Extremely worried - very sudden total lameness

Northern Hare

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Hi Nancykitt, Great news that your horse is feeling so much more comfortable now that he's got his pads and painkillers.

Once the blood test results are back, if it turns out that it is Cushings, your vet will likely prescribe Prascend, which for my horse was a lifesaver! However, my vet recommended starting straight off with 1 tablet per day, which in hindsight was too much too soon, and he struggled with it to start with and went off his feed completely - which I gather is not an unusual response to Prascend at the start.

If I was doing that again, I'd buy a pill splitter (only about £3 off the web), and I'd have started him on 1/4 of a tablet per day to start with, then 1/2 tablet after a week or two then 3/4 before moving onto a full tablet. They're only tiny tablets, but they do have an amazing effect.
 

meleeka

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Hi Nancykitt, Great news that your horse is feeling so much more comfortable now that he's got his pads and painkillers.

Once the blood test results are back, if it turns out that it is Cushings, your vet will likely prescribe Prascend, which for my horse was a lifesaver! However, my vet recommended starting straight off with 1 tablet per day, which in hindsight was too much too soon, and he struggled with it to start with and went off his feed completely - which I gather is not an unusual response to Prascend at the start.

If I was doing that again, I'd buy a pill splitter (only about £3 off the web), and I'd have started him on 1/4 of a tablet per day to start with, then 1/2 tablet after a week or two then 3/4 before moving onto a full tablet. They're only tiny tablets, but they do have an amazing effect.

I would agree with you if the horse wasn’t in the middle of an acute laminitis attack. Getting those levels down as quickly as possible is going to be the key to this horse’s recovery so I’d start at the prescribed dose and be prepared, when he’s sound to reduce the dose if there are any side effects and start again, increasing the dose weekly. Some horses don’t suffer any side effects. Mine didn’t for a couple of years but then got suspicious of her feed so I reduced the dose and started syringing it it. She’s had a few wobbles over the years but has mostly accepted it well.
 

ester

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Arguably if he throws up negative for cushings I'd be asking the vet to consider treating regardless on the basis of symptoms.

What have you got foam wise? if unshod there are quite an assortment of soft padded boots to these days.
 

Northern Hare

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I would agree with you if the horse wasn’t in the middle of an acute laminitis attack. Getting those levels down as quickly as possible is going to be the key to this horse’s recovery so I’d start at the prescribed dose and be prepared, when he’s sound to reduce the dose if there are any side effects and start again, increasing the dose weekly. Some horses don’t suffer any side effects. Mine didn’t for a couple of years but then got suspicious of her feed so I reduced the dose and started syringing it it. She’s had a few wobbles over the years but has mostly accepted it well.

Hi Meleeka, thanks for your reply - apologies, but you're quite right on this as the horse is suffering with Lami at the moment. Fingers crossed that OP's horse is soon back on track and recovered from the Lami. Once my horse had stabilised on Prascend, he somehow "lost" about 10 years and was behaving like a youngster again.
 

Nancykitt

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Thanks everyone - he has had bloods taken today so I just have to wait a little while now. The vet who came today didn't think that he looked like a typical Cushings case at all but then you never know. He does willingly walk out of his stable when I muck out and this is obviously an improvement but I know that this could be a very long process.
In a way I really do hope it's Cushings as at least there's a treatment. He is no spring chicken at 20 but he looks well and if he can have a few more years of being comfortable and happy then that would be great. My big worry, though, is that there's already been some damage as a result of the lami and that it will be too far gone. Only time will tell.
 
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Pearlsasinger

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If the ACTH test comes back ok, ask for a TRH test. One of ours repeatedly came back ok then when TRH test was done, the reading was *8* times the normal limit. We now think that she had been Cushingoid for quite a long time but it hadn't shown up on ACTH tests.
 

Nancykitt

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Update - vet has rung and apparently it's definitely not Cushings. Test has come back as a clear negative.
So I've just been advised to continue managing him as we are doing...
He has been a little bit better today and has wanted to walk around (just a few steps) outside his stable. However, he will occasionally lift the front right foot. Just worried that there's something ominous going on with that one. But the vet told me to give him at least two weeks. He is certainly happy enough in himself and is still on the Danilon.
At least a positive Cushings test would have given us an explanation. Vet has told me to be relieved that he hasn't got Cushings but for him to get lami at such a ripe age is a bit odd I think!
 
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Pearlsasinger

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Update - vet has rung and apparently it's definitely not Cushings. Test has come back as a clear negative.
So I've just been advised to continue managing him as we are doing...
He has been a little bit better today and has wanted to walk around (just a few steps) outside his stable. However, he will occasionally lift the front right foot. Just worried that there's something ominous going on with that one. But the vet told me to give him at least two weeks. He is certainly happy enough in himself and is still on the Danilon.
At least a positive Cushings test would have given us an explanation. Vet has told me to be relieved that he hasn't got Cushings but for him to get lami at such a ripe age is a bit odd I think!


Please ask vet to come out again and do the TRH test for Cushings. The ACTH test is notoriously unreliable. We had a mare who tested well within normal on successive ACTH tests but when we had the TRH test done, it came back *8 times* the normal limit and she was immediately put on Prascend. I would probably ask the vet to try Prascend anyway.
 

fusspot

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I would definetly test for EMS-my boy over 3 years tested Negative for Cushings twice but was positive EMS-first time was a completely out of the blue Laminitis,second time was recurring abscesses from a low grade Laminitis as me controlling it by diet had stopped working.If they get Laminitis for an unknown reason and Cushings is negative-definetly insist your vet does for EMS-if you want to know more about the testing process please ask.
 

holeymoley

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I agree with testing for ems, or anything else similar. My boy doesn’t have cushings but is insulin resistant.
 

_HP_

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Hi Nancykitt, Great news that your horse is feeling so much more comfortable now that he's got his pads and painkillers.

Once the blood test results are back, if it turns out that it is Cushings, your vet will likely prescribe Prascend, which for my horse was a lifesaver! However, my vet recommended starting straight off with 1 tablet per day, which in hindsight was too much too soon, and he struggled with it to start with and went off his feed completely - which I gather is not an unusual response to Prascend at the start.

If I was doing that again, I'd buy a pill splitter (only about £3 off the web), and I'd have started him on 1/4 of a tablet per day to start with, then 1/2 tablet after a week or two then 3/4 before moving onto a full tablet. They're only tiny tablets, but they do have an amazing effect.
Agree with this....this will help with any side effects such as poor appetite.
Also...xrays...ask your vet about getting them done as soon as possible to check for rotation. That is often where the pain is coming from, especially as your vet says his toes are sore and the sooner you correct the rotation(if he has any) thru trimming , the better
 

meleeka

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There was a report a while ago that said something like 90% of laminitis cases have an endocrine cause, so Cushings or EMS. OP your horse has got it for a reason having never had it before, so I don’t think it would be a bad thing to look further for the cause.
I’m pleased he’s improving. Box rest is rotten in the summer so he’s timed it well in any case.
 

DD

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my vet book by Keiran O'Brian recommends 6 week box rest on 12inches of shavings for lami to give the structures time to heal properly. Hope your horse is OK OP.
 

splashgirl45

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i am a but concerned he is walking outside his stable, i thought when first diagnosed with laminitis the horse had to stay on soft bedding, has he been x rayed because he sounds like he is more sore on one front so i would want x rays done to see if the pedal bone has rotated and if so how far...if it has rotated he shouldnt be coming out on to the yard for even one step and you would be better to muck out around him...

also my vet didnt think my horse looked like she had cushings, her levels were 172 so she needed treatment immediately
 

Nancykitt

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Just an update - Finn is now much better. We got our hoof trimmer round (our other two horses are barefoot), she took of the front shoes and put him in Easiboot Clouds. They have been brilliant and he is now at the stage where he is sound and wanting to walk around; he's clearly not in any pain and we've had to stop him from trotting around. There is a single 'event line' visible on the front hooves but the actual cause of his lami remains a mystery and other than the line the hooves look good.. He is still not allowed out with the others though and is quite upset about it, but it's for his own good.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice, the acute attack was just awful but he is looking so much better now.
 
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