Horse owners in rabies-endemic areas should work with their veterinarians to ensure their horses are vaccinated. “Despite a commercially available rabies vaccine licensed for use in horses since at least 1983, one recent study reported a total of 6,154 rabies cases in 2010, including 37 horses and donkeys,” she adds. “Rabies is one of the few 100% fatal diseases in the horse that is completely preventable with appropriate vaccination,” says Angela Pelzel-McCluskey, DVM, equine epidemiologist with USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services, in Fort Collins, Colorado. The rabies virus prefers to migrate down specific peripheral nerves to the salivary glands, which explains why infected horses frequently produce large volumes of saliva. Once inside the neurons, the virus can travel through the long arms of the nerve cells, called axons, undetected by and shielded from the immune system. When an infected animal bites another, the virus multiples at the bite site and then invades sensory neurons-the nerve cells that conduct information to the central nervous system. Terrestrial carnivores (i.e., skunks, raccoons, foxes) and bats are the virus’ natural reservoirs. Rabies can occur in any animal and is most commonly transmitted to horses when infected animals bite them. We might as well start with the scariest one and get that out of the way. In all cases, owners should work with their veterinarians to identify and rectify the primary problem as soon as possible because, as we will discuss, a number of life-threatening conditions could be at play. In this article we will describe several reasons for hypersalivation. “There are really only two main causes for excessive salivation in horses: increased production of saliva or decreased swallowing of normal amounts of saliva,” she says. ECEIM, from the Department of Equine Sciences at Utrecht University, in The Netherlands. While equestrians might drool over a pair of designer boots or the barn of their dreams, there are only a limited number of reasons that horses drool excessively, says Inge Wijnberg, DVM, PhD, Specialist Equine Internal Medicine, KNMvD, Dipl. Saliva is primarily comprised of water, but it also contains sodium, chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and the enzyme amylase. That saliva moistens and lubricates food to facilitate its transfer from the mouth, down the esophagus, to the stomach. Those glands are busy little beavers, producing almost 40 liters (about 10 gallons) of saliva each day. Horses have three pairs of salivary glands: the parotid, sublingual, and mandibular. To understand the abnormal, it is important to start with normal-recognizing how horses produce saliva, how much they generate, and why. Excessive equine salivation is uncommon, but we must recognize that streams of slobber can be signposts of severe conditions with potentially life-altering implications for both horses and their people. But while a dog’s drivel might simply send you to the sink to wash your hands, a horses should cause more concern. Serous, slightly slimy, and warm, slobber is pretty gross no matter the source. Does your horse drool like a dog? Here are some reasons why, from the benign to the life threatening
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