Our newest addition to the office (Lena) and Pancake working together to understand the engineering of the automatic feeder
Spring has sprung and it’s foal season! Nothing brightens the mood like a playful baby ☺️
The first video clip (shown in the previous post) shows the original presentation of a patient diagnosed with EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis) based on clinical neurological examination and blood testing. This second clip shows the patient after just a month of treatment. Notice how much more steady she is on her feet!
Neurological signs are not always so obvious and a thorough clinical evaluation is critical to accurately identify significant neurological issues. Some diagnostics, such as radiographs and blood tests, can be done in the field. Other more complex diagnostics may necessitate referral to a hospital.
Thank you to our client for allowing us to share these video clips!
Neurological issues in horses can be a safety risk for both horse and rider. When we perform a neurological examination in the field, we use a series of tests to assess the patient's proprioception, looking for signs of incoordination and weakness.
Does the horse know where his/ her limbs are in space? A severely neurological horse will appear unsteady and may reach for the ground in front of them, sway, trip or even stumble. Covering the patient's field of vision, as in the video clips below, can make proprioceptive deficits more obvious.
The first video clip shows the original presentation of a patient diagnosed with EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis) based on clinical neurological examination and blood testing. In the next post, the second clip shows the patient after just a month of treatment. Notice how much more steady she is on her feet!
Neurological signs are not always so obvious and a thorough clinical evaluation is critical to accurately identify significant neurological issues. Some diagnostics, such as radiographs and blood tests, can be done in the field. Other more complex diagnostics may necessitate referral to a hospital.
Thank you to our client for allowing us to share these video clips!
(This is the first clip!)
Turns out our vet trucks are good for more than just carrying medical supplies! They also make a great back scratcher
Fonteyn showing off her pearly whites ✨
Happy Hump Day!
Happy hump day!!
Young horses have deciduous, or baby, incisors and premolars that are pushed out and shed as their permanent teeth erupt. Unfortunately, those baby teeth do not always shed appropriately. Retained baby teeth can cause a number of problems. First and foremost, they can cause lacerations of the cheeks and tongue. The video attached demonstrates an oral endoscopic exam of the upper left cheek teeth in an approximately 3 year old colt. In the video, there is retention of part of the deciduous 3rd premolar, which has created a deep laceration in the cheek mucosa. Ouch!
Aside from soft tissue damage, retention of baby teeth can predispose horses to onset of periodontal disease by disrupting the eruption pathway of permanent teeth, causing affected teeth to be out of alignment. When teeth do not erupt in the proper position food is easily caught between the misaligned teeth, where it will rot! Rotting food material can cause gingivitis and eventually bone loss around affected teeth. Retention of baby teeth can also lead to malocclusions like steps and wave mouth. All of these problems can be addressed, managed (and potentially reversed) if identified early. Equine dentistry is most effective when started at a young age and regularly performed throughout the patient's life. Biannual examinations are ideal in the young horse, when they are losing their baby teeth and erupting permanent teeth!
This is a follow-up post from our previous post on gastroscopy! The video clip below shows the pylorus, which is a sphincter or valve that allows gastric contents to exit the base of the stomach and enter the small intestines. Movement of gastric contents through the pylorus and into the small intestines is controlled by rhythmic contractions called peristalsis. This region of the stomach has acid producing glands and so is referred to as glandular. While less common than classic squamous ulcers, horses can develop ulcerative lesions of the glandular region of the stomach. We call this glandular gastric disease. Clinical signs of glandular gastric disease can be vague but may include poor condition/ weight loss, poor performance, nervousness or aggression, or intermittent mild colic. The development of glandular gastric disease is not fully understood, but (unlike squamous ulcers) it is not solely a result of acid exposure. When performing a gastroscopy, we assess both the squamous and glandular regions of the stomach to screen for ulcerative disease presence. Treatment recommendations may vary depending on if there is evidence of only squamous disease, evidence of only glandular disease, or evidence of both.
Gastroscopy is a procedure used to view the inside of your horse's stomach. We schedule them first thing in the morning because the patient needs to be fasted the night before the procedure so the stomach can be visualized in its entirety, free of feed material. Standing sedation is utilized to minimize stress on the patient and to keep them comfortable and relaxed for the procedure, which usually takes around 15-20 minutes. A 3-meter long endoscope with a camera is passed through the nose into the esophagus and down to the stomach, where we can objectively assess the health of the stomach lining. Gastroscopy is the only way to accurately diagnose stomach ulcers and monitor their treatment response. Stomach ulcers can be a common cause of girthiness, teeth grinding, behavior changes and performance issues.
The video below shows a gastroscope once the scope has been passed through the esophagus into the stomach. You can see the difference between the squamous (non-glandular) and glandular mucosae. The squamous portion is the lighter color and the glandular portion is the darker pink. Most stomach ulcers are found in the squamous portion of the stomach but occasionally we will find ulcers in the glandular portion. Our scope allows us to examine the entire stomach all the way down to the pylorus (entrance of the small intestine.)
Just like vaccinations and de-worming, dental exams are important for health management and are ideally performed routinely as a preventative procedure prior to the development of any significant pathology. Horses’ teeth are very different from humans. Horses have what are called hypsodont teeth, meaning that they have deep crowns and short roots that continuously erupt as the chewing surface is worn down from normal grinding of feedstuffs. The frequency of dental exams is determined on an individual basis and subject to age, diet, use, as well as other factors. In general, yearly dental exams are recommended as part of a routine wellness plan. A dental exam should be performed on foals to rule out developmental problems. Deciduous (baby) incisors and premolars are shed and replaced by permanent teeth from the ages of 2 to 5 years old. It may be advisable to perform dental exams on a bi-annual basis in the young horse to evaluate for abnormalities such as retained baby teeth that could disrupt the normal eruption pathway of the permanent teeth and predispose the individual to the development of gingivitis and gum disease. Issues like these, if left unidentified and unmanaged, can lead to larger problems that may require more invasive treatment like diastema widening for managing gum disease or potentially extraction of compromised and diseased teeth. Both procedures have been performed in the video below. Routine dental care started early in life will improve oral health, increase quality of life, and reduce the risk of other major health problems like colic and choke.
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