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.
Johnson PJ, Wiedmeyer CE, Messer NT, Ganjam VK.There is growing recognition that obesity is common and represents a significant detriment to the health of companion animals in a manner similar to that by which it is affecting the human population. As is the case for other species, obesity appears to promote insulin resistance in horses and it is through this pathophysiological process that many of the adverse medical consequences of obesity are being characterized. Equine medical conditions that have been described in the context of obesity and insulin resistance differ from those in humans. Chronic human conditions that have been attribut...
Boscan P, Rezende ML, Grimsrud K, Stanley SD, Mama KR, Steffey EP.To define the pharmacokinetic profile of propofol 5% microemulsion formulation in horses. Methods: First, propofol was administered as bolus injection (2 mg kg(-1)) to six xylazine-sedated horses. Secondly, after sedation and bolus injection, propofol was maintained with continuous infusion for 3 h [8.1 (sd 3.2) mg kg(-1) h(-1)] to the same six horses. Thirdly, in two horses, a commercial propofol was used for comparison. Response to noxious stimulation was used to evaluate analgesia. Venous blood samples were obtained to measure propofol plasma concentration using liquid chromatography-mass s...
Pusterla N, Gebhart C.Equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) is a disease of foals caused by the obligate intracellular organism Lawsonia intracellularis. This emerging disease affects mainly weanling foals and causes fever, lethargy, peripheral oedema, diarrhoea, colic and weight loss. The diagnosis of EPE may be challenging and relies on the presence of hypoproteinaemia, thickening of segments of the small intestinal wall observed on abdominal ultrasonography, positive serology and molecular detection of L. intracellularis in faeces. Although the clinical entity, diagnostic work-up and treatment of EPE are well e...
Loroño-Pino MA, Farfan-Ale JA, Garcia-Rejon JE, Lin M, Rosado-Paredes E, Puerto FI, Bates A, Root JJ, Franklin AB, Sullivan HJ, Blitvich BJ.No abstract available
Murray SJ, Santangelo KS, Bertone AL.To evaluate early cellular influences of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)12 and BMP2 on equine superficial digital flexor tenocytes (SDFTNs) and equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMDMSCs). Methods: 9 adult clinically normal horses. Methods: BMDMSCs and SDFTNs were cultured in monolayer, either untreated or transduced with adenovirus encoding green fluorescent protein, adenovirus encoding BMP12, or adenovirus encoding BMP2. Cytomorphologic, cytochemical, immunocytochemical, and reverse transcriptase-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analyses were performed on days 3 and 6. Genetic pro...
Lindegaard C, Gleerup KB, Thomsen MH, Martinussen T, Jacobsen S, Andersen PH.To compare the effects of intra-articular (IA) versus IV administration of morphine on local and systemic inflammatory responses in horses with experimentally induced acute synovitis. Methods: 8 horses. Methods: Each horse received the following 2 treatments 4 hours after synovitis was induced: IA administration of morphine (0.05 mg/kg) with IV administration of 1 mL of saline (0.9% NaCl) solution/100 kg, and IA administration of 1 mL of saline solution/100 kg with IV administration of morphine (0.05 mg/kg). Treatments were administered in randomized order with a washout period of 3 weeks betw...
Cleary OB, Trumble TN, Merritt KA, Brown MP.To investigate the effects of exercise and osteochondral injury on concentrations of carboxy-terminal telopeptide fragments of type II collagen (CTX-II) in synovial fluid (SF) and serum of Thoroughbred racehorses and to compare findings with radiographic and arthroscopic scores of joint injury severity. Methods: 78 Thoroughbreds with (n = 38) and without (40) osteochondral injury. Methods: Serum and metacarpophalangeal or carpal joint SF samples were collected from noninjured horses before and at the end of 5 to 6 months of race training (pre- and postexercise samples, respectively) and from h...
Kraus MS, Jesty SA, Gelzer AR, Ducharme NG, Mohammed HO, Mitchell LM, Soderholm LV, Divers TJ.To compare cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations determined by use of a point-of-care analyzer with values determined by use of a bench-top immunoassay in plasma samples obtained from clinically normal horses with and without experimentally induced cardiac disease, and to establish a reference range for plasma equine cTnI concentration determined by use of the point-of-care analyzer. Methods: 83 clinically normal horses, 6 of which were administered monensin to induce cardiac disease. Methods: A blood sample was collected from each of the 83 clinically normal horses to provide plasma for an...
Tóth F, Frank N, Geor RJ, Boston RC.To investigate the effects of dexamethasone or levothyroxine sodium on endotoxin-induced alterations in glucose and insulin dynamics. Methods: 24 horses. Methods: Horses were randomly allocated to 3 treatment groups and received 48 mg of levothyroxine mixed with 200 g of oats, 20 mg of dexamethasone plus oats, or oats alone (control) for 15 days, followed by IV infusion of lipopolysaccharide (20 ng/kg) while individually housed in stalls. Frequently sampled IV glucose tolerance tests were performed prior to pretreatment, after pretreatment, and 20 hours after lipopolysaccharide administration....
Brink P, Skydsgaard M, Teige J, Tverdal A, Dolvik NI.To develop a scoring system for histopathologic changes in the synovium of tarsocrural joints (TCJs) of horses with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) and to test for association between histopathologic changes and joint effusion or lameness. Methods: 93 horses with OCD of the intermediate ridge of the tibia of 1 or both TCJs (134 joints) and 38 control horses without disease of TCJs (38 joints). Methods: For OCD-affected horses, pretreatment lameness, TCJ effusion, and results of pelvic limb flexion test were scored. Synovial biopsy specimens were obtained from TCJs of OCD-affected horses during...
Winter MD, Berry CR, Reese DJ.Nuclear scintigraphy has been used successfully for various applications in horses in the past 30 years. Many private practices and most veterinary schools have gamma cameras, which are used to image an injected radionuclide in an equine patient. Unique exercise-related demands place specific physiologic stressors on the musculoskeletal system of horses. Horses are often pushed beyond normal physiologic limits because of specific performance stresses; therefore, injury to their musculoskeletal system is common. Skeletal scintigraphy is exceedingly sensitive but relatively nonspecific for deter...
Kornaś S, Cabaret J, Nowosad B.Faecal egg counts were performed in 187 foals of a large Polish stud farm between February and September 2007. Eggs of Parascaris equorum were present in faeces of 7% and those of cyathostomins in 13% of the foals aged less than 194 days. Information dealing with age of foals and/or efficiency of ivermectin treatment as well as the nematode parasite prepatent periods, it can be conducted that most of the infections recorded on the basis of faecal egg counts were false-infections in animals up to the age of six months, probably due to the ingestion of infected faeces of their dam or some other ...
Galvin N, Corley K.A retrospective study was carried out to investigate the causes of disease and death in a population of foals in Ireland during their first 12 months post partum. Foaling and veterinary records from 343 foals on four farms born between January 1, 2004 and May 30, 2008 were reviewed. Among 343 foals, 22 did not survive to 12 months of age. Over the five-year period, the incidence of stillbirth was 1.5% (5/343), mortality 5% (17/338) and overall morbidity was 88.5% (299/338). Morbidity was calculated to include all new conditions brought to the attention of the attending veterinary surgeon, no m...
Kornaś S, Pozor M, Okólski A, Nowosad B.The nematode Setaria equina usually reside in body cavities and do not cause clinical symptoms. From time to time, however, these parasites can be located in the scrotum and spermatic cord inflicting pain and edema in these body parts. The aim of the study was to describe the case of the nematode Setaria equina found in the vaginal sac of the stallion's scrotum. During the study, thorough examination of 50 isolated testicles of 25 stallions was conducted. The horses were obtained post-slaughter from the local slaughterhouse near Krakow. In one of examined stallions, two females of Setaria equi...
Czernomysy-Furowicz D, Silecka A, Nawrotek P, Jankowiak D, Karakulska J, Furowicz A.The research was conducted on clinically healthy mares (n = 40) and foals (n = 78) during Y. pseudotuberculosis associated enzootics. The animals were divided into groups: I to IV--mares, IA to IVA--their offsprings, IB to IVB--foals which mothers were not treated with any medicaments. The animals in group I, IA and IB were injected with PBS; in group II, IIA and IIB--with Y. pseudotuberculosis strain-based vaccine, in group III, IIIA and IIIB--with P. acnes strain-based immunostimulator; in group IV, IVA and IVB--with P. acnes strain-based immunostimulator and (5 days after the immunostimulat...
Cymerys J, Dzieciatkowski T, Słońska A, Bierla J, Tucholska A, Chmielewska A, Golke A, Bańbura MW.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infections cause significant economic losses for equine industries worldwide as a result of abortion, respiratory illness, and neurologic disease in all breeds of horses. The occurrence of abortions caused by EHV-1 has repeatedly been confirmed in Poland, but neurological manifestations of the infection have not been described yet. Also it is unknown how the infection of neurons with non-neuropathogenic strains is regulated. To further understand the virus-neuron interaction we studied two strains of EHV-1 in murine primary neuron cell cultures. Both strains were i...
Kerber CE, Labruna MB, Ferreira F, De Waal DT, Knowles DP, Gennari SM.Serum samples were collected from 582 horses from 40 stud farms in the State of São Paulo and tick (Acari: Ixodidae) infestations were evaluated on them. Serum samples were subjected to the complement fixation test (CFT) and a competitive inhibition ELISA (cELISA) for Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. Logistic regression analyses were performed to construct multivariate models that could explain the dependent variable (horses positive for B. caballi or T. equi) as a function of the independent variables (presence or abundance of each one of the tick species found on the farms). A higher ove...
Matsuda K, Qiu Y, Furuse T, Kawamura Y, Yokoyama D, Kato A, Taniyama H.This report documents an unusual case of congenital foregut cyst with dysphagia and stridor in a Thoroughbred foal. Histologically, the bilocular cyst, near the junction of larynx and trachea, had an epithelial lining of bronchogenic and esophageal origin. Concomitant malformation of the laryngeal muscles and cartilage resulted in a combination of anomalies that have not been reported in the human or veterinary literature.
Waggett BE, McGorum BC, Shaw DJ, Pirie RS, MacIntyre N, Wernery U, Milne EM.It has been proposed that synaptophysin, an abundant integral membrane protein of synaptic vesicles, is an immunohistochemical marker for degenerating neurons in equine grass sickness (GS). In the present study, a statistically generated decision tree based on assessment of synaptophysin-immunolabelled ileal sections facilitated correct differentiation of all 20 cases of GS and 24 cases of non-GS disease (comprising eight horses with colic, six with neuroparalytic botulism and 10 controls). This technique also facilitated correct diagnosis of GS in all three cases that had been erroneously cla...
Andrews FM, Reinemeyer CR, Longhofer SL.Eighteen mature, healthy horses were divided into three groups (six per group) receiving either no treatment, 15 consecutive days of phenylbutazone (PBZ), or 15 consecutive days of suxibuzone (SBZ) at recommended label doses. Horses underwent endoscopy before and after the treatment period and were assigned gastric ulcer scores. Gastric ulcer number and severity scores were similar across treatment groups. These findings suggest that when administered at the recommended label dose for 15 days, neither PBZ nor SBZ causes an increase in the number or severity of gastric ulcers over what would be...
Ekmann A, Rigdal ML, Gröndahl G.Microscopy is usually used to obtain manual total and differential cell counts in equine synovial fluid. A faster, more precise method is desirable. Objective: The objectives were to compare an automated impedance method with a manual method for obtaining total and differential cell counts in equine synovial fluid and to evaluate the effect of pretreatment with hyaluronidase on automated results. Methods: Synovial fluid samples (n=48) were collected into EDTA and analyzed within 48 hours. Automated total and differential cell counts were evaluated using a Medonic CA620-VET hematology analyzer ...
Mittmann EH, Mömke S, Distl O.Chronic pastern dermatitis (CPD), also known as chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL), is a skin disease that affects draft horses. This disease causes painful lower-leg swelling, nodule formation, and skin ulceration, interfering with movement. The aim of this whole-genome scan was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for CPD in German draft horses. We recorded clinical data for CPD in 917 German draft horses and collected blood samples from these horses. Of these 917 horses, 31 paternal half-sib families comprising 378 horses from the breeds Rhenish German, Schleswig, Saxon-Thuringian, a...
Desantis S, Ventriglia G, Zizza S, Guaricci AC, Losurdo M, Zarrilli A, Albrizio M.The presence of the mu-opioid receptor (MOR) was investigated in the mare oviduct during oestrus and anoestrus, by means of immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Immunoblotting analysis showed that the MOR protein is expressed as 65, 50 and 30 kDa forms in the infundibulum and ampulla both in oestrus and anoestrus, while the 30 kDa form is absent in the isthmus. Moreover, different levels of expression were observed along the ampulla in the two periods examined. Immunohistochemistry revealed MOR in the mucosal epithelium, stromal cells, myocytes and blood vessels. Ciliated cells expressed M...
Papadopoulos E, Rowlinson M, Bartram D, Carpenter S, Mellor P, Wall R.An in vitro assay was used to assess the efficacy of the proprietary pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin applied to horses (Deosect spray, 5.0%, w/v Fort Dodge Animal Health) against the biting midge Culicoides nubeculosus (Meigen) (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti Linneaus and Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae). Hair was collected from the back, belly and legs of the horses immediately prior to treatment and 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days after treatment, and also from untreated controls. In laboratory assays groups of 10 adult female C. nubeculosus, Ae. aegy...
Sanders-Shamis M, Bukowiecki CF, Biller DS.Medical records of 7 adult horses with single or multiple ligament failure of the femorotibial ligaments were reviewed to evaluate signalment, history, diagnostic and treatment methods, outcome, and long-term follow-up information. Acute onset of lameness was recorded for most of the horses. Horses with multiple ligament injury had more severe clinical signs than did horses with single ligament injury. Horses with single ligament injury generally required manipulative tests to localize the lameness to the stifle. In all horses, radiography of the stifle assisted in the diagnosis. Horses either...
Shirer HW, Erichsen DF, Orr JA.Previous reports indicate that intravenous infusion of HCl can alter breathing and blood pressure even if reductions in systemic arterial pH are prevented. To extend these findings, as well as to determine whether other acids elicit comparable results, this report compares the cardiopulmonary response between right atrial infusion of lactic acid and HCl in awake ponies. Lactic acid, infused at a dose of 1.5 mmol/kg over 18 min, lowered systemic and pulmonary arterial pH 0.062 and 0.092 U, respectively, and increased pulmonary arterial pressure (delta Ppa, 4 mmHg), heart rate (HR, 4/min), and t...
Di Pietro R, Arroyo LG, Leclere M, Costa M.Bacterial imbalances are observed in intestinal diseases and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been used to restore the intestinal microbiota of horses. However, there is evidence that the current methods proposed for FMT in horses have limited efficacy. The objective of this study was to concentrate the bacteria present in the donor stool by centrifugation, and to test the effect in horses with antibiotic-induced dysbiosis. One healthy 11-year-old horse was selected as a fecal donor and 9 horses were given trimethoprim sulfadiazine (TMS) for 5 days to induce dysbiosis. Horses receive...
Diaz F, Bondiolli K, Paccamonti D, Gentry GT.Pregnancy rates after cryopreservation of large equine blastocyst stage embryos have remained lower than other domesticated livestock species. It is generally accepted that the embryonic capsule is the primary barrier to cryoprotectant entry into the embryo proper and techniques need to be developed to circumvent this obstacle. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop an efficient Day 8 equine embryo cryopreservation protocol through blastocyst micromanipulation and vitrification. Grade 1 and 2 embryos recovered from mares (n = 15) 8 days after ovulation were used in these experim...
Barrett MF, Manchon PT, Hersman J, Kawcak CE.Injury to the proximal suspensory ligament is a common cause of lameness in cutting horses. Radiographic and ultrasonographic imaging of lesions responsible for lameness can provide ambiguous results. MRI provides the most comprehensive diagnostic imaging evaluation of lesions specifically affecting cutting horses. Objective: To describe the distribution and severity of bone and soft tissue lesions present in the proximal metacarpus of Quarter Horse cutting horses and to assess the impact of these lesions on return to competition. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Retrospective anal...
Bertone AL, Bramlage LR, McIlwraith CW, Malemud CJ.To compare articular cartilage from horses with naturally developing osteochondrosis (OC) with normal articular cartilage and healing cartilage obtained from horses with experimentally induced osteochondral fractures. Methods: 109 specimens of articular cartilage from 78 horses. Methods: Morphologic characteristics, proteoglycan (PG), and type II collagen were analyzed in articular cartilage of OC specimens (group 1), matched healing cartilage obtained 40 days after experimentally induced osteochondral fractures (group 2), and matched normal cartilage from the same sites (group 3). Results: 79...
McClure SR, Sonea IM, Evans RB, Yaeger MJ.To identify the duration and potential mechanisms of analgesia following extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and radial pressure wave therapy (RPWT) in limbs of horses and sheep. Methods: 6 horses and 30 sheep. Methods: An electrical stimulus was used to identify the nociceptive threshold for each horse daily for 3 days before treatment (baseline) with ESWT or RPWT, 8 hours after treatment, and at 24-hour intervals for 7 days after treatment. Testing was conducted for the treatment field (midmetacarpus or midmetatarsus) and nerve field (medial and lateral forelimb heel bulbs) distal to a ...
Go LM, Barton AK, Ohnesorge B.In equine athletes, dynamic stenotic disorders of the upper airways are often the cause for abnormal respiratory noises and/or poor performance. There are hypotheses, that head and neck flexion may influence the morphology and function of the upper airway and thus could even induce or deteriorate disorders of the upper respiratory tract. Especially the pharynx, without osseous or cartilaginous support is prone to changes in pressure and airflow during exercise. The objective of this study was to develop a method for measuring the pharyngeal diameter in horses during exercise, in order to analy...
Bridges TS, Davidson TR, Chamberlain CS, Geisert RD, Spicer LJ.The objective of the present study was to evaluate changes in equine follicular fluid insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) proteolytic activity as well as steroid, IGF, and IGFBP concentrations during follicular development in the mare. Mares (n = 14) were classified as either in the follicular phase (n = 8) or luteal phase (n = 6). Follicles (n = 92) were categorized as small (6 to 15 mm; n = 54), medium (16 to 25 mm; n = 23), or large (> 25 mm; n = 15), and follicular fluid was collected. Estradiol and androstenedione levels in follicular fluid were greater (P < 0.05), an...
Martin-Downum K, Yazwinski T, Tucker C, Fincher M, Ralph J, Hamilton J.Commercial preparations of fenbendazole (Safe-Guard, Intervet), ivermectin (Eqvalan, Merial) or moxidectin (Quest, Fort Dodge) were administered once to horses scheduled for routine parasiticide treatment. In total, 93 horses from six cooperating farms were used in the study. Computer generated, random allocation of horses to treatment group was conducted at each farm. Fecal egg counts were determined for all horses on trial days 0, 56, 84 and 112, with corresponding calendar dates that were unique to each farm. Only strongyle egg counts from animals which were positive at day 0 were used for ...
Douglas RH, Ginther OJ.Several experiments indicated that prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) has luteolytic and abortifacient properties in mares. A single subcutaneous injection of 1-25 mg PGF2alpha on Day 6 of dioestrus was as effective as 10 mg PGF2alpha in inducing luteolysis. Oestrus and ovulation appeared to be synchronized when a single injection of 1-25 mg PGF2alpha was given on Days 7, 10 or 13 after ovulation but not on Days 1 or 4 after ovulation or on Day 2 of oestrus. Intramuscular administration was as effective as subcutaneous administration and 1-25 mg PGF2alpha was the minimal effective systemic dose...
Madigan JE, Valberg SJ, Ragle C, Moody JL.Severe muscle cramping not associated with exercise was observed in 5 horses. Focal muscle groups in various regions underwent intermittent visible contraction. Intermittent prolapse of the third eyelid, sweating, pawing, muscle tremors, and muscle fasciculations also were observed. Clinical signs often were misconstrued as signs of colic. Percussion of muscle induced contraction of muscle groups. Concentrations of serum electrolytes and the acid-base balance were within reference limits, but activities of creatine kinase and aspartate transaminase were moderately high. Muscle biopsy revealed ...
Loftus JP, Williams JM, Belknap JK, Black SJ.Laminitis is a crippling disease of horses characterized by an inflammatory response in the tissue that suspends the axial skeleton within the hoof. Pain is a common feature of laminitic pathology and its management is an important component of the treatment regime for this disease. Systemic lidocaine administration is commonly utilized to manage pain in equine laminitis; however, the potential anti-inflammatory effects of this drug during the treatment of equine laminitis have not been investigated. Here, we sought to determine if lidocaine concentrations achieved in the plasma (therapeutic c...
Johnson L, Hardy VB, Martin MT.Nomarski optics were used to identify stages of the spermatogenic cycle of seminiferous tubules in sectioned tissue or in whole dispersed tubules and to characterize the equine spermatogenic wave. Embedded tissues were sectioned at 20 microns. Whole dispersed tubules were obtained by enzymatic digestion of thin slices of fresh testis. Dispersed tubules were fixed, dehydrated in graded levels of alcohol, infiltrated with Epon, and mounted in toto on glass slides. Stages of the spermatogenic cycle could be identified under Nomarski optics in both histologic sections and tubules mounted in toto. ...
Tirosh-Levy S, Steinman A, Einhorn A, Apanaskevich DA, Mumcuoglu KY, Gottlieb Y.Theileria equi Mehlhorn and Schein, 1998 (Piroplasmida: Babesiidae) is an important tick-borne pathogen of horses that is highly endemic in many parts of the world, including Israel. The present study evaluated the potential roles of five hard tick species [Hyalomma excavatum Koch, 1844; Hyalomma marginatum Koch, 1844; Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev 1936; Rhipicephalus annulatus Say, 1821; Haemaphysalis parva (Neumann, 1897) (all: Ixodida: Ixodidae)], previously found to infest horses in Israel, in acting as vectors for piroplasmosis. For this, DNA was extracted from whole ticks and, when...
Hanlon DW, Firth EC.The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of intravaginal progesterone on the reproductive performance of transitional Thoroughbred mares on commercial stud farms. Two hundred twenty-seven (227) non-lactating transitional Thoroughbred mares aged between 4 and 18 y (mean 9.4 ± 3.2 y) located on three stud farms in the Waikato region of New Zealand were used in the study performed during four consecutive breeding seasons (2007-10). Mares were age-matched in pairs and either treated with an intravaginal progesterone releasing device (Cue-Mare, 1.72 g progesterone, 10% w/w) for u...
Munsterman AS, Dias Moreira AS, Marqués FJ.Wei Le San (WLS) is a Chinese herbal formula comprised of 9 herbs selected for their putative anti-inflammatory effects. Objective: To evaluate the effects of WLS administration in horses with nonglandular gastric ulcers. Methods: Ten mixed breed mares (aged 7-21 years, 401-567 kg body weight). Methods: Experimental design was a blinded, prospective, 2-period crossover study. All horses received a placebo (25 mL dextrose-based syrup; n = 10) and the treatment (WLS, 5 g in 25 mL dextrose-based syrup; n = 10), administered twice daily. Horses underwent a 1-week, alternating feed-depriv...
Papich MG.Antibiotics will always be needed in horses for many types of infections, but the adverse consequences also must be considered. For the conditions described in this article, there is justification for antibiotic therapy. The intestinal problems that antibiotics can induce are among the risks from their administration to horses. Disruption of the endogenous bacterial population, colitis, and diarrhea are the most common complications from antibiotic therapy.
Pille F, Martens A, Schouls LM, Peelman L, Gasthuys F, Schot CS, De Baere C, Desmet P, Vandenberghe F.Standard culturing techniques are often unrewarding in confirming diagnosis of synovial infection in the equine patient. Several human studies report the use of sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques for the detection of bacterial involvement in acute synovitis. However, successful extraction of bacterial DNA directly from clinical samples from horses without prior culture has not been reported yet. The goal of this study was to develop a sensitive and reliable method for molecular detection and identification of bacterial species in synovial fluid from horses with infectious syn...
Bertone AL, Stashak TS, Smith FW, Norrdin RW.In nine horses (18 forelimbs), a 3 cm section of superficial digital flexor tendon was removed and the tendons were repaired with immobilization for 6 weeks and (1) no suture (n = 6); (2) a double locking loop tenorrhaphy with carbon fiber (n = 6); or (3) a double locking loop tenorrhaphy with size 2 nylon suture (n = 6). Clinical assessment, gross evaluation, morphometry, histology, and mechanical testing were performed on two limbs from each treatment group at weeks 6, 12, and 24. At weeks 6 and 12, the unsutured tissue was less mature than the tissue sutured with nylon. By week 24, the carb...
Roy RC, Cockram MS.Concern has been expressed over the welfare of horses transported from the USA for slaughter in Canada. United States Department of Agriculture owner/shipper certificates for the year 2009 were analyzed to provide quantitative information on the patterns and durations of these journeys. In 2009, horses from 16 states in the northern USA were transported to 6 equine slaughter plants in Canada. Thirty-two percent of loads were from auction centers, 33% from feedlots, and 35% from horse collection centers. The median duration of the journey was 19 h. Thirty-six percent of horses were transported ...
de Oliveira MGC, Luna SPL, Nunes TL, Firmino PR, de Lima AGA, Ferreira J, Trindade PHE, Júnior RAB, de Paula VV.Recognising pain in donkeys is challenging because they are stoic. Objective: To identify the responses of donkeys before and after surgical pain. Methods: Prospective, short-term longitudinal pre- and post-intervention observations. Methods: Forty adult donkeys underwent surgical castration after sedation with intravenous (IV) xylazine, induction with guaiphenesin/thiopental IV and maintenance of anaesthesia with isoflurane and local anaesthetic blockade. Four hours after recovery from anaesthesia, flunixin meglumine 1.1 mg/kg, dipyrone 10 mg/kg and morphine 0.2 mg/kg IV were administered....
Art T, Desmecht D, Amory H, Delogne O, Buchet M, Leroy P, Lekeux P.The variability of the post-exercise values (PEV) of blood lactate and of some other blood constituents were studied in 8 healthy and fit jumpers through 5 national competitions of equal difficulty. The effects of factors such as the individual, performance and competition on these PEV were analysed. Venous blood was sampled immediately after the 5 show-jumping contests and was analysed for packed cell volume (PCV), blood lactate, blood glucose (GLU), total plasma protein (TPP), bicarbonate (HCO3-), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), calcium (Ca2+), serum activities of lactate dehyd...
Wondimagegnehu K, Leta S, Amenu K, Negussie H.Respiratory disease is the most common presenting complaint at veterinary clinics and a priority concern for equid owners and veterinary practitioners in Ethiopia. This study aimed to report the molecular detection of EHV-2 and EHV-5 and to assess the risk factors associated with infection in working equids in central Ethiopia. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 58 horses and donkeys to detect EHV-2 and EHV-5 using PCR targeting the conserved region of glycoprotein B (gB) genes. From 58 equids, EHV-5 and EHV-2 were detected in 20 (34.5%) and 19 (32.8%) equids, respectively. Concurrent in...
Lindroth KM, Lindberg JE, Johansen A, Müller CE.Free faecal liquid (FFL) in horses is characterised by the excretion of faeces in two phases (one solid and one liquid), which may cause dermatitis on the hindlegs. The causes of FFL are not known. Results from previous studies have indicated that feed ration composition and management factors may play important roles in the occurrence of FFL. A case-control study was therefore performed in which data on feed rations, feeding practices and management factors were compared between horses with (case) and without (control) FFL on 50 private farms in Sweden and Norway. The comparisons show that ca...
