Approach to equine weight loss Flashcards
List 4 mechanisms of weight loss in horses
- Reduced intake
- Reduced digestion, absorption or assimilation of nutrients
- Increased losses
- Increased requirements
List 5 things can lead to reduced intake in horses leading to weight loss
Diet (Inappropriate feeding)
Competition for feed
Dental disease
Dysphagia
Pain
List 3 things that can lead to reduced digestion, absorption or assimilation leading to weight loss
Dental disorders
Malabsorption syndromes - e.g. damaged villi,
Liver disease
List 2 things that can cause increased losses leading to weight loss
Protein losing enteropathy (or nephropathy RARE)
Sequestration to body cavity (peritonitis or pleuritis)
List 5 things that can cause increased requirements which leads to weight loss in horses
Pregnancy
Lactating horses
Sepsis
Neoplasia
Other systemic disease
List 2 causes of anorexia in horses
Pain
Dysphagia
What do you need to think of if food/water is coming out of a horses nostrils
pharyngeal dysphagia
Aside from weight loss, what other sign can malabsorption and protein losing enteropathies cause
chronic diarrhoea
Describe how to approach weight loss (clinical exam)
History - feeding, worming, stabling, other horses etc
General clinical exam - BCS, temperature, gut sounds, HR, RR, hydration status
Focused exam - dental exam, rectal exam
What lab testing can you do to investigate weight loss
Liver, renal, inflammation (acute phase proteins)
Abdominocentesis
FEC - tapeworm
When would you do lab testing for weight loss
If you don’t find anything specific on the clinical exam e.g. if you juts found pyrexia with no explanation
Name 2 acute inflammatory markers
Serum amyloid A
Fibrinogen
when can eosinophilia be seen
Sometimes seen in parasite infestation
Generalised inflammation
When do you get hypoglobulinaemia
GI loss
When do you get hyperglobulinaemia
Chronic inflammatory disease
Neoplasia
When do you get hyperfibrinogenaemia
Infection
Inflammation
Neoplasia
How do you perform an oral glucose absorption test
Withhold food overnight (just hay?)
give 1g/kg in a 10-20% dextrose solution via nasogastric tube
Will see a glucose peak
Allows you to detect malabsorption
What would prompt you to carry out an oral glucose absorption test
Signs of intestinal thickening on ultrasound - you want to see if that is causing malabsorption
What options do you have for locations/techniques of GI biopsies
Duodenal biopsy (transendoscopic)
Rectal mucosal biopsy
Surgical - full thickness
Which biopsies would you take If you suspect IBD
Duodenal - SI involvement
Rectal - colon involvement
What location do you take rectal biopsies from
10 or 2 on the clock
Don’t take at 12 due to risk of perforation
When would you take a full thickness biopsy
If the cause is small intestinal and you can’t get to the bottom of the problem
List a problem with oral glucose absorption test
does not only assess small intestine function - as small amount of glucose absorbed in large intestine
what is the first thing to rule out in a horse loosing weight
diet issue or parasites
