Monday, July 6, 2015

Understanding The Navicular Disease In Horses: Diagnosis And Management

By Francis Riggs


Whenever a horse is labeled as suffering from the 'navicular', there is a tendency of people to shy away from him, making it look like he was suffering from some deadly malady like the Typhoid Mary or other similar diseases. Many people are in the dark when it comes to treating or even visualizing the navicular disease in horses. This is a condition that the feet that normally results in lameness and is most likely to appear as the lameness in one of the forelimbs.

Unknown to many horse owners, a horse with the said condition can easily be brought back its former perforce level, all that is needed is proper management by someone who fully understand what it take to manage the condition. In order to understand the situation better, compare the horse with an athlete that has been diagnosed with bad feet, the athlete can go back to its former level of performance as long as it is well managed; the same goes for the horse.

For proper diagnosis of the navicular condition, the veterinarian has to rely on the clinical tests as well as the radiograph signs. There are several horses that show the radiographic signs in the x-ray images without any sign of lameness or do not test positive in the long last. On the other hands, the clinical test may not rule other possible causes like the coffin bone crack, the heel bruise, and the simple sole bruise. These can only be ruled out with the help of radiography.

When it comes to clinical diagnosis, the vet normally looks for the signs such as a long history of lameness, particularly in the front leg. This is normally gradual and not just a sudden occurrence. In some cases, the horse appears to limb on one leg but with a proper examination, the two front legs are both affected.

Other risk factors include the horse breed. The quarterhorse breed and the thoroghbreds are at higher risk than other horses as their legs are smaller as compared to their big bodies. The signs are more likely to be noticed from the age of 7 to 14.

When it comes to the causes, there are no particular causes; instead, the condition is associated with several possible conditions. As such, there are rare cases where one treatment approach will successfully tackle the condition. In order to reduce pain and inflammation, the vets usually chose Bute, particularly at the early stages of the condition.

When it comes to treatment, most veterinarians usually go for bute to manage navicular and other lameness diseases. It is considered effective as it helps to reduce the pain and inflammation in the early stages of such conditions.

There are a number of techniques that increases blood circulation to the affected area and thus reduce symptoms. The administration of isoxsuprine, for instance, helps dilate the blood vessels. The other methods include the use of the magnetic hoof and the use of anticoagulant both which target to boost the blood circulation.




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