Effects Of Navicular Syndrome In Horses
This disease mostly affects the front feet and is associated with the congestion of the blood vessels usually in the navicular bone and tissues in the surrounding area. Constant subjection of the bone to compression causes the cartilage to wear out slowly hence becoming less springy and less resistant to shock. Navicular syndrome in horses therefore brings pain to the heel region and eventually leads to lameness in track horses.
When walking, the affected horse places its weight on the toe to avoid creating pressure on the heel area which contains the flamed bone. While doing this, a longer time is taken to stop a stride than is ought to and when standing the horse tends to shift weights often. This in turn relieves pain thus pressure from the area in question.
The diagnosis of their condition is based on both clinical signs and radiographic. A veterinarian bases her treatment on what she observes from the x-rays and physical examinations of the hoof region. Normally, an infected horse shows clear signs that provide the practitioner with some or all the information.
When foot testers are used on a sick animal, the most anticipated response is pain during an examination session. The response is in correspondence of application of pressure to the navicular bone. The hoof of the affected foot has been seen to be smaller than that of the opposite leg due to the shifting of animals weight to their unaffected leg.
The most important thing to note about the disease is that it is not terminal as with specialized treatment and care, the horse can return back to its normal state and level of performance. An animal diagnosed with navicular syndrome can be compared to human track athlete with bad feet. It is not safe to say that the track star may never run again; it only means that they have to take care of their feet and be well informed of these problems.
When first observed, most of these animals show signs of infection on only one leg but are actually lame of both front feet. The nerves of that leg will block after some time and cause the horse to limp on the other leg. This behaviour of animals limping on one leg should alert the veterinarian that it is suffering from navicular syndrome.
Correct shoeing as opposed to corrective shoeing should form the basis treatment of this disease as most animals get affected due to long shoes an under run heels. It is therefore important for the owner to practice the essential theory of balancing the hooves front to back and side to side. In other words, the front hoof and the back of the shoe should be made to be collimated to its pastern.
The other treatment is the use of drug therapy with the most successful drug being the lsoxsuprine. This drug dilates the blood vessels and is presumed to increase circulation of blood to the affected bone. Exercise can also act as a way of enhancing blood circulation.
When walking, the affected horse places its weight on the toe to avoid creating pressure on the heel area which contains the flamed bone. While doing this, a longer time is taken to stop a stride than is ought to and when standing the horse tends to shift weights often. This in turn relieves pain thus pressure from the area in question.
The diagnosis of their condition is based on both clinical signs and radiographic. A veterinarian bases her treatment on what she observes from the x-rays and physical examinations of the hoof region. Normally, an infected horse shows clear signs that provide the practitioner with some or all the information.
When foot testers are used on a sick animal, the most anticipated response is pain during an examination session. The response is in correspondence of application of pressure to the navicular bone. The hoof of the affected foot has been seen to be smaller than that of the opposite leg due to the shifting of animals weight to their unaffected leg.
The most important thing to note about the disease is that it is not terminal as with specialized treatment and care, the horse can return back to its normal state and level of performance. An animal diagnosed with navicular syndrome can be compared to human track athlete with bad feet. It is not safe to say that the track star may never run again; it only means that they have to take care of their feet and be well informed of these problems.
When first observed, most of these animals show signs of infection on only one leg but are actually lame of both front feet. The nerves of that leg will block after some time and cause the horse to limp on the other leg. This behaviour of animals limping on one leg should alert the veterinarian that it is suffering from navicular syndrome.
Correct shoeing as opposed to corrective shoeing should form the basis treatment of this disease as most animals get affected due to long shoes an under run heels. It is therefore important for the owner to practice the essential theory of balancing the hooves front to back and side to side. In other words, the front hoof and the back of the shoe should be made to be collimated to its pastern.
The other treatment is the use of drug therapy with the most successful drug being the lsoxsuprine. This drug dilates the blood vessels and is presumed to increase circulation of blood to the affected bone. Exercise can also act as a way of enhancing blood circulation.
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