Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Symptoms Of Navicular Disease In Horses

By Phyllis Schroeder


Navicular bone is actually a flat bone that is present just at the back of the horse's coffin joint, attaching to the pedal bone. Navicular disease in horses is quite common and it mainly affects the navicular bone which lies in the foot of the animal.

Although there are details regarding what navicular disease is but there is not much information available that suggests the root cause of this particular disease. Its important that the affected horse is provided immense amount of care otherwise it could cause him a lot of pain and he will be worse off for the rest of his life.

The symptoms associated with navicular are easily identified and one of such symptoms is the increased amount of lameness in the front foot. Lameness may come and go but it gets worse when you are training the horse on flat hard ground or when the animal is forced to ride in small little circles. As soon as you find him struggling doing such tasks, its important that you inspect the feet thoroughly to assess how bad the situation is.

It is important to make a proper diagnosis of this disease in order to ensure that right kind of treatment is provided to the animal. The diagnosis is done whilst checking the overall health record of the horse and what sort of symptoms are persisting. Sometimes, radiography is also done to make an assessment about how bad the situation is.

Although there are treatments for the navicular syndrome but the unfortunate thing is that it is a kind of illness that is very hard to cure. In order to ensure that the animal is able to live a pain free life, you should do the trimming and shoeing in the most effective way possible.

In worst case scenario, often a surgical procedure is recommended but it is considered as a last thing because it could lead to possible complications in the future. This particular surgery is known as Neurectomy and it shouldn't be taken lightly at all. Once the surgery is done, it becomes essential to inspect the horse's treated foot every day otherwise infections and other complications may occur if it is left unattended.

It doesn't matter what sort of feet shape a horse has, any one of them can develop this harmful diseases but if proper care is taken and their feet are maintained on a regular basis then this disease can be prevented to a certain extent. This major reason why it is not preventable in certain circumstances is the fact that there is not enough information regarding the exact cause of it.

Prevention is always better than cure so if you maintain him well and take care of his feet and inspect them on a regular basis then its quite possible to prevent this sort of problem from occurring. Being a horse owner, its your responsibility to take care of him in the best way possible.




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