Phillip Kapraun Tumblr Blog

The temporary immunity to painful stimuli can also mask lameness in the competition since the horse won't feel it. This can result in extensive damage to the limbs while racing. The rider's safety is also threatened since the horse may eventually trip from severe injury during the competition.

Another example of mechanical dysfunction is fibrotic myopathy resulting from hamstring muscle problems. Fibrotic myopathy leads to the abnormal formation of scar tissue within the muscle tissue and, in turn, alters muscle functions and the stride strength in the affected leg.

A veterinarian in Illinois, Phillip Kapraun has handled a wide range of horse health issues, with a major focus on lameness. Maintaining membership in the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), Phillip Kapraun stays up to date on current issues in his field. In April 2022, the AAEP’s charitable entity The Foundation for the Horse, in coordination with the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), made a $50,000 contribution to Ukraine and its neighbors. Working with other similar organizations, the nonprofits are focused on alleviating the suffering and ensuring the safety of horses that have experienced the war firsthand. In particular, they are focusing on material support for drugs and medical equipment that will have a significant effect in helping horses recover. This commitment to direct equine disaster relief is the first in the history of an organization that has, up to now, focused on equine education and (peacetime) welfare. Rather than being a one-time donation, the initial $50,000 represents the first of ongoing relief efforts for horses facing this horrific situation.

Phillip Kapraun graduated from the University of Illinois College of veterinary medicine in 1977. After working several years at Harvard veterinary clinic, he set up his practice at Harvard in 1984. Phillip Kapraun attends to various lameness-related diseases and conditions in his practice, including septic joints. A significant benefit of managing septic joints with injections is the high effectiveness due to immediate and localized antibiotic placement, especially for severe sepsis. Oral delivery tends to be slower acting due to more non-active carriers and action lagging or inability to penetrate the extra medium bacteria form against antibiotics. Antibiotic injection attracts higher acceptance and adherence rates from horse owners rather than the more challenging oral administration. Also, the horse owner accesses more affordable treatment options than systemic antibiotics, as higher dosage and longer administration duration are often required for the latter. In the same vein, the intra-articular application presents a safer option for horses with other conditions such as gastrointestinal problems.

Dr. Phillip Kapraun has practiced veterinary medicine for more than 30 years. Focused on equine health, Dr. Phillip Kapraun is a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). The AAEP was founded as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. The AAEP currently has over 9,000 members worldwide, reaching over 5 million horse owners. The AAEP is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education for the equine veterinary profession and the horse industry. For More Information, The AAEP encourages veterinarians to advise horse owners on the importance of preventive disease measures such as vaccination. While there is no uniform standard for horse vaccinations, veterinarians should work with horse owners to develop ideal programs for their horses. Each case is different. For example, horses that travel for competitions are more prone to contracting diseases hence will need more vaccinations than those that stay on the farm. For More Information, Visit www.aaep.org.

Dr. Phillip Kapraun has been diagnosing and treating lameness in horses for 45 years since his graduation from the Veterinary College at the University of Illinois in 1977. Dr. Kapraun had the first portable X-ray machine in his area when he started equine practice in the Harvard, Illinois area in 1977. At that time, the number of X-rays that could be taken was limited to the number of X-ray cassettes that a practitioner had. Dr. Kapraun carried over 25 cassettes. These cassettes then had to be taken back to his office or to a local hospital to be developed. In the late 1980s two different advances were made in the imaging of horse leg bones. One was the development of the portable digital X-ray machine. The other was the development of the portable fluoroscope. At that time each machine cost approximately $137,000. In 1990, considering the advantages and disadvantages of each technology, Dr. Kapraun chose and purchased the fluoroscope. While the digital X-ray machine gives a beautiful picture that can be emailed or texted from its computer, it still has distinct disadvantages compared to the fluoroscope. The fluoroscope has a portable C-arm that is moved around the horse's leg. The viewing TV screen shows a continuous image of the horse's leg bones, the equivalent of thousands of different X-ray views per minute. The angle of the view can be changed as desired. The fluoroscope X-ray source can be moved closer to the leg, giving an enlarged view of up to 10X magnification, improving the chances to see minute details. The fluoroscope is especially useful for detecting and diagnosing stress fractures and OCDs. A horse can be completely imaged in all 4 legs from the knees on down and the stifles on down in about 5 minutes. Dr. Kapraun has fluoroscoped up to 87 horses in one day for yearling OCD exams. A printer allows for providing a permanent record of any desired views. The angle of the view can be adjusted to maximize any lesion, such as a fracture, OCD, spur, etc., as well as an enlargement of the view. The intensity (KVP and MaS) of the fluoroscope can be adjusted to reveal very light lesions that a regular X-ray would burn through and miss. It takes only seconds to adjust the view to show the true amount of joint space left in a stifle joint, something that an X-ray machine can not do. In summary, the portable fluoroscope has been an extremely popular and successful innovation for lameness and OCD diagnosis in the horse. In many ways the fluoroscope is far superior to the digital X-ray machine.

Dr. Phillip Kapraun is a veterinarian who operates his own equine practice in Harvard, Illinois. Although he treats performance horses that range from roping horses to barrel racers to show horses, Dr. Kapraun primarily focuses on Standardbred racehorses and racing American Quarter Horses. A common injury in racehorses is bone fractures, typically occurring in the wake of repeated high-speed exercise and races. The most common bone fracture in Standardbred racehorses is a stress fracture of the proximal cannon bone, just under the knee joint of the front leg. Once diagnosed, the cannon bone usually heals up well with 3 or more months of stall rest and time off. The most common bone fracture in racing Quarter Horses is a chip or slab fracture of the knee (carpus) of one of the front legs. Quick diagnosis and surgical removal of the bone chip(s) usually results in recovery and a continuing racing career. Diagnosis of both conditions is made via fluoroscopy or x-rays. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment are necessary for satisfactory recovery.

A large animal veterinarian in Harvard, Illinois, Dr. Phillip Kapraun specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of lameness in racehorses. Among his other affiliations, Dr. Phillip Kapraun is a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners Association (AAEP), which appointed diagnostic imaging expert Dr. Katherine Garrett as its vice president for 2022. Veterinarians use a wide range of diagnostic imaging to detect and identify internal medical issues that would otherwise be impossible to see. To identify difficult-to-diagnose cases of lameness, for example, the veterinary fluoroscope is essential. A noninvasive and versatile form of medical imagery, fluoroscopy can produce real-time moving video images of internal structures. Traditional radiograph x-rays and ultrasound imagery are also key diagnostic tools for lameness. Racehorse veterans may also use CT scans to evaluate complex bony injuries and MRI scans to evaluate both bony and soft tissue injuries. Other potentially helpful forms of equine diagnostic imaging include PET scans, venograms, and fiberoptic endoscope imagery.

Navicular syndrome is a painful, chronic condition in horses that affects the anatomy of and area around the navicular bones of the front feet. It can vary in degree of pain, but tends to get progressively worse with time. Navicular disease is generally diagnosed by nerve blocking, X-ray or fluoroscopy, or MRI. Most treatment strategies aim to control symptoms and reduce pain. Usually the first step in managing navicular disease is to raise the angle and heels of the front feet. This tends to take some of the pressure off of the navicular bones, thus alleviating some of the pain.There are 2 basic types of bone cellsOsteoclasts dissolve bone, creating the pain-causing navicular cysts. OsPhos can be injected intramuscularly up to 3 times a year to shut down this osteoclastic activity. Osteoblasts lay down bone and can fill in the osteoclastic cysts. This activity is promoted by the drug Isoxuprine, which is given orally daily. Managing pain is an important part of treating navicular disease. Injection of a corticosteroid, such as DepoMedrol, into the coffin joint and/or navicular bursa is usually very helpful in making the horse comfortable. Oral medications such as Bute or EquiOxx may also be necessary if the injection of honeybee venom on the posterior digital nerves of the foot can alleviate some or even all of the pain in the foot while still maintaining proprioception, meaning the horse will still be aware of where its feet are. Honeybee venom is usually effective for 3 to 4 weeks or more the first time it is injected. The second injection, a month later, can last for years. A final option to treat the pain of navicular disease is surgical neurectomy, where the nerves to the foot are completely severed. There are 2 main disadvantages to this therapy: 1) the horse will have no proprioception (will not know where its feet are), and 2) about 50% of these horses will have serious side effects: neuromas, neuritis or feeler nerve growth. Thus the advantage of using honeybee venom. However, if the surgeon injects honeybee venom into the severed end of the digital nerve before releasing it, the chances of developing neuromas, neuritis or feeler nerves seems to be greatly diminished.

Phillip Kapraun has a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois. He runs his practice in Harvard, Illinois, and is a member of the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association. When not tending to animals, Phillip Kapraun participates in Judo competitions; he earned a gold medal in the 1972 Iowa State Tournament. A martial arts discipline, Judo originates in Japan, drawing on jujitsu and combining it with self-discipline training. It prioritizes using flexibility, balance, and mental awareness over physical force. As such, it can promote lateral and creative thinking in students, who must approach their training with more gentleness than one would expect in a combative setting. Instead of punches and strikes, movement forms in Judo emphasize timing and technique, with throwing, grappling, and pinning limbs to maneuver an opponent. However, these moves are no less effective in toning muscles, building endurance, and improving coordination. In addition, Judo hones a sense of ethics. As with many martial arts, it instills respect for oneself, one’s peers, and one’s teachers. Rather than making combat an act of aggression, it encourages one to see conflict as an opportunity for observation. Success in Judo comes through patience and recognizing that one’s strengths do not just lie in the limbs, but also in foresight and perception.

A member of the Illinois State Veterinary Medicine Association, Dr. Phillip Kapraun is a private practice equine veterinarian. Phillip Kapraun, DVM, draws on over three decades of experience in veterinary medicine practice and currently focuses on treating lameness in horses. Besides being proficient with various surgical procedures, he also performs minimally invasive therapies to treat lameness in horses, including Apis mellifera toxin injection. Sometimes called navicular syndrome, navicular disease refers to a pattern of signs that generally leads to lameness in horses due to chronic degeneration of the navicular bone. The navicular bone, also called distal sesamoid bone, is a small canoe-shaped bone found deep within the posterior of the coffin bone and the pastern bone. A common surgical treatment for painful navicular disease is a neurectomy, which involves the removal of the pain-causing nerve. This procedure, however, has several potential complications such as inflammation of nerves and nerve tumor formation, in addition to making the horse less aware of its feet. A conservative alternative to surgical neurectomy for painful navicular disease in horses is the injection of honeybee toxin. While Apis mellifera (common honeybee) toxin may provide relief for months or years, the longevity and degree of effectiveness varies among horses. In the treatment of painful navicular disease, the first application typically alleviates pain for an average of 3 to 4 weeks, after which a second application will be made at the fourth week.

The owner of a private equine practice in Illinois, veterinarian Dr. Phillip Kapraun has been serving clients since 1984 and has performed numerous demonstrations and lectures. Dr. Phillip Kapraun’s work most frequently involves diagnosing and treating equine lameness cases such as navicular disease and soft-tissue injuries, among others. One of the most common causes of equine lameness is laminitis, a condition which can occur in any of a horse’s hooves. Laminitis involves an alteration in the flow of blood to the hoof and produces swelling, inflammation, and pain, as the inner layer of the horse’s hoof is starved of oxygen and nutrients. The general causes of this condition are described below. A high intake of sugars and starches can overburden a horse’s hind gut and cause harmful bacteria to leach into the bloodstream. These bacteria provoke a response that disturbs normal blood flow to the horse’s feet and can promote laminitis development. Similarly, severe infection due to colic, prolonged diarrhea, or retention of a placenta after birth can be a cause for laminitis. Other factors that may lead to a laminitis attack include stress due to frequent traveling or a change in environment, as can working a horse on hard ground for a prolonged period, when concussive forces could damage the internal laminar structures of the hooves. Horses that are obese or with Cushing’s disease are also at risk for this debilitating condition.

Residing in Harvard, Illinois, Dr. Phillip Kapraun owns and operates Harvard Equine Practice and has developed novel treatments such as using honey bee venom for equine navicular disease and Cobroxin for healing soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. As an equine veterinarian, Dr. Phillip Kapraun focuses much of his business on diagnosing and treating lameness in horses. A common method of diagnosing lameness is the administration of nerve blocks to determine the specific area from which pain is originating. A nerve block can numb an area suspected of being painful so that the structures involved in causing lameness will become apparent during the exam. In the lower limbs of horses, the sensory and motor nerves can be blocked using locally administered analgesic drugs such as mepivacaine and lidocaine. These drugs exert an effect quickly and can last for up to two hours with minimal side effects other than swelling at the injection site. Most lameness can be detected using one or more of four principal blocks, including the palmar digital nerve block, abaxial sesamoid nerve block, the low palmar nerve block, and the high palmar nerve block at the accessory carpal bone.

A private practice equine veterinarian, Dr. Phillip Kapraun focuses on rehabilitating lame performance horses. Currently treating animals at Harvard Equine Practice in Harvard, Illinois, Phillip Kapraun, DVM, pioneered the development of the now standard treatment for equine osteochondritis dissecans. Osteochondritis dissecans is a developmental disease in which cracks in the cartilage lead the joint to become inflamed. A condition frequently located around the leg joints, osteochondritis dissecans can occur in any joint. Affecting some breeds more than others, osteochondritis dissecans can have an incident rate as high as 80 percent in some breeds, such as Standardbreds and warmbloods, and can cause lameness. With genetic factors thought to account for between 25 percent and 50 percent of occurrences of the disease in horses, some environmental factors can also contribute to the development of osteochondritis dissecans. These factors may include heavier-than-average weight, copper deficiency, irregular exercise, and overly high phosphorus intake relative to calcium intake. The most common symptom associated with the disease is fluid retention in the joints.

For more than three decades, Dr. Phillip Kapraun has diagnosed and treated lameness in Standardbred racehorses and quarter horses as veterinarian and owner of Harvard Equine Practice in Harvard, Illinois. Dr. Phillip Kapraun closely follow news and announcements regarding equine safety. Two decades ago, researchers in the United States saw the first glimpses of what would come to be known as West Nile virus (WNV). The effects of the illness are not limited to people: horses can contract the virus from infected mosquitos, and about a third of the horses that do contract it end up dying from the illness. Of the ones that survive, some 40 percent end up with lasting damage that can affect gait and overall behavior. The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) urges owners to vaccinate their horses against WNV, going so far as to add the WNV vaccine to its core list of recommended vaccines. Horses that live in warmer climates where there is increased mosquito presence, horses under five years old, and horses older than 15 years old are all at risk of contracting WNV. The WNV vaccine in horses is actually a series of vaccines. AAEP Infectious Disease Committee member Dr. Linda Mittel says it’s important to start the series at the right time and make sure the horse gets all the doses, as an incomplete series will offer no protection.

For four decades, Dr. Phillip Kapraun has diagnosed and treated performance horses such as show horses, roping horses, and racehorses. In his practice in Harvard, Illinois, Dr. Phillip Kapraun focuses on treating Quarter Horses and Standardbreds. The origins of the American Standardbred date back to the late 1800s in New England and emerged from the interbreeding of a range of horses with different purposes. The name derives from the purpose of its breeding: consistently meeting the qualifying standard time to cover a mile to qualify for racing registry. Over the years, Canadian Pacers, Morgans, and Thoroughbreds, as well as many other pacing and trotting breeds, contributed to the evolution of the modern Standardbred. The Standardbred excels at harness racing but performs in any role which a light horse can fill. The horse can be found in an array of sports, including competitive carriage, jumping, distance riding, and speed games. The breed owes this trait in part to one of its foundation sires, a horse named Hambletonian, which had powerful, tall hind legs that provided immense propulsion.

A large-animal veterinarian who practices in Harvard, Illinois, Dr. Phillip Kapraun primarily treats performance horses, especially Standardbred and Quarter Horses, for lameness. However, Dr. Phillip Kapraun sees many of the common issues faced by horses involved in sport. Horses involved in equestrian sports are no different from human athletes in that they put stress on specific areas of their bodies and tend to injure these areas. Equestrian sports most often encourage suspensory ligament tears, sore feet, and joint problems. The suspensory ligament, tucked behind the cannon bone, helps support the ankle joint, but it can tear if the strain placed on it is too great. Injuries can occur to the front or back legs, especially in horses that jump. This injury can be a cause of abrupt lameness but is more likely to build up over time. Sore feet can also build up over time and can cause lameness. While this condition may improve with rest, the injury often rapidly returns when the horse is working. These injuries may not be visible in x-rays due to the lack of bone damage and are best spotted with an MRI. Joint damage usually occurs when joint fluid thins, in turn leading to the deterioration of cartilage and eventually the remodeling of bones. Heat and swelling can occur in such a joint, as can a change in gait. By the time these issues show up in imaging, substantial damage has often been done, and the horse must often switch to a different type of work.