Ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) were performed after routine ophthalmologic and ophthalmoscopic examinations in 190 eyes of six various diurnal (common buzzard [Buteo buteo L., 1758], n = 20; common kestrel [Tinnunculus tinnunculus L., 1758], n = 20) and nocturnal raptor species (barn owl [Tyto alba L., 1758], n = 22; tawny owl [Strix aluco L., 1758], n = 8; long-eared owl [Asio otus L., 1758], n = 5; horned owl [Bubo bubo L., 1758], n = 1); and domestic pigeons (Columba livia, Gmel., 1789; n = 19), with a total of 95 individuals. Pathologic findings such as lens subluxation and luxation, intravitreal hemorrhage, detached retina, post-traumatic partial sequestration, or malformation of the pecten could be demonstrated with diagnostic imaging tools, while opacities of cornea or lens constrained direct ophthalmoscopic examination. The results proved US to be a quick noninvasive imaging technique for detailed ocular diagnoses. CT provided detailed information of the bony skull and bony scleral rings as well as adequate visualization of shape, size, and margination of the eye and lens. Nevertheless, CT was unable to differentiate subtle structures within the vitreous like the pecten oculi or hemorrhage. Biometric measurements were carried out to objectify imaging results. Results showed good correlation of depth and width of the anterior eye chamber, lens and vitreous, length of the bulbus, and the pecten but no correlation of cornea and posterior wall thickness was found.

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The effect of factors including the horses' farm environment, their sex and age and whether they suffered from summer seasonal recurrent dermatitis (sweet itch) on the concentrations of zinc in the plasma, whole blood and blood cells of 104 Icelandic horses was investigated. Its concentration in plasma varied significantly between farms (P<0.01), but its concentration in blood and blood cells was not influenced by any of the variables. The concentration of zinc in the blood cells was 10.5 times greater than in plasma, but its concentration in plasma was not correlated with its concentration in whole blood or blood cells owing to the variability in the proportion of whole blood zinc present in plasma (relative plasma zinc), which ranged between 9 and 24 per cent. This variability was significantly influenced by a three-way interaction between farm, sex and sweet itch (P<0.05). Relative plasma zinc was positively correlated with absolute plasma zinc (r=0.78, P<0.001) and negatively correlated with whole blood and blood cellular zinc (r=-0.58, r=-0.71, P<0.001).

Five horses with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were treated with 0.11 (0.01) mg/kg bodyweight of montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, once a day for 26 days. The horses were evaluated clinically and endoscopically and subjected to arterial blood gas analysis and lung function tests before and after the period of treatment, and the plasma concentrations of montelukast were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The treatment did not result in statistically significant differences in the total scores of clinical and endoscopical signs, or in the difference in the arterioalveolar partial pressure of oxygen, maximal changes in pleural pressure, pulmonary resistance or dynamic compliance. The mean (sd) peak plasma concentration (C(max0) of montelukast was 12 (4) ng/ml and was reached 66 (13) minutes (t(max)) after its oral administration. The dose of montelukast per kg bodyweight was approximately the same as that for human beings, but the C(max) in the horses was 28 times lower and the t(max) was reached in one-fifth of the time, suggesting that its oral bioavailability may be lower.