In study that could have been dubbed “Who’s smarter than a veterinarian?” Michigan State University researchers concluded that when it comes to assessing chronic respiratory disease changes in horses, the answer is…owners.
Officials have confirmed the number of Potomac Horse fever (PHF) cases in northern New York has been higher than usual in recent weeks, encouraging owners to vaccinate but noting that a rise in cases is relatively common this time of year.
An article printed in the Aug. 14 edition of the Watertown Daily Times reported there is an “outbreak”
Diagnosing osteoarthritis (OA) in horses with a simple test using a single blood or synovial fluid sample is a great idea, but it has been difficult to accomplish as proven yet again in a recent study by veterinarians from the University of Minnesota Equine Centre. The application of biomarkers is a growing field in veterinary medicine; commercial test kits are available f
After investigating the deaths of 14 horses that had grazed on pastures near maple leaves, a Dutch research team suggested the fungus responsible for European tar spot that covers the maple leaves causes the deadly disease “MADD.” Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, or MADD, is an acquired, noncontagious myopathy (muscle disease) characterized by severe muscle pa
Horses with a chemically induced inflammation of the knee (carpitis) mimicking osteoarthritis (OA) benefit from the intramuscular administration of a polysulfated glycosaminoglycan product, reported a group of Argentinean researchers. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of lameness in horses with no known cure. “Management includes both therapeutic and non
In an eye-opening event, Mississippi State University researchers discovered that Quarter Horses diagnosed with the disease called hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) not only have skin defects but also important eye abnormalities. HERDA is a recessive genetic disease of horses that results in fragile skin that tears easily and heals poorly. “Recent
Horses that have undergone cataract surgery to remove the damaged intraocular (inside the eye) lens now have more appropriate replacement lens options. After cataract surgery horses are still able to see, but without inserting a replacement lens, th
The crooked little bacterium that causes Lyme disease is causing quite a stir in the equine community.
Compared to other species, cloning horses is still in its infancy. Cloning is becoming increasingly popular, yet the health of these artificially-produced foals has not been assessed in detail. “There is very little information on the health of cloned foals currently available,” said Aime Johnson, DVM, Dipl. ACT, from the J.T. Vaughan Large Animal Teaching Hospital at Au
Activity monitors, which are small pedometerlike instruments, have been used in some scientific studies in horses, but they are still not widely used. Scientists have asked whether we’re missing the boat or overestimating the applicability of this technology. In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dorothy Cimino Brown, DVM, MSCE, Dipl. A
Surgeons from Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine have given a facelift to a standard procedure that removes part of a horse’s penis secondary to damage or disease.
Very high doses of vitamin E appear to benefit older horses’ immune systems and could be an inexpensive means of battling “immunosenescence”–the decline in immune function because of the aging process.
According to a research group based in Australia, if you feed your horse spores of the fungus Duddingtonia flagrans, the spores pass harmlessly through the digestive tract and are deposited in the feces along with eggs shed by adult intestinal parasites.
Can you or your veterinarian accurately assess lameness and/or pain in your laminitic horse? This is the question a research team led by Ignacio Vinuela-Fernandez, DVM, MSc, asked, knowing how important it is to manage the pain in horses that develop laminitis. “Laminitis is a common and potentially devastating condition that is a major welfare concern when ineffectively managed,” explained
Equine Insulin Resistance is a reduction in sensitivity to insulin that decreases the ability of glucose to be transported into the body’s cells from the bloodstream.
Lead a veterinarian to a horse with equine Cushing’s disease and he or she will likely try to diagnose the horse by measuring blood levels of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) in a single sample at a single point in time. Lead researchers from Pegasus Equine Diagnostics Ltd., in Nottingham, United Kingdom to the same horse and they’ll measure ACTH levels over 24 hours at multiple t
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