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.
Scott AM, Jeffcott LB.Clinical features of haemolytic disease of the newborn foal (HDNF) are reviewed. The state of knowledge concerning the serological factors associated with isoimmunisation of mares and as assessment of the methods available for screening potential "haemolytic mares" are presented. The treatment of severely affected foals has principally involved exchange transfusion but more recently a simple transfusion of mare's packed erythrocytes has proved more successful.
Allen PZ, Heidelberger M, Rappaport IA, Ward GM.Serial bleedings were obtained from two mules during prolonged immunization, one with type XXV the other with type VIII pneumococcal vaccine. IgGa, IgGb, IgGc, IgB, IgG(T) and IgM present among purified Pn anti-XXV and Pn anti-VIII immunoglobulin isolated from various bleedings were identified by use of rabbit anti-equine heavy chain specific reagents. Radioimmunodiffusion with 14C-labelled type XXV pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide and horse and donkey reagents with species specificity directed against donkey or horse IgGa respectively, demonstrated both parental horse and donkey IgGa heav...
Dawson FL, Benson JA, Croxton-Smith P.Serum agglutination tests, anti-globulin tests, and complement fixation tests were carried out on sera taken over a period of 98 days from two fillies experimentally infected with the contagious equine metritis organism. The pattern, and significance in diagnosis, of these results is discussed. All 3 tests showed positive titres in the acute phase of experimental disease; reactions in the complement fixation test persisted longest.
McCraw BM, Slocombe JO.Pony foals inoculated with infective Strongylus edentatus larvae were examined at necropsy from ten to 72 weeks postinfection. At ten weeks postinfection larvae were visible retroperitoneally in the liver and flanks and were recovered from the ligaments of the liver. The fourth molt was detected at 16 weeks postinfection and larvae were also recovered from the wall of the cecum at this time. By 40 weeks adult S. edentatus containing eggs were found in the contents of the cecum and colon. While many larvae migrate to remote parts of the body, it is likely that only those that attain the base of...
Ellis RN, Lawrence TL.In two separate experiments food intakes and heart rates were monitored in New Forest and Welsh filly foals maintained at constant weight (by energy restriction) or allowed to grow normally for 180 (New Forest) or 147 (Welsh) days. Subsequent to these periods voluntary food intakes from feeding the same diet for 107 days (New Forest ponies) and herbage dry matter intakes from allowing free access to pasture for 42 days (Welsh ponies) were recorded. In the ponies maintained at constant live-weight food intakes and heart rates declined to reach and remain at new low levels. Herbage dry matter co...
Slocombe JO, Cote JF.The anthelmintic canbendazole (CBZ), adminis-
tered in several formulations to horses in critical
trials, has been shown to have high effcacy
against intestinal nematodes (3, 4, 6). There are
two reports of field trials with CBZ (2, 5), and
although a large number of horses were involved,
the efficacies reported were for a restricted
number of nematodes. Recently, CBZ paste was
administered to horses in another field trial and
the findings on rxdatability, safety and efficacy
against a wide range of nematodes are presented.
Webbon PM.Skin temperature measurements were recorded of the legs of 13 racehorses between 2 and 5 years old. The normal limb temperature patterns are described. In over 90 per cent of the normal horses the difference between contralateral limbs was less than 1 degree C, but in the remainder differences of up to 8 degree C were recorded due to the excessive cooling of one limb. One horse had a constant temperature elevation of one foreleg, but it remained in training for 7 weeks without any obvious ill effects. Because of the small numbers of horses in the survey and their freedom from tendon injuries i...
Murphy JR, Breeze RG, McPherson EA.Bronchial myxoma occurred in an aged Arab mare with longstanding respiratory disease wrongly attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Blood gas and maximum intrathoracic pressure change measurements were not consistent with this latter diagnosis, and this was supported by aerosol antigen provocation tests. Radiography demonstrated a hilar mass in the thorax, and this proved to be a myxoma at necropsy.
Murray DR, Ladds PW, Campbell RS.Lesions encountered in a clinicopathological study of cutaneous lesions resembling 'swamp cancer' from horses in North Queensland included 37 cases of subcutaneous phycomycosis, 5 of which were also infected with Habronema sp larvae. In addition 9 cases of primary cutaneous habronemiasis, 58 sarcoids, 12 fibromas, 8 fibrosarcomas, 10 squamous cell carcinomas, 4 haemangiomas, 3 melanomas, 1 papilloma, 1 palpebral adenocarcinoma and 7 cases of simple granulation were diagnosed. Subcutaneous phycomycosis resulted in the most extensive lesions. These were rapidly growing and provided the poorest p...
Digby NJ.Experimental studies of endometrial smears from 26 normal mares showed that after a period of sexual rest exceeding 7 days smears were generally free from inflammatory cells. Smears from 9 mares showing signs of persistent endometritis contained inflammatory cells in 91 per cent while bacterial culture was positive in only 45 per cent. Smears were also taken from 242 Thoroughbred mares as a routine procedure in 1977. It was concluded that endometrial cytology provides a better guide to uterine inflammation than bacteriology. The routine clinical use of endometrial cytology is recommended to ai...
Platt H, Atherton JG, Simpson DJ.Four pony mares were readily infected with the organism of contagious equine metritis by intracervical inoculation and one by coitus with an infected stallion. Infected mares developed an acute endometritis with local destruction of the endometrial epithelium. In 2 experimentally infected mares, infection appeared to have been spontaneously eliminated from the genital tract within 3 to 4 weeks. A third mare however remained persistently infected in the clitoral fossa over a long period and was a symptomless carrier. Four pony stallions were readily infected in the urethral fossa and the organi...
Schoeb TR, Panciera RJ.Case records of 21 horses with acute illness following ingestion of hay containing dead striped blister beetles (Epicauta spp) were selected for review. Abdominal pain, fever, depression, frequent urination, shock, and, occasionally, synchronous diaphragmatic flutter characterized clinical illness. Hematologic findings included hemoconcentration, neutrophilic leukocytosis, and hypocalcemia. Hematuria and low urine specific gravity were abnormal urinalysis results. Sloughing of the epithelium of the esophageal part of the stomach, hemorrhagic and ulcerative cystitis, enterocolitis, and myocardi...
Eagle RC, Font RL, Swerczek TW.An 18-month-old Standardbred filly had a large intraocular tumor involving the optic nerve. The tumor was a malignant medulloepithelioma, a rare intraocular neoplasm derived from the primitive medullary epithelium. By light microscopy the tumor had cords and lobules of primitive neuroepithelial cells that formed clefts and true rosettes. Electron microscopy of the rosettes showed a girdle of zonulae adherentes joining the apices of the cells as well as several basal bodies. This is the sixth report of equine intraocular medulloepithelioma, and, to the best of our knowledge, the first intraocul...
Orlandini CF, Steiner D, Boscarato AG, Gimenes GC, Alberton LR.Defects in the abdominal wall of horses have high relapse rate. This is mainly in lateral eventrations and hernias caused by trauma from kicks of other horses or installation structures. The eventration region normally becomes swollen and there may be complications due to intestinal loop incarceration. The surgical treatment, consisting of reconstruction of the abdominal wall, frequently require biological or synthetic materials for the reinforcement of the suture line and tension support. Therefore, several studies have reported new materials for the repair of the abdominal wall, with the aim...
Byars TD, Halley J.Ultrasound examination allows the diagnostician to examine peripheral soft tissues and many internal organs in a noninvasive manner. In most instances, ultrasound can be utilized to complement other diagnostic aids, but its increased use has revealed the unique advantages of this technique over more established diagnostic tools. The ease with which ultrasound interpretation can be learned and the increased availability of instruments make this approach to diagnosis a valuable asset in the diagnosis of many equine medical diseases.
Gehlen H, Shety T, El-Zahar H, Hofheinz I.Cardiac biomarkers are important tools for monitoring disease progress and can monitor progression of therapy. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been studied for its use as a cardiac biomarker in human and small animal medicine while in horses with cardiac disease it has not been evaluated yet. The objective of the present study was to determine the concentration of plasma ET-1 in healthy horses and compare it with ET-1 concentration in horses with cardiac disease during rest and after exercise. Fifty four horses admitted to the Equine Clinic of Free University of Berlin were used in the present study, ...
Fennell C.Skin scrapings from clinical cases of equine skin disorder were examined by culture to determine the micro-organisms involved. In-vitro and in-vivo studies were then made to determine the efficacy of Trichloro-carbanilide as a topical treatment for these cases. The laboratory findings and results of treatment are described, and the value of Trichlorocarbanilide in cases of bacterial, actinomycete and fungal infection assessed.