I think he has laminitis :(

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CobsGalore

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This morning my horse was 'short' in front and really didn't want to trot on the lunge. I could feel pulses in his front legs and he had warmish hooves. I knew he wasn't right.

Took him off the grass straight away - vet advised me to fence a bit of the field off where it is bare (I have no stable), feed soaked hay and give him bute.

I will be keeping a very close eye on him and the vet will obviously be coming out if no improvement.

Please can you tell me everything I need to know about the recovery process, none of my other horses ever had it before :(
 
Bumping this up for you.

How old is he? May be worth considering a Cushings test?

Sending vibes for a speedy recovery! Sounds like you acted quickly.
 
Oh no! Is this chubby cob? Poor boy and poor you. I would want him off grass completely for now, I know you say you have a bare paddock but how bare? Do you mean absolute mud? Soaked hay in smallish, regular rations and watch him like a hawk. He may well come right as rain if it is low grade. I am sure others will be along with more advice soon!

Hay needs to be soaked for a good twelve hours so get a load in to set you up for the next 24 hours.
 
Sorry to hear about your boy

You really need to find him a stable. Living out in a small patch of what will very quickly become mud will be unpleasant and probably cause other problems. You will also have more problems if the ground freezes again. He needs a nice soft bed as his feet will be painful.

Triple netting the soaked hay makes it last longer and stops them getting bored.
 
CobsGalore said:
This morning my horse was 'short' in front and really didn't want to trot on the lunge. I could feel pulses in his front legs and he had warmish hooves. I knew he wasn't right.

Took him off the grass straight away - vet advised me to fence a bit of the field off where it is bare (I have no stable), feed soaked hay and give him bute.

I will be keeping a very close eye on him and the vet will obviously be coming out if no improvement.

Please can you tell me everything I need to know about the recovery process, none of my other horses ever had it before :(
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I just lost my mare to laminitis or the follow up problems related to laminitis. She had never had it before either.


I would get the vet up straight away if he has laminitis you may need to give him anti toxin drugs. If I knew this before she escaped and gorged on barley rings she would still be with me now and not had a year and half of battling.

Just taking him off and soaking his hay 24 hrs is a start , feed him low protein feed until its properly diagnosed have a look at my website for info - links - and photos of my mares feet, You need to nip this before too late. http://equinecare-and-control.weebly.com/l.html



.
 
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CobsGalore said:
This morning my horse was 'short' in front and really didn't want to trot on the lunge. I could feel pulses in his front legs and he had warmish hooves. I knew he wasn't right.

Took him off the grass straight away - vet advised me to fence a bit of the field off where it is bare (I have no stable), feed soaked hay and give him bute.

I will be keeping a very close eye on him and the vet will obviously be coming out if no improvement.

Please can you tell me everything I need to know about the recovery process, none of my other horses ever had it before :(
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I would say to follow the vet's advice. The frosty, short and stressed grass is like eating candy for them.

Be cautious about taking advice from a forum or the internet - run everything by your vet before doing anything different.

These sites can be trusted to provide good advice :)

http://www.safergrass.org/

http://www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk/
 
I'm sorry op and good on you for acting quickly. I would add one or two things such as salt, magnesium and vitamin e in a low sugar feed such as speedibeet or fast fibre. There's an emergency diet listed here on the laminitis tab but it is only short term and doesn't take account of longer term possible mineral needs.
http://www.ecirhorse.com/

Fingers crossed.

ps. Cross posted with Oberbaubles, sorry to add another link.
 
amandap said:
I'm sorry op and good on you for acting quickly. I would add one or two things such as salt, magnesium and vitamin e in a low sugar feed such as speedibeet or fast fibre. There's an emergency diet listed here on the laminitis tab but it is only short term and doesn't take account of longer term possible mineral needs.
http://www.ecirhorse.com/

Fingers crossed.

ps. Cross posted with Oberbaubles, sorry to add another link.
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that link is on my website:)
 
Honestly, when Shy had a scare, we at the vets asap for an exam, and I am so glad I did as I knew for sure (he was just on the cusp). I know it's a pain, but it may not even be lami, and you do need to know one way or the other, as apart from anything lami is extremely painful and you may need to start bute.

Sending you and pony ((((((((HUGS)))))))) TS xxxx
 
I have just given him some anti-inflammatories and will be going back later tonight to check on him and give him some more soaked hay.

I will be getting the vet out tomorrow to confirm whether it is lami that we are dealing with, and if it is I will do my best to find him a stable.

He isn't standing in mud, it is just a small bare patch of the field where no grass grows. Our soil drains very well.

Shysmum - what did you do with shy when you had a scare? How long was he in for?
 
Hi, my boy got laminitis following an op to remove a chipped bone above the pastern (developed whilst in the vet). When he was comfortable enough to move, he came home and was on box rest for about 8 weeks, during this time he was on 2 sachets of Bute a day, 10 Metformin tablets (to help get his weight down-blood test for EMS came back negative). Farrier fitted heart bar shoes and advised padding so I did this everyday. Was also on deep bed of shavings.
Reduced his hay intake gradually and soaked all nets and fed via double haynets, eliminets and tricklenet. Also put him on Formula 4 Feet, clivers (to help with legs filling from standing in) and gut balancer.
He's now only on half a Bute a day, restricted grazing, never turned out on frost, front feet still padded for turnout and soaked, weighed hay. Still has the gut balancer and Formula 4 Feet but nothing else.
Had more X-rays last month and they showed rotation. Am hoping the remedial shoeing will help him come right but it all takes time. This all started in June.
My advice would be for the vet and farrier to see him, get any excess weight off and be patient. Good luck.
 
I had to move yards altogether as I didn't trust the place I was at - she'd been taking off his muzzle, feeding him all sorts switching paddocks, and this scare happened in less that two weeks there :eek:

So I moved to my current yard (fab). The same day my farrier came out to check as well and put my mind at rest that it was very mild if anything. Shy went on two full weeks of box rest, had bute for the first week, and then vet came out to see him after the first week. Just went on to ad lib hay and some Healthy Hooves - diet now fully revised to just a balancer now tho.

He was MUCH improved after that time, and from then on, never went out without a muzzle, and was in at night. No further problems at all, touch wood.

It was a traumatic time, as I left on a cruise with my mum the day after I moved him (could not get out of it really) , but my YO was fantastic. She even texted me while I was away on the ship !

Honestly, if I had not got him to the vet that day I dread to think what would have happened, but you really have to know asap. You do just "know" when somethings not right.
 
My girl had laminitis 3 years ago and ended up being completely box rested for 8 months. I caught her very early, so early that when tests were done on her feet she didn't react. Like others have suggested soak hay for 12 hours then rinse thoroughly, feed from elim-a-nets or double net and feed regularly during the day. Keeping my fingers crossed he's ok.
 
OberBaubles said:
Be cautious about taking advice from a forum or the internet
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Does that include your advice???

People come to the forum for advice, its up to the individual to take it or not. Everyone who has gone through and illness with their horse, will have an opinion or method that they used and like to share it with others.

If it had not been for Froggy telling me about D&H help line for liver I would have been less clued up in how and what to feed.

My vets actually told me the wrong thing to feed and had no clue on the amount to feed. So in this instance a members advice was the right advice.

We all like to post our ways as some ways help certain horses some don't, the OP has the right to choose, its not for some to say oh don't take so and so's advice.

This is my pet peeve on here, some might go explaining their way in an odd or mixed up way. This is due to how they perceive to do it or are able to explain like me (being dyslexic).

So to say be wary is an odd statement when people come here to share their views or to get advice which they may or may not take.

I have been in the horse world 46 years done years of training but still ask advice when I meet a new challenge like the liver disease. I for one am glad I did take froggy's advice and when a member has actual gone through something my horse(s) have been diagnosed with I will be only to pleased to listen to them rather than someone who professes to know it all but has not gone through it only learnt it on paper.
 
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I wouldn't have asked on here if I didn't want peoples input and advice. I always speak to my vets when there is something wrong, but where there are loads of other people who have dealt with a similar thing its nice to hear you're not alone.

The vet is coming out today so I will let you know what they say.
 
I do feel for you, OP. I've had to section off my two as Henry was walking short last week and Chloe was rubbing again (a sure sign of her having too much grass). I've never had to do this in December, before, so like you I'm worried. I've got them on 2yr old (soaked) hay and slim-chaff with a bit of speedibeet. In my case this has done the trick and both of them seem fine. For much of the year they live almost like Joanne suggests (I'm on sandy soil with a paddock that doesn't get much sunlight).
 
OberBaubles said:
I would say to follow the vet's advice. The frosty, short and stressed grass is like eating candy for them.

Be cautious about taking advice from a forum or the internet - run everything by your vet before doing anything different.

These sites can be trusted to provide good advice :)

http://www.safergrass.org/

http://www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk/
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Tend to agree with this.

Laminitis used to be almost a death sentence, not the case now fortunately.

I don't know whether your horse is shod or not, but on the whole, we have had much better outcomes with barefoot horses, particularly where the laminitis has been diet induced.

Sounds like you have caught this early on so hopefully the damage won't be too bad. Feeding soaked hay only and allowing the horse to move as little or as much as it wants will help the recovery.
 
Update: good news from the vet, it possibly was low grade lami but more than likely from running around on the frozen ground, or even could have been tie-up. Either way she said I caught it early and treated it in the way she would have done.

No reaction to hoof testers and now sound on the lunge (although he has had bute).

I have to keep him restricted and on bute until sunday and then see how he is on monday.
 
CobsGalore said:
Update: good news from the vet, it possibly was low grade lami but more than likely from running around on the frozen ground, or even could have been tie-up. Either way she said I caught it early and treated it in the way she would have done.

No reaction to hoof testers and now sound on the lunge (although he has had bute).

I have to keep him restricted and on bute until sunday and then see how he is on monday.
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That's good news. My girl had no reaction to hoof testers during any of her three lami attacks, nor did she have heat in her hooves. She did however, have digital pulses, but again, not really bad. So I would err on the side of caution and treat him as having lami until he is sound without bute for two or three days.
 
Wagtail said:
That's good news. My girl had no reaction to hoof testers during any of her three lami attacks, nor did she have heat in her hooves. She did however, have digital pulses, but again, not really bad. So I would err on the side of caution and treat him as having lami until he is sound without bute for two or three days.
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Same with my girl Wagtail.

Everything crossed for you both CobsGalore
 
Leviathan said:
Does that include your advice???

People come to the forum for advice, its up to the individual to take it or not. Everyone who has gone through and illness with their horse, will have an opinion or method that they used and like to share it with others.

If it had not been for Froggy telling me about D&H help line for liver I would have been less clued up in how and what to feed.

My vets actually told me the wrong thing to feed and had no clue on the amount to feed. So in this instance a members advice was the right advice.

We all like to post our ways as some ways help certain horses some don't, the OP has the right to choose, its not for some to say oh don't take so and so's advice.

This is my pet peeve on here, some might go explaining their way in an odd or mixed up way. This is due to how they perceive to do it or are able to explain like me (being dyslexic).

So to say be wary is an odd statement when people come here to share their views or to get advice which they may or may not take.

I have been in the horse world 46 years done years of training but still ask advice when I meet a new challenge like the liver disease. I for one am glad I did take froggy's advice and when a member has actual gone through something my horse(s) have been diagnosed with I will be only to pleased to listen to them rather than someone who professes to know it all but has not gone through it only learnt it on paper.
Click to expand...

Not sure how this became all about you Leviathan :confused:
 
OberBaubles said:
I would say to follow the vet's advice. The frosty, short and stressed grass is like eating candy for them.

Be cautious about taking advice from a forum or the internet - run everything by your vet before doing anything different.

These sites can be trusted to provide good advice :)

http://www.safergrass.org/

http://www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk/
Click to expand...

Is this still current? I'm sure I have read that they'd have to ingest an almost impossible to source and consume amount of 'stressed' (fructan-rich) grass to trigger laminitis, or at least provide the extra carbohydrate to cause a laminitic response. NOT trying to argue, but there is continuous progress and new light being shed. I thought the fructan theory, as a standalone cause, had been debunked?
 
brightinsel said:
Is this still current? I'm sure I have read that they'd have to ingest an almost impossible to source and consume amount of 'stressed' (fructan-rich) grass to trigger laminitis, or at least provide the extra carbohydrate to cause a laminitic response. NOT trying to argue, but there is continuous progress and new light being shed. I thought the fructan theory, as a standalone cause, had been debunked?
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I have heard it has been debunked too - yet horses still come down with lami when it frosts. Being a simple creature, I trust my eyes before the scientists :)

Most of the over-grazed grass on livery yards around here would qualify as stressed all the time anyway :o.

It may be most of our overweight and overfed horses are walking the razor at the best of times - then a spot of frost tips them over......
 
OberBaubles said:
It may be most of our overweight and overfed horses are walking the razor at the best of times - then a spot of frost tips them over......
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Interestingly, I asked the vet about his weight and she said she thought he was just about right for this time of year.

That's definitely something I will choose not to listen to. I know he is still overweight despite losing about 60kg from when I first got him in September.
 
I have realised that weight in itself is a trigger for my mare. If she goes above 550 kg on the weight tape, even by the smallest amount, then she becomes footy. I try to keep her around 520 kg and check her weekly.
 
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