Monday 29 June 2015

Getting Conversant With Navicular Disease

By Francis Riggs


Navicular syndrome affects horses. It is characterized by degeneration or inflammation of navicular bone of the animal. The tissues surrounding the bone at the front of the feet may be involved too. The resulting lameness due to navicular disease is significant and may be debilitating at times.

The contributing aspects to this disease development include genetics, activity, diet and conformation. The horses involved in competitive areas are the ones which suffer more from this kind of disease as compared to those used for recreational or sedentary purposes.

As a result of tension and swelling of supportive ligaments of bone, blood flow may decline and pressure increase within the affected hoof. Heel pain is the most common manifestation. The lameness may start intermittently but thereafter become severe.

In an effort to transfer weight onto the toes, animals suffering from this disease usually land on their toes rather than the heel. Stumbling or loss of coordination may be observed too. The lameness can be seen in both feet but sometimes may be switching from leg to leg periodically from overcompensation. The pattern of occurrence may not be consistent.

Having the animal go round in circles or work on hard surface is when you can easily pick out any presence of lameness. With the disease going on for some weeks, the feet shape begin changing with the affected one been hardly hit. This makes it become more upright and narrowing may happen too.

Traditional options of treatment can be helpful to manage the condition with the aim of relieving the symptoms temporarily. Therefore no any significant progress in terms of stopping or reversing disintegration process. The goal of treatment is maximizing the animal comfort and enhance its coping for a short while. The pathophysiology of the condition is still progressing therefore. This led to the need of coming up with a more concrete cure of the disease both in the short term and in the long run too.

For horses with bone complications, equi-bone is fed in order to up nutrients for bone building in the body. With time, nutrient balance as a result of feeding on equi-bone helps in manipulation of body to store more calcium mineral in bones. The result of this is improvement of mineral density of bones. This makes the affected bone more strong and decreases its sensitivity as it goes through the process of rebuilding. While transiting from a degenerative diagnosis or an injury, the horse is fed at the calculated loading rate at least for five months. Then this is reduced to a maintenance protocol which provides for support of healthy conditions of bone.

After equi-bone feeding loading phase has been successfully achieved, the effect it has produced should be maintained. Given that the animal is faced with remodeling the affected bone on its own, supplementation of ability to enhance the remodeling consistently is of importance. This is in order to minimize the chances of recurrence of the disease in future. This is to be done by feeding the animal a scoop of equi-bone twice daily as maintenance regimen to achieve the best outcome in ensuring the horse remains healthy and sound.




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