Veterinary

Indications for and how to perform Caslick's operation in the mare

In general, a Caslick's operation is indicated when malconformation or inadequate closure of the vulva is present, for example as a result of trauma, weight loss, or congenital deviation from the...

Neurological disease in neonatal foals: beyond dummy foal syndrome

A variety of metabolic derangements can result in neurological dysfunction, which can be reversed by correcting the imbalance in many cases. It should be noted that, since these abnormalities...

Equine asthma syndrome: managing the environment

As stated previously, environmental organic dust exposure, predominantly from the stable environment and from sources of feed, is a major inciting cause of the immunological response associated with...

Recognising and treating uveitis in donkeys

The eye is recognised as an immune privileged organ, with numerous adaptive mechanisms and barriers, such as the so-called anterior chamber-associated immune deviation, the blood-aqueous barrier and...

Advances in the understanding of laminitis and the role of nutrition in its management

Laminitis was previously broadly classified according to the differing pathways presumed to trigger its onset. At present, three main clinical forms of laminitis have been defined (Patterson-Kane et...

Nursing care of arthritic geriatric donkeys

Degenerative joint disease is a common form of arthritis found in donkeys, and is not an unusual finding in donkeys with a normal lifespan of 30–40 years old (Barrio et al, 2019). In non-working...

Autumn de-worming

Treatment for larval cyathostomins should no longer be considered the default position, and should only be performed after consideration of the risk of parasite-associated disease. The level of risk...

The role of nutrition and feeding in equine weight management

The prevalence of both obese and overweight horses is high (Giles et al, 2014; Potter et al, 2016). However, how this is categorised and reported could be clearer, as defining whether a horse is...

An update on the treatment of cutaneous tumours

Benign neglect is most commonly employed with small occult or verrucose lesions. However, benign neglect may be a misnomer, as withholding treatment is not always a benign procedure. In a series of 42...

Advanced equine diagnostics – developments in computed tomography

CT imaging is built up of three main components; the patient couch, x-ray tube and the detectors, which rotate inside the gantry around the patient, acquiring and collecting attenuation data. The...

Equine obesity and the role of the veterinary nurse

In order to understand how to prevent equine obesity, it is first important to recognise what the term obesity actually refers to. Obesity is a qualitative term (Wyse et al, 2008), defined as an...

Optimised environments for horse health and wellbeing: the use of alternative grazing

Track systems involve placing a track around the outside of a field or several fields, and keeping the horses on this tracked area rather than in a central paddock. Items such as water, shelter, hay...