Tihamandturkey
Well-Known Member
On Monday I lost my beautiful mare to laminitis.
Onset was sudden - she was galloping and playing with field mates the evening before she came out of her stable presenting as laminitic on the morning of 1st December.
Initially she responded to anti inflammatory injections and meloxicam and seemed to be improving then the symptoms worsened and she did not appear to get any relief from further painkilling injections.
Bloods were taken on Sunday and antibiotics administered in the hope that there was an infection underlying which might respond to treatment.
Unfortunately no improvement on Monday and she was still not responding to the very strong combination of painkillers.
Bloods examined by two very experienced vets were the worst they had ever seen indicating a hormonal metabolic condition and there was muscle and kidney damage showing.
I think a combination of both EMS and PPID but tbh my head is fried.
My principal vet has a friend in the UK who does research into these conditions and he is sending the bloods over to him - might help others down the line.
The progression of this was so quick fierce painful and devastating to see and I've tried to find the words to type this post so many times.
There were no obvious physical indications to lead anyone to suspect this was underlying but I think that it was a perfect storm - few weeks off work due to my broken fingers - warm days cold nights changing grass structure - change of routine from being out 24/7 to in at night the evening before so cortisol levels probably reached tipping point.
I and all connections are struggling to come to terms and I am torturing myself wishing I'd not done this or had done that.
At the end of the day I have to accept she has gone and I know that there was no other decision for me to make - she had deteriorated so fast and the pain was so intense that further treatment was not an option.
My beautiful feisty Princess was a fighter and in her prime at 11 but this was a battle she just couldn't win.
Onset was sudden - she was galloping and playing with field mates the evening before she came out of her stable presenting as laminitic on the morning of 1st December.
Initially she responded to anti inflammatory injections and meloxicam and seemed to be improving then the symptoms worsened and she did not appear to get any relief from further painkilling injections.
Bloods were taken on Sunday and antibiotics administered in the hope that there was an infection underlying which might respond to treatment.
Unfortunately no improvement on Monday and she was still not responding to the very strong combination of painkillers.
Bloods examined by two very experienced vets were the worst they had ever seen indicating a hormonal metabolic condition and there was muscle and kidney damage showing.
I think a combination of both EMS and PPID but tbh my head is fried.
My principal vet has a friend in the UK who does research into these conditions and he is sending the bloods over to him - might help others down the line.
The progression of this was so quick fierce painful and devastating to see and I've tried to find the words to type this post so many times.
There were no obvious physical indications to lead anyone to suspect this was underlying but I think that it was a perfect storm - few weeks off work due to my broken fingers - warm days cold nights changing grass structure - change of routine from being out 24/7 to in at night the evening before so cortisol levels probably reached tipping point.
I and all connections are struggling to come to terms and I am torturing myself wishing I'd not done this or had done that.
At the end of the day I have to accept she has gone and I know that there was no other decision for me to make - she had deteriorated so fast and the pain was so intense that further treatment was not an option.
My beautiful feisty Princess was a fighter and in her prime at 11 but this was a battle she just couldn't win.
