Heavy breathing, lame, laminitis?

[fatpiggy]

My old girl was diagnosed with mild Cushing a month ago. No symptoms whatsoever but suddenly acutely lame - turned out to be an abscess although the vet still think it was laminitis (I don't!). We discussed hay versus haylage as mine is super fussy, won't eat soaked hay at all unless she finds it mouldering on the muck heap and is choosy about dry hay. The vet said the haylage should be ok as it is strong smelling and therefore the sugar should have fermented off already. She only gets about 5 pounds and doesn't eat it all anyway. I'm not sure I believe the acidity theory - anybody's stomach is acutely acidic - that's what breaks down food. The truth is that where Cushings is concerned there are lots of theories but very little proof about laminitis and its mechanics.

 

[Wagtail]

How is she doing wagtail? Sending healing vibes.

Still the same I'm afraid. Just took her digital pulse and it's still bounding. Just waiting for the results of the blood tests now. She is on strict box rest. Luckily she is ultra tidy so really easy to keep skipped out and her bed really clean. I have just talen delivery of the hay and I just know she isn't going to eat it! Oh well I will try.

 

[Wagtail]

My old girl was diagnosed with mild Cushing a month ago. No symptoms whatsoever but suddenly acutely lame - turned out to be an abscess although the vet still think it was laminitis (I don't!). We discussed hay versus haylage as mine is super fussy, won't eat soaked hay at all unless she finds it mouldering on the muck heap and is choosy about dry hay. The vet said the haylage should be ok as it is strong smelling and therefore the sugar should have fermented off already. She only gets about 5 pounds and doesn't eat it all anyway. I'm not sure I believe the acidity theory - anybody's stomach is acutely acidic - that's what breaks down food. The truth is that where Cushings is concerned there are lots of theories but very little proof about laminitis and its mechanics.

Thanks. I have been soaking her haylage and loads or mollases coloured water is coming off so it's probably doing the job. I will try her on the hay but looking at it, I doubt she will eat it. It's not dusty, just looks a bit old. I was told it wat cut late and would be the better of the two hays that they have for laminitics.

 

[AmyMay]

Still the same I'm afraid. Just took her digital pulse and it's still bounding. Just waiting for the results of the blood tests now. She is on strict box rest. Luckily she is ultra tidy so really easy to keep skipped out and her bed really clean. I have just talen delivery of the hay and I just know she isn't going to eat it! Oh well I will try.

What pain relief has the vet given??

 

[Wagtail]

What pain relief has the vet given??

She is on 2 danilon a day and also 1 ml sedalin 3 times a day (to act as a vaso dilator).

I thought she seemed much better yesterday but not quite so good today. She seems very happy in herself though (follows me all round the stable, nudging me). She is very hungry, poor thing. I am giving her only two soaked nets a day but she has a couple of scoops of dengie non mollassed hi fi half way between nets (as she devours the nets in an hour). She is getting one scoop of happy hoof too with her danilon.

 

[BlackVelvet]

Sorry to hear about your mare

Have they said anything about taking her for xrays/tests etc?

I know how horrible it is watching them in pain, my vet gave mine ACP tablets aswell so he just layed down feeling sorry for himself most of the time,

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You should be able to feed well soaked hay/lage ad-lib, as you will have washed out all the starch/sugar which causes the problem.

 

[Wagtail]

Sorry to hear about your mare

Have they said anything about taking her for xrays/tests etc?

I know how horrible it is watching them in pain, my vet gave mine ACP tablets aswell so he just layed down feeling sorry for himself most of the time,

Just walked her out and she seems much less lame so maybe she is better than I thought. She hasn't had xrays as the vet said she has no dip above her coronary band, indicating that there is no rotation. How is your boy now?

 

[Wagtail]

You should be able to feed well soaked hay/lage ad-lib, as you will have washed out all the starch/sugar which causes the problem.

The different vet who saw her last said she needs to lose plenty of weight, so I had to cut down her haylage considerably. She was eating around 18 kilos a day which is around 3% of her body weight. I have cut it down to 12 kilos. Having said that, it may still be too much for weight loss.

 

[be positive]

If you double or treble the nets it should take her longer to eat, as she is now going onto hay that you said she may not like I would mix with some haylage so that she keeps eating something. Not eating enough can cause other problems for a laminitic so unless she really needs to lose weight give her enough to keep her happy.
Glad she is moving more comfortably now.

 

[BlackVelvet]

Just walked her out and she seems much less lame so maybe she is better than I thought. She hasn't had xrays as the vet said she has no dip above her coronary band, indicating that there is no rotation. How is your boy now?

Never heard of that before,

Mine had no rotation thank god, just was very sore. he was alot more comfortable with lilypads on though, dont know if they have suggested these to you? Helps with supporting and making abit more comfortable for them. Does the vet definitly think its lami? Hopefully if it is it is only mild, x

 

[Wagtail]

Never heard of that before,

Mine had no rotation thank god, just was very sore. he was alot more comfortable with lilypads on though, dont know if they have suggested these to you? Helps with supporting and making abit more comfortable for them. Does the vet definitly think its lami? Hopefully if it is it is only mild, x

My sister who is a barefoot trimmer has posted me some pads. I should get them tomorrow. I do think she is lots better though as she was very keen to come out of her stable today and didn't appear to be limping. She does still have a digital pulse but the rate has slowed from 60 to around 48. So still a little fast but better.

 

[Wagtail]

Just got the Cushings result back. It shows a very mild elevation but vet doesn't think it is high enough to medicate. I am waiting for the EMS and IR result which I should get tomorrow.

 

[Wagtail]

If you double or treble the nets it should take her longer to eat, as she is now going onto hay that you said she may not like I would mix with some haylage so that she keeps eating something. Not eating enough can cause other problems for a laminitic so unless she really needs to lose weight give her enough to keep her happy.
Glad she is moving more comfortably now.

Thanks. I have bought her some of those eliminets. But she still manages to scoff the hay really quickly. May try doubling them up.

 

[Fii]

Along with soaking the hay, put a couple of handfulls of happy hoof in a small holed net, (like the ones logs come in) or a material bag, and soak and rinse it, you will be very surprised how much molassed coating comes out!! Just try it!
It is a pain in the arse to soak and rinse but i did this for my laminitic, as i was shocked at the amount in a feed supposidly made for them!!

 

[happyhacking:)]

Is she / was she on glucosamine? My mate had her gelding on it a few years ago which she had been advised to do by her (then) vet. He developed laminitis (at the time he was on very restricted turnout with soaked hay and was slightly below weight).
after months and months of questioning the cause of his laminitis attack the head of the vet practice admitted that the gucosamine that THEY had advised her to use was the most likely cause. Needless to say they are no longer our vets.

 

[soulfull]

hope she gets well soon

just to mention that when you soak hay or haylage it is best to rinse it thoroughly after so that all the gunk comes off, not only does it get rid of the bitter taste but leaves less sugar in it too.

girl on my yard was told to soak haylage for 12 to 24 hours changing water in between as he horse was well over weight and on 3rd attack of lami

Good luck

 

[Wagtail]

Is she / was she on glucosamine? My mate had her gelding on it a few years ago which she had been advised to do by her (then) vet. He developed laminitis (at the time he was on very restricted turnout with soaked hay and was slightly below weight).
after months and months of questioning the cause of his laminitis attack the head of the vet practice admitted that the gucosamine that THEY had advised her to use was the most likely cause. Needless to say they are no longer our vets.

No, she isn't on it but thanks for that information. I had never heard about it before and it is very useful to know!

 

[Wagtail]

hope she gets well soon

just to mention that when you soak hay or haylage it is best to rinse it thoroughly after so that all the gunk comes off, not only does it get rid of the bitter taste but leaves less sugar in it too.

girl on my yard was told to soak haylage for 12 to 24 hours changing water in between as he horse was well over weight and on 3rd attack of lami

Good luck

That's a very good tip. Thank you.