletter, a magazine, or online, please contact me for permission, as I have a couple of conditions. (BTW, many of these articles were written for American horse magazines, so please forgive the American spelling...)

New

Cataracts — can we prevent, or at least delay the onset and slow the progression, of age-related cataracts in our animals?  web page

Antioxidants — can too much of a good thing be a bad thing?  web page

Simple pain indicator checklist for cats — discomfort is a common cause of "bad" behaviour in cats, too  web page

The trouble with Librela (Beransa) and Solensia — these arthritis drugs are not as good as they sound  web page

The gut-brain axis and anxiety — highly processed, high-carbohydrate diets contribute to behavioural reactivity  web page

Do high-protein diets really increase aggression in dogs? — no, but they may lessen some reactive behaviours  web page

It pays to keep cows happy — in dairy cows, positive emotional states are reflected in greater milk yield and udder health  web page

Cultivate joy — joy is contagious from humans to animals  web page

Back care

Care of the horse's back  PDF

Saddle fit basics — fit and placement from the horse's perspective  PDF

Training the young horse — balancing short-term gains and long-range goals  PDF

Breeding

"To breed or not to breed" — making responsible breeding decisions  PDF

Food and digestive health

The microbiota of the equine gut — and what it can tell us about feeding horses [vet conference paper] PDF

Adaptogens and EGUS (equine gastric ulcer syndrome)  web page

Beware of cereal hays and chaffs — be careful with oaten, wheaten and barley hay/chaff  web page

Don't guess; test! — results of my pasture mineral analysis  web page

Forage analysis — why test your hay and pasture?  web page

Preventing colic in horses  PDF (available for purchase)

Why do horses eat dirt?  PDF

Hoof care

The Tao of hoof care — thoughts on the shoes vs. barefoot debate  PDF

Internal parasites (worms)

Faecal egg count (FEC) — why do FECs?  web page

Vaccination and infectious diseases

Hendra: why not just go ahead and vaccinate?  web page

Ivermectin and the Hendra virus — lessons from COVID-19  web page

Thoughts on equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1)  PDF

Vaccination  PDF

Miscellaneous horse health topics

Equine Cushing's disease and belonging  web page

Integrative veterinary care — the best of both worlds  PDF

Making do — keeping horses healthy in an imperfect environment  PDF

What does "wellness" mean?  PDF

'White crows' — studying health to understand disease  PDF

Why do we get sick in the winter months?  PDF

Dogs

Adaptogens and the senior dog — on optimizing health and longevity  PDF

Adaptogens and the working dog — on performance, injury, and career longevity  PDF

Stress in pet dogs — change what you can, and help your dog cope with the rest  PDF

Calcium requirements for dogs (table)  PDF

Genetic adaptation to starch in dogs  PDF

CardioCare by Purina — what does the science really say?  web page

Chapter 1. The highly sensitive person as a template for the highly sensitive dog (excerpt from The Highly Sensitive Dog, 2nd edition) PDF

Chapter 2. The highly sensitive dog (excerpt from The Highly Sensitive Dog, 2nd edition) PDF

HSD questionnaire (excerpt from The Highly Sensitive Dog, 2nd edition) PDF

Chapter 8. Diet matters (excerpt from The Highly Sensitive Dog, 2nd edition) PDF

Separation anxiety — a distress call, not a disorder  web page

Other animals & scattered thoughts...

"I like animals better than people"  web page

Pollyanna and the art of seeing the whole picture  web page

Stories: Miss Lilly plays fetch  web page

Stories: Miss Lilly takes her time  web page

Stories: quantum entanglement in the shower  web page

Precautions against ivermectin horse paste to prevent or treat COVID-19 in people  web page

Better together — how the animals we love can inspire our creativity and transform our shared lives PDF

Quantum physics redefines reality — quantum physics suggests that reality is unique to each of us and is determined by what we expect to see  web page

Remember who you are — the faux supremacy of "AI"  web page

What are genes? — genes are how we write our lives  web page

More articles and book excerpts at Anima Books: Magazine