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Summary The study was performed on 39 live donkeys that underwent gastroscopic examination. The lesions were recorded in accordance with the European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement guidelines. The presence of Gasterophilus sp. larvae was also recorded. Larvae were collected and identified to species level. Fisher's exact test was used to compare different prevalence values for sex, age, and anatomical distribution of lesions. Gastric lesions were present in 20/39 (51.3% [35.6–67%]) donkeys; 19/39 (48.7% [95% confidence interval = 33–64.4%]) were affected only by equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD), while 1/39 (2.6% [0–7.5%]) showed both ESGD and equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD), thus 95% of positive donkeys showed lesions located in the nonglandular mucosa. The ESGD grade was 0/4 (48.7% [33–64.4%]) in 19/39, 1/4 (12.8% [2.3–23.3%]) in 5/39, 2/4 (25.6% [11.9–39.5%]) in 10/39, 3/4 in 4/39 (10.3% [0.7–19.8%]) and 4/4 in 1/39 (2.6% [0–7.5%]) donkeys, respectively. The EGGD lesion was a mild depression in the ventral glandular fundus. ESGD was primary in all the donkeys included and lesions were located around the cardia and along the lesser curvature. Gasterophilus sp. larvae were present in all animals and were identified as third‐stage larvae of Gasterophilus intestinalis. No animals showed clinical signs of equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS). No significant differences relating to sex, age or breed were found in the prevalence of EGUS in this study, while the proportion of donkeys affected by ESGD was statistically higher than those affected by EGGD. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the gastroscopic evaluation of EGUS in live donkeys. Our results show a higher prevalence of EGUS in live donkeys than values previously reported by other authors in donkeys that were dead or had been subjected to euthanasia. The detection of third‐stage G. intestinalis larvae was not unexpected since these can be found in the stomach of equids throughout the year, and G. intestinalis has been reported as the most common Gasterophilus sp. in Italy.

Grass awns commonly cause respiratory disease in dogs; when located in the trachea or bronchi, they cause severe bronchial inflammation and sepsis. The interplay of cough, bronchoconstriction, and mucus secretion can result in a less effective expulsive cough phase, especially when the causal factor persists. The bronchial exudate could consequently become trapped in the upper respiratory tracts of dogs with bronchial vegetal foreign bodies. We retrospectively reviewed endoscopic findings of the upper respiratory tract in dogs that underwent bronchoscopy in our hospital and correlated these findings with the presence of bronchial grass awns. Muco-purulent exudate in the ventral larynx region, between the vocal cords and laryngeal ventricles, was frequently associated with the presence of bronchial grass awns. This laryngeal finding could be secondary to an altered response to grass awn localization in the bronchi. These results should be carefully considered, particularly in countries where grass awns are commonly found.

A new formulation of omeprazole in gastro-resistant granules was tested with regard to its pharmacokinetics and tolerability. Twenty-four horses were randomly divided into three groups (8 horses/group) and treated, according a parallel study design, as follows: Group A untreated (control group), Group B received 4 mg/kg of omeprazole, and Group C received 12 mg/kg of omeprazole, both of which were treated orally once a day for 90 days. Blood samples, taken from Group B subjects during the 1st and the 29th day of treatment at pre-established time points, were used to determine the concentration-time curves of omeprazole. The treatments were found to be safe and well tolerated by the horses. The serum hematological and biochemical values were within reference ranges for the entire observational time. No accumulation of the drug was found after 29 days of treatment. Lower C and AUCs were obtained at the 29th day of treatment.

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is the most common disease of the equine stomach with high prevalence of both squamous and glandular disease reported in various populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a phytotherapic compound (pHhyloGASTRO) in the therapy of EGUS. The study was performed as a randomized double-blinded single-center study. The study population was composed of 19 equids which were submitted to gastroscopy before and after a 6-week treatment with feed additive (10/19) (pHyloGASTRO, 4Union B.I.O. srl, Italy) or a placebo (9/19). Severity grade was evaluated on a scale from 0 to 4. The variables of interest were gastric lesion score and improvement grade. Changes and comparisons of variables were performed by contingency table analyses. P level of significance was set at .05 in all analyses. In terms of gastric lesion scores, the treated group improved significantly compared to the placebo group. pHyloGASTRO seems to be effective in the treatment of EGUS. Further studies are needed to verify whether prolonged administration of pHyloGASTRO could be more effective in completely healing gastric lesions

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Obesity and overconditioning are becoming more prevalent in horses, and are influencing the animal’s health, activity, and reproductive efficiency. Body condition score (BCS) and cresty neck score (CNS) have been correlated with the development of various diseases. Many of the papers in the literature evaluate the prevalence of obesity and overconditioning in horse populations considering BCS given by owners. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of the owners’ estimation of the degree of equine obesity or overconditioning by comparing BCS and CNS provided by each owner and a board-certified vet to a cohort of 259 horses and their agreement based on age, breed, sex, and activity of the animals. Overconditioning was present in 29% and 24% of horses according to the owners and the vet, respectively, and obesity in 2% and 1%, respectively. Agreement between BCS and CNS given by the owners and the vet was slight, with owners scoring horses either lower or higher than the vet. Agreement between the owners and the vet assessment was also influenced by age, breed, sex, and activity of the animals. Education of owners and caretakers to correctly assess BCS and CNS and regular evaluation of the animals throughout the year is important to prevent the development of obesity and overconditioning and related diseases.

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