PreventiCare Program

Quietly, for nearly three years, horses and owners have been saved—horses from pain and death, and owners from expense and worry. While the start-up has been quiet, the impact is growing exponentially and can be seen in areas all across

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Quietly, for nearly three years, horses and owners have been saved—horses from pain and death, and owners from expense and worry. While the start-up has been quiet, the impact is growing exponentially and can be seen in areas all across the country. The Pfizer Animal Health PreventiCare program and Colic Assistance Plan, in short, allow horse owners who work with their veterinarians to take good care of their horses up to $5,000 to pay for emergency colic surgery and aftercare. The program is free, although use of the company’s dewormers is mandatory. If you use daily dewormers, then it’s much like having someone at the grocery hand you coupons for a product you are going to buy anyway.


Ed Becker, DVM, said since Cornell University’s studies first came out with positive reports on Strongid C, he has been a believer in the product, especially when the horse is in an environment where he is constantly re-infected with parasites. The horses he and his daughter ride have been on the product since it first came out and he has recommended it to clients. Therefore, he said, it was logical that his horses would become part of the PreventiCare program at its inception. It was especially beneficial when his jumper/equitation horse Big Time, a 16-year-old Thoroughbred cross gelding, colicked on Memorial Day weekend.


Big Time is housed at the Skidmore College stables in New York. The stable staff noticed that Big Time was down in the field and acting colicky. In the 40 minutes it took Becker to arrive, another veterinarian was on the scene and giving assistance. Becker said he wasn’t sure the horse would ever get up, but they finally got Big Time loaded on a van and taken to surgery. Becker said it was while assisting the other veterinarian in the surgery—which turned out to be an impaction that responded to manual massage—he remembered the Colic Assistance Program. The lead veterinarian in the surgery was familiar with the program, as he had done surgery on other horses which were participants

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Written by:

Kimberly S. Brown is the editor of EquiManagement/EquiManagement.com and the group publisher of the Equine Health Network at Equine Network LLC.

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