Equine Questions Flashcards
What is the prognosis for acute serum hepatitis in horses?
Guarded to poor prognosis
What is the most common cause of acute hepatitis and hepatic failure in horses?
Acute serum hepatitis
Acute serum hepatitis may be associated with administration of what anti-toxin?
Tetanus anti-toxin
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis is definitively diagnosed based off of observation of what?
Fibrosis, megalocytosis, and bile duct proliferation
What are clinical signs of acute serum hepatitis (Theiler’s disease, serum hepatitis)?
Severe icterus, photosensitization, hepatoencephalopathy, acute depression, anorexia, and pica
How do you treat acute serum hepatitis?
Non-specific supportive therapy (i.e. fluid therapy, dextrose supplementation, anti-inflammatories, etc.)
What is the difference in clinical signs between acute serum hepatitis and chronic active hepatitis?
None, the clinical signs are the same just more chronic in nature
What is the biggest difference in diagnosis between acute serum hepatitis and chronic active hepatitis?
The hepatocytes may appear normal and there are varying degrees of fibrosis in the portal areas
This is a chronic, progressive intoxication resulting from consumption of plants containing these? It causes hepatobiliary disease in horses.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicity
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicity causes hepatocytes to be unable to divide and form what?
Megalocytes
What are clinical signs of pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicity?
Non-specific liver signs: weight loss, icterus, and photosensitization
How do you definitively diagnose PA toxicity?
Fibrosis, megalocytosis, and bile duct proliferation on microscopy
How do you treat PA toxicity in horses?
Remove PA containing plants and provide supportive care
What IgG blood/serum level determines adequate passive transfer within newborn foals?
> 800 mg/dL
Newborn foals must nurse within how much time after being born to absorb maternal antibodies?
Within a few hours
This is the presence of bacteria within blood along with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome
Septicemia
What are signs associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome?
Tachycardia, tachypnea, hypo-hyperthemia, leukocytosis or leukopenia, and presence of banded neutrophils
What are predisposing factors to septicemia?
FPT, Contaminated environment, endemic infectious diseases, overcrowding
Septicemia is most common in?
Foals
What are the most common gram NEGATIVE bacteria isolated from foals with septicemia?
E. coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Salmonella, Actinobacillus, Pseudomonas
What are the most common gram POSITIVE bacteria isolated from foals with septicemia?
Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Acinetobacter
What are some clinical signs of a foal with septicemia?
Weakness, lethargy, inappetence, hypovolemia, tachycardia, tachypnea, hypothermia/hyperthermia, diarrhea
How do you treat septicemia?
- Supportive care
- Abx: beta-lactam + aminoglycosides
- Nutritional support
This general term is used to describe abdominal pain in horses
Colic
What are some common colic signs?
- Frequent pawing
- Kicking at the abdomen with hind legs
- Stretching out as if to urinate
- Laying down
- Rolling
- Anorexia
- Sweating
- Muscle fasciculations
- Flehman response
What is the pathogenesis of small intestinal disease in horses?
SI strangulation that devitalizes tissues
A mesenteric ______ on a stalk twists around one or more pieces of the SI causing strangulation
Lipoma (affects older horses)
This is a twist in the SI causing strangulation at the root of the twist
Volvulus
This small intestinal disease occurs in younger horses due to diet changes, parasites (most commonly in the ileocecal region)
Intussusception
What is a common cause of intussusception in younger horses?
Parasites
This small intestinal disease only allows the small intestine to become strangulated when they are smaller
Herniation
This is a SI disease where a piece of SI is entrapped through a rent causing strangulation
Mesenteric defect
This often mimics SI obstruction and can be medically managed
Anterior/proximal enteritis
What are some clinical signs of small intestinal disease acute colic?
severe pain, gastric reflux, transabdominal US shows dilated/non-motile loops of SI, serosanguinous abdominal fluid, rarely palpable distended loops of SI on rectal exam
How do you treat small intestinal disease acute colic?
Surgically; RNA if bowel is devitalized already
What is the prognosis of small intestinal acute colics?
Guarded
This is a severe form of colic that can happen to horses of any age. A portion of the colon twists and rapidly becomes ischemic and necroses.
Large intestinal volvulus/torsion
Large intestinal volvulus/torsion is most common is what equine population?
Older broodmares; just before parturition or up to 4 months postpartum
What are the clinical signs for large intestinal volvulus/torsion?
Severe pain, elevated HR, systemic shock, NO gastric reflux (too caudal to allow fluid to back up to stomach), palpable diffuse gas distention on LI
How do you treat large intestinal volvulus/torsion?
Surgical correction, there is a risk of endotoxic shock when volvulus is corrected
This type of impaction results from a backup of fecal matter
Colonic impaction
What are some risk factors of colonic impaction?
Older horses with poor dental care, decreased water intake, small colon impactions with mini horses
What are some clinical signs of colonic impactions?
- mild, intermittent colic signs
- decreased manure production
- palpable firm feed impaction
How do you treat colonic impactions?
Analgesics, oral fluids with laxatives
What is the prognosis for colonic impactions?
Good
This is a very common type of colic that can be caused by diet change or upset?
Colonic tympany or gas colic
What is the main risk factors for gas colic?
Diet change or grain overload
What clinical signs are associated with gas colic?
- mild to severe pain, spasmodic
- heart rate, abdominal distension, and rectal palpable gas
What is the treatment for gas colic?
Analgesics, sedation, IV and oral fluids
What is the prognosis of gas colic?
Good
This is displacement colon between cecum and right body wall
Right dorsal displacement
This is another name for nephrosplenic entrapment
Left dorsal displacement
What population of horses is predisposed to colonic impaction?
Large breeds (i.e. warmbloods)
How do you diagnose colonic impactions?
- palpable tight bands on rectal exam
- nephrosplenic entrapment
What is the treatment for colonic impaction?
Medically initially, surgical if no improvement
- For nephrosplenic entrapment: give phenylephrine IV to shrink spleen and decrease nephrosplenic space
What are some risk factors of horses living in areas with sandy soil?
Enteroliths and sand colics
The precipitation of struvite salts (magnesium ammonium phosphate) that form around a nidus cause what?
Enteroliths
What are some clinical signs of enteroliths/sand colic?
- Fluid wave on sand in ventral abdomen
