Wednesday 28 October 2015

Treatment And Symptoms Of Navicular Syndrome In Horses

By Mattie Knight


Today, many people love to keep horses for sports. Maintaining these animals is not easy as they suffer from different conditions. If you keep these animals, you could have come across them facing difficulties walking. There are many causes of Navicular, but in most cases, it could be Navicular syndrome in horses making their life difficult.

Today, this disease is common, but the leading cause is not known. But veterinarians say that any damage on the Navicular bone will lead to a short supply of blood to the hoof region. Trauma is another cause known to lead to this. Deep tendons and ligaments get damaged and this is a cause of lameness and pain. Young stallions which have not attained the age of five years are not prone to this condition.

To detect this condition, watch the animal and the symptoms shown. First, the condition mostly affects the front feet. This causes lameness such that walking becomes an issue. Even to those which walk, they walk slowly. Sometimes, the lameness occurs often. When the stallion is exercised on hard grounds and in small circles, it is affected. One foot might be affected more than the other, with causing more pain.

A veterinarian does diagnosis and treatment. Here, they look at the health history, the signs, radiography and the nerve blocks on the feet. If lameness comes and goes, this is a good sign that Navicular condition is coming. Affected animals place their feet first on the ground to support the weight on their heels. A proper treatment to alleviate pain involves injecting anesthetic into the nerves.

When the stallion suffers from the disease, they shy away from it because they do not know the best way to treat it. In the recent years, scientists have done their part to learn about the syndrome. Today, veterinarians and owners know the different conditions that affect the anatomy. Some can be cured, but others will not. Recognizing the early signs helps to choose options that treat the problem.

Navicular syndrome is not terminal. When good treatment is done in early stages, managements can help to reduce the discomforts and make them healthy again. This condition in horses can be related to that of human athletes suffering from bad foot. This means if good care and management are done, everything comes back to normal.

The best thing to do when symptoms appear involves calling a veterinary officer to offer treatment. Though treatment is done, curing it sometimes proves difficult. The veterinary officers carry out corrective trimming and shoeing. These procedures level the hooves and give balance. Sometimes, rolled toe egg bars are used to encourage early break. There are medicines injected to correct the problem.

To prevent this disease, people must do early prevention. Horses have different foot shapes and this affects them, making it hard to have good heel support and foot balance. Maintaining this two helps prevent lameness. Carrying out fetlock flexion is encouraged. For the complicated conditions, surgery is done to restore health.




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