Dr. Roger Chase speaks
Hello, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Dr. Roger Chase, DVM, a 1973 graduate from Colorado State University. I practiced for 20 years in central Nebraska then I moved out to western Nebraska. I've been working with Art Hughes of Parker, Colorado on a device that he invented.
I wanted to talk some about my 9 year old quarter horse stallion, The County Cook. He is a money earner in cutting, as a weekend cutter. He is always in competition and show shape. In general he is a healthy horse, though occasionally he has a little bit of nasal discharge.
This bit of discharge leads into the purpose of this device, the VibraVM. This is a device that generates sounds that are the same pitches that are made from mucous in the lungs. You could hear these lung sounds using a stethoscope and those sounds can be recorded and analyzed. The device generates the same frequencies as the wheezing lung sounds.
The device is a pretty easy thing to use. It's small and handy and you can use it right out in the pasture. (It runs on rechargeable battery power.)
To give The County Cook a treatment, I turn on the device and let him get used to the sound rather than immediately applying it. After he's acclimated, then I'll put it in the naris, i.e., one nostril.
The treatment is for 8 minutes, during which the device makes a lot of different sounds progressing from a low to a medium pitch, plus some white noise in the middle and at the end. These sounds will massage the lung tissue, what I would call the lung parenchyma. Some of the tones will massage the bronchial parenchyma. As we do this the horse will begin discharging fluids.
This is a device that works real easy on indications like this, and the treatment is pretty simple. As the treatment progresses and you watch closely, you can see that his nasal discharge will increase. He'll lick his lips and do some chewing, which shows the horse is relaxing more and feeling the effects of the use of the product. I've seen this happen time and time again.
The expulsion of the loosened discharge will continue for several hours. What this is doing is allowing the lung tissue to clean itself. And that's what you'll get out of this device. You'll also see the horse slobber a little bit. Cook is always on dry hay, so he is very susceptible to have heaves in his later years. As a preventive measure I use the device for this indication.
This device has many indications and as we use it we are going to find more and more indications. The indication I have been talking about is congestive pulmonary disease or are any sort of congestive respiratory condition in a horse, such as what is called heaves.
It may be used in conjunction with antibiotics or any of the other therapies recommended by your veterinarian. Generally, it is not a device that eliminates the use of antibiotics. It will help the horse expel the secretions which are the medium for secondary infections. It works great on sick animals as well as perfectly healthy animals, like The County Cook, which I want to emphasize. This is a device that can be used on healthy horses.
If you use this device of a calf or a sheep or a dog, you are going to see the very same beneficial effects. With the dog and the cat you are going to have more sneezing, because they react a little bit differently.
Another thing you will notice as an indication for this machine is as a massage and relaxation device. A couple of universities around are looking into this indication. It will have the same impact as a full body therapeutic massage. I.e. the 8 minute treatment will cause the release of endorphins which are the hormones that increase in your blood stream during a massage.
Another related indication is on your show horses to help them de-stress. When you arrive the night before a show, give your horse a treatment to calm him down. He will be calmer in his pen that night. It is not indicated to use the device right before the show as it will calm him down a little bit too much. But it is indicated around 24 hours before you show for relaxation and calming purposes.
We used it a lot this summer in the evenings after showing our horses; allowing the horse to relax and prepare for the next day of competition. We had really good success with that use and we think this is a therapy that helps really well.
I've use it a lot on young horses just as I'm getting ready to halter break them to go to a trainer. It calms that young horse down, then I can go ahead and halter break him and handle him a bit before sending him to a trainer.
I would like the opportunity to talk to anyone about the VibraVM, especially the large animal veterinarian or owner. Just go to the Contact page and drop me a note. I feel there are many indications where this device will be very helpful on all animals and not just the horse.
The County Cook and I are ready to start our day. Thank you for your time.
