A five-month-old foal of a Japanese draft horse that was bred in the Hokkaido Sorachi area died with a fever, respiratory distress and diarrhea. Autopsy findings showed that the ileal wall was thickened, patchy and faded and the ileal mucosa was coarse, wrinkled and walled. The Lawsonia intracellularis-specific gene was detected in the ileal mucosa and the contents of the colon using both conventional and real-time PCR tests. Histopathological examination showed adenomatous hyperplasia of the ileal mucosa and Warthin-Starry staining showed a large number of curved bacilli in the cytoplasm of cryptic epithelial cells. Immunohistochemistry using an anti-Lawsonia intracellularis rabbit antibody showed a positive reaction consistent with the bacilli. Based on these results, the animal was diagnosed as having equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE, Lawsonia intracellularis infection). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of EPE found in Japanese draft horses. Even in heavy draft horses, it is necessary to diagnose the disease and take hygiene measures against it.

Dogs can accidentally ingest various intoxicants and foreign substances, and emesis is the treatment of choice. Tranexamic acid is frequently used for emesis treatment in Japan, while apomorphine is used overseas. We conducted a retrospective study to compare the usefulness of tranexamic acid and apomorphine in emetogenic treatment. The results showed that the apomorphine group had significantly higher rates of emesis and excretion of misfed food compared to the tranexamic acid group. Seizures requiring anti-seizure drugs were observed in 0.9％ of the tranexamic acid group. Meanwhile, the apomorphine group continued to vomit even after excretion of the foreign body, suggesting that attention should be paid to prolonged nausea and vomiting after treatment. In conclusion, apomorphine was considered as useful as tranexamic acid in the treatment of emesis in dogs.