Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc

Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

Articles by: Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc

Exercise in Young Horses Safe and May Protect Joints

Not only can exercise safely be imposed in any age horse, but it also might be protective to joints, reported a Colorado State University research team led by Chris Kawcak, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, an associate professor and equine surgeon.

“Injuries involving the musculoskeletal system in horses are common and can typically result in secondary to chronic changes in the structur

Read More

Scientists Consider Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Horses

Horses could suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) like humans do, hypothesized human gastroenterologist John Hunter, MD, from the Gastoenterology Research Unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

In humans, IBS is extremely common and thought to affect up to 15% of the population at some point in their lives. Symptoms include recurrent abdominal pain accompanied wi

Read More

Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells Aid Bone Healing

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMDMSCs) can be genetically modified in culture and subsequently used in live horses to enhance healing of bone defects, according to Colorado State University (CSU) researchers.

“BMDMSCs are ‘flexible’ cells that have the capacity to become one of a variety of connective tissue cell types, including bone cells (osteoblasts)

Read More

Oral Steroids Beneficial for Horses with Airway Disease

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the corticosteroid prednisolone improves the lung function of horses with recurrent airway obstruction, even in the presence of continuous exposure to antigens. The same study also revealed that a low dose of a similar drug, dexamethasone, reversed airway obstruction despite continues antigen exposure.

“Recurrent airway o

Read More

Cetirizine Not Effective in Horses with Sweet Itch

The antihistamine cetirizine has no apparent benefit in treating insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH), reports a group of Swiss researchers led by Lena Olsén from the Division of Pathology, Pharmacology, and Toxicology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Also referred to as sweet itch or summer eczema, IBH is a seasonally recurrent skin disorder caused by a hy

Read More

Older Horses Doing Poorly Could Have Diabetes

Historically a rare disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus should be considered an important differential diagnosis in mature or elderly horses and ponies with weight loss and excessive drinking and urinating.

Read More

Intestinal Cancer in Horses: Expect the Unexpected

Consider cancer as a possibility in older horses with long-bone fractures and no history of trauma, encouraged a group of veterinarians from Oklahoma State University’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences.

Cancer is relatively rare in horses, and intestinal cancers are even more unusual. Because intestinal adenocarcinomas are especially rare, they are not often considered as

Read More

Equine Liver Tumors Similar to Human Tumors

A review of 17 cases of horses with primary liver tumors revealed that equine and human tumors are similar and that the classification scheme currently employed in human medicine could be applied to equine tumors.

The primary malignant liver tumors hepatoblastoma (HB) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are rare. According to Dorothee Bienzle, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP and colleagues fr

Read More

Wound Care for Horses

Due to their inquisitive nature, a well-developed flight response, and that they are commonly confined in areas with potential obstacles such as metal or wire, horses tend to be accident prone, making wounds a fairly common occurrence.

Read More

Roundworm Resistance to Dewormers Assessed in Canada

Resistant Parascaris equorum on Thoroughbred and Standardbred farms to ivermectin and moxidectin was identified in Ontario, Canada.

Rolph de Gannes, an equine veterinarian practicing in Southern Ontario, Canada, had the impression that ivermectin was not removing the equine roundworm Parascaris equorum in foals and weanlings on a Thoroughbred farm. Because resistance of P

Read More

Equine Ulcers: Don’t Blame Human Bacteria

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori, a known disease-causing organism in human medicine, does not appear to be important in horses.

In humans, intensive research efforts have revealed that H. pylori can induce chronic gas

Read More

Homeopathy in Equine Medicine Reviewed

A team of veterinary researchers in the United Kingdom recently reviewed the use and results of homeopathy for equine ailments including arthritis, headshaking, laminitis, and more.

“Homeopathy is a 200-year-old therapeutic meth

Read More

Horses with Pica Lack Trace Elements, Researchers Report

A recent study found that horses with pica–a propensity for consuming non-food items–have lower iron and copper blood levels than horses who restricted themselves to food items, only. According to researchers from Turkey, “prophylactic u

Read More

Drug Testing: New Test Recognizes Sample Contamination

Equine forensic scientists from Pennsylvania have developed a novel assay for equine blood and urine samples to identify racehorses and ensure that the samples destined for drug testing were handled appropriately.

Blood and urine sam

Read More

More From The Horse

Why the Equine Gastrointestinal Microbiome Matters
White horse nose detail
image2
New World screwworm fly

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How often do you apply fly spray to your horse during peak fly season?
189 votes · 189 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

The Horse
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.