Monitoring of Non-Lame Horses and Horses with Unilateral Hindlimb Lameness at Rest with the Aid of Accelerometers.

The aim of this study was to determine whether horses exhibiting unilateral hindlimb lameness unload (rest) the lame limb more than the contralateral limb. The resting/unloading of the hindlimbs and the time spent lying down were measured using accelerometers. Ten non-lame horses and 20 lame horses were recruited for participation and monitored for 11 h overnight with accelerometers (MSR145, sampling rate: 1 Hz, and measuring range: ±15 g) attached to the lateral metatarsal and metacarpal regions of each limb.

Time budgets and weight shifting as indicators of pain in hospitalized horses.

Introduction: Pain assessment in horses presents a significant challenge due to their nonverbal nature and their tendency to conceal signs of discomfort in the presence of potential threats, including humans. Therefore, this study aimed to identify pain-associated behaviors amenable to automated AI-based detection in video recordings. Additionally, it sought to determine correlations between pain intensity and behavioral and postural parameters by analyzing factors such as time budgets, weight shifting, and unstable resting.

Comparative proteomic profiling of the ovine and human PBMC inflammatory response.

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of inflammation requires robust animal models. Sheep are commonly used in immune-related studies, yet the validity of sheep as animal models for immune and inflammatory diseases remains to be established. This cross-species comparative study analyzed the in vitro inflammatory response of ovine (oPBMCs) and human PBMCs (hPBMCs) using mass spectrometry, profiling the proteome of the secretome and whole cell lysate.

The impact of opioid administration on the incidence of postanaesthetic colic in horses.

Effective management of postoperative pain is essential to ensure patient welfare, reduce morbidity and optimize recovery. Opioids are effective in managing moderate to severe pain in horses but concerns over their adverse effects on gastrointestinal (GI) motility and associated increased colic risk limit their widespread use. Studies investigating the impact of systemic opioids on both GI motility and colic incidence in horses have yielded inconclusive outcomes.

Development, refinement, and validation of an equine musculoskeletal pain scale.

Musculoskeletal disease is a common cause of chronic pain that is often overlooked and inadequately treated, impacting the quality of life of humans and horses alike. Lameness due to musculoskeletal pain is prevalent in horses, but the perception of pain by owners is low compared with veterinary diagnosis. Therefore, this study aims to establish and validate a pain scale for chronic equine orthopaedic pain that is user-friendly for horse owners and veterinarians to facilitate the identification and monitoring of pain in horses.

Equine Social Behaviour: Love, War and Tolerance.

Sociality is an ethological need of horses that remained unchanged by domestication. Accordingly, it is essential to include horses' social behavioural requirements and the opportunity to establish stable affiliative bonds in equine management systems and welfare assessment. Thus, this systematic review aims to provide an up-to-date analysis of equine intraspecific social ethograms.

3D printed plates based on generative design biomechanically outperform manual digital fitting and conventional systems printed in photopolymers in bridging mandibular bone defects of critical size in dogs.

Conventional plate osteosynthesis of critical-sized bone defects in canine mandibles can fail to restore former functionality and stability due to adaption limits. Three-dimensional (3D) printed patient-specific implants are becoming increasingly popular as these can be customized to avoid critical structures, achieve perfect alignment to individual bone contours, and may provide better stability. Using a 3D surface model for the mandible, four plate designs were created and evaluated for their properties to stabilize a defined 30 mm critical-size bone defect.

Evaluation of an Accelerometer-Based Device for Testing the Softness of Bedding Materials Used for Livestock.

Lying is a high priority behavior for dairy cows. As the quality of cubicles can influence their lying time, the interest in finding objective methods to assess the quality of floors has increased substantially over recent decades. This study aimed to evaluate a technical device for measuring elastic properties of floors for the application to bedding materials for cows.

Tendinopathy: sex bias starts from the preclinical development of tendon treatments. A systematic review.

Tendinopathies are common overuse disorders that arise both in athletes and the general population. Available tendon treatments are used both for women and men without distinction. However, the existence of a sex-based difference in tendon biology is widely demonstrated.

Quality of Life within Horse Welfare Assessment Tools: Informing Decisions for Chronically Ill and Geriatric Horses.

Equine Quality of Life (QoL) is an important concern in decision making in veterinary medicine and is especially relevant for chronically ill or geriatric horses towards the end of their lives. To our knowledge, there is no currently available QoL assessment tool for chronically ill or geriatric horses that assesses equine QoL defined as the horse's evaluation of their life. However, tools exist to assess equine welfare in different contexts.

A Descriptive Study of the Clinical Presentation, Management, and Outcome of Horses with Acute Soft Tissue Trauma of the Tarsus and the Association with Synovial Involvement.

The tarsus is one of the most common areas of traumatic injury with associated synovial involvement (SI) in horses. The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic procedures, management (emphasizing the type, duration, and route of antimicrobial administration), and outcome of cases with acute soft tissue trauma to the tarsal region. The presenting clinical features, the results of diagnostic modalities, and the initial response to therapy were assessed for their usefulness to predict SI.

Recumbency as an Equine Welfare Indicator in Geriatric Horses and Horses with Chronic Orthopaedic Disease.

Recumbency is a prerequisite for horses achieving rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and completing a full sleep cycle. An inability to lie down due to environmental insecurities or pain results in REM sleep deficiency, which can cause substantial impairment of welfare and health. Therefore, the present study used wearable automated sensor technology on 83 horses housed in an animal sanctuary to measure and compare the recumbency, locomotion, and standing time budgets of geriatric horses with and without chronic lameness to younger adult sound and lame horses.

The role of selenium and vitamin E in a Transylvanian enzootic equine recurrent rhabdomyolysis syndrome.

A severe form of recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis occurs enzootically in a well-defined region of Transylvania, Harghita county. At the highest lying two settlements (more than 800 m above sea level), the prevalence of equine rhabdomyolysis is between 17 and 23%, while in the neighbouring villages in the valley it is less than 2%. The objective of our study was to clarify the role of selenium and vitamin E in the high prevalence of rhabdomyolysis in that region.

Equine Activity Time Budgets: The Effect of Housing and Management Conditions on Geriatric Horses and Horses with Chronic Orthopaedic Disease.

Housing and management conditions strongly influence the health, welfare and behaviour of horses. Consequently, objective and quantifiable comparisons between domestic environments and their influence on different equine demographics are needed to establish evidence-based criteria to assess and optimize horse welfare. Therefore, the present study aimed to measure and compare the time budgets (=percentage of time spent on specific activities) of horses with chronic orthopaedic disease and geriatric (≥20 years) horses living in different husbandry systems using an automated tracking device.

Comparison of Extracapsular Stabilization Techniques Using an Ultrasonically Implanted Absorbable Bone Anchor (Weldix) after Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture in Cats-An In Vitro Study.

Background: This study evaluated joint stability after surgical repair of cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL)-deficient stifle joints in cats using a novel absorbable polylactide bone anchor in an ex vivo model.

Methods: Thirty-six hindlimbs from cats with intact (G group) and transected CrCLs were treated with fabellotibial suture alone (G group), suture combined with an absorbable polylactide bone anchor (G group), or suture combined with a nonabsorbable bone anchor (G group), positioned in a limb press with predefined joint angles (stifle joint: 120 ± 5°; hock joint: 120 ± 5°) and loaded with 10%, 20%, and 30% of body mass (BM). Predefined points were measured on lateral radiographs and with a coordinate measurement machine.

Activity Time Budgets-A Potential Tool to Monitor Equine Welfare?

Horses' behavior can provide valuable insight into their subjective state and is thus a good indicator of welfare. However, its complexity requires objective, quantifiable, and unambiguous evidence-based assessment criteria. As healthy, stress-free horses exhibit a highly repetitive daily routine, temporal quantification of their behavioral activities (time budget analysis) can assist in equine welfare assessment.

The Effect of Uterine Lavage on Soluble CD14, Chemokine Ligand 2, and Interleukin 10 Levels in Mares With Postpartum Metritis.

Postpartum metritis in mares is a life-threatening condition associated with severe clinical signs due to endotoxemia, and it is often followed by complications such as laminitis. Repeated large-volume uterine lavages are commonly recommended as a part of the treatment protocol to remove endotoxin-laden contents from the uterus. It has, however, also been suggested that lavages may increase the uptake of endotoxin into the circulation, leading to a deterioration of clinical signs.

Large Animal Models in Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering: To Do or Not to Do.

Rapid developments in Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering has witnessed an increasing drive toward clinical translation of breakthrough technologies. However, the progression of promising preclinical data to achieve successful clinical market authorisation remains a bottleneck. One hurdle for progress to the clinic is the transition from small animal research to advanced preclinical studies in large animals to test safety and efficacy of products.

Trot Accelerations of Equine Front and Hind Hooves Shod with Polyurethane Composite Shoes and Steel Shoes on Asphalt.

The present study investigated accelerations of the front and hind hooves of horses comparing two different shoe types. A standard steel shoe, with studs, pins, and in some instances with toe grabs, was compared to a steel shoe covered on the bottom with a layer of polyurethane. Four horses were used; they trotted in hand on an asphalt track at their self-selected speed.

Age-related changes of tendon fibril micro-morphology and gene expression.

Aging is hypothesized to be associated with changes in tendon matrix composition which may lead to alteration of tendon material properties and hence propensity to injury. Altered gene expression may offer insights into disease pathophysiology and thus open new perspectives toward designing pathophysiology-driven therapeutics. Therefore, the current study aimed at identifying naturally occurring differences in tendon micro-morphology and gene expression of newborn, young and old horses.

Establishment of a model for equine small intestinal disease: effects of extracorporeal blood perfusion of equine ileum on metabolic variables and histological morphology - an experimental ex vivo study.

Background: In horses a number of small intestinal diseases is potentially life threatening. Among them are Equine Grass Sickness (EGS), which is characterised by enteric neurodegeneration of unknown aetiology, as well as reperfusion injury of ischaemic intestine (I/R), and post-operative ileus (POI), common after colic surgery. The perfusion of isolated organs is successfully used to minimize animal testing for the study of pathophysiology in other scenarios.

Scintigraphic evaluation of cheek teeth in clinically sound horses.

Dental disorders are one of the top-ranking clinical domains in equine practice. Scintigraphy has emerged as a useful diagnostic imaging modality for equine dental diseases. There is a paucity of the normal scintigraphic uptake and its correlation with age.

Finite Element Modelling Simulated Meniscus Translocation and Deformation during Locomotion of the Equine Stifle.

We developed a finite element model (FEM) of the equine stifle joint to identify pressure peaks and simulate translocation and deformation of the menisci. A series of sectional magnetic resonance images (1.5 T) of the stifle joint of a 23 year old Shetland pony gelding served as basis for image segmentation.