Week 8- Equine Stud Medicine Flashcards
What occurs during the spring transition?
- Irregular oestrus behaviour
- Transitional ovary
What is the normal oestrus cycle?
- Mean duration- 21days
- Oestrus-3-7 days
- Diestrus- 14-15 days
When does ovulation occur?
24 hours before the end of oestrus
What occurs during dioestrus?
- Mare rejects stallion
- High circulating progesterone
- Follicular growth occurs
- Uterine tone increases
What occurs during oestrus?
- Mare is sexually receptive
- High oestrus and LH and low progesterone
- Cervix pink and moist
- Uterine oedematous
What are the potential risks during a reproductive examination?
- Kick injury to the vet
- Mare rectal tears
How would you check the external genitalia?
Perineal and pelvic confirmation
* Integrity of three caudal reproductive seals
* Vulva, vestibule, cervix
Why is vulval confirmation important?
1st line of defence
* Vulva lips meet on midline
* 80% of vulval opening below the pelvic brim
* vulva <10% off vertical
What is pneumovaginum?
faecal contamination
What would you do during a rectal examination?
- Rectal palpation
- Systematic approach
- ovarian size, shape etc.
- Uterine tone and consistency
What is the issue with uterine fluid?
- Fluid build-up in uterus can prevent establishment and mainenance of pregnancy
- Often seen post-breeding -> natural response to foreign material
What uterine fluid issue can older mares get?
- delayed uterine clearance
- low grade endometritis
What routine diagnostics would you do?
- Blood samples
- Clitoral swabs
- Endometrial swabs
How may venereal diseases occur?
- During natiral service
- AI in semen
Name three notifiable Venereal diseases
- Equine Viral Arteritis
- Equine Infectious Anaemia
- Contagious Equine Metritis
What does a clitoral swab test for?
- Klebsiella
- Psueudomonas
- Taylorella
What medium would you choose for a clitoral swab?
- Amies Charcoal Transport Medium
- Culture +/- PCR
- Aerobic and microaerophillic culture
What is the viable lifespan of the ovum after ovulation?
6 hours
How might you advance estrus?
- administer prostaglandin to cause CL to regress
- shortens luteal phase
- mare comes into season after 3-5 days
- only effective if mature CL present
How might you inseminate the horse?
- mare restrained in stocks
- chilled semen arrives in pre-filled syringe
- semen loaded into insemination syringe
- deposit semen in body of uterus
When is frozen semen ideally inseminated?
- same time as follicle is ovulated
- placed in water bath at 37, for 30 seconds
- water is highly spermicidal
