Canker
A worst form of thrush involves the sole of the foot and frog. Difficult to treat.
Treatment:
anti- biotics
1. One of my ponies had it. Seems to be an over-reaction of the immune system to an ordinary infection like thrush. She had it in one hoof to start with, but then it spread to two more - just appearing, overnight almost, while she was at the vets so super clean bed, poo picked almost hourly etc! Our vet used copper sulphate to debride the frog back to normal healthy tissue, and then a mixture of creams on her heels where it had also gone to - they were the hardest to clear up because you can't be as aggressive there. It is extremely rare, but our pony's back to full work and you'd never know. We did get some really odd hoof growth afterwards, but our farrier worked wonders and sorted that nicely .
CHOKE
1. Remove all feed, hay, water
2 . If behaviour is violent it may make handling dangerous remove any objects
3. when quieter but still intermittently *choking* lead round for 15-20 minutes,
most chokes are self- curring and excercise helps soothe the anxiety and this relaxes the gullet.
4 . do not drench
5 . do not attempt stomach tube
6 . do not attempt to massage any suspected obstruction down the neck
Call the vet who will give muscle relaxant. He may also decide to give antibiotic if its necessary if horse has inhaled saliva or foodstuff.
keep horse off feed of any sort for 2 hours after the onset. thereafter off during next 6 hours with small quantities of grass in 30 minute intervals . Grazing my be permitted the next day slow return over the next 3-4 days
2 . If behaviour is violent it may make handling dangerous remove any objects
3. when quieter but still intermittently *choking* lead round for 15-20 minutes,
most chokes are self- curring and excercise helps soothe the anxiety and this relaxes the gullet.
4 . do not drench
5 . do not attempt stomach tube
6 . do not attempt to massage any suspected obstruction down the neck
Call the vet who will give muscle relaxant. He may also decide to give antibiotic if its necessary if horse has inhaled saliva or foodstuff.
keep horse off feed of any sort for 2 hours after the onset. thereafter off during next 6 hours with small quantities of grass in 30 minute intervals . Grazing my be permitted the next day slow return over the next 3-4 days
GASTRIC IMPACTION (COLIC)
This type of colic can be just as fatal as others, the symptoms are similar but in animals like donkey's who don't show signs of pain like horses it can be over looked.
The stomach gets full and food matter does not pass through into the intestines, this in turn causes pain and vet must be sort to check the animal and possibly refer to the RVC. This happened to my donkey who was referred on Monday 18th May 2015, she had been looking depressed and not eating. Vet called and the temperature was high and heart racing. She was referc to RVC where they diagnosed impaction, had endoscope and put onto intravenous drip for the duration of her stay. drained her stomach with the help of coke and fluids but the mass was hard to break up. Eventually we went for surgery to try massaging the mass and injecting fluids into it through stomach wall. Sadly the necks endoscope showed the stomach full of food, and worried that the stomach would rupture so we made the heart breaking decision to pts.
Gastroparesis is partial paralysis also called delayed gastric emptying, resulting in food remaining in the stomach for an abnormally long time. Normally, the stomach contracts to move food down into the small intestine for additional digestion. The vagus nerve controls these contractions. Gastroparesis may occur when the vagus nerve is damaged and the muscles of the stomach and intestines do not properly function. Food then moves slowly or stops moving through the digestive tract.
Signs and symptoms
- Palpitations
- Heartburn
- Abdominal bloating
- Erratic blood glucose levels
- Lack of appetite
- Gastroesophageal reflux
- Spasms of the stomach wall
- Weight loss and malnutrition
- Muscle weakness
- Body Aches (Myalgia)
COLIC.
Acute pain.
Sub acute - gradually within within an hour or so.
Chronically developing over a few days and is intermittent.
Increase heart rate up to 50 bpm
increased respiratory rate with dilated nostrils
temperature is usually normal patchy *cold* sweating.
temperature should be 98-101.5
resp 12- 66
pulse 36 - 42
skin loose
Sub acute - gradually within within an hour or so.
Chronically developing over a few days and is intermittent.
Increase heart rate up to 50 bpm
increased respiratory rate with dilated nostrils
temperature is usually normal patchy *cold* sweating.
temperature should be 98-101.5
resp 12- 66
pulse 36 - 42
skin loose
caused by:
- eating bedding
- change of diet
- work hard after feeding
- giving water after feed
- bad food
- too much food
- routine change
- cold water
- poisonous plants
- bolting down feed
- sugar beet
- rancid food
- new hay
- to much sugar
- twisted gut
- sand in feed
- allowing horse to much water when exercising
- dry food
Mesenteric rent entrapment*a source of small intestinal strangulation in horses*
On occasion, a small tear or rent forms in the mesentery, a thin sheet of connective tissue attached to the intestines, through which a segment of bowel can thread itself. Fluid buildup and subsequent enlargement of the bowel can trap that segment, necessitating surgery.
Symptoms of colic
- sweaty patches
- rolling
- looking at stomach
- lack of appetite
- constantly pawing at ground
- rubbing against the wall
- rise in temperature ( 2 degrees)
- change in breathing
- getting up and down
- pawing at stomach
- absent stomach noises
- to much stomach noises
if you suspect colic:
Call vet.
if no vet available
Get a headcollar and lunge line, warm water.
Put headcollar on with lunge line, have a colic drench ready. If there is a beam or another box next to the one who has colic get someone to put the lunge line over the beam or wall of the box and pull lunge line over to make horses head go up. Keep hold. Another person putting the drench which is in a plastic bottle inside horses mouth, A mouthful of drench at a time, allow horse to swallow. Stay with it, put head down. Take all the hay away don't let the horse eat its bedding. Stay with it for an hour If still colic call the vet. Bran mash and epsom salts, warm rugs bandages. Don't let it roll.
When better, hard feed gradually.
if no vet available
Get a headcollar and lunge line, warm water.
Put headcollar on with lunge line, have a colic drench ready. If there is a beam or another box next to the one who has colic get someone to put the lunge line over the beam or wall of the box and pull lunge line over to make horses head go up. Keep hold. Another person putting the drench which is in a plastic bottle inside horses mouth, A mouthful of drench at a time, allow horse to swallow. Stay with it, put head down. Take all the hay away don't let the horse eat its bedding. Stay with it for an hour If still colic call the vet. Bran mash and epsom salts, warm rugs bandages. Don't let it roll.
When better, hard feed gradually.
COLIC PREVENTION
Colic : Natural Remedies
Homaeopathy Carbo veg , where gases are trapped and discomfort is noted
Herbs: Angelica Peppermint, Calomile and Valerian will help if horse is still eating.
Tissue salts Mag phos
Bach flowers Rescue Remedy is supportive
Essentials oils: Lavender and Bergamot will help with spasms.
- Colic can have many causes because it is simply abdominal pain, besides being caused by problems in the GI tract, abdominal pain can be seen with pain anywhere in the body. Some different types of colic are: spasmodic, impaction,
- gas, strangulation, displacement. Different causes of colic are: ulcerative colitis, gastric ulcers, ileus, enteroliths, infarction, intussusception,
- volvulus, tumors, interitis, gastritis, obstruction, perforation, laminitis,
Mild discomfort, a distended and tender abdomen, and overactive gut sounds (detectable with a stethoscope or by pressing your ear to your horse's barrel and flanks--while carefully watching to avoid being kicked, of course) are the hallmarks of gas buildup in the intestinal tract. Changes in diet--such as when a horse is introduced to lush spring grass--can sometimes trigger the overproduction of gas, which gets trapped if the large intestine is temporarily obstructed by partially digested food.
Gas, or tympanic, colic is often (but not always) associated with increased peristaltic contractions (wavelike movements that keep ingesta going further down the gastrointestinal tract), which can cause painful spasms. Spasmodic colic can rsult from increased spasms, or contractions, in the intestinal wall.
The good news is that spasmodic colic is usually transient, lasting from a few minutes to a couple hours. Clinical signs can be intermittent, but they generally resolve with veterinary administration of spasmolytic medication and analgesics (pain killers) such as flunixin meglumine (Banamine). Tympanic colic, too, usually self-corrects thanks to the gut's imperative to keep everything moving along.
The equine version is impaction colic--when foodstuffs in the large or small intestine just aren't moving along as they should.Impaction colic is particularly common in the fall and winter months, when many horses don't consume as much water as they should. That, combined with a dietary change from warm-weather pasture grasses (which are relatively high in moisture) to cured hay, makes it easy for dry wads of fibrous material to accumulate in the intestinal tract and refuse to budge.
Parasites, too, can contribute to impaction colic. A heavy worm load in the intestinal tract can form partial or complete blockages, especially in places where the passages are already narrow.
David Freeman, MVB, Dipl. ACVS, PhD, professor and interim chair of Large Animal Surgery at the University of Florida, notes, "In horses under a year old we often see impaction colics due to ascarids. This parasite has become resistant to ivermectin and is making a comeback, so we expect to see more of it in foals and weanlings in years to come."
Impaction colics also can be caused by foreign bodies in the GI tract. Sand, consumed along with feed in areas where the soil is naturally sandy, can accumulate in the gut (usually at the pelvic flexure--a spot where there is a 180-degree turn in the colon and the passage narrows--or the right dorsal colon, which is the uppermost part of the colon on the right side of the horse) and cause a partial blockage. Enteroliths, stony mineral deposits that form in the gut and wreak havoc when they grow to a certain size, also can develop. In some cases these equine versions of pearls in an oyster evolve around a swallowed foreign object such as a sliver of wood or a piece of baling twine. See page 54 for an illustration of enterolith formation.
Clinical signs of impaction colic are usually (though not always) mild. The horse might lose his appetite and appear un-comfortable, swinging his head around to look at his belly or flanks. He might have a mildly elevated heart rate (normal heart rate is around 30 to 40 beats per minute), and might pace, circle, or want to lie down. Upon performing rectal examination, veterinarians can feel some impactions easily, Blikslager says, though only the final third of the GI tract is easily palpated. Ultrasound examination, which is noninvasive and performed on the abdomen/flank area, might help reveal impactions located in other sections of the tract.
The majority of impaction colics respond to medical treatment, which usually includes analgesia and introducing a softening agent by nasogastric tube. "Increasing hydration is important when you're treating an impaction," Blikslager notes. "Oral or IV (intravenous) fluids can be given, and mineral oil is still commonly used (as a softening agent), though many veterinarians now prefer a detergent product called DSS (dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate), which can help break up an impaction while stimulating gut motility."
Some practitioners also rely on good old-fashioned Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). "Epsom salts suck water into the colon and may have a beneficial effect on motility," says Blikslager. "They also have a strong laxative effect. You would give about one gram per kilogram of body weight, in solution, via a nasogastric tube."
Regarding mineral oil, Blikslager comments, "The nice thing about it is that it should make its way through the digestive tract in about 18 hours. That can give you an indication that things are moving, at least, although the mineral oil can sometimes work its way around the impaction without shifting it."
Most of these substances do little good if the issue is sand in the gut. Mineral oil, DSS, Epsom salts, and other traditional remedies such as feeding bran or tubing with liquid paraffin, are all fairly useless for sand colic, according to Blikslager. The go-to product is psyllium husk, a soluble plant fiber that forms a gel when it is mixed with fluids. The gel seems to bind up the sand and help move it out of the horse's intestines, though it might take several treatments to clear it entirely.
When is it Surgical?
If a horse does not respond to medical treatment, is in severe discomfort, in shock (his mucous membranes are pale or brick-red to purple and his pulse and respiration are rapid), or if he is thrashing or rolling in pain, it is time to get him to an equine hospital where a qualified surgeon can assess him.
"Symptoms which recur despite being treated medically and (that are accompanied by) a significant pain score--these are big tipoffs on those 5-10% of colics that are severe and may require surgery," says Blikslager. "Of that 5-10%, the most common cause is a simple obstruction or impaction. The second most common cause is a strangulating obstruction."
In a simple obstruction, something--partially digested food, a foreign body such as an enterolith or a mass of parasites, or the formation of a stricture (an abnormal narrowing of the passage)--is blocking a section of the GI tract, leading to a painful buildup of fluid and sometimes gases, a distension of the intestines, and eventual occlusion (blockage) of the arteries and veins supplying the GI tract with blood.
A more serious strangulating obstruction is characterized by an immediate occlusion of the blood supply to a portion of the GI tract, usually due to some section of the intestines being where it shouldn't. When the blood supply is compromised, tissue death might follow--and the only cure for necrotic tissue is to remove it surgically.
"Strangulating obstructions can be terribly painful," Blikslager says. "The horse is generally bloated and wants to roll. He will look 'shocky,' with an elevated heart rate and compromised capillary refill in his gums and other mucous membranes. All of this is brought about by a section of the bowel dying, which releases toxins into the horse's system.
"Simple obstructions are somewhat less dramatic. The horse is usually not in shock, the color of his gums will be okay, and his heart rate will be elevated, but not extreme--perhaps 50 beats per minute."
These initial observations made during a physical exam provide an equine surgeon with important clues: not only whether a horse is a surgical candidate but also what he or she might find after opening the horse's belly. With the help of ultrasound and other techniques such as manual palpation and tapping the peritoneal, or abdominal, fluid, the surgeon can often make an accurate assessment of the situation. For example, the presence of reddish-orange serosanguinous fluid, which contains both blood and serous (protein-containing) fluid, often can indicate presence of strangulating obstructions.
"Ultrasound has really improved our diagnostic picture of colic, but there are limits to how far it can penetrate," Freeman says. "You can also assess the thickness of the bowel wall, sometimes see the location of an impaction, and get information on the amount and location of peritoneal fluid.
"In most surgical cases when we open the horse up, we have a pretty good idea of what we're going to find," he adds. "For example, in a postpartum mare who has obvious abdominal distension and severe pain, we strongly suspect a large colon volvulus, also known as a torsion (twist).
"If an older horse comes in with a high heart rate and a variable degree of pain, and we can palpate loops of distended small intestine or see the distension on ultrasound, then the probability is that we're dealing with a strangulating lipoma." Lipomas are abdominal fatty tumors that tend to form in older horses. They grow on stalks, which can sometimes wrap themselves around a section of intestine and cut off the blood supply.
These are just a few of many possible surgical colic scenarios. Others might include:
Left dorsal colon displacement Also known as a nephrosplenic entrapment, the dorsal colon migrates between the spleen and the abdominal wall and becomes trapped over the nephrosplenic ligament, which is a short ligament attaching the spleen to the left kidney.
Right dorsal colon displacement The right dorsal colon becomes trapped between the cecum and the right abdominal wall.
Intussusception The intestine "telescopes" inside a portion of itself, often because a section has become paralyzed and the contractions of the adjacent section push the tissue inside the nonmotile area. Intussusception often occurs at the ileocecal junction (where the small and large intestine join). Some veterinarians have implicated damage from tapeworms as a cause, though not conclusively.
Epiploic foramen entrapment In this case a section of small intestine threads itself through the epiploic foramen (a narrow opening connecting the two sacs of the abdominal cavity) and becomes trapped. This type of colic is very dangerous because the blood supply is immediately occluded. For reasons that aren't fully understood, it's prevalent in horses that crib.
Mesenteric rent entrapment On occasion, a small tear or rent forms in the mesentery, a thin sheet of connective tissue attached to the intestines, through which a segment of bowel can thread itself. Fluid buildup and subsequent enlargement of the bowel can trap that segment, necessitating surgery.
"The hard part of presurgical assessment is that horses are very individual," says Freeman. "They don't always read the book on how they are supposed to react to a specific condition. Some cases are clear-cut, no-question surgical cases, while with others we use a wide range of diagnostics to make that assessment."
Post-surgical prognosis can also vary widely. According to Freeman, a horse that is very sick going into surgery with clinical signs of shock, endotoxins (toxins from Gram-negative bacterial infections) circulating in his blood, and dehydration might not handle anesthesia well due to low blood pressure. These horses are more likely to crash during surgery and often have poorer prognoses than healthier horses have.
Astonishingly, horses can lose up to 80% of their intestinal tracts and still recover and function normally, according to Freeman. "They seem to adapt and do fine and don't even require a special diet," he says. But the stress of the surgical resection and anastomosis (joining the resected bowel back together), the risk of adhesions that can limit bowel motility as the gut heals, and the ever-present risks of general anesthesia and postoperative infection all factor in.
Gas, or tympanic, colic is often (but not always) associated with increased peristaltic contractions (wavelike movements that keep ingesta going further down the gastrointestinal tract), which can cause painful spasms. Spasmodic colic can rsult from increased spasms, or contractions, in the intestinal wall.
The good news is that spasmodic colic is usually transient, lasting from a few minutes to a couple hours. Clinical signs can be intermittent, but they generally resolve with veterinary administration of spasmolytic medication and analgesics (pain killers) such as flunixin meglumine (Banamine). Tympanic colic, too, usually self-corrects thanks to the gut's imperative to keep everything moving along.
The equine version is impaction colic--when foodstuffs in the large or small intestine just aren't moving along as they should.Impaction colic is particularly common in the fall and winter months, when many horses don't consume as much water as they should. That, combined with a dietary change from warm-weather pasture grasses (which are relatively high in moisture) to cured hay, makes it easy for dry wads of fibrous material to accumulate in the intestinal tract and refuse to budge.
Parasites, too, can contribute to impaction colic. A heavy worm load in the intestinal tract can form partial or complete blockages, especially in places where the passages are already narrow.
David Freeman, MVB, Dipl. ACVS, PhD, professor and interim chair of Large Animal Surgery at the University of Florida, notes, "In horses under a year old we often see impaction colics due to ascarids. This parasite has become resistant to ivermectin and is making a comeback, so we expect to see more of it in foals and weanlings in years to come."
Impaction colics also can be caused by foreign bodies in the GI tract. Sand, consumed along with feed in areas where the soil is naturally sandy, can accumulate in the gut (usually at the pelvic flexure--a spot where there is a 180-degree turn in the colon and the passage narrows--or the right dorsal colon, which is the uppermost part of the colon on the right side of the horse) and cause a partial blockage. Enteroliths, stony mineral deposits that form in the gut and wreak havoc when they grow to a certain size, also can develop. In some cases these equine versions of pearls in an oyster evolve around a swallowed foreign object such as a sliver of wood or a piece of baling twine. See page 54 for an illustration of enterolith formation.
Clinical signs of impaction colic are usually (though not always) mild. The horse might lose his appetite and appear un-comfortable, swinging his head around to look at his belly or flanks. He might have a mildly elevated heart rate (normal heart rate is around 30 to 40 beats per minute), and might pace, circle, or want to lie down. Upon performing rectal examination, veterinarians can feel some impactions easily, Blikslager says, though only the final third of the GI tract is easily palpated. Ultrasound examination, which is noninvasive and performed on the abdomen/flank area, might help reveal impactions located in other sections of the tract.
The majority of impaction colics respond to medical treatment, which usually includes analgesia and introducing a softening agent by nasogastric tube. "Increasing hydration is important when you're treating an impaction," Blikslager notes. "Oral or IV (intravenous) fluids can be given, and mineral oil is still commonly used (as a softening agent), though many veterinarians now prefer a detergent product called DSS (dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate), which can help break up an impaction while stimulating gut motility."
Some practitioners also rely on good old-fashioned Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). "Epsom salts suck water into the colon and may have a beneficial effect on motility," says Blikslager. "They also have a strong laxative effect. You would give about one gram per kilogram of body weight, in solution, via a nasogastric tube."
Regarding mineral oil, Blikslager comments, "The nice thing about it is that it should make its way through the digestive tract in about 18 hours. That can give you an indication that things are moving, at least, although the mineral oil can sometimes work its way around the impaction without shifting it."
Most of these substances do little good if the issue is sand in the gut. Mineral oil, DSS, Epsom salts, and other traditional remedies such as feeding bran or tubing with liquid paraffin, are all fairly useless for sand colic, according to Blikslager. The go-to product is psyllium husk, a soluble plant fiber that forms a gel when it is mixed with fluids. The gel seems to bind up the sand and help move it out of the horse's intestines, though it might take several treatments to clear it entirely.
When is it Surgical?
If a horse does not respond to medical treatment, is in severe discomfort, in shock (his mucous membranes are pale or brick-red to purple and his pulse and respiration are rapid), or if he is thrashing or rolling in pain, it is time to get him to an equine hospital where a qualified surgeon can assess him.
"Symptoms which recur despite being treated medically and (that are accompanied by) a significant pain score--these are big tipoffs on those 5-10% of colics that are severe and may require surgery," says Blikslager. "Of that 5-10%, the most common cause is a simple obstruction or impaction. The second most common cause is a strangulating obstruction."
In a simple obstruction, something--partially digested food, a foreign body such as an enterolith or a mass of parasites, or the formation of a stricture (an abnormal narrowing of the passage)--is blocking a section of the GI tract, leading to a painful buildup of fluid and sometimes gases, a distension of the intestines, and eventual occlusion (blockage) of the arteries and veins supplying the GI tract with blood.
A more serious strangulating obstruction is characterized by an immediate occlusion of the blood supply to a portion of the GI tract, usually due to some section of the intestines being where it shouldn't. When the blood supply is compromised, tissue death might follow--and the only cure for necrotic tissue is to remove it surgically.
"Strangulating obstructions can be terribly painful," Blikslager says. "The horse is generally bloated and wants to roll. He will look 'shocky,' with an elevated heart rate and compromised capillary refill in his gums and other mucous membranes. All of this is brought about by a section of the bowel dying, which releases toxins into the horse's system.
"Simple obstructions are somewhat less dramatic. The horse is usually not in shock, the color of his gums will be okay, and his heart rate will be elevated, but not extreme--perhaps 50 beats per minute."
These initial observations made during a physical exam provide an equine surgeon with important clues: not only whether a horse is a surgical candidate but also what he or she might find after opening the horse's belly. With the help of ultrasound and other techniques such as manual palpation and tapping the peritoneal, or abdominal, fluid, the surgeon can often make an accurate assessment of the situation. For example, the presence of reddish-orange serosanguinous fluid, which contains both blood and serous (protein-containing) fluid, often can indicate presence of strangulating obstructions.
"Ultrasound has really improved our diagnostic picture of colic, but there are limits to how far it can penetrate," Freeman says. "You can also assess the thickness of the bowel wall, sometimes see the location of an impaction, and get information on the amount and location of peritoneal fluid.
"In most surgical cases when we open the horse up, we have a pretty good idea of what we're going to find," he adds. "For example, in a postpartum mare who has obvious abdominal distension and severe pain, we strongly suspect a large colon volvulus, also known as a torsion (twist).
"If an older horse comes in with a high heart rate and a variable degree of pain, and we can palpate loops of distended small intestine or see the distension on ultrasound, then the probability is that we're dealing with a strangulating lipoma." Lipomas are abdominal fatty tumors that tend to form in older horses. They grow on stalks, which can sometimes wrap themselves around a section of intestine and cut off the blood supply.
These are just a few of many possible surgical colic scenarios. Others might include:
Left dorsal colon displacement Also known as a nephrosplenic entrapment, the dorsal colon migrates between the spleen and the abdominal wall and becomes trapped over the nephrosplenic ligament, which is a short ligament attaching the spleen to the left kidney.
Right dorsal colon displacement The right dorsal colon becomes trapped between the cecum and the right abdominal wall.
Intussusception The intestine "telescopes" inside a portion of itself, often because a section has become paralyzed and the contractions of the adjacent section push the tissue inside the nonmotile area. Intussusception often occurs at the ileocecal junction (where the small and large intestine join). Some veterinarians have implicated damage from tapeworms as a cause, though not conclusively.
Epiploic foramen entrapment In this case a section of small intestine threads itself through the epiploic foramen (a narrow opening connecting the two sacs of the abdominal cavity) and becomes trapped. This type of colic is very dangerous because the blood supply is immediately occluded. For reasons that aren't fully understood, it's prevalent in horses that crib.
Mesenteric rent entrapment On occasion, a small tear or rent forms in the mesentery, a thin sheet of connective tissue attached to the intestines, through which a segment of bowel can thread itself. Fluid buildup and subsequent enlargement of the bowel can trap that segment, necessitating surgery.
"The hard part of presurgical assessment is that horses are very individual," says Freeman. "They don't always read the book on how they are supposed to react to a specific condition. Some cases are clear-cut, no-question surgical cases, while with others we use a wide range of diagnostics to make that assessment."
Post-surgical prognosis can also vary widely. According to Freeman, a horse that is very sick going into surgery with clinical signs of shock, endotoxins (toxins from Gram-negative bacterial infections) circulating in his blood, and dehydration might not handle anesthesia well due to low blood pressure. These horses are more likely to crash during surgery and often have poorer prognoses than healthier horses have.
Astonishingly, horses can lose up to 80% of their intestinal tracts and still recover and function normally, according to Freeman. "They seem to adapt and do fine and don't even require a special diet," he says. But the stress of the surgical resection and anastomosis (joining the resected bowel back together), the risk of adhesions that can limit bowel motility as the gut heals, and the ever-present risks of general anesthesia and postoperative infection all factor in.
CONJUNCTIVITIS
Red or pink eye usually effects one only
due to trauma or retained foreign body.
When both eyes effected
causes could be flies feeding on tears- strangles virus- influenza.
Its very painful
call the vet
due to trauma or retained foreign body.
When both eyes effected
causes could be flies feeding on tears- strangles virus- influenza.
Its very painful
call the vet
C.O.P.D
Contract heels
Caused by:
Bad shoeing, boxy feet .
Treatment:
Shoe regularly, then out with grass tips for 6 months
Corns: Natural remedies
Homaeopathy Arnica internally, batheer with Hypericum and Calendula lotion (diluted)
Herbs Comfrey
Essentials oils Eucalyptus oil
Cracks in the hoof Natural Remedies
Homaeopathy Graphites- generally horse appears heavy and skin poor healing ability
Thuja if the horse is averse to cold weather
Herbs Burdock - chickweed - comfrey
Cracked Heels
Treatment:
Bring horse in if outside.
Bandage
Wash and dry
Wound powder.
Zinc and casteroil, vaseline, lanoline
Bring horse in if outside.
Bandage
Wash and dry
Wound powder.
Zinc and casteroil, vaseline, lanoline
Cushings
HORSE OWNERS COMMENT
1. have a cushings/IR pony. She is on Prascend which is the equine version of Pergolide. She has had a lot of blood tests over the last year and I have never had to starve her. She was on Metformin to get the insulin levels down but would not eat anything that had it in so had to give up on that for now. A different vet said to try cinnamon powder in her food daily and it seems to be bringing the insulin leavels down.
2. I recommend you look here, join the yahoo group linked further down the page and ask on there. http://www.ecirhorse.com/
3. My old pony has cushings and we give her 'agnus castus' or 'monks pepper'. You can order it online. Its a totally natural substance and you can either buy it ready ground or in peppercorn shaped balls to grind yourself in a pepper mill. It works on the pituitary gland for all kinds of symptoms
4. I have used Hilton Herbs cush x in the past for another that was here, he was weaned off pergolide and thrived on cush x as did a neighbours pony.
5. I find Hilton Herbs very helpful the products seem good and I like the fact that you can see what you are feeding,the herbs are recognisable and not ground into a powder like some. I know it doesn't make it any more effective but there is no chance of fillers being added.
If you are going to try the herbal treatment I would get her back on the prascend and overlap for a while, this time of year can be difficult for cushings sufferers as the daylight hours get shorter it seems to affect them more.
6. My Shetland was diagnosed earlier this year too. He wasnt shown classic symptoms, but was more prone to footiness (lami).
One of the side effects of pergolide / Prascend is that they can lose their appetite.
You should see a difference in a week or two. November is one of the danger times as the pituitary gland is effected by daylight hours etc.
7. There are basically two different temporary but common side effects that are caused by pergolide: depression and lack of appetite. This is known in the ECIR group as the “pergolide veil”. When first starting pergolide, or when dosage is increased or decreased too quickly some horses become lethargic and uninterested in food. Tapering the change in dosage is the best defense against side effects. When properly tapered, the ECIR Group horses have had either no pergolide veil and feel better right away or the veil symptoms resolve quickly – within two weeks.
Pergolide veil can be very distressing to owners. It is often the case that horses starting pergolide are also starting a new, safer and less “yummier” diet. The horse certainly appears to dislike the new food but it really is just the veil making him less inclined to eat. Hang in there – they do get over this stage. Once the horse gets used to being on pergolide, he will start to eat normally again and suddenly will start to enjoy the “yucky” food.
Meanwhile, there are a few things you can do to help your horse adjust. Tempt the horse to eat with different flavorings (see links section). If tapering and flavorings fail, adaptogens can help.
Adaptogens are natural substances that help the body block negative responses to chronic stress. A formulation of liquid extract of adaptogenic herbs that has a good track record in the ECIR group is APF. A less expensive adaptogen is Canadian, American or North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Some ginsengs cause elevated insulin so be sure the Latin name is correct.
8. I have just been through the same with my girl and I know how worrying it is. Mine was diagnosed 8 weeks ago. She became so depressed that vet recommended i stop the peroglide for 3-4 days then only give half the dosage as opposed to the fill tablet.
Went through the lack of appetite and not eating feeds too so i just added a few high fibre nuts to her hi fi lite and that did the trick.
After 14 days on half the dosage of peroglide she went back to the original 1mg. Her appetite is good and she nearly always eats her dinner again now...after some tweaking! Her blood results started at 97 in the first test and went down last week to 18.
I would ensure you spend time grooming and exercising your little one if you can. Mine thrives on it.
The depression will pass...its awful to see but some do go through it
9. You could try vitex for equids, I found my little mare's depression really lifted with that and her coat started to improve. Sadly we only used it for a few weeks as she was already going downhill, but I definitely saw a difference. Not sure if vets prescribe trilostane anymore, it's hellish expensive, but it was what we used at the time.
10. In Cushings ponies/horses, the laminitis can happen apparently without cause. It generally strikes between autumn and late winter. This is because the ACTH in the blood rises from late July and peaks late December, roughly following the day lengths. So the blood test is to measure the ACTH and the higher the result, the higher the risk of lami.
If I were you I would ask your vet to do another test so you can guage if it is safe to withdraw the Prascend, but more often than not, once you begin the treatment, the horse/pony needs it for the rest of their life, and will need more as the disease progresses.
11.
http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.18061!fileManager/dvepfactsheet-cushingsdiseaseandequinemetabolicsyndrome.pdf
12. Undiagnosed, or untreated Cushings can cause the following symptoms though not all horses have all of them: thick curly coat, coat shedding problems, inability to control body temperature, heavy and very smelly sweating, weight loss, loss of appetite, sagging belly muscles, ataxia, confusion, very high ACTH count (blood test), sudden unexplained laminitis. Think there's a couple more but can't remember. The only scientifically proven relief for Cushings is Pergolide/Prascend and most horses do amazingly well and return to their pre-Cushings selves in a week or two. However, it's worth remembering that Pergolide isn't a cure for the benign tumour on the horse's pituitary gland that causes the Cushings, so the deterioration will continue and in time will mean pts before its fatal. Watch closely for laminitis, for obvious reasons. The website talkaboutcushings.co.uk is an excellent source of clear information.
13 I had my cushings horse on Chaste Berries as recomended by my Equine Dentist, who new a pony who really improved on them. I have just ordered some http://blog.morethanalive.com/cushings-horse-and-chaste-tree-berry/
5. I find Hilton Herbs very helpful the products seem good and I like the fact that you can see what you are feeding,the herbs are recognisable and not ground into a powder like some. I know it doesn't make it any more effective but there is no chance of fillers being added.
If you are going to try the herbal treatment I would get her back on the prascend and overlap for a while, this time of year can be difficult for cushings sufferers as the daylight hours get shorter it seems to affect them more.
6. My Shetland was diagnosed earlier this year too. He wasnt shown classic symptoms, but was more prone to footiness (lami).
One of the side effects of pergolide / Prascend is that they can lose their appetite.
You should see a difference in a week or two. November is one of the danger times as the pituitary gland is effected by daylight hours etc.
7. There are basically two different temporary but common side effects that are caused by pergolide: depression and lack of appetite. This is known in the ECIR group as the “pergolide veil”. When first starting pergolide, or when dosage is increased or decreased too quickly some horses become lethargic and uninterested in food. Tapering the change in dosage is the best defense against side effects. When properly tapered, the ECIR Group horses have had either no pergolide veil and feel better right away or the veil symptoms resolve quickly – within two weeks.
Pergolide veil can be very distressing to owners. It is often the case that horses starting pergolide are also starting a new, safer and less “yummier” diet. The horse certainly appears to dislike the new food but it really is just the veil making him less inclined to eat. Hang in there – they do get over this stage. Once the horse gets used to being on pergolide, he will start to eat normally again and suddenly will start to enjoy the “yucky” food.
Meanwhile, there are a few things you can do to help your horse adjust. Tempt the horse to eat with different flavorings (see links section). If tapering and flavorings fail, adaptogens can help.
Adaptogens are natural substances that help the body block negative responses to chronic stress. A formulation of liquid extract of adaptogenic herbs that has a good track record in the ECIR group is APF. A less expensive adaptogen is Canadian, American or North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Some ginsengs cause elevated insulin so be sure the Latin name is correct.
8. I have just been through the same with my girl and I know how worrying it is. Mine was diagnosed 8 weeks ago. She became so depressed that vet recommended i stop the peroglide for 3-4 days then only give half the dosage as opposed to the fill tablet.
Went through the lack of appetite and not eating feeds too so i just added a few high fibre nuts to her hi fi lite and that did the trick.
After 14 days on half the dosage of peroglide she went back to the original 1mg. Her appetite is good and she nearly always eats her dinner again now...after some tweaking! Her blood results started at 97 in the first test and went down last week to 18.
I would ensure you spend time grooming and exercising your little one if you can. Mine thrives on it.
The depression will pass...its awful to see but some do go through it
9. You could try vitex for equids, I found my little mare's depression really lifted with that and her coat started to improve. Sadly we only used it for a few weeks as she was already going downhill, but I definitely saw a difference. Not sure if vets prescribe trilostane anymore, it's hellish expensive, but it was what we used at the time.
10. In Cushings ponies/horses, the laminitis can happen apparently without cause. It generally strikes between autumn and late winter. This is because the ACTH in the blood rises from late July and peaks late December, roughly following the day lengths. So the blood test is to measure the ACTH and the higher the result, the higher the risk of lami.
If I were you I would ask your vet to do another test so you can guage if it is safe to withdraw the Prascend, but more often than not, once you begin the treatment, the horse/pony needs it for the rest of their life, and will need more as the disease progresses.
11.
http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.18061!fileManager/dvepfactsheet-cushingsdiseaseandequinemetabolicsyndrome.pdf
12. Undiagnosed, or untreated Cushings can cause the following symptoms though not all horses have all of them: thick curly coat, coat shedding problems, inability to control body temperature, heavy and very smelly sweating, weight loss, loss of appetite, sagging belly muscles, ataxia, confusion, very high ACTH count (blood test), sudden unexplained laminitis. Think there's a couple more but can't remember. The only scientifically proven relief for Cushings is Pergolide/Prascend and most horses do amazingly well and return to their pre-Cushings selves in a week or two. However, it's worth remembering that Pergolide isn't a cure for the benign tumour on the horse's pituitary gland that causes the Cushings, so the deterioration will continue and in time will mean pts before its fatal. Watch closely for laminitis, for obvious reasons. The website talkaboutcushings.co.uk is an excellent source of clear information.
13 I had my cushings horse on Chaste Berries as recomended by my Equine Dentist, who new a pony who really improved on them. I have just ordered some http://blog.morethanalive.com/cushings-horse-and-chaste-tree-berry/