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.
Steffey EP, Zinkl J, Howland D.The potential toxicity to horses of 7.33 +/- 0.87 SD minimal alveolar concentration hours of isoflurane anesthesia was evaluated by sequential determination of blood cell counts, electrolyte concentrations, and certain blood chemical values. Minimal or no serious toxicosis was observed for up to 7 days after anesthesia was terminated.
Torbeck RL, Prieur DJ.Cartilaginous defects were created in the radiocarpal joints of 12 horses. Synovial fluid cytologic features, lysozyme activity, and beta-glucuronidase activity were monitored for 16 days. A comparison was made of plasma lysozyme and beta-glucuronidase activity and of synovial fluid lysozyme, beta-glucuronidase, and leukocyte concentrations. Plasma lysozyme was found to be independent of synovial fluid lysozyme activity. Synovial fluid lysozyme was significantly increased (P less than 0.001) in all joints with surgically induced defects (group I) compared with controls (arthrocentesis done; gr...
Flood PF, Jong A, Betteridge KJ.The oviducts of 24 mares were examined to determine the site of retention of unfertilized eggs. The ampullary-isthmic junction regions of 42 of the 48 oviducts were serially sectioned and examined histologically. The remaining parts of the oviducts were flushed and the flushings searched microscopically. Of 45 eggs located, 40 were in the sectioned segments of 24 oviducts and only 5 were in the flushings. All but one of the sectioned segments contained prominent masses of material obstructing the lumen, but these were apparently not the direct cause of egg retention since eggs were found on bo...
Murphy JR, McPherson EA, Lawson GH.80 mg sodium cromoglycate (SCG) was administered by inhalation to two COPD-affected animals known to have respiratory hypersensitivity to Micropolyspora faeni. SCG treatment 20-30 minutes prior to inhalation challenge with M. faeni prevented exacerbation of respiratory disease, usually seen 4-8 hours after challenge. duration of protection against antigen challenge after a single SCG treatment was 4-5 days. The duration of protection was not prolonged by reducing the frequency of antigen challenge. Multiple antigen challenge, using M. faeni and Aspergillus fumigatus, shortened the protective p...
Kelly DF, Pinsent PJ.A 10-month-old thoroughbred colt developed sudden complete blindness; no other neurological abnormality was detected. At necropsy 3.5 months later lesions were confined to both optic pathways in which there was extensive degeneration of axons and myelin and gliosis. The cause of the optic lesion was not determined but the lesion may be a toxic neuropathy.
Snow DH.In the horse the effect of the adrenergenic agonists adrenaline, phenylephrine and salbutamol on haematocrit, plasma free fatty acid, glycerol and lactate levels were investigated. Effects on heart rate, sweating and muscle tremor were also studied. The effects of administration of the adrenoceptor antagonists propranolol, metoprolol, H35/25 and acepromazine on adrenaline-induced changes were examined. The results obtained with these agonists and antagonists suggest that the lipolysis and hyperglycaemia are mediated via beta-adrenoceptors. It appears that both beta1 and beta2 subtypes are invo...
Sellers AF, Lowe JE, Brondum J.The equine large colon is the major cellulose-fermentation locus of these species. The area of juncture of the ventral and dorsal divisions of the equine large colon was characterized, in 13 chronic unanesthetized animals and in 25 in vitro preparations, as an area of resistance to aboral flow. This is a probable pacemaker area. The reservoir function of this part of the colon is apparently facilitated by the presence of a pacemaker at this level. There was a general rise in recorded intraluminal pressure peaks during the first hour of feeding. This characteristic was not altered after resecti...
Froscher BG, Nagode LA.Alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes from small intestine, cecum, large colon, small colon, liver, kidney, leukocytes, and serum from ten clinically normal horses were defined by their sensitivities to L-phenylalanine, L-homoarginine, levamisole and heat, and by polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. Readily identifiable isoenzymes occurred in small intestine, granulocytes, kidney, cecum, and large and small colon. By contrast, alkaline phosphatases from liver, lymphocytes, and serum could not be discriminated by this group of tests.
Kovár J, Dürrová E, Skurský L.The interactions of three groups of probes (berberine alkaloids, tricyclic psychopharmaca and acridine derivatives) with isoenzymes of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase and with rat liver alcohol dehydrogenase have been examined. These compounds inhibit the activity of the EE isoenzyme of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase but differ in their behaviour towards the steroid-active enzymes (i.e. the ES isoenzyme of horse liver alcohol dehydrognase and alcohol dehydrogenase from rat liver): psychopharmaca inhibit, acridines activate and berberines do not bind. The ligands differ also in their influ...
Brown JE, Corstvet RE, Stratton LG.Two experiments incorporating 13 mares were conducted for the purpose of producing and monitoring intrauterine infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae. In the pilot study, the infection was produced with strains of K pneumoniae type 68 and type 10 isolated from the genital tract of stallions with a history of breeding problems. In the principal study, K pneumoniae type 68 was used to produce the infection. Tampons and guarded culture swabs were used to obtain uterine samples in the pilot study. In comparing the efficacies of isolation of K pneumoniae with the tampons and isolation with standard g...
Hjortkjaer RK, Svendsen CK.Experimental closed loop small intestinal volvulus was studied in the anesthetized horse. Volvulus was simulated by ligation of the mesenterial veins to a segment of small intestine. Physical signs and hemodynamic, hematologic, clinical chemical, bacteriologic and peritoneal fluid values were examined. Compared to conscious horses anesthesia highly delayed and modified the clinical signs of shock (changes in mucosal colour, dehydration, decreased skin temperature, elevated pulse rate, low blood pressures) and of small intestinal volvulus (altered peristalsis, gastric dilation). Plasma glucose ...
Speirs VC, Hilbert BJ, Blood DC.This paper describes the clinical signs and surgical treatment of 2 cases of dorsal displacement of the left ventral and dorsal colon. The condition, in which the colon becomes enclosed in the space bounded by the base of the spleen, the dorsal aspect of the suspensory ligament of the spleen (phrenicosplenic ligament), the left kidney and the adjacent body wall, is characterised by moderate to severe pain, minimal signs of shock, no response to medical therapy and a tendency for a ventral midline abdominal paracentesis to enter the spleen. Both horses recovered after surgical replacement of th...
Clayton HM, Duncan JL, Gilbert GA.Over a period of several years the use of pyrantel embonate in the control of helminth infections on three equine establishments was monitored by the examination of faecal samples collected immediately before each anthelmintic treatment. With a monthly interval between treatments for three years the faecal egg output of the horses remained at a very low level. One one establishment this was maintained when the treatment interval was extended to one-and-a-half months after treating monthly for two years. If a treatment interval of one-and-a-half months was used continuously for a number of year...
Allen WE, Kessy BM, Noakes DE.Two experimental procedures were investigated in order to assess their usefulness in diagnosing occlusion of the equine uterine tube. The starch grain test, which involves the injection of a starch suspension onto the ovary and the subsequent recovery of starch from the cervix, proved to be safe and reliable. Each tube could be investigated separately. It was found that when starch was injected onto the ovulating ovary on the day of ovulation, there was a delay of four to seven days before starch was recovered from the cervix. The phenolsulphonphthalein (PSP) test, which involves the depositio...
Rook JS, Braselton WE, Nachreiner RF, Lloyd JW, Shea ME, Shelle JE, Hitzler PR.To document and determine changes in the mineral profiles of sera and mammary secretions from a population of periparturient mares. Methods: 18 clinically normal periparturient Arabian broodmares. Methods: Inductively coupled argon emission spectroscopy was used to measure Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, and Zn concentrations in sera and mammary secretions of periparturient mares. In addition, S was measured in mammary secretions. Results: Serum concentrations of Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn remained constant throughout late pregnancy and the first 7 days of lactation. Compared with values o...
Brown MP, Gronwall R, Kroll WR, Beal C.Five foals from two to three days old were given a single oral dose of ampicillin trihydrate (20 mg/kg bodyweight [bwt]). Serum ampicillin concentrations were measured serially over a 24 h period. The study was repeated in the same foals at 16 to 21 days old. The mean peak serum ampicillin concentration at two to three days old was 5.0 micrograms/ml at 1 h after treatment; the mean peak serum concentration at 16 to 21 days old was 2.7 micrograms/ml at 2 h. The concentrations steadily declined and ampicillin was not detected in the serum from any of the foals by 24 h. Serum clearance averaged 1...
Curtis S, Ferguson DW, Luikart R, Ovnicek G.Several of the technical approaches applied to the foot overlap with regard to intent. Frog or solar support, for example, may be provided either to stabilize the distal phalanx within the hoof capsule or in an effort to unload regional pain arising from the solar surface of the foot. It is likewise obvious that some techniques such as lowering the heels to achieve phalangeal realignment and raising the heels to relieve deep digital flexor tendon tension are contradictory. In these instances, it is not that one technique is always correct but that differences exist among horses. Currently, it ...
Haltmayer E, Simhofer H.This report describes a case of a multilobular, osseous mass including parts of the right orbit, concho frontal sinus and right ventral and dorsal conchal sinuses that developed after a traumatic insult to the right maxillary sinus 4 years prior to presentation. Surgical removal of the mass including parts of the bony orbit and long-term outcome are reported. Ce rapport décrit une masse multilobulaire et osseuse comprenant des parties de l’orbite droite, des cornets nasaux frontaux et des sinus ventral et dorsal droits qui s’est développée après un traumatisme du sinus maxillaire droi...
McDowell KJ, Adams MH, Williams NM.Proteins synthesized and released in vitro by oviducts collected from horse mares during estrus and at day 4 after ovulation for bred and nonbred mares were examined by two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D SDS PAGE) and fluorography. Ampullary and isthmic regions both produced a wide array of nondialyzable proteins in culture. Major proteins or groups of proteins identified according to relative molecular weight (kDa) and apparent isoelectric point (pI) were at 100 kDa, pI 8; 100-200 kDa, pI 6; 150 kDa, pI 4.5; 60-100 kDa, pI 4; and an array of polypep...
Gehlen H, Rutenberg D, Simon C, Reinhold-Fritzen B, Drozdzewska K.The aim of this review is to describe general guidelines of hygiene measures in the horse stable as well as to provide current recommendations for an outbreak of a common infectious disease. General cleanliness, hand hygiene, avoidance of stress, regular deworming, and vaccinations belong to the basic hygiene measures in a horse herd. All new or returning equids should be submitted to a quarantine period as an important prevention measure. Repeated washing and disinfection of hands may prevent spreading of infectious agents to people and horses.The conception of a hygiene plan, including gener...
Bai Y, Tong T, Liu G, Chen W, Zhang W, Wang Q, Yang T, Bu Z, Wu D.Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) is a pleiotropic cytokine that is recognized as an important modulator of the immune response. To date, there is no report that prokaryocyte-derived recombinant equine IFN-gamma has antiviral activity. In this report, the gene coding equine IFN-gamma (EIFN-gamma) mature protein was cloned into pET-28a (+) and the recombinant EIFN-gamma was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli). The antiviral activity of expressed recombinant EIFN-gamma was evaluated by using a recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus expressing green fluorescence protein (rVSV-GFP) system in the eq...
Asin J, Murphy BG, Samol MA, Polanco J, Moore JD, Uzal FA.Rickets is a metabolic bone disease associated with failure of endochondral ossification and impaired osteoid mineralization in growing animals. As a consequence, affected individuals can develop gross and microscopic bone malformations. The most common causes of rickets in domestic species include vitamin D and phosphorus deficiency. Rickets has been described in multiple species; however, comprehensive postmortem characterizations with confirmatory histopathology in equids have not been published. A 6-mo-old, Thoroughbred-cross foal was diagnosed with rickets based on gross autopsy findings ...
Peano A, Arnoldi S, Čmoková A, Hubka V.This article reports the first verified cases of infection by Trichophyton bullosum in Africa since the description of the fungus, isolated in 1933 from the coat of horses in Tunisia and Mali. We found the fungus in cutaneous samples obtained from donkeys suffering from severe dermatitis with areas of alopecia and scaling in the surroundings of Cairo (Egypt). Fungal elements (arthroconidia and hyphae) were seen at the microscopy of material collected by skin scraping and digested in NaOH. Fungal colonies grown on various culture media were identified through PCR and sequencing of the ITS rDNA ...