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.
Ardans A, Walters G.Treatment with 3 formulations of cambendazole (paste, pellets, and suspension) was compared with thiabendazole treatment in 181 Quarter Horses (females and intact and altered males) of different ages in 2 experiments. The mean output of strongyle eggs, as measured by eggs per gram of feces (epg), was reduced by at least 95% by the 3 formulations of cambendazole compared with pretreatment epg and epg in simultaneously nonmedicated horses. Eggs of Parascaris equorum were seen in 19 of the younger horses in experiment I. Parascaris eggs were not seen in postmedication fecal samples from 14 horses...
Ricketts SW, Rossdale PD.The authors discuss the value of a practice laboratory to the equine clinician and its priorities. Laboratory examinations of particular value are described in relation to their clinical application. The need to establish normal values according to laboratory and horse population is stressed. Tables of normal parameters related to age groups of horses in the authors' practice are presented.
Mason BJ.A survey of 28 cases of chronic purulent infection of the sinuses in the horse showed a relationship between incidence and age, and a probable relationship with breed. Dental disease was apparently the cause of half the cases. The conventional treatment of trephination followed by irrigation with antiseptic solutions resulted in freedom from recurrence of the disease for over 1 year in 17 of the 28 horses. Antibiotic therapy appears to be useless in chronic empyema. The prognosis is adversely affected by the development of facial swelling, a sign seen usually only in long-standing cases.
Rauws AG, van Schothorst M, Frik JF.The protein binding, the plasma half-life and the residue depletion of sulfamonomethoxine (SMM) after intramuscular administration were investigated in pigs, horses and cattle. Protein binding was weakly concentration-dependent. The bound fraction in plasma in the therapeutic range amounted to approximately 45, 40 and 50% for pigs, horses and cattle respectively, and the plasma half-lives were approximately 5.1, 5.7 and 3.1 hours respectively. SMM levels were less than 1 mug/g in muscle tissue after 36, 20 and 12 hours in pigs, horses and cattle respectively. In the kidney SMM levels were not ...
White NA, Wheat JD.Proximal tibial epiphyseal fractures in 2 foals were reduced and stabilized by expansion and compression between 2 transversely placed Steinman pins, one on each side of the fracture. A Charnley apparatus or turnbuckles placed between the pins on each side of the fracture provided the mechanical advantage for repositioning the fracture fragments and achieving rigid fixation during healing. A light cast was applied over the fixation apparatus, keeping the limb in an extended position. The cast and fixation apparatus were removed after 4 weeks. The technique allowed rapid healing and adequate am...
Mayhew IG.Methods for atlanto-occipital and lumbosacral collection of cerebrospinal fluid from the horse are described in detail, and the techniques and complications discussed.
Hughes JP, Benirschke K, Kennedy PC, Trommershausen-Smith A.Five phenotypically normal but infertile mares were studied; four had karyotypes of 63XO, and one was a 25,64XX/13,63XO mosaic. The mares exhibited small uteri and has small ovaries that lacked germ cells and consisted primarily of undifferentiated ovarian stroma. These cases demonstrate that chromosome analysis is an important technique for the diagnosis of some forms of equine infertility.
Pickett BW, Voss JL.Experimental and clinical observations were made to treat abnormal sexual behaviour. The most common cause of abnormality was mismanagement of the animal; over-use and rough treatment at service and too-frequent ejaculation during winter had a detrimental effect on the behaviour of young stallions. Pain due to injury incurred at copulation or when associated with mounting attempts was also a common cause of impotence. Most impotent stallions responded well to re-training and recovery can be achieved without pharmacological treatment in most cases.
van der Holst W.Season was shown to markedly influence semen characteristics of stallions in Holland, including ejaculate volume, sperm motility, total number of spermatozoa/ejaculate and the percentage of spermatozoa showing morphological abnormalities. Maintenance of normal stallions in continuous light during the winter months and administration of a vitamin and mineral supplement to sub-fertile stallions before the start of the breeding season appeared to improve spermatogenesis significantly.
Zafracas AM.This paper describes sixteen cases of Candida infection of the genital tract in Thoroughbred mares. Clinical signs and histopathological lesions of the disease are described and the results of treatment with Lugol's solution and Nystatin are given.
Merkt H, Klug E, Bohm KH, Weiss R.A high incidence of Klebsiella contamination in German 'Warmblut' and Thoroughbred stallions is reported. The organism was recovered from the nostrils, prepuce, pre-ejacultory secretion and, in some cases, on the body surface, in the faeces and on the ground of the covering (mating) yard. Fertility was not affected. However, differences of virulence were observed and Type 5 proved to be the most pathogenic.
Deanesly R.A histological study of the developing germinal epithelium in the fetal horse ovary shows an enormous wastage of oocytes during the meiotic phase, between Days 73 and 150 of pregnancy. The first groups of oocytes to enter this phage undergo mass degeneration and eventually disappear; few, if any, oocytes develop to primordial follicles. Peripheral oogonia, dividing by mitosis, give rise to more oocytes which pass through the same changes and are also reduced by degeneration, but by Day 150 primordial follicles are fairly common.
Irwin CF.A total of 487 Standardbred and Thoroughbred mares at two studs were manually tested for pregnancy at 20 to 24, 30 to 34, and greater than 42 days after service and the abortion rate compared to that obtained in previous years when only the greater than 42-day test was performed. The results indicated that early manual pregnancy testing does not increase the abortion rate if undertaken carefully and enables non-pregnant mares to be re-mated earlier in the same season.
Jeffcott LB.The mechanism of transfer of maternal immunity to the foal is reviewed. Maximal efficiency of macromolecular absorption by specialized cells of the small intestine exists soon after birth. The absorptive cells are progressively replaced by more mature-looking cells incapable of taking up large molecules and the rate of absorption is reduced in a linear decline and ceases completely within 24 hr. Passive antibody levels fall rapidly in the first 4 weeks of life to less than half their original values and have usually completely disappeared by 6 months of age. The foal shows immunological compet...
Swierstra EE, Gebauer MR, Pickett BW.The relationship between daily sperm productions (DSP) and daily sperm output (DSO) was determined in eleven stallions. The DSO was determined by collecting single ejaculates, with an artificial vagina, at 24-hr intervals. The stallions were killed 24 hr after the last collection and the DSP was determined by quantitative testicular histology. The mean DSP was 8-0 X 10(9) (S.E. +/- 0-4 X 10(9), and the mean DSO was 7-0 X 10(9) (S.E. +/- 0-4 X 10(9)). It was estimated that 87% of the spermatozoa produced by the testes were harvested. The correlation between DSP and DSO was 0-80 (P less than 0-0...
Brown K, Stefanovski D, Davidson E.Decline in high speed treadmill (HSTM) exercise testing may be attributed to the rise of over-ground endoscopy and telemetric electrocardiography, in addition to concerns of adverse events during treadmill exercise resulting in injury or inadequate testing. Objective: To describe adverse events occurring during HSTM exercise tests at a single institution and determine their effect on likelihood of completing diagnostic HSTM exercise testing. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Pearson's chi-square test was used to determine if a significant difference in frequencies of adverse events...
Corda M, Pellegrini M, Rinaldi A.Diamine oxidase was prepared from horse kidney by a procedure involving heat denaturation at 50 degrees C, ammonium sulfate fractionation, chromatography on hydroxyapatite and on G-200 Sephadex columns. This procedure gave about 1000 fold purification over the crude kidney cortex homogenate. The enzyme preparations thus obtained are stable only at high ionic strength. The effect on enzyme activity of salt concentration and various stabilizing agents have been investigated. The horse kidney diamine oxidase is irreversibly inhibited by carbonyl reagents and shows substrate specificity quite simi...
Story MR, Gaughan EM, Andrews GA, Balch S.A 14-month-old male Quarter horse was presented for evaluation of a grade 3 out of 5 (grade 0 = sound; grade 5 = non-weight bearing) right rear lameness. A firm, 8 x 16 cm mass was palpable at the caudal medial aspect of the distal tibia and proximal tarsal region of the right hind limb. A percutaneous needle aspirate contained mesenchymal cells that were moderate to large in size with single, oblong nuclei. Differential diagnoses included fibrous hyperplasia, fibroma, or well-differentiated fibrosarcoma. Excisional biopsy for both definitive diagnosis and treatment was offered and selected by...
Emmerich IU.In 2011, three newly developed active pharmaceutical ingredients for horses and food producing animals were released on the German market for veterinary drug products. Two of these new products represent different drug classes of antibiotics, the polypeptide antibiotic Bacitracin (Bacivet™) and the macrolide antibiotic Clorsulon (Levatum®). The third product represents an anticestodal antiparasitic (Tildipirosin, Zuprevo®). Furthermore, three established veterinary active pharmaceutical ingredients were modified to allow their application for additional species. Thus the nonsteroidal anti-...
Tainturier D, Picavet DP, Badin De Montjoye T, Guaguere J, Tailliar S, Dabernat HJ, Ferney J.Serological response of pony mares to contagious equine metritis is studied comparing three techniques: slow agglutination, complement fixation and indirect immunofluorescence. Sera were taken from pony mares vaccinated with a heat inactivated suspension of Haemophilus equigenitalis, from experimentally-infected pony mares and from healthy horses. All three reactions detected antibodies in vaccinated and infected animals. The highest titers are observed with vaccinated mares. Titers are low in infected animals. Antibodies detected by indirect immunofluorescence appeared sooner and persisted lo...
Nieth J, Köhler K, Wehrend A.Two cases of an innate hyperplastic goiter in foals as well as the sonographic evaluation of the hyperplastic gland are presented. One foal displayed skeletal deformities in the form of a mandibular prognathism and forelimb contractures in addition to the swollen thyroid gland. Because of a poor prognosis, the animal was euthanized. The second foal was premature and displayed respiratory signs. Under symptomatic therapy, the goiter regressed within a few weeks.