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Horses

  • Procainamide (brand names Pronestyl®, Biocoryl®, Procan®, Procanbid®) is an antiarrhythmic drug used off label (extra label) in dogs and horses to treat abnormal heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation, ventricular premature complexes, and ventricular tachycardia.

  • Propantheline bromide (brand name: Pro-Banthine®) is an antimuscarinic used off label to treat muscle spasms, incontinence, diarrhea, and sometimes slow heart rate. In horses, it is used to relax the muscles for procedures in the colon.

  • Propranolol (brand names Inderal®, Detensol®, Hemangeol®, Innopran®) is a beta-blocker used off label (extra label) to treat abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) in cats, dogs, ferrets, and horses. It has also been used short-term to treat hypertension caused by thyrotoxicosis or pheochromocytoma. It is given by mouth or injection.

  • The horse's hoof is a very complex structure. The tough outer wall surrounds layers of sensitive laminae ('leaves') that support, nourish with blood and, in turn, cover the underlying pedal bone.

  • Infection in the foot is by far, the most common cause of acute (sudden), single-leg lameness in the horse. Infection results in painful inflammation and pus (abscess) formation.

  • Pyrimethamine + sulfadiazine (ReBalance®) is a drug used for the treatment of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) caused by Sarcocystis neurona in horses. It may be used off label to treat neosporosis in dogs or toxoplasmosis in cats.

  • Quittor is an old term for a condition that involves death and destruction (necrosis) of the collateral cartilages of the foot (see our information sheet on sidebones), following an infection in the foot (see our information sheet on pus in the foot).

  • Ragwort is a tall plant with yellow flowers that contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which cause liver damage. Ragwort is mainly a concern for grazing livestock, such as horses and cattle. Although poisoning occurs over time, signs may develop suddenly once the liver fails, and the effects are irreversible.

  • Rain scald is a bacterial infection of the skin that results in the formation of matted scabs usually affecting the back and rump but occasionally the lower limbs.

  • RAO (previously called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD) is a relatively common cause of coughing and nasal discharge in stabled horses. In long-standing cases the horse may have difficulty in breathing and its chest and abdomen can be easily seen to move, hence the even older name 'heaves'.