Disease and Injury Flashcards
Injuries most likely to see in horses
- Fence injuries
Role of bandaging (6)
- Support
- Control haemorrhage
- Clean
- reduce swelling
- Protection
- Immobilisation
DOD: contracted tendons
- may heal on own
- split to hold leg straight
- shoeing
- surgery (poor prognosis)
Club foot
- aquired - bone growing too fast
- stretch tendon
- trimming and toe extensions
- Surgery for extreme cases
JOCC/OCD
- mechanical force on growing joints
- diet
- genetic predisposition
- Surgical debridement
- regernerative medicine
- Rest, NSAID, diet
- on or under bone surface in joint
- subchondral (deep within surface)
- at physes (growth plates)
Shin-soreness (bucked shins)
- lame, sore on palpation, swelling
- normal bone remodelling when first worked fast
- new bone prone to microfractures
treatments:
- ice/cold therapy
- bandaging for a few days
- bute
- reduce training/turn out
splints
- bony lumps - bone laid down over small fractures
- concussion or rapid growth causes splint bones to pull away from cannon
- rest
- ice/cold therapy
- topical anti-inflammatories
bowed tendon
- swelling, heat in the leg and lame, can be serious
- rest (months
- slow hand walking
- ice/cold therapy
- bandaging
- NSAID
ringbone
- common in older horses
- abnormal new bone growth
- lameness, swelling, heat, irregular to touch
- quick stops and turns at speed
- prevent further join movement
- don’t often get better
DJD: OA (osteoathiritis)
- join inflammation
- hot, swollen & painful
- trauma
- infection
- repeated wear and tear
Shouldn’t see it until they’re a bit older (20s) but younger in thoroughbreds
- damaged tissue removed
- rest
- cold water therapy
- NSAID
Caudal heel pain
- inflammation of navicular bone and surrounding tissues (DDFT)
- compression of bone
- tension under DDFT
- toe first landing
- conformation
- trimming and shoeing
- pain and inflammation treatment
- surgery
Laminits
- inflammation of the sensitive lamina
- acute - colic, endotoxaemia, nutritional, mechanical, sepsis (blood infection)
- chronic - overweight, hormonal
- Stop inflammation
- ice/cold water, painkillers, antiinflammatories
- diet
Equine influenza
- isolate and rest, quarantine, antibiotics to prevent secondary infection
- short incubation (1-5 days )
- serious for those that are already immunocompromised)
- pyrexia
- depression
- inappentance
- nasal discharge
- coughing
usually resolves in 3-6 weeks - inhalation
- vaccination
Equine herpes viruses (EHV)
EHP1 and EHP4
EHP1 fever inapetance nasal discharge ocular disease
EHP4
Casues abortion also
Vaccination available but not very effective
Strangles
pyrexia depression inappetance nasal discharge coughing
highly contagious, characterised by abseces that form under the throat due to infected lymphnodes
controversy about using antibiotics
Rattles
1-6 month olds
respiratory infection —> lung abscesses
fever, increased respiration, poor weight gain, greeny-white nasal discharge, couch
prolonged antibiotics to help fight of infections, IV fluids, reduction in dust
Hendra
Vaccine, PPE, quarantine
can die within 48 hours of first symptoms
- flue/respiratory/pneumonia
- encephalitis, headaches, fever, convulsion, coma
- ataxia, head tilt, circling
- they are changing!
Recurrent Laryngeal neuropathy (RLN)
degeneration of the laryngeal nerve
more common as the horses get older
Heaves (recurrent airway obstruction)
Inflammatory cascade: airway inflammation increased airway discharge neutrophils in airway Bronchospasm
causes poor performance, difficulty breathing
often hear wheezing
Parasites
resistance to wormers increasingly becoming a problem
paddock rotation, rest, species rotation
Cushings disease
mainly seen in older ponies
hirsuitism
weightloss
lethargy
laminitis
pituitary tumours alter hormone production
clinical signs, hormone testing
use drugs to inhibit activity of the tumor
laminitis is one of the side effects
Equine metabolic syndrome
extra fat with abnormal distrubution
insulin resistance
predisposition to laminitis
Middle aged horses and ponies
treat laminitis symptoms
soaking hay to get rid of water soluble carbs
feeding high fibre low calorie feeds
Sarcoids
Main sites include head, ventral abdomen, udder, sheath, inner thigh, distal limbs
appear in young adult horses
genetic predisposition?
fibroblastic skin tumours
Melanoma
More common in greys
main sites - perineal and parotid areas
usually as horse ages
benign or malignant
