The MRI procedure carries no risk to your horse and is non-painful. However, some horses find the environment strange and don’t settle well. Your horse will be sedated for the procedure. As the scan takes quite a long time it will be necessary to top the sedation up during the Read more…
X-rays cannot detect soft tissue injuries – involving tendons and ligaments– so other forms of imaging are needed. We can also x-ray your horse’s neck and back if these appear to be a source of pain and a condition such as kissing spine is suspected. Does laminitis show up on Read more…
Horses take in a lot of calcium with forage and therefore excrete a lot of calcium in their urine. They also have a lot of mucus in their urinary tract to try to keep stones from forming. That calcium and mucus is why even normal horse urine is often cloudy. Read more…
Conclusions: Metformin resulted in reduced glycaemic and insulinaemic responses both in healthy horses and in horses with experimentally induced IR. Potential relevance: Metformin may benefit horses with naturally acquired IR by reducing glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to dietary nonstructural carbohydrates. Does metformin help laminitis? Fortunately, metformin is also a relatively Read more…
jaundice. In a healthy adult horse, the serum bilirubin is, in most cases, lower than 2 mg/dl. When the serum bilirubin is over 3 mg/dl, jaundice may be apparent. The increased level of bilirubin may be due to liver disease, anorexia or ingesting certain medications. What is the main cause Read more…
You may notice that your horse’s urine appears rather thick and it usually foams when it hits the ground. This too is normal, and is caused by mucous in the urine. This mucous helps prevent calcium from binding and causing problems in the urinary tract. What causes thick urine in Read more…
The slope of the horse’s shoulder ranges between 40-60 degrees. A slope of 45 degrees is considered ‘laid back’ and is ideal for Dressage horses. A slope of 55 degrees is considered ‘straight or upright’ and is more useful in jumping or gaited horses for lifting the knee. What is Read more…
If your horse is experiencing soreness, intermittent lameness, or stiffness in a joint, your vet will likely suggest medicating their joint. Before taking this step, your vet may perform flexion tests to determine which joints are causing pain. How do I know if my horse needs joint injections? Signs Your Read more…
Knock knees (carpal valgus) is the horseman’s term for angular deformity of the horse’s carpus. In horses with this conformation problem, one or both carpi (improperly known as knees) deviate inward toward the opposite one. How do you fix knock knees in horses? The most common ways of treating angular Read more…
The stifle is considered the most complex joint in the horse’s body with a similar function to the human knee. Stifle injuries can result from repetitive stress, trauma, excessive use, changes in direction and rapid deceleration. Horses engaged in jumping and barrel racing are most at risk of these injuries. Read more…