Veterinary medicine for horses encompasses the study and application of medical practices to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases in equine species. This field involves a comprehensive understanding of equine anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. Veterinary practitioners employ a range of diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions to address health issues in horses, including lameness, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory conditions, and infectious diseases. Preventative care, such as vaccination and deworming programs, is also a significant aspect of equine veterinary medicine. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of veterinary medicine as it pertains to horses, including advancements in diagnostic techniques, treatment protocols, and preventive health strategies.
Behr MJ, Hackett RP, Bentinck-Smith J, Hillman RB, King JM, Tennant BC.Rupture of the urinary bladder was diagnosed in 4 neonatal male foals. Marked hyponatremia, hypochloremia, and hyperkalemia developed in all 4 cases, and the electrolyte abnormalities were considered to be of potential diagnostic value. Blood urea nitrogen concentration was normal or only slightly higher than normal in 3 of 4 cases and therefore was not a reliable diagnostic test.
Snyder DB, Myrup AC, Dutta SK.Pony foals, negative for detectable serum-neutralizing antibody to equine herpesvirus 1 by the standard tube-culture virus neutralization test, were experimentally infected with equine herpesvirus 1. Complement-requiring (CR) and non-complement-requiring (NCR) serum-neutralizing antibodies were evaluated in preinfection and postinfection sera by means of a complement-enhanced plaque reduction assay. Low levels of CR antibodies were found in the preinfection sera of only group II ponies. Upon infection, CR antibodies were detected by day 2 postinfection and reached peak titers between 7 and 14 ...
Doige CE, McLaughlin BG.Hyperplastic goitre was observed in seven newborn foals. Several were weak at birth and died in the first 48 hours of life. Only one foal had myxedema and only three of the seven had obvious enlargement of the thyroid at necropsy. It is suggested that the goitre observed was caused by a dietary deficiency of iodine.
O'Brien TR, Hornof WJ, Meagher DM.Subchondral lesions were identified in the distal palmar region of the third metacarpus in 21 fetlock joints of 15 Thoroughbred horses. The lesions were more commonly identified on the lateromedial and flexed lateral projection, with the flexed lateral projection permitting optimal visualization of the lesion. Lesions appeared as poorly marginated, radiolucent defects and were located at the level of the base of the proximal sesamoid bones. The shape and distribution of the radiolucent defects were: crescent, 4; flattened, 4; shallow concavity, 5; deep concavity, 3; oval, 3; and circular, 2. S...
Burton SC, Hintz HF, Kemen MJ, Holmes DF.In a study with 15 neonatal foals (5 per treatment group), foals were fed within 4 hours of birth as follows: 250 ml of colostrum, 250 ml of lyophilized serum reconstituted at 5 times the original concentration, or 250 ml of a mixture (1:1) of colostrum and lyophilized serum. Foal serum samples were tested for immunoglobulin (Ig)G concentration and titrated for anti-equine rhinovirus 1 and anti-equine influenza A1 and A2 antibodies at 0 and 24 hours after foals were born. Except in a foal which had suckled the dam before treatment, there was no evidence of IgG or specific viral antibodies in t...
Tate LP, Koch DB, Sembrat RF, Boles CL.A surgical technique for resection of a portion of the trachea followed by end-to-end anastomosis was developed on 4 clinically normal horses. The trachea healed without complications in 3 of the horses in which 3 tracheal cartilages were removed. Five tracheal cartilages were removed from the 4th horse. It had to be euthanatized because of excessive suture line tension and wound disruption, which occurred during recovery from anesthesia. Suture line tension was measured on 3 other clinically normal horses positioned in dorsal recumbency immediately after euthanasia after 3 and 5 tracheal cart...
Easley KJ, Schneider JE.In 9 horses, osteotomies were performed to simulate accessory carpal bone fractures. Screw fixation, aided by a large C-clamp, was performed on 6 of the 9 horses. Three were treated conservatively, as controls, with fractures not repaired; they remained clinically lame throughout the 6-month study. Fibrocartilaginous nonunion developed in each of the 3 controls. At 150 days, the principals were free of lameness, with evidence of bony union. The results of clinical, radiographic, and pathologic evaluations showed surgical repair to be superior to prolonged rest in treating equine accessory carp...
McIlwraith CW, Van Sickle DC.Arthritis was experimentally induced in the intercarpal joints of a series of mature ponies by the intraarticular injections of 400 microgram of the polyene antibiotic filipin in 1 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide. Twelve consecutive weekly injections were administered and the ponies were euthanatized 4 weeks after the last injection of filipin was made. The ponies were exercised for 1 hour each day throughout the experiment. Articular cartilage specimens from 4 sites in each intercarpal joint were examined histologically and histo-chemically. For the histochemical examination, safranin O-fast green, ...
Angsubhakorn S, Poomvises P, Romruen K, Newberne PM.Two episodes of acute aflatoxin poisoning in horses suggest that horses are susceptible to the toxic effects of this mycotoxin. Lesions associated with exposure to aflatoxin included encephalomalacia of cerebral hemispheres, fatty degeneration, necrosis, bile duct hyperplasia, fibrosis of the liver, fatty infiltration of the kidney, hemorrhagic enteritis, and myocardial degeneration. Hypoglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and depletion of lymphocytes accompanied these lesions. The diagnosis was based on gross and histopathologic observations, consistent with observations of other species poisoned with ...
Manohar M, Thurmon JC, Tranquilli WJ, Shawley RV, Froelich P.A technique was developed for long-term catheterization of the coronary sinus in calves and ponies. A catheter with a 10 to 12 cm-long stiff segment was implanted via right lateral thoracotomy. Catheters were kept patent up to 10 weeks after the surgical procedure. At that time, location of the catheter tip was confirmed both by determining oxygen tension of the anaerobically sampled blood and by radiography. Base-line values of oxygen venous blood of non-anesthetized calves and ponies are reported.
White NA.Intestinal infarction associated with cranial mesenteric artery thrombosis, without strangulation obstruction of the intestine, was studied in 18 horses. Findings normally of value in evaluating horses with acute abdominal pain (heart rate, rectal palpation findings, gastric reflux) or classification of the degree of pain were not helpful in diagnosing the problem. Similarly, packed cell volume, plasma total protein, circulating white blood cell count, peritoneal white blood cell count, and peritoneal fluid total protein were not of value in predicting severity of the intestinal damage, locati...
Kowalczyk DF, Naylor JM, Gunson D.A diagnosis of lead poisoning in a foal was established based on clinical signs and the presence of an elevation in the concentration of blood lead (40 microgram/dl). Additionally, ZPP was determined in whole blood and found to be significantly elevated compared to 10 normal horses not exposed to lead (634 vs 73 microgram/dl). An elevation in ZPP in man has been found to be a sensitive biochemical indicator of lead toxicity even before overt clinical signs are present. This report suggests that ZPP may be a useful screening test for evaluating biological toxicity due to lead in horses and poss...
Trotter GW, Aanes WA.During an 8-month period, 3 horses were examined because of incomplete cryptorchid castration. Each horse had had surgery to remove 1 retained testis. In each case, the attending veterinarian believed castration had been adequately completed. History, rectal examination findings, and in 2 cases, high serum testosterone concentration were factors that led to the decision to do exploratory surgery on each horse. In each case, initial surgery had resulted in surgical removal of the tail of the epididymis, which was mistaken for testicular tissue.
Ferguson EW, Bernier LL, Shaughness GP, Boucher JH.Fourteen horses were studied during a 157-km endurance ride. Two humans who ran the 157 km were also evaluated at the finish. Fibrin monomer samples were examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two major species of horse Beta-chain with higher molecular weights and different isoelectric mobilities than human beta-chain were observed. Horse alpha-chains had higher molecular weights than human alpha-chains but similar alpha-chain heterogeneities. Mean euglobulin lysis time (ELT) in the horses was accelerated to similar levels...
Mathewson JJ, Simpson RB, Roush DA.Six isolations of Salmonella krefeld were made from clinical veterinary specimens. These isolates were multiply resistant to several antimicrobial agents commonly used to treat salmonellosis.
Pedersoli WM, Ravis WR, Belmonte AA, McCullers RM.Digoxin (elixir, 0.022 mg/kg) was administered via stomach tube to healthy horses of mixed breeding and sexes. Serum digoxin concentrations reached a peak (2.21 +/- 0.6 ng/ml) at approximately 1 hour after dosing and had a half-life of 28.8 +/- 10.7 hours. Digoxin kinetics followed a triexponential curve, indicating that at least a 2 compartmental model is required to characterize the serum concentration-time curve after this route of administration. It was calculated that to achieve average serum concentrations of 1.1 ng/ml, an oral dose of 17.4 microgram of digoxin elixir/kg/day and an IV do...
Mizobe M, Kondo F, Toyoshima C, Kumamoto K, Terada T, Nasu H.A rapid method was developed to analyze delta-bilirubin (B delta), diconjugated bilirubin (DCB), monoconjugated bilirubin (MCB), and unconjugated bilirubin (Bu) by direct injection of sera using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an internal-surface reversed-phase silica support (ISRP) column. Sharp bilirubin peaks were obtained using a simple mobile phase of acetonitrile: 0.5 M Tris-HCl buffer (20:80, v/v, pH 7.2). A variable-wavelength detector set at 450 nm, 0.01 absorbance unit full scale (AUFS), and a recorder set at 4 mm/min were used for detection. Peaks for B delta, DCB...
Koterba AM, Drummond WH.Provision of adequate nutritional support to the sick neonatal foal is a vital part of intensive care; frequently, however, it is very difficult to accomplish. In this article, current recommendations concerning both enteral and parenteral nutrition are discussed.
Takeda A, Tanaka H, Shinohara T, Ohtake I.A sample preparation method for mass chromatographic detection of doping drugs from horse plasma is described. Bond Elut Certify (1 g/6 ml) is used for the extraction of 4 ml of horse plasma. Fractionation is performed with 6 ml of CHCl3-Me2CO (8:2) and 5 ml of 1% TEA-MeOH according to its property. Simple and effective clean-up based on non-aqueous partitioning is adopted to remove co-eluted contaminants in both acid and basic fractions. Two kinds of 1-(N,N-diisopropylamino)-n-alkanes are co-injected with the sample into the GC-MS system for the calculation of the retention index. Total recov...
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...
Soraci AL, Mestorino ON, Errecalde JO.The pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of cefoperazone (CPZ) were studied following intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) administration of single doses (30 mg/kg) to horses. Concentrations in serum, urine and synovial fluid samples were measured following IV administration. CPZ concentrations in serum, synovial fluid and spongy bone samples were measured following IM administration. After IV administration a rapid distribution phase (t1/2 (alpha): 4.22 +/- 2.73 min) was followed by a slower elimination phase (t1/2(beta) 0.77 +/- 0.19 h). The apparent volume of distribution was 0.68 +/- 0....
Costa F, Brunsting J, Corrêa F.This case report describes a 16-year-old jumping stallion that had a marked swelling over the left antebrachial area along with substantial lameness after a fall. The horse was weight bearing but lame (4/5; AAEP scale) at the walk with marked enlargement in the caudal aspect of the antebrachial region. After a static musculoskeletal examination, radiography and ultrasonography the horse was diagnosed with flexor muscle myopathy and presumptive extremity compartment syndrome. Following medical treatment, the horse improved clinically over several days. Six-months post injury the horse showed fl...
Lizarraga I, Panizzi L, Gieseg MA, Riley CB, Chambers JP.To evaluate thermal nociceptive thresholds (TNTs) before and after inducing a standardized radiocarpal bone osteochondral fracture (OCF) in horses. Methods: Prospective, controlled, randomized, masked study. Methods: A group of 10 Thoroughbred fillies aged 2 years. Methods: Skin temperature and TNTs were measured on the skin over the triceps brachii muscle in both the thoracic limbs before (week 0) and weekly (weeks 1-8) after unilateral arthroscopic induction of a radiocarpal OCF (n = 4) or sham surgery (n = 6) followed by a standardized exercise programme. The contralateral, non-operated t...
Doerksen T, Bird E, Henningson J, Palinski R.Here, we report the near-complete genome sequences of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) serotype Indiana isolates from the 2020 U.S. outbreak. The sequences were obtained from swabs collected from Kansas horses in July and August. The four genome sequences help improve our understanding of VSV outbreak dynamics in the United States.
Teigland MB.The role of the veterinarian at auction sales begins long before the consignment is assembled. A number of veterinarians are called upon by sales companies to evaluate the candidates before acceptance into the consignment. At sales time, the number of veterinarians involved grows to large numbers as the prospective buyers employ them to evaluate the animals to suit their individual needs. Professional ethics must be considered at all times when evaluating animals before auction. The findings must be kept confidential. The consignor allows veterinarians to examine his or her animals with the un...
Stoller N, Christen G, Graubner C.In the present study phone interviews on working hours, salary, professional satisfaction and other topics were carried out with 30 equine veterinarians. None of the participants had more than five years of work experience. The gross annual wages ranged from CHF 36'400 to CHF 91'500. The study participants worked 42 to 93 hours per week. Only 13% were moderately satisfied with the job, the remaining participants were satisfied to highly satisfied. Sixty percent of the study participants were dissatisfied with their wages and wished to be paid according to the Swiss Veterinary Association (GST...
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...
Soma LR, Uboh CE, You Y, Guan F, McDonnell S.Pennsylvania (PA) State Racing Commissions regulate the endogenous androgenic steroid, testosterone (TES), in racing intact males (RIM) by quantification of TES in post-race samples. Post-race plasma samples (2209) collected between March 2008 and November 2010 were analyzed for TES, nandrolone (NAN), and other anabolic steroids (ABS). Of the 2209 plasma samples, 2098 had quantifiable TES ≥ 25 pg/mL. Plasma (mean ± SD) concentrations of TES and NAN in RIM were 329.2 ± 266.4 and 96.0 ± 67.8 pg/mL, respectively. Only 64.6% of RIM had quantifiable concentration of NAN, and there was no relat...
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.
