Latest News – The Horse

Following the release of human clinical trial data demonstrating the link between pain-relieving medications known as COX-2 inhibitors and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued a public health advisory recommending limited use of the drugs. The advisory, which also covers various non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

While it might seem like any method of treating a horse would be termed a therapeutic option, equine veterinarians use this term to describe treatments that are generally considered alternative options to more heavily studied Western modalities. As such, the Therapeutic Options forum held during the Denver American Association of Equine Practitioners convention on Dec. 4-8, 2004, focused

“I used to think I knew how to evaluate a horse’s movement for lameness, until I started to look more carefully. Two different highly experienced practitioners can evaluate a lame horse, and come up with different [lame] legs,” said Kevin Keegan, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of veterinary medicine and surgery at the University of Missouri, in his presentation on lameness

The hock, or tarsus, is a complex collection of joints in the horse. Identifying lameness in one or more of those joints, and treating the problem, can be challenging. However, Alberto Serena, DMV, MRCVS, of Auburn University, and colleagues have found that injecting medication into one joint can treat an adjacent joint as well.

“We had heard several anecdotal reports of intra-articular administration of liquid silicone being used as a lubricant in equine joints (to treat osteoarthritis),” began Daniel Burba, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, professor of equine surgery at Louisiana State University, at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo., Dec. 4-8, 2004. “It sounded kind of

While a large part of microscopic semen evaluation centers around motility (directional sperm movement) and morphology (sperm structure), some reproductive specialists think there’s more to the story. In an attempt to better understand stallion fertility, Steven P. Brinsko, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACT, associate professor of theriogenology at Texas A&M University, presented the results of

Managing a mare’s estrous cycle is an integral part of breeding management, and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is one hormone option for doing just that. Patrick McCue, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT, associate professor of equine science at Colorado State University, discussed the use of hCG to manage ovulation.

“Most of us have used hCG throughout our practice lifetimes,” he began. “It’s used to

“Death or euthanasia of a valuable mare results in loss of her genetic potential,” she said. “However, when a mare dies, her ovaries still contain potentially viable oocytes that can be harvested to produce additional offspring. Some mares seem to have a lot of viable oocytes, while others have very few.”

Tablet computers, Metron PX, Hi-8, true digital, megapixels, lithium vs. NiMH batteries, inverters, iGo Juice, Photoshop–what do all these things have to do with the equine veterinarian? The message of the Emerging Technologies Table Topic was they can do quite a lot to help.

“You get into a lot of these things out of necessity, not fun and games,” said moderator Dick Galley, DVM, a

Since then, more advanced drugs including new inhalant anesthetics have been developed to reduce stress on horses being put under anesthesia, and during recovery. Since the 1980s, research into the importance of monitoring blood pressure, respiration, and blood gases during anesthesia has also been documented.

Several studies have been conducted on extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) at various institutions this past year. One presented by C. Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc, PhD, DSc, FRCVS, DrMedVet (hc), Dipl. ACVS, director of Colorado State University’s Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center, at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo.,

To determine whether equine shock collars could eliminate aggressive behavior, Kennedy looked at a group of 15 horses that were either aggressive toward a new horse in the pasture, aggressive toward a horse on the opposite side of a fence, or aggressive within an established herd.

A major use of prostaglandin is to manipulate mares’ estrous cycles. Some side effects observed when mares are treated with labeled doses of these medications include sweating and colic, and as a result owner distaste for using the drugs is growing.

The conditions under which a veterinarian is asked to complete a purchase exam have great bearing on how much he or she is able to ascertain about the horse and its current state of health and athleticism. A roomful of veterinarians discussed the ins and outs of purchase exams at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo., Dec. 4-8, 2004. Whil