Equine Flashcards
Normal equine temp range
37.3-38.2
inspiratory respiration difficulty
upper resp tract disease
expiratory respiration difficulty
lower resp tract disease
removing dust from hay
soak or steam
equine physical exam
- demeanour
- stance
- nasal discharge
- submandibular lymph nodes
- resp rate/effort (8-10 bpm)
- heave line (rectus abdominus hypertrophy)
rebreathing exam
- bin bag over nose
- makes them breathe harder
- ausculate
Endoscopy
- pass up meatus of nase
- examine URT down to tracheal bifurcation
tracheal wash
- tracheal pul? (plateu of trachea before going into chest)
- sample of resp secretions and cells
bronchoalveolar lavage
- fluid in -> fluid out
- sample from specific segment of lung
- sedate
- will cough
- go down until stuck then keep pressure or inflate cuff
- give fluid and get back frothy sample
most common presenting sign of nasopharynx and larynx disorders
abnormal resp sounds during exercise
- can cause exercise intolerance
DDSP dorsal displacement of the soft palate
soft palate on top of epiglottis
- common in strenuous exercise
- causes reduced air supply
- causes gurgle
diagnosis technique for DDSP
- exercise endoscopy
treatment for DDSP
- rest
- surgery
- soft palate cautery (stiffens soft palate)
- laryngeal tie-forward
arytenoid cartilage collapse
- also called recurrent laryngeal neuropathy
- recurrent laryngeal nerve innervates the cricoarytenoideus dorsalis muscle which opens the arytenoid cartilages
- left nerve is really long so end dies off
ACC clinical signs
- inspiratory noise
- exercise intolerance
- diagnose using exercise endoscopy
ACC treatment
- ventricolochordectomy (hobday)
- removes noise only
- prosthetic laryngoplast (tieback)
- risk of aspiration
Sinusitis
- accumulation of exudate within sinus
- primary (viral or bacterial)
- secondary (due to dental disease)
sinusitis diagnosis
- endoscopy
- x-ray
- CT
- sinoscopy (treat at same time - drain)
guttural pouch disorders
- doesn’t drain very well
gutteral pouch mycosis- fungal infection
gutteral pouch mycosis clinical signs
- epistaxis
- 50% die with repeated bleeds
- some have cranial nerve dysfuntion
gutteral pouch mycosis diagnosis and treatment
- endoscope
- surgical occlusion of vessels
- topical anti-fungal
- cranial nerve deficits may be permanent
strangles
- URT bacterial infection
- streptococcus equi equi
- very contagious
strangles clinical signs
- dull
- fever
- nasal discharge
- enlarged abscessing submandibular LN
- enlargerd abscessing retropharyngeal LN
strangles diagnosis and treatment
- isolate!!
- culture/PCR from abscesses
- endoscsope and lavage for culture
- penicillin in some
- drain abscessed lymph nodes
Influenza clinical signs
- inhalation
- coughing, pyrexia, nasal discharge, inappetence
- typical flu signs
influenza diagnosis
- virus detection (ELIZA/PCR)
- virus isolation
- serology
influenza treatment
- rest
- NSAIDs
- prevent with vaccines (always changing)
equine herpes virus
- inhaled virus
- resp, neurologic, abortion storms
- can vaccinate against 2 types
pleuropneumonia
- ‘shipping fever’
- risk of opportunistic infection from pharynx to lungs
- streprococcus zooepidemicus
pleuropneumonia clinical signs
- fever, dull
- nasal discharge
- difficulty breathing
- weight loss
pleuropneumonia diagnosis
- clinical exam
- chest x-ray
- ultrasound chest (pleural effusion)
- tracheal wash sample
- culture + cytology
pleuropneumoinia treatment
- aggressive treatment
- pencillin
- chest drains
asthma
- also called COPD
- allergic airway disease (dust, hay)
- bronchoconstriction, increased mucus
- coughing and wheezing
- increased resp effort
- heave line
asthma diagnosis
- endoscopy, BAL, TW
- airway neutrophilia (workplace induced asthma)
how is equine polydipsia defined?
100ml/kg/day
PPID (pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction)
- equine cushing’s disease
- common in aged horses
- decrease in production of dopamine hypothalamus
- decrease in inhibition of pituitary causing growth, leading to pituitary adenoma
- overproduction of hormones
clinical signs of PPID
variable
- long curly coat (1/3 patients)
- laminitis (insulin resistance)
- PU/PD
- weight loss
- docile (increased CSF B-endorphin)
diagnosis of PPID
- clinical signs and signalment
- gold standard is post-mortem
- ACTH test (resting plasma ACTH conc)
- TRH stimulation test (inject TRH then test blood 10 mins after)
treatment of PPID
- combination of management and medication
- farriery, clipping, parasite control, dental, feeding
- dopamine agonist (pergolide)
equine metabolic syndrome
- obesity or regional adiposity
- insulin dysregulation/resistance
- high insulin levels to reach normal glucose levels (compensated)
- both PPID and EMS can show this
- subclinical or clinical laminitis
clinical signs of equine metabolic syndrome
obesity, regional adiposity
- cresty neck
- tail head
- preputial swelling, mammary gland
- laminitis
diagnosis of EMS
- starve overnight
- blood test glucose/insulin
- bolus glucose
- BS glucose and insulin at 2-3hrs
findings: normal glucose levels but hyperinsulinaemia
management of EMS
diet
- low carbs
- if thin, give oil
- happy hoof
- no grass, muzzle
exercise
- major effect on insulin sensitivity
weight loss
- feed 1/3 less
- 1.5kg forage per 100kg
- soak hay >1hr
- haynet with small holes
- metformin (increases insulin sensitivity through weight loss)
hyperlipaemia
sudden release of fat into blood stream (fatty acid mobilisation)
- caused by negative energy balance (acute starvation) and stress
risk factors: obese, ponies. pregnant, donkeys
- excess stores of fatty acid
hepatic lipidosis
- can’t suck up the fat due to limited amounts of hormone
- leads to liver failure, lactescent blood, fat embolism, kidney failure, pancreatitis
diagnosis of hyperlipaemia
- identify ‘at risks’, prevention is better
- clinical signs (depression, anorexia, ataxia, icterus)
hyperlipaemia treatment
- improve energy intake and balance
- treatment of hepatic disease
- elimination of stress, treatment concurrent disease
- inhibition of fat mobilisation from adipose tissue
- increased triglyceride uptake by peripheral tissues
- glucose infusion
60-100% mortality
