Weight Loss in Horse

Question 1

causes

Answer 1

reduced intake
poor absorption
decreased utilisation
excessive loss
increased requirement

Question 2

reduced intake

Answer 2

not wanting to eat - disease or pain
not able to - dental disease, dysphagia
not allowed - social
not fed enough - husbandry

Question 3

poor absorption

Answer 3

dental disease - not ground up enough
parasites
diarrhoea
ulcerative GI disease
inflammatory disease
neoplasia - lymphoma

Question 4

decreased utilisation

Answer 4

liver disease - ineffective nutrient metabolism

Question 5

excessive loss

Answer 5

protein losing enteropathy or nephropathy

Question 6

increased requirement

Answer 6

bacterial or chronic viral infection
neoplasia
increased activity

Question 7

protein losing enteropathy

Answer 7

most common pathophysiological cause of weight loss

diagnostics -
abdominocentesis -
inflammation or bacterial involvement, neoplasia may exfoliate cells

gastroscopy - ulceration

oral glucose absorption test - assess absorptive capacity of small intestine
normal- back to baseline after 2 hours
partial malabsorption - 15-65% at 2 hours, slower to peak
total malabsoprtion - not increased past 15%

abdominal ultrasound

fecal blood test -
frank blood is colonic/rectal bleeding
occult blood -albumin but not hemoglobin then hindgut, hemoglobin but not albumin then foregut, can be both

transendoscopic duodenal biopsy - mucosal tissue sample

rectal biopy - mucosa and submucosal samples