Disease treatment in horses encompasses a range of medical interventions and management strategies aimed at addressing various health conditions affecting equine species. These treatments can include pharmacological approaches, such as the administration of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antiparasitic medications, as well as non-pharmacological methods like physical therapy, dietary adjustments, and surgical procedures. The selection of appropriate treatments depends on the specific disease, its severity, and the individual needs of the horse. This topic brings together peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the efficacy, safety, and advancements in therapeutic options for equine diseases, providing insights into best practices and emerging trends in equine veterinary medicine.
Perryman LE, Magnuson NS.Significant contributions to understanding the role of lymphocyte subpopulations in the immune response and to the characterization of immunodeficiencies in children have been achieved through study of animal models of immunodeficiency. Additional contributions can be made in two important areas. One is through identification of relevant, naturally-occurring models of adenosine deaminase deficiency and purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency. The second, and potentially more important contribution, would be the identification of the metabolic basis for existing immune deficiencies. The nece...
Aubert MF.The author describes a method for evaluating the minimal number of diagnosis failures for each animal species (this diagnosis uses the Fluorescent Rabies Antibodies Test and mouse inoculation simultaneously). The percentage of well diagnosed rabid animals on total rabid ones is called sensibility of the diagnosis: it varies according to the species of animal examined: from 99.98% for the fox, to 98.61% for the horse. The percentage of errored negative diagnosis on total negative diagnosis is called infidelity of negative responses: it varies for each species according to the sensibility of the...
McKenzie RA, Gartner RJ, Blaney BJ, Glanville RJ.A supplement system for the control of equine nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (NSH) was evaluated on 4 farms in the Arcadia Valley of the Queensland brigalow region. Thirty-three local stock horses (of which 13 had clinical NSH and 7 were recent introductions) were grazed on buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) for the 6 months from September 1979 to February 1980. Each horse was fed 1.0 kg of a mixture of ground limestone plus dicalcium phosphate (1:2) in 1.5 kg molasses each week. The pasture was hazardous during this time (total oxalate content above 0.5% and calcium: oxalate ratio be...
Wierup M, DiPietro JA.The fecal flora of 56 clinically healthy and 23 sick horses were examined bacteriologically for counts of Clostridium perfringens, molds, coliforms, alpha- and beta-hemolytic streptococci, and microbes belonging to genus Bacillus, as well as for the presence of Salmonella spp. Of the healthy horses, 85.7% had a C perfringens count less than 10(1) colony-forming units/g of feces. Of the healthy horses, lowest counts were found in race-horses. Of the sick horses, equine intestinal clostridiosis was diagnosed in 2 horses with large C perfringens counts (10(4) to 10(7) colony-forming units/g) and ...
Baskerville A.Related to its potential vulnerability the respiratory tract has a very complex and effective defence apparatus. The interaction between these defence mechanisms and certain characteristics of aetiological agents results in a pattern in which initial infections by these agents tend to occur at specific sites in the tract. Infections in which the primary portal of entry is in the upper respiratory tract include Bordetella bronchiseptica and Haemophilus spp in pigs; Pasteurella spp in cattle, sheep, pigs; Mycoplasma spp in cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry; equine herpesvirus 1 in horses; infectio...
Baskerville A.For laboratory diagnosis of respiratory disease it is of overwhelming importance that the specimens taken are adequate, taken from the correct site and at the correct time. The lower regions of the respiratory tract are particularly difficult to sample but are more likely to yield the causative agent of a pneumonia. Infections involving the upper respiratory tract are much easier to sample and appropriate aspiration apparatus can be used. Consideration must be given to the timing of sample collection in relation to the life cycle of the causative micro-organism. Sampling of several animals is ...
Greet TR.Three horses were referred for investigation of a unilateral foul smelling scanty nasal discharge, complicated in one case by intermittent epistaxis. Thick purulent material or a mycotic plaque was identified by an endoscopic examination of the middle meatus but in two horses this had to be repeated under general anaesthesia before the abnormalities were detected. Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured from all three cases and septate hyphae were identified on smears from lesions. Histological examination of the lesion in one case revealed a fungal mycelium. Topical treatment with natamycin soluti...
van Veenendaal JC, Speirs VC, Harrison I.A surgical technique of open drainage, using penrose drains and pressure bandages, was used for the treatment of hygromata in four horses. In 3 cases with hygroma of the carpus, one with a secondary infection, there was complete resolution of the condition whereas in the one case with hygroma of the elbow resolution was more protracted because of difficulties in bandaging. The cosmetic and functional results after operation were most satisfactory.
Squires EL, Berndtson WE, Hoyer JH, Pickett BW, Wallach SJ.Twelve stallions that had been given 0, 50 or 200 micrograms testosterone propionate (TP)/kg body weight every other day for 88 days were examined for the effects of androgen withdrawal on spermatozoal production, seminal quality and libido. Although the lower dosage did not affect most of the traits studied, the higher dosage severely reduced scrotal width, spermatozoal production, the number of sperm per ejaculate, the percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa and the percentage of normal spermatozoa. These adverse effects were found to be largely reversible. By 90 days after the cessat...
Herd RP, Donham JC.Thirty-one horses with naturally occurring summer sores were given a single IM injection of 0.2 mg of ivermectin (22,23-dihydroavermectin B1)/kg during the summer of 1980. Larvae of Draschia and/or Habronema spp were recovered from biopsy samples taken from 21 of 25 horses (84%) on the day of anthelmintic treatment. There was a marked clinical improvement in 26 horses (84%) 7 days after ivermectin was given. The typical summer sore was replaced by healthy pink granulation tissue at 7 days and this healed after 1 to 5 weeks. Biopsy samples were taken from 21 of these horses 1 to 6 weeks after t...
Waldron-Mease E, Klein LV, Rosenberg H, Leitch M.Malignant hyperthermia developed in a 4-year-old Thoroughbred horse following 3 hours and 15 minutes of halothane anesthesia, with supplementary succinylcholine. Clinical signs included fever, sweating, hyperventilation, tachycardia, and decreased blood pressure followed by a rapid increase in blood pressure. Biochemical aberrations included hypocalcemia, hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, myoglobinuria, and high creatine phosphokinase and ornithine carbamyl transferase activities. Treatment consisted initially of surface cooling with cold water, alcohol and ice, IV administration of cooled bala...
Kingsbury PA, Reid JF.Oxfendazole was administered in paste or drench formulations to groups of five horses carrying naturally acquired worm burdens. At a dose rate of 10 mg/kg the efficacy of either formulation appeared similar. One hundred per cent of the adult populations of the following genera was removed: Parascaris, Oxyuris, Strongylus (S edentatus, S vulgaris), Triodontophorus and Trichostrongylus axei. Efficacy against adult small strongyles, adult Habronema microstoma and immature Oxyuris equi was in the region of 96 to 99 per cent. The level of efficacy against immature small strongyles was at least 74 t...
Burrows R, Denyer M, Goodridge D, Hamilton F.Experimental ponies developed signs of disease four days after the intranasal instillation of A/England 1/79 equine influenza virus and virus was recovered from the nasopharynx from the second to the ninth day. No significant antigenic difference was found between the virus and the prototype A/Miami 1/63 virus, using post infection ferret and chicken sera and post vaccination pony sera. No antigenic differences were found between four viruses isolated between January and July 1979, although some differences were found in their ability to detect haemagglutination inhibiting antibody in convales...
George LW, Tanner ML, Roberson EL, Burke TM.A 6-year-old Thoroughbred gelding was examined because of respiratory disease that developed after it was placed on pasture occupied by a donkey. Clinical signs in the gelding included a harsh, dry paroxysmal cough and increased expiratory effort. Eosinophils were seen in smears of mucus aspirated from the trachea and the bronchi. Immature, 5th-stage Dictyocaulus arnfieldi was identified in the tracheal mucus. The cough and other clinical signs were not diminished by corticosteroid therapy or by the administration of bronchodilators. Treatment with 10-fold therapeutic dosages of thiabendazole ...
Smith BP, Robinson RC.Five out of 6 foals between 2 and 4 months old, on a ranch in northern California, developed pneumonia within a 3 week period in June and July 1978. Corynebacterium equi was recovered from each of the 5 foals by transtracheal aspiration. Clinical signs were variable but included increased respiratory rate, fever, cough, nasal discharge, harsh airway sounds over middle sized airways and wheezing over small airways. Cyanosis was present in the most severely affected foal. Radiographic findings included diffusely increased interstitial and peribronchial densities, areas of consolidation and, in 3...
Bathe AP.Three horses with an apparent neurological disorder resulting from nettle rash showed signs of ataxia, distress and muscle weakness, and two of them had urticaria. In each case the condition resolved within four hours, with no long term problems or recurrence.
Trommershausen-Smith A.Dead or deformed foals produced by purebred parents represent an economic and emotional loss to the horse breeder. To avoid repeating production of such defective foals, the breeder may seek assistance in identifying the possible environmental or genetic causes for such animals. Only a few genetic diseases of the horse have been rigorously defined. Selected rare genetic diseases that prevent reproduction, cause the natural death or necessitate the humane destruction of a foal before it fulfills its intended purpose serve as examples for the definition of genetics of other deleterious diseases ...
Trotter GW.Although many wounds in horses heal successfully by second-intention healing or delayed closure, some wounds can be sutured primarily, with reasonably high expectations of first-intention healing. To expect to achieve these results, one needs to have a rational treatment plan. Such a plan should be based on a working knowledge of the biology of tissue repair and tissue infection. Treatment decisions should be based more on results of experimental and clinical trials rather than on testimonials of other practitioners.
van de Velde LF.The placement of a brace for external fixation of multiple fractures of the carpus or tarsus is described. In these two foals and calf we succeeded in obtaining a combination of good immobilization and full loading of the affected leg.