ANML SC - Equine Disease and Lameness

Azoturia (Monday Morning dz., Tying-up syndrome, Paralytic Myoglobinuria)

• Cramp up, hindquarter stiffness, muscle pain, pass very dark urine

• Extertional Rhabdomyolysis

• Excess glycogen —> lactic acid —> muscle damage

Colic

• Abdominal pain

• Digestive disorder caused from overeating, or moldy feeds, parasites, sand impaction, enterolith, feed impaction

• Drinking while hot from exercise?

  • Horse’s stomach 2-3 gallons

  • Needs to empty before more

  • Offers 1-2 liters

Bowed Tendon (Tendonitis)

• SDFT and DDFT

• Toes that are too long, weak pasterns, chronic stress or traumatic incident or horse that is too large for its structure

• Lame, non-weight bearing

• TX: Corticoids, Blistering (salve-like irritating substances)

  • Converts chronic to acute

Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM)

• Protozoal parasite from opossums and wild birds

• Neurologic disease that’s not contagious, dead end host

Founder

• Disorder affecting the feet and causing irreparable damage

• Rotation of the coffin bone away from the hoof wall

• Walking on eggs

• Sepsis, endotoxemia, grain overload, metabolic syndrome

Heaves (COPD)

• Upper respiratory distress, wheezing, or coughing while at work

Equine infectious Anemia (Swamp Fever)

• Chronic inapparent carrier

• Virus carried by mosquitos and flies

• Transfer of virus infective blood

• Thrombocytopenia, weakness, edema, anemia, labored breathing, death

• No specific treatment or safe vaccine

• Coggins or AGID

  • Needed for transport across state lines

Equine Encephalomyelitis Sleeping Sickness, VEE, WEE, EEE

• Virus

• Carried by trail from mosquito/flies - wild birds - rodents - horses

• Fever, inappetence, depression, tachycardia, diarrhea, paralysis, blindness

• Zoonotic

• Vaccine

Rhinopneumonitis

• Virus

• EHV-1 and EHV-4

• Nasal discharges, aborted fetuses and placentas

• Pneumonia, death in newborn foals, abortion, fever, malaise

• Vaccine

Tetanus (Lock Jaw)

• Clostridium Tetani is the organism that produces a poisonous toxin, causing muscle contractions

Equine Distemper (Strangles)

• Bacterial and contagious infection of the lymph nodes, mainly around the neck

• Streptococcus equi equi

• Inflammation of upper respiratory and abscessation of lymph nodes

• Drain and flush

Potomac Horse Fever (Equine Monocytic Ehrlichiosis)

• Caused by ingestion of hatched aquatic insects that carry Neoricketsia risticiii(bacteria)

• Colic, laminitis, diarrhea

Thrush

• Degeneration of frog of the foot caused by poor sanitation, foot conformation, trimming, and lack of exercise

• Black thick discharge from sulcus and edges of frog are necrotic

• Strong offensive odor

Strongyles (Bloodworms)

• The most common and dangerous parasite

• Damage to cranial mesenteric artery —> gangrenous enteritis & colic

Ascarids (Roundworms)

• Travel to lungs and coughed up and swallow

• Ruptured of intestines

Stomach Bots

• Flies lay eggs on hairs of fetlock, knees, throat, jaws, lips

• Horse swallows

• Eggs hatch in horse’s mouth and grow for 2-4 weeks

• Larvae migrate to lining

• Pass out with droppings

• Colic, anemia, stomatitis

Bog Spavin

• Lameness

• Swelling and fluid at hock joint

• Conformation (post leg), injury, OCD-progressive breakdown of cartilage in young horses (hi CHO, mineral imbalance, trauma etiology unknown)

• Sometimes def of Vit. A & D, Ca, P

• Corticosteroids or Surgery

Bone Spavin

• Lameness

• Osteoarthritis of tarsal-metatarsal, distal intertarsal joint

• Incomplete ossification of central and third tarsal bones, sickle hocked, cow hocked, excessively straight hocks

• NSAID or Surgery 60% success rate

Capped Hock

• Lameness

• Trauma to point of hock

  • Kicking a wall or trailer gate

• Thickening of skin at point of hock

Contracted Heel

• Lameness

• Inherited or improper shoeing

• Frog or cushion of foot is damaged and shrinks allowing heels to come together

• May be normal in some breeds

• Corrective shoeing and proper trimming to allow frog pressure

Hoof Cracks

• Faulty conformation, brittle hooves, foot injury —> vertical cracks or splits from coronet down

Navicular Disease

• Lameness

• Chronic degeneration of the navicular bone

• Disease of more mature riding horses (8-10 yr old), warmbloods, quarterhorses, thoroughbreds

• Guarded or poor prognosis

• NSAID, corrective shoeing, corticosteroid injection (4mos of relief), neurectomy complications —> painful neuroma or rupture of DDFT

• Trimming hooves and special shoeing

Quittor

• Lameness

• Chronic inflammation of lateral cartilage at the coronet

• Usually draft horses in the front feet

• Swelling, heat, and pain over the coronary band

• Infection may arise from a puncture wound or traumatic bruise that reduces circulation in the area

• Antibiotics, drainage, antiseptics and Surgery

Ringbone

• Lameness

• New bone growth on the pastern bone on the front foot

• Trauma

• X-rays for diagnosis

• NSAIDs, Arthrodesis (fusion of adjacent bones)

Sidebone

• Lameness

• Ossification of collateral cartilages of distal phalanx

• Repeated concussion or trauma

• Corrective shoeing and trimming

Stringhalt

• Lameness

• Involuntary flexion of hind legs, lessens at trot then not evident at canter

• Cause unknown maybe neuropathy

• Recover spontaneously or tenectomy (tendon)

Thoroughpin

• Lameness

• Swelling in web of hock

• Condition and causes differ (edema, inflammation, hemmorhage)

• Tx depends on cause