Clinicians in veterinary practice have responsibilities for the development of global antibiotic resistance. In some cases, antibiotics are contraindicated or even useless in wound treatments and therefore other options are needed. Antiseptics may be another option but their use are controversial and may be questioned by owners. As professionals, it may be very difficult to be able to motivate this choice of treatment. The aim of this paper is to gain knowledge about four antiseptics; iodine, silver, polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) and honey to make it easier for veterinary nurses and other clinicians in veterinary practices to decide their potential use. The assessment will be made with consideration of the available evidence concerning the properties, usability and the animal?s experience. The results showed a lack of evidence in in-vivo studies in horses, particularly studies within the field of veterinary nursing.

The idea behind this project came from a feed study executed two years during the lambing season. Both years wool loss was experienced. Low temperature in combination with shearing was believed to cause the wool loss the first year, while protein deficiency was believed to be the cause the second year. In the literature many causes of wool loss are described; mechanical wear, telogen effluvium, bacterial dermatitis, external parasites, wool break, scrapie, genetic causes and nutritional deficiencies are some examples. The aim of this thesis was to study causes for wool loss and how common wool loss is in Swedish sheep herds.

SCA is the largest private owned forest owner in Sweden, with an ownership of 2 million hectares of productive forestland. To manage the planning of such large areas and to fit the traditional organization structure of a Swedish forest company, the planning approach is subdivided into three stages; strategic, tactical and operational. The strategic part, based on a statistic sample of stands, returns a harvest level estimate which should then be implemented at actual sites in the tactical part. This procedure can lead to incompatible solutions as the strategic solution is not necessarily possible to translate into actual sites in the tactical plan. The geographic aspect is important in tactical planning due to the large costs for moving equipment and maintenance of a large number of forest roads.

Dysfunction of the upper respiratory tract is a common cause of impaired performance and intolerance to exercise in racehorses and include several upper airway obstructions. The ones termed dynamic obstructions are primarily seen during physical exertion and affected horses often appear to be normal during endoscope examination at rest. The correlation between diagnoses made at rest respectively exercise is low, suggesting that an examination at rest alone is likely to be insufficient. The upper respiratory tract is exposed to great differences in pressure throughout the respiratory cycle; variations that are further altered during strenuous exercise and affect the rigidity of upper airway structures. In presence of great fluctuations in pressure, stability is achieved through coordinated and synchronous neuromuscular mechanisms. Due to nerve damage or anatomical abnormalities, these functions may be disrupted and further cause a dynamic collapse of the upper respiratory tract when pressure changes become too severe. The etiology behind the neuromuscular dysfunction is not yet fully understood.

High-performance equine athletes have an energy requirement that often reaches twice the maintenance requirement. Horses are grazers and adapted to a grass diet, and diets high in grains and concentrates are associated with digestive upsets and behavioural disorders. It could therefore be of interest if the energy requirement of a high-performing horse could be met by forage. It is important that the forage have a high concentration of energy so that the horse is able to consume the whole amount of energy needed from the forage without exceeding the maximum voluntary intake. The purpose of this literature study was to investigate if the energy demand of a high-performance horse can be covered by forage produced under Northern Swedish climate conditions.

Horses are by nature herbivores, specialized on grass, and graze during the main part of the day. The horse has neither changed this basic behaviour nor the function of gastro-intestinal tract, when the horse was domesticated by man. A horse on pasture has an even production of saliva and gastric acids. The buffering effect of the saliva makes the pH in the stomach above four throughout most of the day. With abnormal long breaks of eating, the pH may decrease, causing an increased risk of gastric ulcer.

Skiascopy, also called retinoscopy, is a method for determining the refractive power of the eye. There are only a few, old studies made on equine refraction. The aim of this study was to investigate the refractive power in a population of Swedish horses. The study consists of a review of relevant studies done on animals and an experimental part where the refractive power of 93 horses of different age, breed and usage was examined. A pilot study of 12 horses was performed regarding the importance of cycloplegia when doing skiascopy on horses. The results of the pilot study show no significant difference in the skiascopy results between the group before and after cycloplegia were induced. Consequently, there is no need of inducing cycloplegia before doing skiascopy in adult horses. The study shows that horses usually were emmetropic (normally sighted) with minor deviations toward myopia or hyperopia.

The aim of this study was to find out how many and which of the herbs used for horses that have been scientifically studied with results to justify the use. In order to find out which herbs that are commonly used by horse-owners a phone interview was performed where six companies selling herbs for horses was contacted and asked to provide information on the most sold herbs for horses in Sweden. Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis), nettle (Urtica dioica) and monk's pepper (Vitex agnus-castus) where the most sold herbs, followed by marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), burdock (Arctium lappa), marigold (Calendula officinalis), purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia/purpurea), cleavers (Galium aparine), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), rose hip (Rosa canina), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and vervain (Verbena officinalis), in no particular order. Of the most used herbs, research with focus on the use for horses was found for purple coneflower, licorice, devil's claw, monk's pepper, rose hip, thyme, and vervain. These studies did not cover the whole range of traditional use for the mentioned herbs, and more studies are needed to be able to claim that these herbs have, or have not, scientific support for use in equine management..

Icelandic horses are becomming increasingly common in Sweden. The owners of Icelandic horses in Sweden usually believe their horses to be different from other breeds. Icelandic horses are predominantly considered to be less reactive, less neophobic and easier to handle than other breeds. Swedish owners of Icelandic horses also usually try to house and handle their horses in a way similar to the traditional extensive Icelandic way. There are no scientific studies of breed differences between Icelandic horses and other breeds, or of the housing of Swedish Icelandic horses.

I Sociologiskt perspektiv på Hästunderstödd terapi studeras hur deltagares upplevelser och effekter av Hästunderstödd terapi med någon form av psykosocial inriktning kan förstås ur ett sociologiskt perspektiv. Fyra artiklar som behandlar Hästundersstödd terapi analyseras med ett konstruktivistiskt förhållningssätt och en induktiv ansats har antagits. Resultatet av analysen ställs i relation till tidigare sociologisk forskning och sociologiska teorier som behandlar interaktion, kommunikation och relation mellan människa och djur. Resultatet mynnade i tre kategorier som står i relation till varandra. Kategorierna är: Sociala relationer, emotionell utveckling och identitetsskapande.

Ridterapi har på senare tid börjat användas som en komplettarande behandlingsmetod för psykosocial problematik. I dagsläget finns ännu inte mycket forskning inom ämnet och behandlingsmetoden är vare sig speciellt känd eller etablerad. I denna uppsats görs en kartläggning av socialsekreterares uppfattning och kännedom om ridterapi. Undersökningen var i form av en enkät och genomfördes i Uppsala län där socialsekreterare som arbetar med placeringar på HVB-hem medverkade. Vi ville se om olika faktorer som exempelvis ett eget djurintresse, kunskap om behandlingsmetoden, kön och ålder kunde påverka deras inställning till ridterapi.

Syftet med detta examensarbete var att hitta praktiska metoder för att reducera innehållet av glukos, fruktos, sukros och fruktaner, så kallade lättlösliga kolhydrater (WSC), i vallfoder. Ett vallfoder med mindre mängd WSC kan vara användbart för hästar som har fång, är insulinresistenta eller har fått diagnosen EMS (equine metabolic syndrome) eller Equine Cushing?s syndrome. Faktorer som kan påverka innehållet av WSC i vallfoder är bl.a. växtens utvecklingsstadium, konserveringsmetod, lagringstid, tillsats av mjölksyrabakterier till ensilage/hösilage, samt blötläggning av foder innan utfodring.

Den ekologiska produktionen styrs av många olika lagar och regler som den konventionella produktionen inte behöver följa. Dessa regler kan ses som en välfärdsgaranti i den ekologiska slaktkycklingproduktionen då reglerna främst är skrivna för att kycklingarna ska kunna utföra sina naturliga beteenden i en passande miljö. Rastgårdar ska finnas till de ekologiska kycklingarna för att de ska få beta, få motion och få chansen att bygga upp sitt naturliga immunförsvar. I många fall ses rastgården som en positiv aspekt av den ekologiska produktionen, men det finns även problem relaterade till utevistelsen då exempelvis vilda djur kan lockas till slaktkycklingarna och på så vis stressa upp dem, smitta dem med parasiter och patogener eller äta upp dem. Det är vedertaget att den ekologiska produktionens dödlighet är högre än den konventionella produktionens på grund av rovdjuren och sjukdomarna och de ekologiska kycklingarna utsätts i många fall för fler smittorisker på grund av utevistelsen.

Skiascopy is used to objectively determine the refractive power of the eye. Except for a Swedish study in 2007, where 93 horses of different breeds and ages were examined with respect to their refractive status, most studies on equine refraction were published about one century ago or more. The objective of this study is to examine the refractive status of healthy warm-blooded trotting horses. Skiascopy was performed in 117 horses in total, aged 3 days to approximately 22 years old. In a pilot study, it was determined whether young horses were able to accommodate or not during skiascopy. The horses in the pilot study were all younger than 14 months. In foals younger than 1,5 months we saw a significant difference in the skiascopy result in the right eyes before and after topical atropine was instilled, but not in the left eye.

The lack of fresh and clean water today causes severe problems, mostly in developing countries. Waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, amoebic dysentery and diarrhea create health problems and deaths among people. There is a need for low cost interventions like household-based water treatment and safe storage (HWTS). Solvatten AB is a Swedish company based in Stockholm. Their product, Solvatten, is a household water treatment unit that can treat water containing viruses, parasites and bacteria.