Content
- Equine Influenza
- Infectious Anemia in Horses
- Equine encephalitis
- Equine colic
- Equine Gurma
- Skin diseases in horses
- See a Veterinarian
Horses are animals known for being raised in rural environments, helping the population with the transport of materials in agriculture, or as a means of transport for humans. In addition hippotherapy, which are exercises in which horses participate by interacting with people, is one of the forms of therapy recognized by the Federal Council of Medicine to treat patients with various clinical conditions, such as cerebral palsy, autism, and Down syndrome.
To ensure the health and well-being of our equine friends, we must pay attention to basic care from birth, make periodic visits to your veterinarian, observe if there is a change in behavior or body in the horse, among other care measures . To help you with information about horse diseases, we do Animal Expert we bring this article with some examples of equine diseases.
Equine Influenza
Also known as the flu or horse cough, this disease is caused by a virus, and is transmitted by direct contact between sick and healthy horses. Its symptoms are similar to those that happen with human flu, and may present:
- Fever
- shiver
- Quick Breath
- loss of appetite
- Nasal discharge
- Inflammation in the throat
- Cough
THE equine influenza it is a very contagious disease, it occurs mainly in places where animals are crowded, and in horses under 5 years of age.
During treatment, the animal must remain at complete rest, avoiding contact with cold air currents, with nutritious food and hygiene in its resting place.
Infectious Anemia in Horses
Also known as swamp fever, infectious anemia in horses is caused by virus transmission, carried out by mosquitoes, horseflies and blowflies. These little insects, when feeding on dog blood.sick damage, carry the infectious anemia virus, and by attacking healthy animals, the disease is transmitted.
This disease can attack horses of any breed, sex and age, and it happens mainly in humid environments, in forest regions or in poorly drained terrain.
Its main symptoms are:
- Fever
- fast breathing
- Head down
- Weight loss
- difficulty in walking
Equine encephalitis
Also known as Aujesky's disease, false anger, blind plague, a equine encephalitis it occurs by virus transmission, by bats, ticks, among other animals that can feed on the blood of horses. In addition, contagion is carried out when transmission occurs in our nasal and digestive tracts.
The virus of this disease infects the central nervous system of horses, which can cause several disorders such as:
- difficulty in walking
- Fever
- Somnolence
- frequent falls
- fast weight loss
- Vision Difficulty
- drooping eyelids
- Hypersensitivity to touch
- Noise hypersensitivity
Sick horses have the virus in blood, viscera and bone marrow. To ensure better efficiency in the treatment of equine encephalitis, sick horses they should be removed from their routine activities, and placed in dark places, under hygienic conditions and ensuring a peaceful environment.
Equine colic
At equine cramps are the result of diseases that can occur in different organs of the horse, and are classified as true equine cramps and false equine colic, according to the symptoms.
True equine colic is caused by diseases of the stomach and intestine. These diseases result in abnormal defecations and are painful to animals. False equine colic are diseases that affect other internal organs, spleen, kidneys, among others.
For the treatment of equine colic, the sick horse must be kept in an environment with no food supply.
Equine Gurma
Gurma is an equine disease caused by bacteria and affects the breathing of animals. The contagion is carried out by direct contact between healthy and sick horses, through secretions, bedding, fodder, environment, or other shared items.
This disease affects horses of all races, sexes and ages, and has main symptoms:
- slimming
- nasal secretions
- Fever
- Inflammation in the throat
Skin diseases in horses
Horses are animals that are prone to acquire various skin diseases, which can occur for many reasons, such as infection from bacteria, fungi, allergies to chemicals, insecticides, insect bites, among others. Recognition of your pet's skin diseases can facilitate and assist in its treatment.
To help you identify if your horse has a skin disease, we will highlight here some examples of skin diseases in horses:
- Hereditary regional dermal asthenia (HERDA): It is a genetic anomaly that affects purebred horses such as Quarter Horses, due to their fragile and sensitive skin. Its main symptoms are: Itching and wounds on the back, limbs and neck;
- Dermatophyllosis: It is a disease caused by bacteria, and its symptoms are crusty and scaly eruptions in various parts of the animal's body.
- non-cancerous swellings: These are the result of infections, and poor wound healing.
- Parasites or insect bites: The presence or action of these animals can result in itching and irritation of the horse's skin, which consequently lead to wounds.
- Cancerous Lesions: It occurs mainly on horses with light coats, which does not guarantee protection from sun exposure. As with other cases of cancer, these lesions can spread through the animal's body.
- Dermatitis in the lower limbs: It is a disease caused by fungi and bacteria, can result in hair loss in the infected area, and result in wounds.
See a Veterinarian
Recognizing symptoms in your horse can make it easier to diagnose equine diseases, which contributes to a faster treatment, ensuring the health and well-being of your animal. However, even with this information, your horse needs to be accompanied by a veterinarian, so that diagnosis and treatment can be carried out more accurately and effectively.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.