arthritis or low grade laminitis

ticobay831

ticobay831

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Ok a friends horse has been a bit lame on and off during the summer especially while ground has been hard.
said horse has some arthritis in front feet, how can she tell if the lameness is down to LGL or Arthritis ?
what are the symptoms of a horse with arthritis in the front feet, are they similar ?
She obviously doesn't want to get them medicated at this stage if it is LGL :-/
help and suggestions please x
 
She would need to x ray the fronts for arthritis.

I would get the vet out either way to be honest. If LGL then the Horse will need special management now. If arthritis then the vet can talk through options to make the Horse more comfortable. After all if the Horse is on and off lame it is probably very uncomfortable.
 
horse has been xrayed and does have small arthritic changes in front feet, vet doesn't suspect laminitis and has suggested medicating, which she is happy to do , but is now thinking if it could possibly be LGL, he has joint supplements etc and fed is very well managed.
it was just a thought she had, obviously hard ground hasn't helped x
 
Your vet can draw bloods for insulin and adiponectin which can show risk of laminitis before steroid injections. Also worth Cushings test just to rule it out.
 
Pulses will be raised in LGL and also horse will feel pottery over stony ground and on hard ground will have tendency to seek softer areas to walk on, such as verges at side of road or thicker grassier areas when hacking off-road. These are symptoms that I found.
 
Commenting as I have been treating my cob for arthritis all summer (bute) and it turned out to be laminitis (diagnosed yesterday), and not at all low grade, just in all four feet so wasn’t showing the typical leaning back stance etc. Only real symptom was a stiffness that eased when walking around - so very typical of arthritis. Initial vet gave bute for when he was bad, second vet nerve blocked and then referred for x-rays of the joints (at this point we were still working on the assumption of arthritis, probably stifle) and eventually third vet x-rayed his feet and found rotation in 3/4 feet, one hind having as much as 13 degrees rotation. Feel terrible for not getting him x-rayed sooner 😢. Lameness can be so difficult to resolve but I’m just glad I have an answer now. I hope your friend gets an answer soon too (and hopefully a better one than mine!)
 
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