Saturday, September 20, 2014

Information About The Navicular Syndrome

By Karina Frost


Every horse has an area known as the navicular region around their hooves in the anterior limbs. This area may sometimes be infected by the navicular syndrome which may not be categorized as a terminal illness but can really affect the functioning of the horse. When a horse gets this disease, it does not mean that it will be disabled, it can be cured and return back to normal. There are various methods that can be used to prevent and also to treat the infection.

In order to effectively diagnose the illness, there are various things that the veterinary doctor may do. The detection needs both bodily and x-ray evidence to properly determine that it is a result of navicular infection. The radiological proof is usually important because there are various other factors that may cause lameness. Making straight assumptions may make the physicians issue the incorrect medication therefore complicating the disease.

There are various physical symptoms that demonstrate the syndrome. The most common thing that is likely to happen is lameness on the front limbs of the horse. In some both feet are usually lame but others have only one foot affected. When the lameness happens, the horses will stumble during movement. Horses that are middle aged are at a higher risk of getting the infection. This refers to the horses from seven to fourteen years of age.

Physical tests can also be carried out to detect the problem. One of them is making observations when the stallion is settling down. An infected horse will try hard to put more weight on the hind limbs by extending the front limbs too forward. The infected horses also show a common physical sign of having the front hooves being smaller than the hind ones this is because they have probably been subjected to less pressure since the infection kicked in.

The veterinary physicians can also use anesthetic medications to verify if the horses have any problems. When the stallion is given the medication they will stop any abnormal actions because the drug will prevent them from feeling pain in any of the affected areas.

There are various ways that the disease can be handled after it has been detected. One way is through correct shooing. This will help to stabilize the hooves from all sides making the horse more comfortable. There are also some medications that the horses can be given to widen the blood vessels in the affected area. However, many horses take long to react to these treatments.

The owner may also subject the stallion to some exercises that help in increasing blood flow. These exercise procedures should be carried out every day in a week for around an hour. By enhancing the blood flow in the affected region, the horses can be able to exert more pressure on the affected area.

It is not all horses that usually respond to the treatments that have been mentioned above. If a horse shows no change after all the above things have been done, the only option remaining will be to us a surgical procedure to remove the unwanted ligaments that are causing the pain.




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