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 Low grade anemia in performance horses may be a secondary result of digestive tract ulceration.
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For years, many veterinarians have noted low levels of anemia in performance horses — red cell counts that aren't clinical, but strangely low for an athlete. Any level of anemia is not natural and may indicate a serious problem for the horse.
Anemia is defined by a lowered level of oxygen-delivering red cells in the blood. Without enough red blood cells, horses can become easily fatigued and may experience shortness of breath. These symptoms are problematic for any horse, but they are of particular concern for the performance animal.
The broad causes of anemia are either a lack of production of red blood cells in the bone marrow, or a loss of blood cells as a result of bleeding. Anemia due to inadequate red blood cell production is thought to be the most common form of anemia in horses, but it's also the most challenging to identify. These horses may show low-grade exercise intolerance, poor appetite and lethargy, but these signs may be attributable to a number of conditions. For a horse with visible signs often associated with anemia but lacking visible evidence of bleeding, a veterinarian may be able to use the SUCCEED® FBT to assess whether the condition may be associated with internal blood loss somewhere along the digestive tract.
Without a large body of studies on the subject, veterinarians can only make educated guesses as to the causes of low-grade, or sub-clinical, equine anemia. And while it's often considered a problem on its own, low-grade anemia may be a secondary symptom of parasites or blood loss due to ulceration in the digestive tract. |