Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital

Teaching medical sciences is a continuously evolving process that requires an ongoing update for both students and teachers. Several methods are used to measure learning styles, among which the Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinesthetic (VARK) framework focuses on how learners prefer to obtain information. With this study, we aimed to assess the VARK learning style on a large sample of veterinary students and educators in an aged-variety, multi-lingual, and multi-institutional setting. We obtained a total of 873 replies to our survey: 78.7% students, 6.6% veterinarians, 5.9% people with another occupation inherent to veterinary medicine, 5.7% European or American board-certified specialists, 1.1% veterinary nurses, 0.9% veterinary interns, and 0.9% veterinary residents of different specialties. The replies were obtained from French (56%), English (31.7%), Italian (11.5%), and Spanish (0.8%) versions of the survey. Most respondents (52.6%) were unimodal learners, while 47.4% exhibited two or more learning styles. Baby Boomers and Millennials were significantly less likely to use the visual and the aural style, respectively, compared with Generation Z. Moreover, Baby Boomers were approximately 54.2% less likely to be multimodal learners than Generation Z (χ2 = 4.291, p = .038). According to our results, the current veterinary student population is comprised of multimodal learners highly adapted to learn visually and by listening, although there are some differences between countries. An initial assessment with the VARK survey at the beginning of the course may help teachers to study their specific population. Finally, here we collect some specific recommendations to follow based on the country where students are enrolled.

To investigate the in vitro efficacy of antibiotics (amikacin, ceftiofur, and gentamicin) in combination with local anesthetics (LAs; bupivacaine hydrochloride, lidocaine hydrochloride, and mepivacaine hydrochloride), a combination commonly performed for IA injectate and regional limb perfusion (RLP) in horses. 17 equine clinical isolates were tested by the checkerboard method for their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against a combination of concentrations of LAs and antibiotics from August 2020 through December 2023. For the majority of combinations, the antibiotic efficacy was not affected. However, in a subset of combinations (n = 70), the addition of LA to the antibiotic solution displayed a synergistic (n = 14) or antagonistic (n = 56) effect, indicating that LA increased or decreased antibiotic activity, respectively. Increased MICs seen in most antagonistic combinations appeared to be without clinical relevance as MICs remained below or above clinically achievable concentrations. In contrast, antagonism observed for aminoglycoside-LA combinations resulted in MICs higher than the concentration achievable by RLP. In some synergistic combinations, MICs decreased from markedly above to below or near clinically achievable concentrations against a specific antibiotic. The addition of LAs to antibiotic solutions for IA injections does not compromise the in vitro antibiotic effect. Conversely, the addition for RLPs compromises the in vitro antibiotic effect at clinical concentrations. This in vitro study suggests that LAs can be added to IA antibiotic solutions without compromising antibiotic effects against common equine pathogens. For RLP, the combination of tested aminoglycosides (amikacin and gentamicin) and LAs is discouraged without taking into account MICs of antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

The aim of this consensus statement is to summarize and appraise scientific evidence and combine this with the clinical experience of a panel of experts to optimize recommendations on how to recognize and manage kidney disease in horses.

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is a blinding ocular disorder among horses, and the Appaloosa horse breed is disproportionally affected by a chronic form of this intraocular inflammatory disease known as insidious uveitis. Strong breed predisposition and previous investigations suggest that there is a genetic component to the pathology of insidious uveitis among Appaloosa horses; however, no estimates of the heritability of the disease have previously been determined. This study aimed to characterize the genetic underpinning of the disease by estimating the heritability for insidious uveitis among Appaloosas. After combining two genotyping array datasets from the Illumina Equine SNP70 BeadChip and the Axiom Equine 670 K Genotyping Array, heritability was estimated for 59 affected and 83 unaffected horses using both restricted maximum likelihood (REML) and phenotype correlation - genotype correlation solvers from the linkage disequilibrium adjusted kinship software. Based on previous research, age and sex were used as covariates, and the locus responsible for the characteristic Appaloosa coat pattern (LP), previously associated with ERU risk, was included as a fixed effect ('top predictor'). Using prevalence values from 0.05 to 0.42, the heritability estimate for insidious uveitis ranged from 0.95 (SE=0.14) to 1.74 (SE=0.25) with LP contributing 0.16-0.33 to the estimate. This study suggests that insidious uveitis is highly heritable (REML 95% CI, h2 =0.68-1.0) and additional loci outside of LP are contributing to the genetic risk for insidious uveitis for Appaloosas. Once identified, these other genetic factors may lead to new disease mitigation efforts in veterinary care and breeding practices.

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is an autoimmune disease defined by inflammation of the uveal tract of the eye. The cause of ERU is thought to be complex, involving both genetic and environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential genetic risk factors for ERU in the Icelandic horse. Fifty-six Icelandic horses (11 affected with ERU and 45 controls) living in Denmark and the USA, eight years or older, were included in the study. A case-control GWAS was performed using the GGP Equine 80K array on the Illumina Infinium HD Beadchip using 40 horses. A mixed linear model analysis identified a single SNP on ECA 11 (BIEC2_141650; NC_009154.3:g.3817009A>G) that reached genome-wide significance (p=1.79×10-7 ). This variant was within an intron of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP2), a gene previously implicated in ERU. Sanger sequencing identified a single coding variant in this gene; however it was a synonymous mutation (NC_009154.3:g.3858193C>T) and was not perfectly concordant with ERU phenotype (p=0.68). Further investigation of TIMP2 is warranted. Additional horses and markers are needed to identify other potential loci worthy of further investigation as contributors to ERU risk in Icelandic horses.

To describe the clinical signs, surgical treatment, and outcome of septic arthritis of the coxofemoral joint in foals. Retrospective clinical study. Foals (n = 12) with confirmed sepsis of the coxofemoral joint. Lameness was localized to the coxofemoral joint based on physical examination. Sepsis was confirmed by cytological analysis of synovial fluid obtained under ultrasonographic guidance, during general anesthesia or standing sedation. Intra-articular analgesia was used as an adjunct diagnostic modality in 2 foals. Surgical lavage of the affected joint was performed via arthroscopy or needle lavage, with repeated lavage performed in 7 foals. Synovial fluid contained 4.4 to 173 × 109 /L white blood cells (WBCs), and 38-63 g/L total protein. Cultures were positive in 10/12 foals. Isolated organisms included Salmonella spp., Streptococcus spp., Rhodococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Escherichia spp., Staphylococcus spp., Acinetobacter spp., Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus spp. Ten foals were discharged from hospital (83%). One of these was euthanized 15 days later due to chronic intestinal salmonellosis and renal failure, and 9 foals survived with no residual lameness detected 1 year after discharge from hospital. Sepsis of the coxofermoral joint can be effectively treated with a combination of arthroscopic lavage and the use of systemic and local antimicrobials.

Dental disorders are common in horses. The objetive of the study was determined the frequency of dental problems in Chilean Rodeo Horses and described the most common dental treatments used in Chile. Oral examinations were performed on 456 Chilean rodeo horses and the disorders were observed as follows: Oral soft tissues, 259 horses (56%) presented lacerations and/or ulcers. Regarding the first premolar, it was present in 32% of the horses, all maxillary positioned. In canines, 245 (54%) were present and overlong tooth. Disorders found in incisors show supererupted (Tooth overlong) in 147 (32%); ventral curvature in 116 (25%), nevertheless 102 (22%) horses showed no abnormalities. About the diseases found in cheek teeth (premolars and molars), the more prevalent ones was enamel points in 426 (93%), rostral or caudal hooks in 354 (78%), and ramps in 231 (51%). Confidence intervals between all dental diseases found in the study showed no statistical significance when was analyzed for age or gender. When age groups were made, statistical significance appear X² Pearson (p=0,01), were mostly malocclusion type I was the more common in young, mature and geriatric horses. Other disorders such as problems at the time of eruption, development and periodontal disease are statiscally similar X² (p=0,07). About the treatments it is important to mention that in 453 (99%) horses received odontoplasty and 147 (32%) first premolar extraction. This study shows that Chilean rodeo horses have dental disorders similar to other horse breeds, except by small increase in soft tissue damage and incisors problems.