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Horse HealthTip of the Week – Horses May Benefit from Adult Derived Stem Cells
Equine tendon, ligament, and joint injuries are some of the most frequently seen problems in clinical veterinary practice. These lead to joint instability, degenerative joint disease, and reduced performance. Osteoarthritis is one of the main causes of lameness in horses and involves the deterioration of joint cartilage leading to pain and inflammation. Conventional therapies involve intra-articular medications such as hyaluronic acid and/or steroids, rest, shockwave therapy, Polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, hyaluronic acid, IRAP and PRP. Adult derived stem cells are a relatively new means of treating acute and chronic tendon injuries, suspensory and collateral ligament injuries and osteoarthritis in horses. Adult derived stem cells are concentrated and autologous to the patients in which they are used. Research is ongoing pertaining to how stem cells offer regeneration of injured tissues. The process begins either by the collection and storage of umbilical cord blood in a foal or by harvesting 50 grams of adipose tissue (fat) or 20-40 cc of bone marrow from the sternum or hip under standing sedation in adults. These samples are in turn sent overnight to commercial laboratories where they are processed for pleuripotent stem cells. These initial cells are then cultured in a lab and expanded to produce 5 to 30 million cells for injection back into the patient depending on the injury being treated and patient’s age and relative health. Stem cells are injected back into an injured joint or ligament or tendon with ultrasound guidance when needed or after arthroscopy if appropriate. Additional stem cells can be cryo-preserved dependent on the initial cell yield and used for subsequent regenerative therapy treatments. Get more info at www.alpinehospital.com. This tip was brought to you by Chuck Maker, DVM (www.alpinehospital.com) and KAM Animal Services, home of KAM’s “Equine Learning Circle” FREE webinars, which take place monthly. These webinars are an expansion of KAM’s weekly tips. Go to www.kamanimalservices.com to sign up for the next webinar. The FREE webinars will conclude with a question and answer session, so be ready with your questions. Tip of the Week – Oh No! Fly Season Is Here
Spray, pump, wipe… repeat! Each year horses suffer at the onslaught of a winged, biting, egg laying and disease carrying army of insects. We walk into battle with our artillery of chemical, natural or organic wipes and sprays. We even feed fresh or dried garlic. The question is: do these work? What other choices do we have? Thriving upon research, the arena of pest control provided an opportunity to experiment with several application products. Unsuccessfully, I even tried to make my own. The two topical application type products that really worked no longer were available. Unfortunately both lost the battle and had gone out of business. Do I have different flies than everyone else? When it comes to topical applications I look for products that are organic and there are many out there. The only way to find out if they work, try them. What about garlic? Yes, I believe it helps with insect control; plus a healthy dietary supportive product to boot. What about Diatomaceous Earth? Yes, I’ve read studies and have tried using it myself. As a feed through it provides some fly control. To apply topically dries the skin and to coat the stall floor dries out the hoof so those are not good options. It has helped though when spread down the aisle of barns or in certain areas of the barn yard. What’s thrilling is Diatomaceous Earth is an inexpensive weapon for insect control. Make sure you purchase food grade and take the necessary precautions for eye and inhalation protection during application. Kevin Babington and Mark Q Capture the $40,000 Strongid C 2X Grand Prix at HITS Culpeper © ESI Photography. Kevin Babington and Mark Q on course in the $40,000 Strongid C 2X Grand Prix. CULPEPER, VA (July 11, 2011) — With all new footing in the Grand Prix ring and beautiful weather, the $40,000 Strongid C 2X Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, Virginia, was well suited to highlight the Showday National. Kevin Babington of Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, could not have asked for much more, as he captured the first place honors aboard his own Mark Q. Sunday’s course was designed by Jerry Dougherty of Bokeelia, Florida. Four riders went clean, including standout junior and Grand Prix newcomer Hasbrouck Donovan of Gainesville, Florida. Donovan went third in the order, posting her clear round early aboard her own Delilah. Babington showed sixth in the order and earned the second clear round of the class to secure a jump-off. “I thought it was a great class,” said Babington. “I really enjoyed this show. Today’s class had a nice turnout, and the new footing was fantastic. We had some rain earlier in the week that gave it a good test and it passed with flying colors.” Babington, like so many others, has circled the Pfizer Million on his calendar this year. “The Pfizer Million is one of my main goals this year since it’s such a great opportunity to jump for that much prize money. This is a new horse that I didn’t realize would be such a strong contender for the Million but I think we’ll be ready.” Babington plans to return to HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties to help cement his spot in the Pfizer Million lineup. “I will be in Saugerties for three weeks and will hopefully get six qualifiers in then,” he said. “This was my third one so I should be in good shape after Saugerties.” Members of Congress Address AHC National Issues ForumJuly 7, 2011 – This year’s American Horse Council National Issues Forum, entitled “Congress on a Diet: What It Means for the Horse Industry,” highlighted the current budget environment in Washington. The issues forum was part of the AHC annual meeting held from June 19th to the 22nd that also included the annual Congressional Ride-In, AHC committee meetings, and a Congressional Reception. Several Members of Congress spoke to attendees during the issues forum including Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressmen Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY), who are the co-chairs of the Congressional Horse Caucus, as well as Congressman John Yarmouth (D-KY). “The AHC is grateful to have had so many Members of Congress come give us their perspective on the fiscal challenges facing the country. There were several different viewpoints, but the message was clear that when it comes to spending it will not be ‘business as usual’ in Washington,” said AHC President Jay Hickey. “Without a doubt we will be seeing less federal spending and that could impact the horse industry in many different ways.” The remainder of the issues forum included presentations from several individuals from federal agencies, state health officials and other organizations. Dr. John Clifford, Deputy Administrator and Chief Veterinary Officer for USDA’s Veterinary Services, and Dr. Guy Hohenhaus, President of the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials, discussed some of the issues USDA and state veterinarians face in responding to and mitigating equine disease outbreaks under current budgetary constraints. Cookies with a Clue for Your Horse
Have you ever been frustrated by how much time you spend making sure your horse has all the necessary supplements and wished there was a way to simplify the process? After all your research, are you confident your supplement program is designed to deliver results and that the individual supplements will work together? Well, you aren’t alone. Lots of horse owners feel the same way. For Marian Nilsen, owner of Healthy Horse Boutique, a company that prides itself on caring for horses with healthy, safe, effective methods, finding a solution to the supplement jungle became a mission. “One day I was in the barn mixing and measuring when I really wanted to be riding, teaching and training. I just felt like there had to be an answer. So, I approached equine nutritionist Gabriele Sutton of KAM Animal Services, a company that focuses on therapeutic supplements for better health, to see if she had any clues on how I could simplify supplementing my horses.” Together, Nilsen and Sutton came up with a clever solution. Why not put the supplements into a cookie? That was the birth of Cookies with a Clue, a line of cookies that are designed to target the situation, while ensuring your horse gets the basic supplements that every horse needs.” Tip of the Week – IRAP Joint Treatment for Your Horse
Degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis is one of the main causes of lameness in horses. DJD occurs when the joint cartilage is destroyed producing pain and inflammation. Typically therapy involves a combination of intra-articular medications such as hyaluronic acid and/or steroids, rest, oral pain medications, shockwave therapy, polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, intravenous hyaluronic acid, and oral supplements that contain glucosamine, avocado soy extracts, MSM and/or chondrotin sulfate. Joint treatments with IRAP (Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein) utilize progressive gene therapy to combat osteoarthritis. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a cellular protein that is secreted by many types of inflamed cells. These proteins signal the immune system to attack infected, damaged or dying cells. In the arthritic joint IL-1 plays an important role and accelerates the deterioration of tissues like joint cartilage. IRAP blocks IL-1 from binding to tissues and inhibits the damaging consequences of IL-1. The process begins with 60 cc of blood from your horse in a special syringe. The syringe is specially prepared with glass beads that stimulate production of the antagonist protein (Il-1a) and an anticoagulant. The process of harvesting, incubating and centrifuging the blood to separate the IRAP abundant plasma from blood takes 24 hours. Thereafter, IRAP joint treatments are administered every 8-10 days for three treatments depending on the condition being treated. This tip was brought to you by Chuck Maker, DVM (www.alpinehospital.com) and KAM Animal Services, home of KAM’s “Equine Learning Circle” FREE webinars, which take place monthly. These webinars are an expansion of KAM’s weekly tips. Go to www.kamanimalservices.com to sign up for the next webinar. The FREE webinars will conclude with a question and answer session, so be ready with your nutrition questions. Tip of the Week – You Can Lead a Horse to Water But…
Does your horse continually fall short of obtaining good health and optimum performance? Have you reached beyond all means to find answers, yet battle consistent immune, digestive problems and more? Have you peered over the stall or gazed toward the horizon of the pasture at a horse wondering what else can I do? These questions are even more difficult as the spirit of the horse ceases to give up. The answer might be right there on the ranch or at the boarding facility. The discovery may bring forth a simple solution or a costly one, but the impact can be huge. Horse owners and feed companies spend copious amounts of time dissecting such a small portion of the horse’s diet. Supplements, grain mixes, etc. compared to the amount of hay they should eat or larger yet, the volume of water they should drink per day may never be addressed. At times these nutrients may never flow into the topic of conversation when discussing a horse’s health. For your knowledge, a horse consumes 1.5% – 2% of their body weight in dry matter. Dry matter would include hay, grain mixes, pellets and supplements. When combined, these would total close to 20 pounds for a 1000 pound horse. Water requirements for this same horse exceeds by four times the amount of dry matter. Optimum consumption of water would be close to 90 pounds. This number does not take into consideration the loss of water through sweat, breathing, digestive or elimination processes. In fact, it has been researched that dehydration may be known as the new “silent killer.” Tip of the Week – Equine LamenessTrying to Find the Needle in the Haystack 
Whether your horse competes in FEI level dressage or national working cow horse competitions, few problems can be more worrisome as a sudden lameness of unknown origin. While a clinical exam and hoof tester application is often all that is needed to diagnose a routine sub solar abscess, many of today’s athletes are affected by more serious injuries. Oftentimes with today’s equine athlete, multiple soft tissue conditions present affecting different limbs simultaneously, thereby confounding the diagnosis. Sequential regional anesthesia or nerve blocks and repeated gait analysis are often required to define and “un-couple” these conditions. Once localized to a region or regions, the imagining methods used today to define the cause of lameness range from digital X-ray and ultrasound to nuclear medicine, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Unequivocally defining the exact location and nature of your horse’s lameness issues with advanced imaging techniques better enables veterinarians to design the best treatment plan and quickest route back to the show ring. This tip was brought to you by Chuck Maker DVM (www.alpinehospital.com) and KAM Animal Services, home of KAM’s “Equine Learning Circle” FREE webinars, which take place monthly. These webinars are an expansion of KAM’s weekly tips. Go to www.kamanimalservices.com to sign up for the next webinar. The FREE webinars will conclude with a question and answer session, so be ready with your nutrition questions. Tip of the Week – Healing Horses with Glandulars
When treating chronic diseases my goal is to cure the disease. You may laugh at this point, because everyone knows certain conditions are listed as chronic diseases and there is no cure but only control of the problem with drugs/medications. Since 1995 I have not utilized drugs in the treatment of chronic animal diseases, but only homeopathics, herbs and nutrition. With Homeopathy, when I discovered the healing process and though I had success, the rate of cure was slow and spotty. Then I happened upon Dr. Royal Lee’s unique method of deriving extracts containing cells from specific organs and glands and I began using them in a clinical setting. Dr. Lee believed that these cellular organ extracts supported cell regulation, maintenance and the interaction between other body tissues that support the healing process. The three glandular type products include Protomorphogens, Cytosols and Glandular Extracts. Of the three the Protomorphens (made from the nucleus and nucleic acids) are used most successfully in chronic conditions. The Cytosols (derived from the cytoplasm of cells) are glandulars used in acute conditions when the body needs a quick boost. The Glandular extracts (the easiest to produce and most widely used but most ineffective of the 3) are the desiccated remains of the organs. Helping to Cope with the Equine Herpes Virus-1, NaturallyAccording to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) infection in horses can cause not only the neurologic disease (Equine Herpes Virus Myeloencephalopathy, or EHM for short) that is in the news now, but also respiratory disease, abortion in mares and neonatal foal death. Viruses spread through the air, contaminated equipment, clothing (including boots) and hands. A virus, according to Wikipedia, is a biological agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. Once the host cell is infected by a virus, it is forced to produce many thousands of identical copies of the original virus at an astounding rate. Because viruses do not have cells that divide, the new viruses accumulate in the infected host cell. Viruses are found wherever there is life and have most likely existed since living cells first evolved. Viral infections are usually eliminated by the body’s immune system which protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. Detection of viruses is complicated as the pathogens can evolve rapidly, adapting easily to avoid the defenses of the immune system. When the immune system is not functioning properly, recurring and life-threatening infections can result. How can horse owners help protect their horses and build up their immune system? |
