Weightloss Flashcards
Causes of weight loss in the horse
Malnutrition
Anorexia (pain or dysphagia)
Increased losses
Increased requirements
Causes of painful anorexia
Gastric disease (post prandial pain)
Intestinal pain
Adhesion
Visceral pain (pleural/peritoneal disease)
Musculoskeletal pain (laminitis)
Why might requirements increase
Pregnancy
Lactation
Sepsis
Neoplasia
Systemic disease
Why might losses increase
Protein losing enteropathy/neuropathy
Sequestration to body cavity
What can lead to reduced digestion/absorption
Dental disease
Liver disease
Malabsorption syndromes
Causes of malabsorption
Parasitic disease (cyathostomiasis)
Idiopathic
Infiltrative bowel disease
Causes of dysphagia
Pharyngeal/laryngeal dysfunction (empyema/strangles)
Chronic grass sickness
Toxicity
Botulism
List hepatic causes of weightloss
Theiler’s disease
Ragwort poisoning (pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis)
Cholangiohepatitis
Cholelithiasis
How much liver damage is needed for clinical signs
> 75%
Causes of Theiler’s disease
Equine parvovirus
Equine hepacivirus
When do clinical signs show after pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis
1-12 months
Cause of cholangiohepatitis
Ascending bacterial infection (salmonella, klebsiella, e.coli)
Sepsis (spread to liver)
Cause of cholelithiasis
Stone formation in biliary ducts
Etiology unknown
What is the calculation for RER
21kcal x BW(kg) +975
Core therapy for IBD
Prolonged corticosteroid therapy
Treatment for proliferative enteropathy
IV oxytetracycline then doxycycline
Or
Macrolide and rifampin
Treatment for right dorsal colitis
Withdraw nsaids
Prostaglandin analogues (misoprostal)
Supportive care for liver disease
Vitamin E (20IU/kg)
Milk thistle extract (Silymarin 11mg/kg)
Anti-oxidents
S-adenosylmethionine (24mg/kg)
N-acetylcysteine (70-80mg/kg)
Diet
Vitamin B complexes
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids treatment
Irreversible damage
Antifibrotic agents
- steroids (dexamethasone or Prednisolone)
- Colchicine
Cholangiohepatitis treatments
Broad spectrum antibiotics (gram neg +/- anaerobes)
Options
-potentiated sulphonamides
- fluroquinolones
- cephalosporins
- metronidazole
Cholelithiasis treatment
Broad spectrum antibiotics
DMSO to aid dissolution of biliary sludge and bilirubinate stones
Cause of proliferative enteropathy
Lawsonia intracellularis
Risk factors for proliferative enteropathy
Overcrowding
Feed changes
ATB use
Weaning
Mixing and transportation
Lymphocytic-plasmacytic enterocolitis causes
Unknown - precedes intestinal lymphoma
What does granulomatous bowel disease cause
Ileal villous atrophy
CIBD is an umbrella term for what causes of small intestinal weightloss
Granulomatous enteritis
Eosinophilic enterocolitis
Lymphocytic-plasmacytic enterocolitis
Which 3 large strongyles cause large intestinal weightloss
Strongylus valgaris
Strongylus edenatus
Strongylus equinus
Age for Lawsonia intracellularis infection
3-8 months
