Latest News – The Horse

Veterinarians are the first line of defense against infectious and contagious animal diseases, noted Brian J. McCluskey, DVM, MS, of the USDA:Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health in Fort Collins, Colo. “The rapid diagnosis and ultimate control of foreign animal and emerging diseases is dependent on the diagnostic abilities, experiences, an

“What is interesting to understand about the horse is that at rest, it breathes about 86,000 liters of air a day, about 25,000 gallons, which may carry quite a bit of dust particles that can really injure the respiratory tract,” said Laurent Couëtil, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, of Purdue University in the In Depth: Inflammatory Airway Disease (IAD) session at the 2002 American Association of Equine

Padua Stables’ Vindication, champion 2-year-old of 2002 and early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, has been taken off the Derby trail due to an injury to his left front suspensory.

The son of Seattle Slew had been battling a slight foot bruise following his five-furlong work in :58 2/5 on Jan. 25, but had recovered and returned to the track on Feb. 3. A precautionary ultrasound,

The results of a survey conducted by the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center and College of Agriculture showed that a small number of Thoroughbred and other farms experienced an unusual increase in what is being termed fall fetal loss syndrome (FFLS). While there are “suspects,” there is no definitive cause known at this time.

The detailed information on the

A question has been raised whether the increased number of West Nile virus (WNV) cases in Kentucky in late summer and fall 2002 contributed to a rise in fall abortions. A retrospective study by the University of Kentucky’s Livestock Disease and Diagnostic Center (LDDC), starting in July of 2002 and going through early 2003, looked at 400 equine abortions for evidence of WNV. Their findings

On the heels of the deadly equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) outbreak in Ohio came a report of a private farm in Canada with several horses dead of the same cause. Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, assistant professor of clinical studies at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, said Canada has had at least one big EHV-1 outbreak in the past six months, but sporadic

The “miserable, tragic experience” of losing a dozen horses and fighting to save more than 100 others which became ill has devastated the University of Findlay. It will take weeks or months for the remaining 30 horses with neurologic signs of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) to recover. The outbreak began on Jan. 12, and the losses were still occurring as late as Feb. 1, when the last o

Beginning Jan. 12 many horses at the University of Findlay’s James L. Child Jr. Equestrian Complex developed fever and depression, and some had nasal discharge and wouldn’t eat. Within 48-72 hours, 85% of the horses showed similar signs.

When frozen semen was first introduced, pregnancies were achieved by checking the mare frequently each day and breeding with a single dose of semen as close to ovulation as possible. Therefore, this was adopted as standard operating procedure, said Squires. Veterinarians checked a mare every six hours once she was in heat and had been given hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) or Ovuplant (deslorel

The reproduction session at the annual AAEP meeting in Orlando, Fla., was something of an A to Z seminar with an international flavor. It started with speakers from North America presenting discussions on endometrial echotexture (ultrasound results) and using computer analysis to determine when a mare will ovulate, or has ovulated, and along the way included a French researcher describing how

A lot has happened in the field of equine research in the last five years. Ginger Rich, PhD, of Rich Equine Nutritional Consulting in Eads, Tenn.; and Leslie Breuer, PhD, of LH Breuer and Associates, updated veterinarians and others who attended the Current Concepts in Equine Nutrition in-depth session at the 2002 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) Convention. Not all of the

The surgery session at the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention covered a variety of subjects that ranged from using a laser to cauterize displaced soft palates to administering butorphanol for 24 hours to ameliorate pain in the wake of colic surgery.

The leadoff presenter was Patricia Hogan, VMD, Dipl. ACVS, from New Jersey Equine Clinic. Intermittent dorsal