Omneity® Pellets
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Topic:Animal Health
Animal Health encompasses a broad range of topics focused on maintaining and improving the well-being of equine species. This field addresses various aspects of horse care, including disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. Key areas of interest include equine nutrition, vaccination protocols, parasite control, dental care, and the management of chronic conditions such as laminitis and colic. Additionally, animal health research in horses investigates the impact of exercise and training on physical health, the role of genetics in disease susceptibility, and the development of new therapeutic approaches. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the latest advancements, challenges, and best practices in preserving and enhancing the health of horses.
Cytoplasmic extrusion and the switch from creatine kinase B to M isoform are completed by the commencement of epididymal transport in human and stallion spermatozoa. Although in several species there is a relationship between epididymal sperm transport and fertility, in human in vitro fertilization (IVF), spermatozoa recovered from the caput epididymidis or even the rete testis are fertile. We studied two objective markers of sperm maturity in the sperm of men and stallions: creatine kinase (CK) concentrations, which are a measure of cytoplasmic retention in immature spermatozoa, and the ratio of CK-M and CK-B isoforms (% CK-M/[CK-M + CK-B]), which is proportional to the incidence of mature sperm. The CK markers and the fertilizing function are closely rel...
Gonadal and pituitary responsiveness of stallions is not down-regulated by prolonged pulsatile administration of GnRH. The objective of this study was to determine if prolonged pulsatile administration of homologous gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) at therapeutic or 5x therapeutic doses would cause down-regulation of the stallion's hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis. Fifteen stallions were randomly assigned to three treatment groups (n=5/group) and received a 0.5 ml subcutaneous dose of saline (group 1), 50 microg GnRH (group 2), or 250 microg GnRH (group 3) every 2 hours for 75 days. Weekly evaluations of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and testosterone and monthly evaluations of d...
Serologic survey for hantavirus infection in domestic animals and coyotes from New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. To determine whether animals had serologic evidence of infection with Sin Nombre virus (SNV). Methods: Prospective serosurvey. Methods: Serum samples were obtained from 145 cats, 85 dogs, 120 horses, and 24 cattle between April 1993 and August 1994 and 54 coyotes between December 1994 and February 1995. Methods: Serum samples were analyzed by western immunoblot assays for reaction with SNV nucleocapsid antigen. Samples with reactivity to SNV nucleocapsid proteins were used to probe multiple-antigen blots containing recombinant fusion proteins derived from prototypic hantaviruses. Lung tissue o...
Pulmonary vascular pressures of strenuously exercising Thoroughbred horses after administration of phenylbutazone and frusemide. The present study was carried out to examine the effects of phenylbutazone treatment on the pulmonary haemodynamic effects of frusemide in strenuously exercising horses. Using catheter mounted manometers, whose in vivo signals were referenced at the point of the shoulder, heart rate, right atrial, right ventricular and pulmonary vascular pressures were measured in 3 different sets of experiments. Seven Thoroughbreds were subjected to 1) control (no medications), 2) frusemide control and 3) phenylbutazone + frusemide. The experiments were carried out in random order and were separated by 7 days...
[Acute blindness due to trauma in a Welsh pony-colt]. A healthy, 10-day-old Welsh A pony colt was totally blind 1 day after arrival at a studfarm. Both eyes appeared normal on external inspection. The young animal had been very distressed during the 40-km journey to the studfarm. Intravenous corticosteroids were administered for 2 days, but did not result in any observable improvement. The animal was euthanized at the owner's request. Both eyes with the optic nerves were removed for histological examination. Both optic nerves showed Wallerian degeneration, a well-known response of peripheral nerves to trauma. The foal, which was not tethered duri...
Long-term prospects for horses with grass sickness (dysautonomia). Responses to questionnaires were received from 31 owners of horses or ponies treated for chronic grass sickness (dysautonomia). Contrary to previous opinions the respondents indicated that the majority of the animals were capable of strenuous work, had regained the weight they had lost and, apart from a few residual problems such as difficulty in coping with dry fibrous food, had returned to a normal life. They had recovered slowly and had involved the owners in considerable extra work, but all the owners indicated that they considered the effort to have been worthwhile.
Stress responses of horses during a long period of transport in a commercial truck. To characterize progressive patterns of dehydration, stress responses, and water consumption in horses transported long distances in hot weather and to evaluate various measurements in detecting dehydration and stress in transported horses. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: 30 mature, healthy horses. Methods: The following 4 treatment groups were studied: horses that were penned and offered water every 5 hours (n = 5), horses that were penned and not offered water (5), horses that were transported in a truck and offered water every 5 hours (10), and horses that were transported and not offe...
[Determination of fibrinogen levels in the horse with the heat-precipitation methods of Schalm and Millar]. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of two heat-precipitation techniques (Schalm- and Millar-method) as screening tests to measure plasma fibrinogen concentration in horses. Based on the measurement of samples from 108 different horses, the coefficient of correlation (CC) for the relationship between the results with the Schalm- and with the reference-method (Jacobsson) were much lower (r = 0.78) than between the Millar- and Jacobsson-method (r = 0.94). Furthermore the Schalm-method was less precise as reflected by the greater coefficient of variation (CV, within-run pr...
[Histologic studies on the corpora amylacea in the mammary glands of goats, horses, and ewes]. Corpora amylacea are present in all the mammary glands of the investigated animals (ewe, goat, and mares). Generally, they are comparable to the cow regarding to its distribution, frequency, size, morphological structure, and staining properties. Corpora amylacea occur most frequently in the ewe, and in non-lactating mammary glands. In lactating mammary glands they are mostly situated in the alveoles. During gestation they are located outside of the alveoles and in the interalveolar connective tissue. Only in very few cases corpora amylacea are found inside and outside of the alveoles in the s...
Ventral abdominal approach for laparoscopic cryptorchidectomy in horses. To report a ventral abdominal approach and a ligating loop technique for laparoscopic cryptorchidectomy in horses. Methods: Prospective. Methods: Six horses, aged 1 to 5 years, with retained testes. Methods: One laparoscopic portal and three to four instrument portals were used for ventral abdominal laparoscopic cryptorchidectomy. Laparoscopic instruments were used to maneuver and secure the testis through a ligating loop (modified Roeder knot) that was secured from outside the abdominal cavity. Only minimal enlargement of one instrument portal was used to remove the testicle. Results: Three h...
Metabolic responses of chronically starved horses to refeeding with three isoenergetic diets. To examine metabolic responses of chronically starved horses to refeeding with 3 isoenergetic diets. Methods: Uncontrolled clinical trial. Methods: 22 mature mixed-breed horses that were emaciated but otherwise clinically normal. Methods: Horses were fed 1 of 3 diets: alfalfa hay, oat hay, or a combination diet of half oat hay and half commercially prepared ration. Digestible energy of diets was gradually increased throughout the refeeding period. One pre- and 4 postprandial blood samples were obtained daily, and analyses included RBC count, Hct, and determination of hemoglobin, glucose, insul...
Influence of tidal volume and positive end-expiratory pressure on inspiratory gas distribution and gas exchange during mechanical ventilation in horses positioned in lateral recumbency. To study effects of intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (IPPV) with large tidal volumes and addition of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on maldistribution of ventilation in anesthetized horses positioned in lateral recumbency. Methods: 6 healthy adult horses. Methods: Anesthesia was induced by i.v. infusion of thiopental sodium and guiafenesin and was maintained with supplemental doses of thiopental and i.v. infusion of chloral hydrate. Functional separation of the lungs was achieved, using a tube-in-tube intubation technique. Intermittent positive-pressure ventilation of both l...
Biotransformation of 17-alkyl steroids in the equine: high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric and gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of fluoxymesterone metabolites in urine samples. In this study the equine metabolism of fluoxymesterone (9alpha-fluoro-11beta-17beta-dihydroxy-17alpha-meth ylandrost-4-ene-3-one) given orally has been investigated. The parent material was not detected, but two major 16-hydroxy metabolites which corresponded to a mono- and a di-hydroxylation product were evident. One of the hydroxylation positions was identified as C-16. Phase II metabolism in the form of glucuronide formation was also common. These steroids will provide target compounds for confirming abuse of this drug in the horse.
Priming induces functional coupling of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine receptors in equine neutrophils. The synthetic formylpeptide fMLP is widely used as a model chemoattractant and secretagogue for mammalian neutrophils. Despite possessing fMLP receptors, equine neutrophils do not produce superoxide anions in response to fMLP and there is no inflammatory reaction in the horse when fMLP is injected intradermally. The functional capability of these receptors was investigated after pretreatment with recognized priming agents. Purified neutrophils were pretreated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), platelet-activating factor (PAF), or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and superoxide anion generat...
A case-crossover study of intensive racing and training schedules and risk of catastrophic musculoskeletal injury and lay-up in California thoroughbred racehorses. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between intensive racing and training schedules and risk of either catastrophic musculoskeletal injury (CMI) or lay-up from racing in California Thoroughbreds. Thoroughbred racehorses that sustained a CMI during racing or training and either were subsequently euthanized or died on a California racetrack during 1991 and 1992 were studied using a case-crossover study design. Each study subject (case) provided its own self-matched control information in the form of 'typical' exposure frequency, determined or estimated from historic i...
Is the thoroughbred race-horse under chronic stress? Thoroughbred fillies were divided into three groups according to age: group 1, 7 fillies aged 1 to 2 years (G1) starting the training program; group 2, 9 fillies aged 2 to 3 years (G2) in a full training program; group 3, 8 older fillies 3 to 4 years of age (G3) training and racing. Blood samples were collected weekly from July to December. Cortisol was quantified using a solid phase DPC kit. The intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were 12.5% and 15.65% and sensitivity was 1.9 +/- 0.2 nmol/l. The semester average of cortisol levels varied between groups: G1 = 148.8 +/- 6.7, G2 = 12...
Reliability of coprological diagnosis of Anoplocephala perfoliata infection. Three coprological methods were tested to establish the reliability of in vivo diagnosis of Anoplocephala perfoliata. A total of 107 faecal samples were analyzed, and the presence of tapeworms were confirmed postmortem in 24 animals with burdens that ranged from 1 to 248 worms; most of them (71%) with less than 100 parasites. Best results were obtained with a combination of two sedimentation/flotation methods, detecting only half the parasitized animals (54% sensitivity). No relationship could be established between tapeworm burden and egg detection, but results indicate that coprological meth...
Screening for bovine papillomavirus in peripheral blood cells of donkeys with and without sarcoids. Papillomaviral DNA has been identified in peripheral blood cells of both cattle and humans with and without associated disease and it has been suggested that such cells may act as sites of viral latency. In order to investigate the possibility of latent papillomaviral infection in the aetiopathogenesis of the equine sarcoid, peripheral blood derived DNA samples from 20 healthy and 34 sarcoid-affected donkeys were subject to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using papillomaviral specific primers. Analysis of blood derived DNA samples failed to demonstrate the presence of papillomaviral DNA in any...
The reappearance of strongyle eggs in the faeces of horses after treatment with moxidectin. The reappearance of strongyle eggs in the faeces of horses treated with moxidectin (0.4 mg/kg of body weight) was compared with that in the faeces of horses treated with ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg of body weight). The study was performed from December 1995 till June 1996. Horses were infected naturally in the preceding grazing period. Two groups of 24 horses each were treated with moxidectin and ivermectin respectively at week 0. No side effects were seen after treatment. Horses were housed from week -1 till week 17. From week 17 onwards the horses were on pasture. Faecal samples were taken from ea...
The distribution of Anoplocephala perfoliata in the intestine of the horse and associated pathological changes. The intestinal tracts of 130 horses were examined for infection with Anoplocephala perfoliata at necropsy. Fifty horses (38.5%) harboured the tapeworm, and the site of attachment of each worm was recorded using predetermined anatomical landmarks. The worms were attached in four regions of the gastrointestinal tract: 17% of the worms were found at the ileocaecal junction, 81% on the caecal wall, 1.7% in the terminal ileum and 0.2% in the ventral colon. The severity of lesions produced at the sites of attachment was related to the number of worms attached. Due to the small area of the ileocaecal...
Effect of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans on the free-living stages of horse parasitic nematodes: a pilot study. A plot experiment was conducted to investigate the ability of the nematode-trapping fungus Duddingtonia flagrans to reduce the transmission of infective horse strongyle larvae from deposited dung onto surrounding herbage. At three different times during the summer 1995, three groups of horses, naturally infected with large and small strongyles, were fed different doses of D. flagrans spores, while a fourth group of animals served as non-fungal controls. Faeces from all four groups of horses were deposited as artificial dung pats on a parasite-free pasture. Every second week for 8 weeks after d...
