Founder with no outward signs, except sore?

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torilue

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I have a 13 year old mustang gelding that was diagnosed today with founder. He has rather nice looking hooves with low heels and absolutely no flaring. They are nice and concave and he has a short toe. They are and have always been more oval than round. For the past couple of months he has been extremely sore and the vet has ruled out abscesses, thrush, and navicular. He said today it must be lamanitis/founder. Has anyone had a horse that has been sore for this long with no physical signs in the hoof?? I have pictures of his hooves, but this is my first post ever and i'm having trouble figuring out how to load them. TIA for any help!
 
X Rays were done to confirm perfect coffin bone position. We have always suspected insulin resistance with this guy so he's always been treated as having it. He's on a dry turnout lot. He's fed grass hay with a nsc % of about 9.5 and has absolutely zero grain. Cushings is probably a route I should explore. Thank you for that suggestion. It's so frustrating when everything looks good and there shouldn't have been any triggers.
 
torilue said:
I wish I could figure out how to upload photos.
Click to expand...

Open a Photobucket account (free). Upload your photos and to add to a post, copy and paste the code under the relevant photo

Could you post pics of the x rays? Or soles - they are the relevant information for founder.
 
Thanks for the help uploading photos! A couple of the pics are directly after a trim and the trimmer aggressively trimmed the frog to search for any hidden thrush to explain the soreness.. And the purple in the sole is some "no thrush" just in case.. He normally has a big thick smooth frog. FfionWinnie, I've never heard of supplementing with Vit e oil. What is the science behind that? And thank you everyone for your input!
 
Two things scream at me.

Someone has rasped his sole. This is a huge mistake. Your trimmer appears to have lowered his heels very aggressively. Have they explained why?

He seems to have sheared heels on both feet, one much worse than the other. As a consequence of the heels, which are likely to be sore to walk on, he has very underdeveloped heels and they are underrun .

If he was mine I would be disinfecting that central sulcus every day, stuffing the crack with cotton wool soaked in sudocrem if it will stay in.

I would also test for Cushings.

And I would tell the trimmer to stay away for three months and use walking on tarmac/blacktop to show him to trim for himself until he finds where he wants his heels to be.
 
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Can you add the xrays? I'm not sure how anyone can diagnose founder unless by xray or by palpating the tip of the pedal bone through the sole. If it was definitely diagnosed I would be expecting to see either foam pads or heart bar shoes applied to support the pedal bone and stop it sinking through the sole, which would be the end game. Could it just be some rotation? Am I correct in thinking you aren't in the UK OP?
 
Hi, is this horse in the USA? Photos and mustang breed make me ask. If yes, then the word Founder = laminitis to us in the UK. In the UK, the word Founder would be called Sinker in the USA. Big difference.

The rear of the feet are very contracted and weak, sheared heels developing too. Treat sulcus infection, keep unshod and moving freely (not forced) on surfaces he can cope with until he improves.

These don't look like laminitis/founder feet to me.
 
You said the horse is on a dry lot and fed only hay, this diet would scream vitamin e deficiency to me. Vitamin e deficiency causes muscle soreness. I keep my horse like this due to PSSM and supplement with 7000iu of natural vitamin e per day.
 
The pics don't seem to be there any more OP? I would be interested to see them but definitely listen to Andalucian, she knows her stuff ;).
 
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