blog

PetMD

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:10:58 +0100

PetMD in my opinion is the best website to find out all the disease's for horses and other pets.
http://www.petmd.com/horse/conditions#.T9Tc1tXmOa8

Ihorsebook

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:12:06 +0100

I love this website for chatting to my horse friends and finding new information. You can also make new horse loving friends from all over the world. one of my good friends lives in America and rides western and a little english!
http://ihorsebook.com/

Talk About Laminitis!

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:13:05 +0100

A great website that i recommend that's full of information for the disease's Laminitis and Cushing's/PPID!
http://www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk/

Cushings/PPID

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 20:56:57 +0100

Cushings disease is also known as PPID

SCID

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:48:03 +0100

SCID in Foals

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is an autosomal (not linked to the chromosomes for sex) recessive genetic disease affecting Arabian foals. These foals cannot produce B and T lymphocytes, which are special types of white blood cells that are vital for a healthy immune system. Without B and T lymphocytes, the immune system cannot fight antigens properly.

SCID-affected foals seem normal at birth, but after the first few months of life, they begin to suffer from a variety of infections. This time period coincides with the loss of the protective maternal antibodies they ingested from their mother’s milk at birth.

One of the most common causes of infection in SCID foals is adenovirus, which causes a severe bronchopneumonia. Other types of infections can involve bacteria, fungal, and protozoal infections. Testing for the SCID gene is now commercially available.

Symptoms and Types

Symptoms will vary according to the type of infection the foal succumbs to, including:

Pneumonia: nasal discharge, coughing, trouble breathing (dyspnea)
Diarrhea
Fever
Weight loss
Stunted growth
Persistently low lymphocytes on blood work

Causes

This genetic defect results in a deletion of a gene that prevents production of an enzyme necessary for the maturation of B and T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell), which are needed to fight off infections.

Diagnosis

In the past, testing was done by observing for clinical signs and checking complete blood count results for a consistent dearth of lymphocytes. To support a diagnosis, a lab-run radial immunodiffusion test was performed. If it showed no serum IgM (a type of antibody) in presuckling blood, then the foal was diagnosed with SCID.

Currently, a genetic test for SCID is available. This commercial test requires a sample of whole blood or cheek swabs and is dependent on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to amplify the foal’s DNA present in the sample. This test can also reveal carriers of the gene so as to allow horse owners to prevent two carriers from breeding, which increase the chances of producing an SCID foal.

Treatment

There is no cure for this condition. If you can cure the foal of one infection, any number of other bacteria, viruses, and other infectious organisms can still infect the foal since it has no antigen-specific immune system to protect it. Affected foals usually die around or before five months of age. Euthanasia is recommended.

Living and Management

Before breeding your Arabian mare or allowing your Arabian stallion to service a mare, be sure to test your horse for severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome in case it is a carrier. This is of the utmost importance, as this disease is fatal in foals.

Anthrax

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:43:10 +0100

What is Anthrax?

Most people have heard of anthrax; it has been used as a biological weapon and a scare tactic in terrorism attacks during the early 2000s. Anthrax, caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, is an infectious disease, and can prove fatal for horses (or humans, for that matter). There are legal ramifications surrounding anthrax, and when diagnosed, the veterinarian is obligated by law to report it to the appropriate government agency.

Symptoms and Types

The signs of anthrax infection depend on how the animal was infected. Horses most commonly are infected by either ingestion of anthrax spores, or via the skin from an insect bite.

When spores have been ingested:

Depression
Fever
Chills
Colic
Severe bloody diarrhea/enteritis
Death

Infection from insect bite:

Enlarged lymph nodes
Swelling in the throat
Difficulty breathing
Large, painful, swollen area at site of bite

Causes

The spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax. Horses most commonly become infected with this bacterium through ingesting spores in the soil. These spores are extremely resistant to heat, cold, and desiccation, and can survive in the environment for decades. Biting insects can also spread anthrax.

Diagnosis

In order to diagnose anthrax, your veterinarian may take a blood sample from your horse. In most cases, anthrax is diagnosed upon the horse's death, as the bacteria produce lethal toxins that often work very fast. If anthrax is the suspected cause of death of an animal, that carcass should not be moved or opened up until the proper authorities have been notified. Anthrax is a disease that should be reported to the state veterinarian. If anthrax is diagnosed on your farm, the farm will be placed under quarantine and the remaining animals may be vaccinated against it.

Treatment

Anthrax is treatable with the proper antibiotic therapy. However cases of anthrax are often undiagnosed until after the death of the horse. Bacillus anthracis is usually susceptible to common antibiotics such as penicillin and oxytetracyline, although the disease must be caught early and treated vigorously in order for treatment to be successful.

Prevention

There is a vaccine approved for use in livestock in the U.S. for anthrax, but horse owners should not use this vaccine unless their animals are located in an endemic area. Luckily, encountering anthrax spores in the U.S. is rare, with most recent outbreaks occurring mostly sporadically in the western part of the country and the Dakotas.

Aneurysm

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:39:28 +0100

Aneurysm in Horses

An aneurysm is an abnormal ballooning of a weakened arterial wall in the body. If the ballooning becomes big enough, it will burst, leading to massive hemorrhaging and death. An aneurysm has no warning signs; therefore most horses die of the condition before it is diagnosed.

Symptoms and Types

The main type of aneurysm seen mostly in horses is the aortic aneurysm. Aortic aneurysms occur when a portion of the aorta, the large artery that comes straight from the heart, develops a thin wall. If enough pressure is placed on this thin area (such as during a time of extremely high heart rate), this area may burst, leading to almost instantaneous bleed-out. This is seen most commonly seen in Thoroughbred racehorses, as their heart rates and blood pressures are extremely high during a race. Cerebral hemorrhages from a ruptured aneurysm (also called a stroke) are not as common in horses as they are in humans.

Signs of a ruptured aortic aneurysm are dramatic and include sudden collapse, pale mucous membranes, and death.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is usually made post mortem (after death). There are no warning signs of an aneurysm, and once it bursts, the horse cannot survive.

Treatment

There is no treatment for this condition.

Prevention

Prevention of this condition is very difficult, if not impossible, given its insidious nature. Fortunately, this condition is not very common and most horse owners should not be overly concerned about it.

Anemia in Newborn Foals

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:36:31 +0100

Equine Neonatal Isoerythrolysis

Neonatal isoerythyolysis (or NI) is a blood condition found in newborn foals. It manifests itself within the first few days of birth and is the result of a discrepancy between the mare’s blood and that of the foal, whereby the mare develops antibodies to the foal’s blood type. This becomes a problem when the foal drinks the colostrum (first milk) of the mare, which contains these antibodies. These maternal antibodies against the foal’s own blood type then destroy the foal’s blood cells, causing severe, life-threatening anemia and other complications.

Symptoms

Lethargy
Anemia (PVC < 20%)
Rapid heart rate
Yellowing of the eyes and mucous membranes (also called jaundice or icterus)
Dark urine

Causes

As previously stated, a discrepancy between the blood type of the mare and the foal is the cause of neonatal isoerythyolysis. This condition occurs in roughly 1–2% of all horse foals, and at a slightly increased rate of almost 7% in mule births. To occur, a few things must happen. First, the foal must inherit from its father a specific blood type (Aa or Qa). Secondly, the mother must become sensitized to the foal’s blood type. This is thought to most commonly occur via transplacental hemorrhage during a previous pregnancy. It can also happen if the mare has ever had a whole blood transfusion. If both of these events occur, then the mare develops antibodies to her current foal’s blood type. The foal then becomes exposed to these antibodies when it drinks its mother’s colostrum. These antibodies then begin to destroy the foal’s own blood cells.

Diagnosis

A presumptive diagnosis of NI can be made for a foal less than four days old that is exhibiting the above-mentioned signs. Other more specific laboratory tests can be done to confirm the presence of maternal antibodies on the foal’s red blood cells, but this takes time and sometimes time is of the essence with this disease.

Treatment

If this condition is diagnosed when the foal is less than 24 hours old, it should be prevented from nursing its mother. Nutrition should be given in the form of milk replacer via a nasogastric tube. A majority of the mother’s antibodies are gone from her milk after 24 hours, so if this condition is noticed after this time point, the foal does not need to be prevented from nursing any longer.

Other treatment will include IV fluids to help support the foal’s circulatory system and kidney function, supplemental oxygen if needed, and systemic antibiotics to prevent the foal from secondary bacterial infections. If the foal’s anemia is severe, a blood transfusion may be required.

Living and Management

If neonatal isoerythyolysis is caught early enough and the foal is not severely compromised at the initiation of treatment, the prognosis is much more favorable than with a foal who has been severely affected days before treatment is started. Supportive care will be required for a period of time, as the foal slowly begins to produce healthy red blood cells to replace the ones it has lost.

Prevention

Prevention of neonatal isoerythyolysis is far more successful than treatment. If you know your mare has ever had a blood transfusion, or has previously had a foal with NI, do not allow any of her subsequent foals to nurse her within 24 to 48 hours of birth. Some breeds such as Arabians and Thoroughbreds are more genetically prone to carrying the Aa and Qa blood types. If you are planning to breed either of these, it is sometimes recommended to find stallions that are negative to these blood types for your breeding program.

Anemia

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:18:51 +0100

Anemia

Anemia in horses is defined as low blood volume. There are a variety of different causes of anemia, and it usually occurs secondary to some other health issue the horse may be experiencing.

Symptoms and Types

Unusually poor performance
Weakness
Lethargy
Loss of appetite
Depression
Hair loses luster
Heart murmur
Pale mucous membranes

Causes

Anemia can be classified as acute (rapid onset) or chronic (persistent or long-lasting). Acute anemia is caused by rapid blood loss, such as with a traumatic injury or ruptured blood vessel. Chronic anemia is sometimes a bit more complicated and can have many causes, some of which include cancer (especially types that affect the bone marrow), chronic kidney disease, gastric ulcers, or severe nutritional deficiencies.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of anemia is very straightforward, but finding the cause of the anemia is often not as simple. A simple blood test that measures packed cell volume (PCV) will tell the veterinarian if the horse is anemic and if so, how badly affected. The PCV does not tell the veterinarian why or how the horse became anemic. Sometimes, further diagnostics are required to find the cause, particularly if the anemia is severe and the horse is greatly debilitated.

Treatment

Treatment will ultimately depend on the underlying cause of the anemia. In the case of acute hemorrhage, the source of the blood loss must be stopped. This may require surgical intervention and is usually an emergency situation. After the source of blood loss is identified and hopefully corrected, the horse will likely be placed on IV fluids. These fluids will help bolster the circulatory system until the bone marrow is able to produce more red blood cells. For chronic anemia, management of the cause, if possible, is the best way to help the horse.

Living and Management

In all cases of acute anemia, strict rest is required. The length of the rest period will be dictated by how much blood the horse has lost. For chronic anemia, the veterinarian may prescribe a dietary supplement of iron and other vitamins such as B12.

Prevention

After any invasive surgical procedure, the horse should be allowed plenty of rest and time for recuperation and adequate healing. Older horses or horses recovering from chronic diseases should be provided ample good quality forage, along with nutrient supplements, as the veterinarian dictates.

Acorn Posioning

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:06:10 +0100

Do Oak Trees Pose a Health Risk to Your Horse?

While many animals in the wild depend on the acorn for their nutritional needs, the acorn poses a toxicity risk to some animals, including horses, cattle, goats, and sheep. Although cattle are much more sensitive to the toxins in acorns than horses, large amounts of ingested acorns can induce severe illness. This is due to the tannic and gallic acids in the acorn, which can cause severe damage to the gastrointestinal system and kidneys.

Symptoms and Types

Constipation
Anorexia
Colic (pain in the abdomen)
Blood in the urine
Kidney damage
Dehydration
Fluid accumulation in the legs (edema)

Causes

Acorn poisoning is caused by the ingestion of large amounts of acorns, oak leaves, or branches. Many times acorns are ingested by accident, and in small amounts they are harmless, especially when combined with the normal roughage of hay and grass. There is anecdotal evidence that some horses develop a liking bordering on addiction for acorns and will actually seek them out, overindulging to the point of illness.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis can be difficult unless the horse has an obvious history of acorn ingestion. Occasionally, acorn remnants can be found in the horse’s manure.

Treatment

There is no antidote for acorn poisoning. Activated charcoal has been known to be an effective treatment for acorn poisoning, if given immediately after acorn ingestion, as it can absorb toxins in the gut and allow them to be excreted from the system.

As dehydration is a common sign of acorn toxicity, IV fluid therapy is often warranted. This will help combat fluid loss from diarrhea and help ward off impending renal failure. IV fluid therapy can also help support the horse’s circulatory system and assist in the prevention of shock in severe cases of acorn toxicosis.

Living and Management

After heavy winds or a storm there may be so many oak leaves and acorns on the ground that your horse will eat enough of them to cause a toxic effect on its system. Some horses will develop an extreme liking for acorns and oak leaves, and will wait for them to fall from the tree, to the extent that other foods will be disregarded.

Prevention

The only way to protect your horse from acorn poisoning is by fencing off oak trees and keeping your horse out of the wind-path of falling acorns and leaves. If there are oak trees near the fence line of your horse’s pasture, it is a good practice to clear fallen branches after a storm.