1. Introduction The hoof wall represents the outer protective structure of the foot and has long been of interest in terms of its growth, structure, and functioning, especially during disease conditions such as laminitis. The incidence of problems related to the hoof wall has been estimated to be 30% or more [1,2]. Although causal factors of some hoof wall abnormalities are obvious, such as dir...

Equine laminitis is a crippling disease that affects all breeds of horses and is commonly a career-ending and often life-threatening disease. Treatment of laminitis continues to be a controversial topic in equine veterinary medicine because there is a lack of universally efficacious treatment modalities. We recently developed a practical method to efficiently deliver transgene-produced proteins...

Laminitis is a chronic, crippling disease triggered by the sudden influx of dietary starch. Starch reaches the hindgut resulting in enrichment of lactic acid bacteria, lactate accumulation, and acidification of the gut contents. Bacterial products enter the bloodstream and precipitate systemic inflammation. Hindgut lactate levels are normally low because specific bacterial groups convert lactat...

The connection between a feeding regime with a high proportion of concentrates and laminitis is well recognized in domestic animal medicine but has received little attention in captive wild hoofstock. We used the occasion of a transport of two ruminant groups, that necessitated immobilization, for an evaluation of the appearance of the hooves on the one, and of the pH of the rumen fluid gained ...

Acute ruminal acidosis is a metabolic status defined by decreased blood pH and bicarbonate, caused by overproduction of ruminal D-lactate. It will appear when animals ingest excessive amount of nonstructural carbohydrates with low neutral detergent fiber. Animals will show ruminal hypotony/atony with hydrorumen and a typical parakeratosis-rumenitis liver abscess complex, associated with a pleth...

Hyperinsulinemia unrelated to recent high soluble carbohydrate feeding and disproportionate to blood glucose levels, indicating insulin resistance, is well known to occur in equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, Cushing's disease), has been described in ponies and miniatures, and is receiving increasing attention as an underlying problem in horses prone to obesity and laminitis. I...

Copyright 2003 by Kathryn Watts, Research Director, Rocky Mountain Research & Consulting, Center, CO http://www.safergrass.org/ Paul Sirois, Manager, Dairy One Forage Testing Lab, Ithaca, NY http://www.dairyone.com/ Funded with a grant from the Animal Health Foundation http://www.animalhealthfoundation.com/ Purpose To determine if soaking a variety of different hays in cold or hot water for spe...