In total 249 horses surgically treated for colic in Sweden during 2002 until 2005 were studied. The horses was identified by the animal insurance company Agria. Survival was studied with respect to age, gender, breed, diagnosis (small intestinal problems, caecal problems, large intestinal problems, incarceration in nephrosplenic ligament, unspecific colic and other colic problems) and treating hospital. Different survivals were calculated. For short-term survival proportions was used and for long-term it was done using Kaplan-Meier technique and log-rank testing.

Farmers? main reason for crossbreeding dairy cows is that they have seen a decline in functional traits, especially in the Holstein breed. Throughout crossbreeding, the farmers can combine functional and production traits of different dairy breeds and utilize the heterosis effects which emerge when two or more breeds are crossed. Results from different studies with Holstein crossed with Jersey, Brown Swiss, Normande and Scandinavian Red have shown that the crosses had higher fertility, longer productive life, had fewer stillborn calves and had easier calvings than purebred Holstein. The Holstein crosses have shown very good results and sometimes even better than the purebred Holstein for fat production, which gave higher amount of energy corrected milk (ECM) and higher income for the farmers.

Records of P III fractures from 235 horses, 71 of them were standardbreds, treated at 3 major Swedish equine hospitals (Strömsholm, SLU and Mälaren hästklinik) between 1994 and 2004 were evaluated for information such as the patients age, sex, breed, type of fracture, affected leg, time and place of the injury, treatment and, if possible, result of treatment. For the standardbreds, result of treatment was also followed up through written correspondence with owners and by screening AB Trav och Galopp racing-results. Moreover, results of horses with type II and III-fractures treated with rest and therapeutic shooing only were compared to horses in which lag screw fixation were added to achieve interfragmental compression. Compared to the rest of the Swedish horse population, P III fractures were slightly more common among standardbred horses. The mean age of the affected standardbred was 5,8 years, compared to 7,9 years in the rest of the horse-population. Most horses injured themselves in the paddock.

The purpose of this literature study was to investigate the possibilities to improve longevity and stayability of beef cattle with breeding. The breeding goal for beef breeds is to produce animals with high capacity for growth and good feed efficiency. Longevity and sustainability are two important features to include in the breeding goal. If longevity is increased each cow can produce more calves and the number of female calves used for recruitment can be reduced and only the best heifers need to be selected for breeding. The benefits of longer life is that it lowers the costs of recruitment animals, it increases the number of young animals that become available for slaughter, and it increases the proportion of high producing animals in the herds.

Horses are herbivores that spend almost all day grazing. While grazing they are infected by different endoparasites through ingestion of infective eggs or larvae on pasture. The most significant equine endoparasites in Sweden are the equine roundworm Parascaris equorum, small (Cyathostominae) and large strongyles (Strongylus spp), the tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata and the pinworm Oxyuris equi. For many years have horses been dewormed on regularly basis, which has resulted in the development of resistance to many anthelmintic classes. Because of the problems with resistance it is since 2007 necessary to have a prescription on anthelmintics and faecal sampling is also recommended.

Laminitis is a debilitating disease causing much suffering to horses and ponies all over the world. It is manifested in the hooves as a mechanical failure of the suspensory apparatus between the hoof capsule and the distal phalanx. Due to the weight of the horse the disease may result in a dislocation of third phalanx. Six healthy standardbred trotters were used in this study on whether standardbreds tolerate forced recumbency as well as Shetland ponies. Recumbency was induced pharmacologically but maintained only by lowering the ceiling height of the box to a height of approximately 125 ? 140 % of the horse´s thoracic height.

Measurement of plasma concentrations of natriuretic peptides have been suggested to be of diagnostic and prognostic value in canine cardiac disease. In several previous canine studies, however, a considerable overlap between investigated groups has been identified. A reliable natriuretic peptide test for use in clinical practice requires establishment of reference values for natriuretic peptides in healthy dogs and cut-off values for subclinical disease as well as for clinical signs of congestive heart failure. Numerous physiological, pathological and pharmacological factors, aside heart function, may influence concentration of natriuretic peptides. A potential effect of dog breed on natriuretic peptide concentration has been suggested but has, to our knowledge, not previously been specifically studied.

In today?s horse keeping, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of movement and activity for the horses comfort and tenability, while tradition has it that horses should be kept in boxes and small paddocks. In order to develop housing systems that fulfils and optimizes the horses needs regarding movement and activity, we need to know more about factors that influence the activity patterns of horses. A first step is to be able to record and analyze the gaits in horses with an automated system. This could be done by use of accelerometer data.In this pilot study, existing accelerometer technique was used to characterize the different gaits in horses (walk, trot and canter) by studying how their respective signal patterns differ and how this is influenced by the size of the horse.The accelerometers being used in this study measures the movement in three different spaces; horizontal, lateral and vertical.

Equine cutaneous melanomas arise much more often in horses with a grey coat color than in horses of other colors. Some scientists have in different studies come to the conclusion that the melanomas are neoplasms which can be classified by examining their histological and macroscopic features. The more defined and demarcated a tumor is, the more benign it tends to be. Other scientists believe that the skin lesions are the result of a pigmentation disorder that is linked to the greying of the coat color. According to this theory, the lesions are not malignant although they have the ability to metastasize.

Horses are made to eat mainly roughage and it is essential for optimal health to offer them an appropriate amount of roughage with good hygienic and nutritional qualities. To produce good hay at the right time and be able to keep the hygienic quality until next summer is a problem. This has the effect that horse owners today choose haylage and silage to a larger extent. Science in this area is scarce, i.e. if the change from hay to silage has any effect on the horse.

Hip dysplasia is a common, inherited malformation of the coxofemoral joint that eventually leads to osteoarthrosis. Several breeds of dogs are affected and the prevalence varies between different breeds. As part of the effort to reduce the prevalence of hip dysplasia and select dogs suitable for breeding, radiological screening is performed by at least 12 months of age. Before the radiological examination the dog has to be chemically restrained, sedated or anesthetized. The sedation protocol used differs between veterinary clinics. The impact of sedation method of the screening result for hip dysplasia has been studied.

Twitching is frequently used in horse management because of its sedating and pain-relieving effects. In this study, the effects on the horse?s nervous system by twitching were investigated by thermography of the skin temperature. The temperature is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system through postganglionic sfincters at the capillaries of the skin. The effects on the endocrine activity have also been studied by the measuring of ACTH and cortisol in blood plasma.

The harness racing industry has roots hundreds of years back in time and breeders through time have changed the horses to a mix of potential, harmony and speed. Breeding has changed the conditions and created a horse that perform better and better. A risk with high-performance horses is that injuries related to training and racing may occur more often. In training and racing situations, lameness is the most common injury. There are many factors affecting the occurrence of injuries and lameness of the trotter horses, such as how the horse is trained and raced, the surface condition of the racetrack, banking and angle of the curves of the racetrack and how fast injuries are discovered and treated.

In healthy dogs, heart rate fluctuates during the day. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects the autonomic nervous system´s regulation of the cardiovascular unit. Heart rate variability shows the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, also called sympathovagal balance. Heart rate variability can be measured by time domain - and frequency domain analysis. In a time domain analysis you study the beat-to-beat-interval (RR-interval) in an electrocardiogram (ECG), while a frequency domain analysis can be used to determine the size of the variability.

AbstractMycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi. Moulds producing mycotoxins grow on various crops that are used as horse feeds. Since the treatments of mycotoxin poisoned horses are limited it is important to prevent production of mycotoxins in feed. The major mycotoxin producing moulds in horse feeds are Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus spp.