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Topic:Veterinary Care
Veterinary care in horses encompasses the medical and preventive measures taken to maintain and improve the health and well-being of equine patients. It includes a wide range of practices such as routine health examinations, vaccinations, dental care, parasite control, and management of injuries and diseases. Veterinary care also involves diagnostic procedures, surgical interventions, and therapeutic treatments tailored to the specific needs of horses. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of equine veterinary care, including advancements in diagnostic techniques, treatment protocols, and health management strategies to support the well-being and performance of horses.
[Roentgenological aspects of polyarthritis in foals]. Radiographically, joint ill in foals is subdivided into four different types: Type P - osteomyelitis in the meta- and/or epiphysis adjacent to the physis. Type E - osteomyelitis in the epiphyseal subchondral bone. Type S - synovitis confined to the joint itself. Type T - osteomyelitis in the small tarsal bones. The radiographical features corresponding with the different types, the relationship between the radiological, pathological, bacterial and clinical findings, and the recommended radiographic procedure are discussed in detail.
Renal disease associated with colic in horses. Renal dysfunction secondary to GI disorders may be relatively common in horses. Persistent dehydration of 8-10% of body weight can lead to prerenal azotemia, which may result in renal ischemia and renal disease if uncorrected. Dehydrated azotemic horses with a urine specific gravity less than 1.018 may have renal disease. Urine specific gravity readings greater than 1.025 usually indicate normal kidney function. A urine Na level less than 20 mEq/L and a urine/plasma creatinine ratio greater than or equal to 20:1 indicate prerenal problems. Use of nephrotoxic drugs should be avoided in septicem...
Computer processing of transaortic valve blood pressures in the horse using the first derivative of the left ventricular pressure trace. A method is described of processing transaortic valve pressures in the horse using the first derivative of the left ventricular pressure to define the beginning and end of each systolic complex. To determine the beginning of each systole three definitions of left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), based on a 100, 150 or 200 mmHg/sec rate of left ventricular diastolic pressure rise, were evaluated. These definitions were also evaluated for their ability to determine isovolumic contraction time (ICT) and pulse interval. The best of these, LVEDP 150, was defined as the last point in dias...
Navicular bone disease: results of treatment using egg-bar shoeing technique. Although the diagnostic criteria of navicular disease are generally accepted in practice, their limitations are recognised. However, the authors believe that navicular disease per se is reversible and that only secondary changes like adhesions to the deep flexor tendon or spur formations are irreversible. This hypothesis is supported by the results presented of the effect of the application of an egg-bar shoe, which caused permanent cessation of signs of navicular disease in more than 50 per cent of treated cases. The egg-bar shoeing technique can be usefully applied in practice.
Prevalence of Anoplocephala perfoliata and lesions of Draschia megastoma in Thoroughbreds in Kentucky at necropsy. A total of 396 Thoroughbreds (86 males, 293 females, and 17 geldings) in Kentucky, 1 to 30 years of age, were examined at necropsy for presence of Anoplocephala perfoliata (2 female horses were not examined) in the cecum for lesions of Draschia megastoma in the stomach, during the 1-year period of Mar 1, 1982 through Feb 28, 1983. Prevalence of A perfoliata was 53% and of lesions of D megastoma was 63%. All lesions of D megastoma were partially or entirely in the glandular region of the stomach. Distances of the midpoint of these lesions from the margo plicatus varied from 0 to 290 mm. The cen...
Some nutritional aspects of colic in horses. Consistency of exercise and diet are important in colic prevention. Water should be offered before and after feeding. Fast-growing foals suckling heavily lactating mares may overeat grain at weaning. Creep feeding to accustom the foal to eating grain and gradually increasing the grain intake after weaning are helpful in preventing colic in foals. Stallions may overeat grain when taken off pasture in hot weather. Feeding hay initially and grain later helps avoid colic in these stallions. Type-D Clostridium perfringens may cause enterotoxemia in foals. Corn should be fed in moderation. High-Mg d...
Continuous caudal epidural anesthesia in the horse. A technique for continuous caudal epidural anesthesia in the horse was developed in trials involving 8 healthy adult horses. The injection site was the first intercaudal (intercoccygeal) space. A Huber point directional needle (Tuohy or Hustead) with a stylet was preplaced into the epidural space, used as a guide for an epidural catheter, and then removed, leaving the catheter in situ in the epidural space. A 2% solution of lidocaine hydrochloride was used as the anesthetic agent at an initial dose of 8 ml for an adult animal (474 kg to 560 kg). Repeated 4-ml doses were administered immediatel...
Cecal impaction in the horse. During a 3-year period, cecal impaction was diagnosed in 21 horses (mean age, 8 years) at exploratory celiotomy or necropsy. In 7 horses, typhlotomy was used to remove the impaction; 2 horses treated by fluid injection of the impaction did not survive. The 12 other horses had cecal rupture. Surgical correction was not possible in those horses because of inaccessibility of the rupture site. Postmortem examination of the rupture sites did not reveal a cause other than cecal impaction. The duration of clinical signs before rupture ranged from 4 to 96 hours.
Splenic lymphosarcoma in a horse. A 10-year-old Tennessee Walker gelding, with a history of progressive weight loss, intermittent colic and lethargy, had a slight fever, tachycardia, tachypnea, pallor, ascites and marked ventral edema. Blood analyses revealed anemia, leukocytosis, neutrophilia with a left shift, lymphopenia, monocytosis, hypoproteinemia and a slightly increased SDH level. Abdominocentesis produced red-orange fluid with many RBC and an increased fibrinogen content. Rectal palpation revealed a large mass in the left caudal abdominal quadrant. The animal died shortly after resection of the mass. The histopatholog...
Impedance monitoring of equine intestinal motility. Myoelectrical and myomechanical activities of the distal portion of the jejunum and pelvic flexure were studied in 7 ponies, using permanently implanted monopolar and bipolar stainless steel electrodes. Dental acrylic embedded recording electrodes were surgically sutured to the serosal surface of the distal portion of the jejunum and pelvic flexure. Myoelectrically, regular spike bursts and irregular spike bursts were observed in the jejunum. Short spike bursts and long spike bursts were recorded and associated with spike potentials, using impedance recording techniques. Electrical and mechani...
Measurement of diffusion of uncharged molecules in articular cartilage. The diffusion of glucose (180 M.W.), inulin (5,000 M.W.) and dextran (20,000 M.W.) into mature bovine and equine articular cartilage was studied. Concentration profiles were determined using a one-dimensional experimental configuration and the diffusion coefficient and partition coefficient calculated from a theoretical model. Glucose was found to diffuse the fastest, followed by inulin and dextran. The partition coefficient was similarly ordered. The rate of diffusion was found to decrease with increasing diffusion time, indicating a dependence on solute concentration. No time variation was e...
Effects of halothane anesthesia on equine liver function. Effects of halothane anesthesia were investigated in ponies prepared surgically with chronic external biliary fistulas (T tubes) to determine the effects on liver function and biliary excretion during 2 hours of anesthesia. Four studies were performed on 2 ponies, 2 to 6 months after surgery with the enterohepatic circulation held intact between studies. Intravenous bile acid infusion was used to maintain steady-state bile flow, bilirubin, and bile acid excretion during each study. Compared with the immediate 2-hour preanesthesia values (base line), halothane caused a 138% increase in bilirubi...
Production of cutaneous analgesia by electroacupuncture in horses: variations dependent on sex of subject and locus of stimulation. Cutaneous pain thresholds to pinprick, pinch, and heat stimuli were quantified during control and electroacupuncture trials in 23 horses. Pain thresholds for 8 areas of the body during control trials (no needles) were statistically compared with pain thresholds measured in the same areas of the same horse when given electroacupuncture treatment. Statistically significant increases of pain threshold were interpreted as induced analgesia and occurred mainly in 5 areas of the trunk, but not in the head or extremities. Analgesic efficacy varied between sexes and among 3 groups of points chosen fro...
Choledocholithiasis in a horse. Choledocholithiasis was diagnosed in a five-year-old gelding on the basis of laboratory results and histopathology. Surgery was performed to relieve the obstruction. The horse responded favorably and at 39 days postoperatively was clinically and clinicopathologically normal.
Pain perception and alleviation in animals. In the last 2 decades there have been substantial advances in our knowledge of the scientific basis of the mechanisms of pain. Nociceptors or pain receptors are widespread in the skin and tissues of animals; chemical mediation of nociceptor excitation may provide a key for understanding the peripheral phenomena related to pain. The expression of pain in animals involves multiple ascending and descending branches, as well as specialized pain-signaling mechanisms in the spinal cord. The importance of these different pathways varies with species and circumstances. Endogenous neural systems in the...
Serum ferritin as a measure of stored iron in horses. Occasionally, horses are given large amounts of iron to improve performance. Although iron deficiency could limit erythrocyte production and other functions related to nonhematological tissues, it probably only occurs in blood loss. We have developed an enzyme immunoassay for ferritin in equine sera and evaluated its relationship to iron stored in liver and spleen. Serum ferritin correlated significantly (P less than 0.0001) with the concentration of nonheme iron in the liver and spleen. It increased following iron therapy and decreased after phlebotomy. We conclude that serum ferritin provide...
[Meconium constipation in foals]. Meconium constipation is observed in a number of foals during every foaling period. The literature on the clinical picture, methods of treatment and complications, is reviewed in the present paper. In addition, the cases of seventy-five foals are reviewed, in which meconium constipation was suspected and which were submitted to the Internal Disease Department of Large Animals during the period from 1972 to 1982. The clinical picture was found to be due to another disorder in nine cases. Treatment with castor oil and alcohol resulted in discharge of the meconium in fifty-eight cases. Complicati...
Benzimidazole resistance of equine strongyles: critical tests of several classes of compounds against population B strongyles from 1977 to 1981. From 1977 to 1981, critical tests were conducted on 10 horses naturally infected with population B strongyles. Drugs tested were: oxibendazole (OBZ), 10 mg/kg of body weight (n = 1); albendazole, 10 mg/kg (n = 1); a mixture of thiabendazole (TBZ), 44 mg/kg and trichlorfon, 40 mg/kg (n = 1); a mixture of TBZ at 44 mg/kg with piperazine (PPZ) at 55 mg of base/kg (n = 1); febantel (FBT), 6 mg/kg (n = 3), 12 mg/kg (n = 1), or 24 mg/kg (n = 1); and pyrantel (PRT) pamoate, 6.6 mg of base/kg (n = 1). Large strongyles, Strongylus vulgaris (9 horses) and S edentatus (5 horses), were effectively removed...
Motility of the distal portion of the jejunum and pelvic flexure in ponies: effects of six drugs. Bipolar stainless steel electrodes were surgically implanted in 4 ponies to record myoelectrical and mechanical activity of the distal portion of the jejunum and pelvic flexure. After determining normal activity, the effects of neostigmine, xylazine, flunixin meglumine, dipyrone, panthenol, and atropine sulfate were determined. Flunixin meglumine, dipyrone, and panthenol had no effect on the motility of the jejunum or pelvic flexure. Xylazine and atropine sulfate decreased motility of the distal portion of the jejunum and pelvic flexure, with atropine sulfate having a greater effect and lastin...
Electrical stimulation on skin wound healing in the horse: preliminary studies. The effect of low-level direct-current stimulation on skin wound healing in the horse was assessed. Self-sustaining electrical circuits with electrodes were implanted subcutaneously in or near the wound. Stimulation by direct current (10 or 20 microA) was used to determine the effect on equine skin healing. The efficacy of electrotherapy was evaluated by sequentially comparing the clinical appearance of the wound and measuring the size of the granulating wound bed. The histologic appearance of the healing stimulated wounds was compared with that in nonstimulated control wounds created on 9 hor...
