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.
Baird JD, Hutchins DR, Lepherd EE.A 12-month-old thoroughbred horse, after being treated with 30 g. of micronized phenothiazine, developed an acute haemolytic anaemia characterized by Heinz-body formation. Elevation of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, isocitric dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase and blood urea nitrogen also occurred. The colt's clinical condition improved after receiving blood transfusions, fluids, antibiotics and corticosteroids. After 10 weeks, the haematological and biochemical picture returned to normal. [A.S.] D.A.Cz.
Oki Y, Miura K.In the recent years, various red cell auto-antibodies have been determined in someanimal diseases, including autoimmune hemolytic anemia and systemic lupus erythe-matosus in dogs, ") Aleutian disease in minks, 8) and equine infectious anemia."?">In this report, the red cell auto-antibodies were examined for symptomatiCchanges, serological characteristics, and immunopathological roles in 20 horses infectedwith equine infectious anemia virus (Table l).Pathologic cold hemagglutiuain and warm hemagglutinin were identified in theplasma of artificially infected horses. The direct antiglobulin tests ...
Priester WA, Glass AG, Waggoner NS.A mass survey of the distribution of congenital defects in various types of livestock was made possible by the processing by the Veterinary Medical Data Program (VMPD) of standard observations collected on 137, 717 patients seen at veterinary college clinics between Mar. 1964 and Jan. 1969. A total of 6455 animals with 1 or more congenital defects was found. The data were analysed according to species, institution and organ system. Pigs had the highest proportion of congenital defects, cats the lowest. Over all, the systems most frequently involved were the musculo-skeletal and urogenital. The...
Johnston RH, Kamstra LD, Kohler PH.A CONDITION known as “foal heat” scours often develops in young foals during the mare's first estrum, which usually commences about 9 days post-partum. Various causative factors that have been suggested, although not scientifically established, include: (1) Changes in milk composition during the heat period (Henry and Morrison, 1923; Linton, 1931; Holmes and Lindquist, 1947; Doll, 1956), (2) ingestation of genital discharge (Sohnie, 1910; Udall, 1943; Siegmond, 1961), (3) ingestation of straw, feces, grass and other foreign matter (Udall, 1943) and (4) overloading of the foal's digestive t...
Magilton JH, Swift CS, Ghoshal NG.The heads of 5 ponies were embalmed and the vessels were double injected with latex. Dissection of these specimens revealed venous pathways (1) from the nasal area to the cavernous sinus and (2) from the parietofrontal region to the ventral petrosal sinus. Thermistors were chronically implanted near the orbital emissary veins of 3 additional ponies. Hot and cold packs were applied alternately to the parietofrontal regions. The temperature near the orbital emissary veins increased during the 5 trials with cold application and decreased during the 5 trials with hot application. The authors were ...
Sambraus HH.Due to motorization the heavy horses, in particular draught horses and carriage horses, were deprived of their "raison d'être". At present therefore, they mostly are found in small livestocks. The past few years they regained some significance through their work in the forests, as an attraction in tourism or somewhere else. In German speaking countries approximately 15 horse breeds must be considered to be threatened in their existence. Breeding history, appearance, use and geographical distribution of 12 of them are discussed in this article.
Rolling is a natural behavior of equids that is beneficial to their well-being. However, more intensive domestic environments offer fewer opportunities for animals to roll, neglecting its importance. We believe that the inclusion of recreational areas for animals, containing substrates and conditions that encourage the occurrence of natural behaviors, is essential to promote their well-being. Therefore, we evaluated the preference of horses (; n = 8) and mules (E. asinus x E. caballus; n = 8) for different rolling substrates (sand, grass, manure), and the influence of this behavior on thermo...
Pfeil L, Zetner K.A mare with rectal prolaps was operated at Vienna University. The prolaps was corrected by mucosal resection only. The remaining vital layers of the corresponding intestinal section were saved. The advantage of a special tissue saving operating technique in the rectal area is seen in avoiding postoperative complications.
Köhler M, Hiepe T.Efficacy of Ivermectin in combating Strongyloides westeri infection of foal. The efficacy of Ivermectin and Mebendazol in combating spontaneous Strongyloides westeri infections in foals has been tested by examining faecal egg output reduction. Ivermectin as a paste formulation was given to sucking foals and pregnant mares in a single dosage of 200 micrograms/kg bodyweight by oral administration. A high efficacy of Ivermectin in combating patent Strongyloides westeri infection could be demonstrated; no side effects have been observed. Mebendazol at a dosage rate of 8 mg/kg did not yield satisfa...
Sellers AF, Lowe JE, Rendano VT.Transmission of intestinal content with respect to wall position and intraluminal pressure was studied using implanted catheters in portions of the haustrated left ventral colon and nonhaustrated pelvic flexure and left dorsal colon in 3 conscious, standing, and feeding ponies. Wall position and content movement was studied in 1 noncatheterized conscious pony that was standing and eating. When coordinated wall movements involving greater than or equal to 30 cm of adjacent colon were seen, point-to-point content movement accompanied intraluminal pressure peaks occurring in the same direction. N...
Schmotzer WB, Hultgren BD, Huber MJ, Watrous BJ, Riebold TW, Wagner PC, Shires GM.The efficacy of eliminating parotid salivary secretions by retrograde infusion of 10% formalin, 2% chlorhexidine, or 2% or 3% silver nitrate solutions was evaluated in 10 horses. Solutions were kept within the parotid salivary gland for 90 seconds after infusion through parotid duct cannulae and then allowed to drain freely. Severed parotid ducts and surgical incisions were left to heal by second intention. All agents eliminated glandular secretions. There was less necrosis and suppurative inflammation after formalin infusion than after chlorhexidine and silver nitrate. Silver nitrate (2% and ...
Milliken JE, Paccamonti DL, Shoemaker S, Green WH.A pseudohermaphrodite horse with aggressive stallion-like behavior and ambiguous external genitalia was gonadectomized. The hypoplastic gonads removed from the abdomen were confirmed by histologic examination to be testes. Examination of blood and fibroblasts revealed a 64,XX karyotype.
Cooper MJ.Fluprostenol (ICI 81,008) is a 16-aryloxyprostaglandin, structurally related to PGF2alpha. It is a highly potent luteolytic agent, being effective in thoroughbred mares at a single intramuscular dose of 250 mug and having a wide margin of safety in this species. A total of 941 mares have been treated with fluprostenol in an international trial, for various forms of infertility associated with abnormal persistence of luteal function. These mares were selected for treatment on the basis of clinical examination and 760 (approximately 80 per cent) responded fluprostenol by showing oestrus within s...
Kappe EC, Köhler K, Felbert IV, Teifke JP, Tóth J, Reinacher M.A 14-year-old Haflinger gelding presented with a protruding mass involving the cornea of the right eye. The mass was resected and submitted for histopathologic and immunohistochemical examination. The preliminary diagnosis was corneal sarcoma, most likely fibrosarcoma. The immunohistochemical results confirmed the mesenchymal origin of the neoplastic cells, which were most consistent with a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. Corneal mesenchymal neoplasms are extremely uncommon tumors in human beings and domestic animals. The cause for this tumor was not determined; infection with bovine ...
Hahn C.The neurological examination is undertaken to determine whether any deficit is due to a lesion in the nervous system and, if so, where within the nervous system any possible lesion or lesions are located. The examination of horses has challenges not encountered when doing the equivalent examination in dogs and cats, principally that spinal reflexes and postural reactions are impossible/difficult to assess in most animals. The anatomy book can be consulted later but at the end of the neurological examination the clinician then should be able to determine broadly which area of the neuromuscular ...
Etherington WG, Vasey JR, Horney FD.Two cases of ethmoid hematoma of the equine are reported. Clinically both horses had intermittent unilateral epistaxis unassociated with exercise. In one horse, diagnosis was based on the use of an endoscope for visualization and for biopsy of a mass associated with the ethmoid turbinates. In the other horse, exploratory trephination of the posterior maxillary sinus was necessary to obtain a diagnostic biopsy specimen. Radiography was helpful in the diagnosis of one case. Surgical removal of the mass was attempted in one case. Histological examination of the biopsies was the single most defini...
Roe H, Macpherson M, Denagamage T, Hopper S, Woodie B, Embertson R.Mare and foal survival are increased with prompt dystocia management. Data regarding mortality outcomes in mares and foals, when mares are recumbent at admission for dystocia resolution, are scarce. Objective: To evaluate recumbency at hospital admission as a risk factor for survival of mares and foals following dystocia management. Subsequent mare fertility was also evaluated. Methods: Retrospective cohort. Methods: Data were obtained from medical records at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital of mares with dystocia between 1995 and 2018. Mare signalment, ambulation status, survival data and foal...
Kidd JA, Voute LC, Hewetson M.A 12-year-old hunter gelding became severely lame as a result of a laceration to the sheath of the digital flexor tendons of its left hindlimb, but there was no apparent damage to the tendons. The injury became chronically infected with Pseudomonas and Streptococcus species and Escherichia coli which did not respond to antibiotic treatment, and the horse remained lame. A postmortem examination revealed that the tendons had ruptured.
Simpson JW, Else RW.Methods are described for the endoscopic examination and biopsy of the gastrointestinal tract and liver of the dog, cat, ox and horse. The results of the examination of 41 biopsy samples are shown, followed by a discussion of the value of biopsy in the diagnosis of diseases of the digestive tract.
McLeland S.Uncommon diseases of the equine urinary system span a variety of etiologies and frequently have nonspecific clinical presentations. Because of the infrequency of equine urinary disease and inconsistencies in clinical symptoms, diagnosis and subsequent treatment of urinary disease in this species may be challenging. This article reviews various diseases of the equine urinary system, morphologies, and potential discriminating clinical and clinicopathologic presentations to aid the clinician in determining a definitive diagnosis in practice.
Beroza GA, Perry RW, Cotter DM.Permanent implantation of nonabsorbable materials is appropriate in many surgical circumstances but is not commonly used to close equine celiotomies. This paper describes a simple method of continuous nonabsorbable implantation of polyamide suture used successfully to close 48 equine celiotomies. Forty-eight clean or clean-contaminated celiotomies were successfully performed over 5 years using this technique. The postsurgical survival observation period ranged from 1-6 years (median 3.5 years). There were 45 long-term survivors (93.75%). Only 2 minor implant complications (4.4%) were observed ...
Steward SKT, Hassel DM, Martin H, Doddman C, Stewart A, Elzer EJ, Southwood LL.Duodenitis-proximal jejunitis (DPJ) is an idiopathic and potentially fatal disease of horses characterized by abdominal pain, proximal intestinal inflammation, and subsequent gastric and small intestinal fluid accumulation. Although this disease is known to be costly and life threatening in the equine industry, the severity of clinical signs can vary widely, and an exact etiology has yet to be elucidated. This study looked to identify differences in clinical parameters of horses with DPJ between geographic regions in an effort to corroborate anecdotal reports and support theories of differing ...
Saulez MN, Slovis NM, Louden AT.Tracheal trauma with resultant rupture is uncommonly reported in veterinary literature. We report the case of a 16-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that sustained a 1 cm longitudinal perforation of the dorsal tracheal membrane in the proximal cervical region. The horse subsequently developed dyspnoea due to acute upper respiratory obstruction secondary to severe emphysema of the guttural pouches. A temporary tracheostomy caudal to the site of tracheal perforation was performed under local anaesthesia. This procedure helped relieve the upper airway obstruction and aided resolution of the injury by...
Littlewort MC.This paper outlines the major problems in evaluating and assessing prognosis in horses with minor cardiac abnormalities. It emphasises that progress will only be made if adequate data on the "natural history" of equine cardiac disease can be collected. This will necessitate a long-term study of suitable cases and will require the collaboration of specialist institutions and general practitioners if it is to be successful.
Onishi JC, Park JW, Prado J, Eades SC, Mirza MH, Fugaro MN, Häggblom MM, Reinemeyer CR.Carbohydrate overload models of equine acute laminitis are used to study the development of lameness. It is hypothesized that a diet-induced shift in cecal bacterial communities contributes to the development of the pro-inflammatory state that progresses to laminar failure. It is proposed that vasoactive amines, protease activators and endotoxin, all bacterial derived bioactive metabolites, play a role in disease development. Questions regarding the oral bioavailability of many of the bacterial derived bioactive metabolites remain. This study evaluates the possibility that a carbohydrate-induc...
Velloso Álvarez A, Sandow CB, Rodgerson DH, Spirito MA.To evaluate the short and long-term outcomes of foals treated surgically for fractured ribs and variables that may affect outcome. Methods: Retrospective. Methods: Seventy-three equine neonates with surgically repaired fractured ribs. Methods: Medical records were reviewed to include sex, breed, the side of thorax affected, number of ribs fractured, co-morbidities directly associated with rib fracture, and surgical technique used. Short-term outcome was defined as survival to discharge. Long-term outcome was whether or not they started a race. Race records of maternal siblings were obtained fo...
O'Callaghan MW.The problem of transitory cardiac arrhythmias in equidae is discussed particularly with regard to the referral of suspect cases to specialist institutions for second opinion. Recently developed electro-stimulation techniques designed to uncover problem arrythmias, are briefly described and their potential in the analysis of cardiac electrical function under varying conditions is reviewed. The author cautions on the too rapid evaluation of the techniques for this purpose while remaining optimistic of the potential of electro-stimulation in the objective analysis of cardiac electric parameters.
Hagedorn HW, Zuck S, Schulz R.An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect the beta 2-agonist clenbuterol in equine blood and urine. The antiserum was raised in rabbits, employing clenbuterol-diazo-BSA as antigen. Clenbuterol-diazo-horseradish peroxidase served as enzyme conjugate. The concentration of clenbuterol to decrease tracer binding by 50% (IC50 value) was found to be 27.50 +/- 4.20 pg/well (1.37 ng/ml). The antibody cross-reacted with salbutamol (30%), terbutaline (14%) and cimaterol (1%). Horse serum was used directly to screen for clenbuterol, while urine was employed diluted. Positive sc...
Feng YY, Yang H, Gu XT, Jiang HJ, Lu TH.In this paper, the interaction between Cu(II) ions and Fe-protoporphyrin in horse-heart myoglobin (FePP-Mb) was studied. As a result, some of the Fe(II) ions in FePP-Mb were found to be replaced by Cu(II) ions forming CuPP-Mb, by adding Cu(II) ions into the myoglobin solution. The interaction became stronger when adding more Cu(II) ions into the myoglobin solution. By studying the metal ions' interaction with myoglobin proteins as macromolecules and discussing the interaction mechanism, this work provides a theoretical basis for the further study of hazardous metal ions' interaction with the h...
Seeger K, Thurow H, Haede W, Knapp E.A simple enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the measurement of progesterone is described. Antibody against 11-OH-hemisuccinate-BSA is bound to polystyrene tubes. 11-OH-hemisuccinyl-beta-D-galactosidase is used as enzyme-coupled antigen and methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-galactoside as substrate. Concentrations down to 0.156 ng/ml plasm or amounts of 93 pg/tube are detectable. Probit analysis gave a linear relationship between log concentration and percentage of binding. A comparison of EIA and radioimmunoassay gave a correlation coefficient of 0.81. The assay is sufficiently sensitive to estimate progest...
Fitzgerald WE.Four cases of snakebite in horses are presented. Diagnosis was made on clinical signs in all, plus fang punctures in 2 cases. Tiger snake antivenene was used in the treatment of 2 patients and these recovered rapidly. Of the 2 in which antivenene was not used, 1 severely affected horse died. The clinical signs which were observed were those of progressive general paralysis and were entirely referable to the neurotoxic component of the venom.
Machin J, Brewer K, Morales-Briceno A, Fenger C, Maylin G, Tobin T.Zilpaterol is a β2-adrenergic agonist medication approved in certain countries as a cattle feed additive to improve carcass quality. Trace amounts of Zilpaterol can transfer to horse feed, yielding equine urinary "identifications" of Zilpaterol. These "identifications" occur because Zilpaterol is highly bioavailable in horses, resistant to biotransformation and excreted as unchanged Zilpaterol in urine, where it has a 5 day or so terminal half-life.In horses, urinary steady-state concentrations are reached 25 days (5 half-lives) after exposure to contaminated feed. Zilpaterol readily presen...
Carmalt JL, Borg H, Näslund H, Waldner C.Proximal palmar/plantar osteochondral fragmentation of the first phalanx is a frequent radiographic finding in Standardbred horses. These lesions are routinely removed prior to the onset of a racing career with no evidence to support the timing of this surgical intervention. Objective: To determine whether horses racing before surgery slowed as they approached surgery date and whether they speeded up after surgery. To investigate the factors affecting whether a horse raced after surgery and compare the performance of horses that did and did not race before surgery. Methods: A retrospective stu...
Hinrichs K, Love CC, Choi YH, Varner DD, Wiggins CN, Reinoehl C.Germinal vesicle (GV)-stage horse oocytes with diffuse chromatin are meiotically incompetent and degenerate in culture, whereas horse oocytes having condensed chromatin within the GV are meiotically competent. Degeneration of incompetent oocytes in culture may be related to premature GV breakdown, which could possibly be prevented by inhibition of m-phase protein activity. We examined the effects of 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP), butyrolactone and roscovitine on GV-stage horse oocytes. Culture in the presence of 2 mM 6-DMAP for 24 h suppressed meiosis (2% MI or MII compared with 38% for untre...
