Hypothermia, Dehydration and Laminitis

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DD265

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I know that I need to ask the vet when they come back but I didn't think of the questions at the time.

As a short summary, I arrived at the yard this evening shortly after my pony had been brought in and immediately knew something was wrong; he was like a zombie. He wasn't interested in treats, barely registered that I was there and he was very cold despite being unclipped in a heavyweight stable rug in an internal barn. He was turned out in a heavyweight turnout, no neck, and it's not the coldest day we've had by any stretch but it was raining. Couldn't tempt him with warm water or a bucket of feed. Rectal temperature within the normal range. We tried walking him out of his stable and after the first couple of steps he almost collapsed, so we rang the vet and put the solarium over him. Vet said hypothermia, dehydration and laminitis. Our theory is that he didn't move much if at all in the field today, thus not drinking and getting very cold. No evidence that he went down (he's 24yo with arthritis so definitely a concern) and YO is really good at keeping an eye on them. Vet gave steroids, painkillers and fluids via tube to the stomach. Pony had perked up a little under the solarium but there was a marked improvement after the veterinary treatment, and he's more himself still each time YO has checked him since.

Does anybody have any experience of hypothermia in horses? Technically reading up on it, my boy wasn't hypothermic as his internal temperature was normal but he was seriously cold on the outside. Are there any lasting effects?

I'm not too worried about the dehydration as the vet got fluids into him and YO saw that he'd had a drink since.

Laminitis is obviously a problem but it's too soon to know exactly what we're dealing with. We're monitoring him closely and have to update the vet in the morning. The vets can do some bloods tomorrow but not the cushings test as I guess that has to go to an external lab, so depending on how he is tomorrow I'll probably just get all bloods done on Monday. Lets say he has cushings and that triggered the laminitis; does that automatically make him susceptible to laminitis from sugars?

I posted on here last year about PTS then (he retired last year) but he's been so happy and coping well that I was hoping to give him at least this summer and had no fixed date in mind to say goodbye. I do not want this to force my hand, but likewise I will not let him suffer.
 
Poor horse, sounds like rather a poorly boy today, glad the vets visit helped him and I hope he improves tomorrow.

Regarding cushings, if that is diagnosed, then yes a low sugar diet is necessary as they are then susceptible to laminitis.

All the best.
 
Thanks Andalucian, I thought that might be the case. YO is moving him on to hay (vet said just to get him eating tonight, and not long after the vet left he started tucking into the haylage) and cutting out a Bailey's mix from his feed, but the rest is already low sugar so not too drastic a change. We'll cross the turnout bridge when we come to it.

Last update was that pony is bright as a button, so that bodes very well :)
 
The dehydration has probably been over a few days, if he had been feeling a bit under par, footsore then they do often tend to stop drinking, especially in colder weather, they then become a little dehydrated and their body tells them they need even less so it progresses slowly until they become obviously poorly, I had one that dehydrated a few years ago he was on soaked hay and I hadn't realised he was drinking a little less each day, he bounced back with no ill effects, within 12 hours he was drinking normally topped up by a couple of sloppy feeds each day just in case.

The laminitis may be cushings related but could be due to stress/ shock, you will not really know what came first and need to address his management as a whole, low sugar and starch feeds, soaked hay, if he requires prascend that should help get him back on track but I don't think there should be any lasting damage other than having a laminitic to care for which is going to need planning before the spring grass comes through but it is not necessarily the end of the world many recover to lead relatively normal, if slightly restricted lives.
 
That does make sense Be Positive.

There's another pony on the yard that presented very similar in terms of the laminitis 12-18 months ago, and YO has been able to manage him successfully so hopefully we can do the same. I think the hardest thing will be balancing his need for movement due to the arthritis with the turnout options on the yard.
 
We've been diagnosed with EMS and will be trialing Metaformin.

I gather that exercise and weight control are the usual management options for EMS, but he's retired and already the perfect weight (we don't want him to lose any) so I think initially things might be a bit tricky until we get a handle on it. Honestly at this point I'm not sure what we're getting a handle on - I need to do my research on EMS but guess the primary concern is getting over the laminitis, as he's still on 3 Bute a day.
 
With laminitis, it's a good idea to get x rays done of his feet to check for rotation or sinkage...your farrier can then trim correctly...the laminitis site has lots of helpful info on laminitis and ems, low sugar and starch diet is essential too as previously said...and soaked hay for the time being at least...
 
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