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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
A retrospective study on the status of working equids admitted to an equine clinic in Cairo: Disease prevalence and associations between physical parameters and outcome
Animals, Vol.14(5), pp.1-18
06/03/2024
PMID: 38473201
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Source: InCites
Abstract
Working equids are often used to exhaustion, living and dying in conditions below minimal welfare standards. Due to their poor welfare status, euthanasia should be considered in certain conditions. The study aimed to describe the population and the disease frequency of the working equids admitted at an equine clinic in Cairo (i.e., Egypt Equine Aid (EEA)) from 2019 to 2022 and identify possible associations between physical parameters at admission and the outcome. Records of 1360 equids admitted at EEA were reviewed. The majority of the admitted equids were horses (65.6%), followed by donkeys (33%), in particular stallions (68.7%), from 1 to 15 years old (74.8%). Hospitalisation was mainly due to wounds (28.9%), orthopaedic problems (27.4%), colic (8.5%), or infectious diseases (7.4%). The majority of the equids were discharged, but 5.1% died on their own, without human intervention, and 23% were euthanised. Text mining revealed the anamnesis's most frequent words were 'accident', 'lameness', and 'wound'. In addition, owners sometimes reported using inappropriate remedies (e.g., firing) before hospitalisation. Multivariable ordinal regression analysis performed between physical parameters and the outcome (ordered based on severity: discharged, euthanasia, and dead) revealed that sex (male vs. female: OR = 1.33; p < 0.05), colour of the mucous membrane (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.72; p < 0.01), and capillary refill time (pathological vs. physiological: OR = 1.42; p = 0.02) increased the likelihood of a non-survival outcome. In conclusion, early euthanasia should be considered for these equids, to minimise prolonged suffering. Moreover, owners' education is recommended to guarantee minimal welfare standards to the working equids.
Details
- Title
- A retrospective study on the status of working equids admitted to an equine clinic in Cairo: Disease prevalence and associations between physical parameters and outcome
- Creators
- Beatrice Benedetti - University of BolognaFrancesca Freccero - University of BolognaJill Barton - Egypt Equine Aid, Badrshein 12989, Giza, EgyptFarah Elmallah - Egypt Equine Aid, Badrshein 12989, Giza, EgyptSandy Refat - Egypt Equine Aid, Badrshein 12989, Giza, EgyptBarbara Padalino - University of Bologna
- Publication Details
- Animals, Vol.14(5), pp.1-18
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Number of pages
- 18
- Grant note
- Vets and vet assistants working at Egypt Equine Aid
- Identifiers
- 991013293551102368
- Copyright
- © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Veterinary Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article