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  Discussion on Prepurchase exam
Author Message
Member:
jills

Posted on Friday, May 1, 2009 - 10:01 pm:

I believe I have read most posts on pre-purchase exams.
We are considering a horse in another country. We really don't want to over do the prepurchase but do want to know as much as possible as the horse is not cheap by our standards.
I believe a clinical vet exam where a good vet examines the movement is necessary. I am wondering what blood work to know the status of white count vs infections. What about liver, kidney, coggins. In other words what blood panels should I request?
Then there is the history of the horse at the vet which is good advise but what about salmonella tests of fecal exams.
I realize that there is no end to what you could request but these things cost a lot and are they all necessary? At what point are you comfortable that your horse is solid and free of disease and lameness.
Sorry for the multitude of questions.
Thank you
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, May 2, 2009 - 8:14 am:

Hello jill,
Sometimes the more questions asked the easier the answer and so it is with your post. Everyone is different in what they are comfortable with so the answer is, "it depends". Some folks are comfortable with looking at a horse standing still at 50 feet and others require thousands of dollars worth of testing and still worry. Only you can answer what level of testing, if any level, will make you comfortable. Personally I would never buy a horse I could not look at myself, but that is just me. In lou of that I would carefully follow the recommendations in the article on a "Prepurchase Exam" associated with this discussion area.

Depending on the country there may be special considerations of some chronic carrier diseases that have to be tested for before allowing entry into the country. If you looking for a wide spectrum look at the internal workings of the horse a CBD and SMA-16 is commonly run. You can learn more about these tests at References ยป Equine Vital Signs and Laboratory Values.
DrO
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Saturday, May 2, 2009 - 1:58 pm:

Hi Jill,

I've imported several horses, and my pre-purchase exams have varied. No matter what else I look for, I ALWAYS run a full check for anything that would cause a failure to clear quarantine on import. As a side note, there are international riders for equine insurance that will help in the event of a quarantine problem-- they are inexpensive and can help in an otherwise very difficult problem.

If you are importing a riding horse, it's probably a good idea to check for anything that might be a rule-out for your riding. No matter how trustworthy the seller, everyone has blind spots with respect to their own horses. If it's worth importing, it's worth getting a less involved assessment of the animal against your goals.
Member:
jills

Posted on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 - 10:36 pm:

Ok,
We are attempting to import a horse from the Netherlands. Blood work was in today, unfortunately in Dutch but it is not hard to see outside of normals.
If you can please give me what you think of this work up. Hopefully you know Latin as most Dr's do.
AST (Got) kca 576
cpk kca 306
gldh 76.7
ldh 1419
haptoglobine kca 1.96
ureum kca calcium 3.09
lymfocten, hematolgoie analyser 53
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - 5:47 pm:

Jill what are the units and lab normals for these values? It will differ lab to lab. Though we learn much latin I have never seen lab values presented in latin. Can you get an explanation of what the last three values are.

It is important to note that laboratory results always should be interpreted in light of a good physical exam as described in the article I reference above.t
DrO
Member:
jills

Posted on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - 9:36 pm:

Hello Dr. Oglesby,
I understand your reply on the lab values. I now have them in English.
This horse has passed the pre purchase in Europe and the vet said it is very fit with no worries. This is a mare coming into heat. Then we received the labs.
But these lab results had a number of values that were on the high side.
If you can give any insight it would be appreciated.
Hopefully I will get them copied alright.

ALT (gpt) Normal 3-17 15
CPK Normal 145-300 306
gGT Normal 8-23 28
GLDH Normal 0,0-21,0 76,7
LDH Normal 350-925 1419
Haptoglobin Normal 0,00-1,50 1,96
Thrombocytes Normal 10E09/L 163
Lymphocytes Normal 25-50 53
Thank you so much.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, May 7, 2009 - 9:18 am:

Leaving out the GLDH values, there is a mild elevation of the liver or liver and muscle enzymes. The elevation is mild enough that you should note that 5% of the normal horses could have one or more of these values elevated. However the spectrum of elevation suggests some sort of mild liver response to something. I cannot say what it might be, but stress can have this effect. GLDH is a relatively new test in horses and according to Cornell University a more specific indicator of liver damage than the other liver enzymes. We do not have any labs locally doing this test and your levels are twice normal so I am uncertain as to the significance of this result. You should consult the veterinarian who did this panel on this value and what significance they place on this. Maybe they see it in healthy horses all the time? Excluding the GLDH from consideration and in light of no history of problems and a normal physical exam the significance of the mild elevations is uncertain but you see such changes often in healthy horses so would not concern me. Stress can cause some of these responses as can the use of some commonly used drugs, like phyenylbutazone.

Concerning the blood values I don't see any units associated with your thrombocytes.
DrO
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