Paton and Martin Veterinary Services

11/25/2025

As you may have noticed, we have a donation box in the front office entry again this year. Each year, instead of doing a “Secret Santa” or other official staff gift exchange, we encourage all staff to make a donation to the collection box. We’ve partnered with Ishtar Women’s Resource Society, LAPS and Infinite Expansion Foundation to collect and distribute the donations. There’s also a box on the front reception desk for cash or gift card donations. Infinite Expansion Foundation is putting together the hampers and distributing them to the women/children who are being supported by Ishtar Women’s Resource Society as well as LAPS. For more info on any of the organizations, go to:

https://ishtarsociety.org/
https://www.lapsbc.ca/
https://infiniteexpansionfoundation.ca/

Accepted donations include:
New Toys
New children’s clothes
Non-perishable food items
Gift cards for groceries or gifts for children or women
New toiletries
Pet food
Pet toys

Clients can give any donations to the vets at their appointments or bring to the office if they want to contribute.

Let’s try and make it a Merry Little Christmas for everyone this year!

11/19/2025

Dr. Paton is in Egypt this week with his son Greg taking in all of the sights, sounds and history of this ancient land. Of course, he found himself at an equine veterinary hospital.

Animal Care in Egypt (ACE) is a British charity hospital dedicated to helping stop the suffering of thousands of animals in the poorest communities of Luxor by providing free veterinary care and education.

In Dr Paton’s words this hospital was extremely well run, completely free and desperately needed.

https://www.ace-egypt.org.uk/

11/16/2025

4 Cyte is a product that we have been recommending for some time now. We send it home with most of our post-op arthroscopic surgery cases as well as for any horse who may be experiencing arthritis or joint pain.

This video shows Dr. Wayne McIIwraith (extremely respected equine surgeon at CSU, the founding director of the Orthopaedic Research Center and considered the GURU of osteoarthritis research in horses) talking about the benefits of this product which is based on scientific research and data.

There is a plethora of joint products out there that are not backed up by any research or scientific proof. 4 Cyte has consistently demonstrated tangible, proven disease-modifying properties.

Interpath Global, a leader in animal health solutions, brings unparalleled expertise to the project. With a focus on developing evidence-based products that ...

11/08/2025

Our office will be closed on Tuesday November 11 for Remembrance Day. If you have an emergency during this time please call 604-856-3351 and our on-call veterinarian will be able to assist you.

"All we have of freedom , all we use or know, this our fathers bought for us long and long ago"

We honour all who served to defend freedom, both human and animal, and those who continue to do so.

11/05/2025

Important news if you are planning to take your horses to Arizona and then return to Canada with them.

Edit: it does say this in the post, but this affects horses travelling TO Canada from Arizona. The best source of accurate information on importing/exporting horses is the CFIA and our most current information is that horses coming back from Arizona will need to be quarantined. If we get different information, we will be sure to update this.

11/04/2025

A rare moment where our veterinarians Dr David Paton, Dr Sarah Graham, Dr Marielle St-Laurent, Dr Eric Martin and Dr Natacha Bonomelli are all at the same place at the same time!

The occasion is the annual seminar which has been hosted by the equine veterinarians of BC since 1973. The goal has always been to have a seminar in which the equine vets from around the province could learn and take home useable information to their practices. Dr. David Paton is Chairman of the Equine Committee and Seminar.

Over the years a wide range of topics presented by world class speakers have been covered including areas of medicine, surgery, lameness, sport horse rehabilitation, dentistry, dermatology, ophthalmology, imaging reproduction, anesthesiology and neonatology to list a few.

We were especially proud that one of the speakers this year is a past PMVS intern Dr. Rachel Hector DVM, MS, DACVAA. Dr. Hector is an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia at Colorado State University. Her clinical focus is in equine practice, with specific expertise in emergency care, pain management, and equine behaviour. Her research includes anesthetic management and pharmacologic intervention in the treatment of endotoxemia, positive reinforcement training in a medical setting, behaviour modifying drugs, anesthetic recovery quality, metabolic responses to trauma and acute pain, improving local anesthetic techniques, and chronic pain therapy.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” — Harry S. Truman

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween🎃👻💀

10/29/2025

We are so happy that Dusti is feeling better and back at home! After all, she has a very important job at the Richmond Therapeutic Riding Association and her people have missed her. Therapeutic horses are truly special❤️

“Doctors help heal the body but horses help heal the soul”

10/28/2025

Cautionary post on the dangers of bale net wrap and preventive measures that can be taken.

Bale net wrap does a great job of preserving feed quality, but if your horse happens to eat remnants of the plastic wrap, it can cause some serious health issues.

Dr. Alannah Friedlund, a veterinarian and large animal surgical resident at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), is seeing a growing number of horses that have ingested net wrap, and as a result, have developed colic.

“This net wrap makes it all the way to the small colon, which is the very last stop before the rectum,” says Friedlund. “This is where it seems to get caught in every single case.”

In the small colon, Friedlund says the net wrap gets twisted around f***l balls, forming a “rosary-style chain” that the horse can’t excrete. These horses present with typical colic symptoms but treating with fluids and pain medication rarely work.

Instead, these cases require costly colic surgery with a 50-50 recovery rate.

Friedlund says awareness is critical for avoiding this serious issue, and she recommends following five safe feeding practices.

1. Remove all net wrap from hay bales before feeding
2. Consider alternative feeding methods to make it easier to identify and remove potential hazards
3. Always remove net wrap before processing bales into chopped hay
4. Regularly check fields and paddocks for net wrap debris
5. Call your veterinarian if your horse shows any signs of colic

For more details, read the full article in the Fall 2025 issue of the Horse Health Lines, newsletter for the Townsend Equine Health Research Fund. https://ow.ly/OkiC50Xc4PM

📷 https://ow.ly/P48h50Xc5QN

10/27/2025

Thanks so much for the kind words!

We appreciate the hard work and time that goes into putting on a show and the value that clubs and organizations bring to our local equine community.

10/25/2025

Dr. Sarah Graham and Dr. Natacha Bonomelli are attending the 2025 ACVS (American College of Veterinary Surgeons) Summit this weekend in Seattle.

The ACVS is dedicated to advancing veterinary surgery through cutting-edge research and education, ultimately enhancing patient care.

Just a few of the topics covered:

Equine Regenerative Medicine Therapies Used in Veterinary Surgery and Sports Medicine

At the Intersection of Surgery and Regenerative Medicine: The Quest for Optimizing Musculoskeletal Sport Horse Injuries Through Biological Approaches

Orthopedic and Spinal Surgery

Equine Emergency Surgery Involving Thoracic and Abdominal Body Walls

The Summit is an incredible opportunity for surgeons to connect with each other, learn new ways of managing difficult cases and explore cutting edge (no pun intended!) technologies and practices.

10/24/2025

Part of the dental examination on horses may include removing excess calculus (tartar buildup) from the canine teeth. Left untreated, this buildup can lead to gingivitis, irritation and bleeding from the gums and in severe cases to tooth decay / loss.