Heat in hooves + digital pulse?

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Georgie1234

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Could heat in hooves and digital pulse be caused by bruising, and if so, how does one tell the difference between the two? Horse not shod and taken on long hack on partially rocky roads, but concerned about the grass surge as well...
 
To be on the safe side I would treat as laminitis and get your horse in a stable on a thick bed. It may well be bruising but I would have thought that would be more of an external problem, whereas inflamation inside the hoof would give a digital pulse.
Get your horse in to be safe and get the vet or farrier to investigate further.
A good test that I have used in the past prior to the vet coming is to tap the underneath side of the hoof with the end of the hoof pick and see if there are any sore areas...if bruising it will be located to a particular part...if sore around the toe area you are likely to have laminitis brewing.
 
yes! Thank you! Have rapped and banged on hoof with no response from horse. At all. There was a big rock stuck in hoff after hack though. How very frightening.
Thanks for help too.
 
Be very wary. My mare came in lame at the end of June. Farrier checked her feet the next morning and re-shod her - no evidence of laminitis. I still kept her in and four days later she had. rotation in one foot.

After 6 weeks on box rest she had it in both front feet and foundered.

In my experience heat in hooves and pain are not reliable indicators
 
Oh my - this is frightening. What else to do? She is not on hard grain - only alfalfa and fibre (and grass...) and not too much hay. Was the rotation a result of june's grass? Or did it happen after?
 
You need to get her off the grass immediately. Soak all her hay for at least 12 hours, put her on a deep deep shavings bed and call your vet. Hopefully it will not be lamminitis but if it is she needs all of the above and more. Good luck
 
Georgie1234 said:
Could heat in hooves and digital pulse be caused by bruising, and if so, how does one tell the difference between the two? Horse not shod and taken on long hack on partially rocky roads, but concerned about the grass surge as well...
Click to expand...

Straight after exercise hooves can be hotter than normal with noticable pulse - but if horse has cooled down, pulse back to resting rate then yes digital pulse almost always a sign of threat of laminitis. It's an early warning sign - get off the grass asap, dont feed anything with molasses in and soak the hay for minimum of 12 hours. Hopefully you've caught it in time.
 
Definitely better to be safe than sorry and treat as if it was laminitis - it can be low grade early warning without the lameness or stance - all sorts of subtle signs like shifting balance, looking pre-ocupied, being irritable and so on

Better to give her an area to move in if she wants - if it is laminitis she'll move as much as she is comfortable, if it is an abscess as a result of the bruise movement will help - but no grass would be the safest option untill you know.

We have taped off an area wiht the stable and a large concrete apron for our lami - he gets plenty of movement.
 
Georgie1234 said:
Oh my - this is frightening. What else to do? She is not on hard grain - only alfalfa and fibre (and grass...) and not too much hay. Was the rotation a result of june's grass? Or did it happen after?
Click to expand...

She is a good doer and I had her on lami alert since April. We had had no rain for a month so no rich grass. We think she had either eaten something toxic or more reacted to fly/wasp stings. She seemed to have urticaria and respiratory distress.

I rant the Laminitis Trust for information on feeding and bedding - by the way they don't say it is necessary to soak hay - my mare would not eat it. Deep litter and frog support are important. Pain relief and medication to help blood circulation (which my vets did not give).

Info is on Lamitis Clinic not Trust website. Don't starve your horse do weigh your hay. My girl also gets two feeds of safeand sound/hif-fi with non molassed beet.
 
A digital pulse simply means that there is inflammation in the hoof - it could be bruising/abscess or it could be laminitis. Seeing as laminitis is potentially fatal then I would personally err on the side of caution and treat as if it is until the vet sees your horse.
 
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