I am very confused! laminitis but cantering round field??HELP!(long!)

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karenjj

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Hi I wrote in the vet section last week about my 17 year old mare. She went lame about a month and a half ago after I had ridden her out and the ground had started getting a bit harder and she had no shoes on yet.. asumed it was because she needed her shoes on so farrier put them on. Still lame.. vet came out did an examination and told me to put her on bute for a month and that it was arthritis and navicular.. and she would re-examine in a month after a week off bute.. Month has gone by and vet came back, said she possibly had an abscess and drilled hole in her hoof and poulticed it then did x-rays and said it wasn't arthritis or navicular but laminitis! I rushed home from work to buy shavings for a big bed get home to see her in the field...cantering and rearing and playing with the other horses! Does a horse with laminits canter around the field?
Everything I've read about laminits tells me they can barely walk. I don't know if the vet knows what she is talking about!! She said she can see the laminits on x-ray but why didn't she diagnose this initially, there were no pulses?
Anyone that can help me be less confused gets a gold star!!!!
 
She said she can tell by the way her pedal bone sits on the x-ray. The farrier is coming next week as vet wants him to fit heart bar shoes but I'm not sure whether this is all necessary as she's moving normally at the moment but I will ask his advice (when I can get through to him!)
 
Ok, the problem is that most think of laminitis when a horse or pony is "rocking" with a laminitic stance. Unfortunately, this is not true, and laminitis can be in varying degrees (all of which should be treated by vet care, to ensure it doesn't develop into a chronic state), from chronic to acute, and all bits in between!!

I don't know about laminitis being picked up on an x ray, but perhaps your vet is diagnosing on pedal bone rotation, which obviously can.

However, you say your horse has been on bute. In acute cases bute can disguise laminitic symptoms, and some horses do run around although laminitis is still there. Also, it does take a little while for bute to leave the system.

The important thing here is, to follow your vet's advice , if laminitis has been properly diagnosed.

I wish you good luck, and hope that your horse is better soon.
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On an x ray you can see laminitic changes around the pedal bone. Its been over a year, but I remember the vet showing me and the was what I would describe as fuzziness around the pedal bone which is what he called laminitic changes....

I'd give your vet a call tomorrow about the turnout issue. I'm sure he'll give you good advise.
 
The x rays could show rotation or sinking of the pedal bone. Your Farrier will need a copy of the x ray to shoe your horse correctly.

Your vet should also teach you how to take the digital pulse of your horse so that you can detect any changes that may demonstrate that your horse may be about to get Laminitis again.

Your vet also needs to determine how recently the Laminitis occured, the reason why it occured and advise you on how to prevent further incidents of Laminitis.
 
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