Recipient Organization
LUNDGREN VETERINARY SERVICES, PLLC
7345 SILVER BULLET LN
STAR,ID 836696187
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Lundgren Veterinary Services is an emerging mixed animal mobile practice serving small livestock operations and is owned by a current VMLRP recipient. We are the only service in the area that offers 100% ambulatory services to small ruminant and backyard cattle operations that commonly lack cattle restraint facilities. Equipment needed to adapt and meet the needs of all must serve species in the shortage situation is out of reach due to lack of resources as a newer practice. Requested equipment includes: a mobile hydraulic chute, breeding soundness equipment, portable digital radiology with safety apparel, and basic anesthesia equipment to establish a mobile small ruminant surgical trailer. This critical equipment will allow the practice to offer full-service care focused on providing ambulatory services to the fast-growing number of backyard operations currently lacking access to veterinary care. Our goal is to provide access to safe, quality, full-service veterinary care for all livestock regardless of location and facilities. The project aligns directly with the goals of the VSGP as it facilitates our ability to alleviate the shortage situation and provide client and veterinary student education. Public health, control of regulated animal diseases, and minimized disease transmission will be promoted by utilizing the proposed equipment. It will provide access to small operations and serve as an opportunity to educate backyard producers that often slip under the radar. Equipment resulting from the VSGP is vital to successfully relieve the desperate shortage and promote a thriving livestock industry in the ID216 rural shortage area.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The project goal is to provide access to full-service routine and emergency veterinary care to the rapidly expanding number of small livestock operations and improve the viability and prosperity of the livestock industry in shortage area ID216 through the purchase of critical equipment and diagnostic technologies. This project directly aligns with the overarching aims of the VSGP to facilitate rural prosperity, promote the use of technology to encourage strong stewardship of private lands, ensure sustainability, and provide all Americans access to a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply. Lundgren Veterinary Services is requesting $125,000 to purchase equipment to provide the tools needed to SAFELY provide full service, quality medicine to backyard livestock producers. Additionally, this equipment will ensure long-term viability of the practice. The purchase of a mobile Silencer squeeze chute will provide small cattle operations with veterinary access regardless of facilities or ability to transport livestock. Furthermore, a chute will provide a safe method to provide livestock with any diagnostic or treatment option and is key to veterinary access. Advanced diagnostic and surgical equipment that will be added to the practice includes: portable digital radiography and lead aprons, breeding soundness equipment for cattle and small ruminants, portable centrifuge for packed cell volume and total protein determination, autoclave, a basic mobile gas anesthesia machine, and multiparameter anesthesia monitor. The overall goals of the 3-year project period are to provide veterinary access to backyard livestock operations, offer technologies to improve animal husbandry and quality of veterinary care, and promote education to producers, high school students, and veterinary students.Year one of the project will be primarily dedicated to providing access to veterinary care and regulatory services to small cattle operations through promoting the use of portable, safe animal restraint, also making veterinary services more efficient and cost effective. There is expected to be a large growth of 50% in the number of clients the practice will serve as a direct result. Small ruminant services will be expanded to offer full service veterinary care through use of advanced diagnostic and surgical care options. Year two of the project period will be dedicated to continuing to increase the number of new clients, community outreach (4H and FFA events), hosting veterinary students, establishing strong veterinary-client-patient-relationships (VCPR) with repeat clients, and providing education on the importance of routine care, technologies to improve animal husbandry practices, and regulatory services such as brucellosis vaccination, tuberculosis, and trichomoniasis testing. The goal of the project in year three is to reduce the number of emergent cases as a direct result improving knowledge and the production practices of backyard livestock producers. Introduction of safe animal restraint, veterinary access, improved animal husbandry, and producer education will promote reduced morbidity and mortality, resulting in fewer emergency calls and an increased number of routine services. Overall, better management practices are a team effort by both the producer and the veterinarian which can result in a prosperous, thriving group of backyard livestock operations.
Project Methods
Lundgren Veterinary Services will approach our project objectives through the purchase of portable animal restraint, diagnostic technologies, and basic surgery equipment to adapt to meet the needs of the must serve species our rural shortage area. New services will be promoted through networking with the many veterinary clinics in the valley that refer backyard clients to the practice weekly. We also plan to increase our social media presence through frequent educational and informative posts that promote our new available services and equipment. A large number of new client phone calls and appointments are expected due to the expansion of services and extension of livestock access to veterinary care provided by VSGP funding. The large volume of new livestock clients in the shortage area will be prioritized and may limit availability to serve other species and counties not included in the shortage situation.Safe, mobile animal restraint will be obtained through the purchase of a heavy-duty wide body portable silencer chute on a hydraulic trailer. This critical tool is the key to veterinary access and a thriving livestock industry for the fast-growing population of backyard livestock producers. After much research, it is the safest, stoutest, and easy to use portable chute system on the market that will promote the use of the veterinarian's knowledge and skillset to be utilized at full potential. The mobile silencer squeeze chute has the capacity to accommodate all sizes of cattle and will ensure safety to animals and people. Safe animal restraint will allow Lundgren Veterinary Services to expand and provide access to routine, regulatory, and emergency veterinary care to all livestock regardless of location or facilities. Clients will be able to vaccinate and deworm their cattle in this chute while pregnancy diagnosing, bangs vaccinating and breeding soundness evaluations are being performed. This chute will promote exposure to the high school and veterinary students that shadow our practice to large animal medicine with a lower risk to their safety. It is exciting to be able to expose students to the full range of services that are provided to large animals and promote the next generation of livestock veterinarians. Access to veterinary care will also help educate backyard clients on the critical importance of regulatory testing and vaccines. Many of these producers learn about brucellosis vaccinations and trichomoniasis testing for the first time from us. The practice will finally be able to meet the desperate needs of the large number of backyard cattle producers by adapting to their situation with the provision of mobile facilities.Advanced diagnostics obtained through the VSGP include portable digital radiography, breeding soundness testing equipment, and a microhematocrit centrifuge. A mobile digital radiography system is a staple in any full-care veterinary practice. This equipment is essential to a basic veterinary practice and will provide point of care diagnosis and promote client discussion and education on farm. A portable digital radiology system is important for diagnosis of hoof morbidities, fractures, lameness, urolithiasis, mandibular osteomyelitis, tooth root abscesses, and septic joints. Our ability to offer mobile digital radiology on farm will enable a better standard of care, confirm diagnosis, more accurately predict prognosis, and aid in the formation of a treatment plan. The majority of small ruminant clients in the ID216 shortage area are ready and willing to run the proper diagnostics to achieve a good treatment plan, and ultimately a good outcome for their livestock. Acquiring this equipment through the VSGP will enable the practice to provide this valuable diagnostic as a resource for client education and improved quality of medicine at a reasonable, attainable price. Additionally, breeding soundness evaluations are a basic service that livestock veterinarians must be equipped to perform. These examinations ultimately make the producer more profitable, as they predict the likelihood of high pregnancy rates in the herd. An infertile sire can ultimately ruin the viability of an operation, especially in small herds. Bovine breeding soundness exams also include trichomoniasis testing, a regulated animal disease. The practice currently rents bull semen testing equipment when available from another practice in the area, but this is not a dependable or long-term option. However, this service is likely to increase in demand due to the acquisition of a mobile squeeze chute. There have also been multiple inquiries to the practice for small ruminant breeding soundness examinations. The Electrojac 6 machine is highly versatile and can accommodate multiple probe sizes to provide proper breeding soundness examinations to all of the must serve species in the ID216 shortage area. Furthermore, a microhematocrit centrifuge is an important diagnostic tool that will assess packed cell volume and drive treatment recommendations and provides prognosis. Small ruminants that present with bottle jaw, high fecal egg counts, and severe anemia are at risk of succumbing to parasite overload if they cannot be treated immediately. Many of our current clients would jump at this opportunity as a treatment option, especially for prized 4H goats and to salvage important blood lines.Basic surgery and anesthesia equipment is a small fraction of the project budget, but is expected to have a large impact on the quality of ambulatory veterinary services that we can provide to small ruminants and calves. There have been a variety of cases since the practice start up where a small basic mobile surgery suite was needed to provide appropriate care to small ruminants and calves. Gas anesthesia is an important treatment option in order to offer full service veterinary care and can be provided in our mobile, equipped cargo trailer. Anesthesia equipment will allow Lundgren Veterinary Services to expand our services and provide higher quality medicine to livestock producers without limitations and risks of injectable anesthesia in the field. A multiparameter anesthesia monitor will contribute to the patient's safety while under anesthesia by providing multiple vital signs all at once in real time. The monitor will allow the technician to maintain the lowest effective depth of the patient to help reduced the risks associated with anesthesia, especially in small ruminant which are considered high risk anesthetic candidates due to the large volume of salivary production, sensitive respiratory systems and large rumen that can cause them to crash quickly under anesthesia. The ability to sterilize surgical instruments with an autoclave is critical to cutting down on infection rates and improving surgical success for all sterile, clean, and contaminated procedures. Sterilization of equipment will also be valuable to reduce fomite transmission of small ruminant infectious diseases. Although a cold tray may suffice for minor procedures in the field, investment in an autoclave will serve many purposes and help the practice to meet the veterinary medical standards of care.