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Friday, May 1, 2015

By Toni Vang


Donkeys and ponies have been found to be safe from certain diseases that cause a lot of problems in horses. Such as disease is the navicular syndrome. The disease causes disability in horses used for competitions in athletics. It causes loss of medullary architecture, formation of enthesiophyte, fibrillation and traumatic, and bone sclerosis. Even though the discovery of this illness occurred years ago, it is still a major source of disability today.

The condition never results from a disease entity rather from complex pathogenesis. However, biochemical and vascular components have been linked to it by researcher in that field of study. Additionally, heredity has been added to causes because after disallowing affected stallions from breeding, cases seemed to degrease in number. The appearance of the disease in horses that are 8 to 10 years in age makes it characteristic in mature horses.

Level of lameness and disease process seem to get influenced by the conformation of distal limbs. Among the major causes for the problem include long toes, excess pressure on the hoof-pastern, and underrun heels. The happening of aforementioned factors result in excess pressure on the flexor tendon and navicular bone. Damage of the navicular bursitis and the fibrocartilage are additional conditions that can occur.

The disease occurs in stages with later stages getting worse and severe. When the disease is still in its early stages, there is intermittent lameness and owing to its bilateral nature, there may never be any visible head nod. This is especially when moving the animal on a straight line. One of the mild signs at this stage is a shortened stride. During early stages, the condition could be worsened when the horse is moved in circles.

Age and breed are important factors during diagnosis. Horses show a specific reaction to palmar digital nerve anesthesia when a lameness examination is performed. A rate of 11% positives was found using hoof testers by some study, rendering hoof testers quite unsatisfactory in all cases. Anesthesia of navicular bursa has been found to be a precise diagnosis process among all others. However, it is not done during lameness examination because of the complexity of the injection and the amount of pain involved.

In cases where the condition has gotten worse, achieving total cure is not possible because the disease is chronic and degenerative in nature. However, the problem can be managed quite well in some cases. Administration of NSAID and utilization of corrective shoes are some of the commonest treatment options used. Phenylbutazone is more commonly used over other NSAIDs. However, GI and renal injury are some of side effects of phenylbutazone, and should be used cautiously.

A lot of rest is advised if the condition has gotten worse because drugs may not be as efficient. Drugs and rest should be used in combination with foot care measures. Foot care measures like shoeing would help in restoring alignment and balance in the phalangeal. Two weeks is usually sufficient for determining efficiency of shoeing.

Seeking medical assistance the minute the problem is discovered is advisable. Total disability could result if one delays. Animals that are not treated on time undergo a lot of pain.




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