Help with Interview

Hi,

It's been a while since I've been on this forum - darn A-levels!

Anyway, I have an interview for Veterinary Science at Cambridge on monday (only found out today) and I would really appreciate it if someone could go over a bit of common horse knowledge with me e.g. common ailments & causes, average fee ratios etc. to make sure that I have a knowledge of everything 'normal' so i don't make a chump out of myself in the interview. It doesn't have to be a big detailed thing - just a quick check to make sure that there isn't a fundamental gap in my knowledge.
Dave

I'll do what I can. How do we do this?

Yep, I'll help out too.
Do you want to do a "chat room" thing or emails or just fire off questions on this thread?

Than you both very much!

Probably the easiest way is just to fire off any questions you can think of on this thread - it really can be on anything animal related whether it is an ethical question or a factual question. A few odd questions would be nice too; Cambridge has a reputation for it's off-the-wall and contentious comments!
Thanks again!

What are sarcoids?


What are the symptoms of Strangles?


What is the normal gestation of a horse?


What diseases are horses routinely vaccinated against?

Sarcoids are wart-like growths that can be found on the skin of horses. It is unknown what exactly causes them but it is thought to be either yeast infecitons or the actual papilloma virus. They are relatively common, particularly on white skinned horses (sun thought to have an influence) where the small ones are literally warts. These aren't usually anything to worry about. They can however grow quite considerably (like cancer) and depending on the location can be very serious in deed - around the anus and nose particularly where it can actaully effectively 'seal' up the passages causing the horse to not be able to breathe or pass faeces.

Apart from the typical signs of an ill horse (temp. change, sweating) the characteristic signs are the swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck. These can abscess and if they do not burst can crush the airpipe, causing strangulation. Lets hope that vaccine comes soon.

The gestation period is around 11 months.

Tetanus; Equine Encophalomyelitis (W, E or V); influenza and Herpesvirus (Rhinopneumonitis).
If applicable - West Nile Virus; Potomac Horse Fever and Rabies.
Admittedly I did have to check up the spellings of these vaccines!

I wouldn't say "wart-like" when discussing sarcoids as there are several different types, including flat plaques. And they aren't thought to be caused by yeast infections, but related to viral papilloma virus.
http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/sarcoid/Index.ssi

On strangles, you missed the most important first symptom--fever and mucopurulent nasal discharge are the first symptoms followed by the enlargement and abcessation of the lymph nodes of the head and neck.

Good job!

So should I just stuck to growths? I wasn't sure about whether yeast has been known to be involved so I put it in there just to see - thanks for clarifying that.

Lol, good point! Gladly I have never seen Strangles myself; one thing I am trying to work out is if there is a vaccine as I have read there is but at the sametime the BHS are running a fundraising campaign to get one...

Thank you very much! If you feel like asking any more questions then please fire away.

I'm not sure if the Strangles vaccines are approved in the UK.
There are 2 on the market in the US--one intramuscular and on intranasal. Both are only about 50% effective and don't actually prevent the disease but rather reduce the severity. Side effects with Strangles vaccines can be mild including abcessation at injection sites or severe autoimmune reaction called purpura hemmorhagica.

For sarcoids, I would stick with "growths".

What are symptoms of each of the diseases you vaccinate against?


What is the most important GI parasite in adult horses? And what drugs are effective against it?


What are the two most important GI parasites in foals? What drugs are effective against them?