I'm a terrable owner, Vibes for Merryn please.

L

LauraWheeler

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 June 2009
Messages
4,930
Visit site
I got Merryn in to ride, tacked him up and headed down the track. He didn't want to walk on the track and kept diving onto the soft :confused:
When I got on the road I asked him to go into trot and it felt awful, so I jumped off and led him along the road on close inspection he is walking on his heals slightly and when I got him home and felt his paulses he has them slightly in all four feet :( his feet arn't to hot but I think My poor poor boy has laminitas :( :(
He's now in a stable on a deep bed, with limited food (He's not impressed) Hopefuly it'll pass quickly and i've caught it quickly, He was absolutly fine yesterday, but it was pouring down with rain this morning and now it's warm and sunny which has probably raised the sugar content of the grass :(
Please can he have some vibes to help this pass quickly. Poor boy.
I feel so guilty, I hate seeing him like this :(
 
point 1 - from all I've read on here you are most certainly not a bad owner so stop beating yourself up!!

Great that you have caught it early, the frosts and sunny days have been a total nightmare (ours are on half day restricted turnout only with soaked hay the rest of the time to reduce the risk) so lots of people have been caught out. If he is a healthy weight and isn't on rich grass then I would have a look at why he has come down with this. Might well be worth supplementing mag ox for him as it will help him deal with the spring grass (most grass is deficient esp in the peak growing seasons so you aren't feeding him something he doesn't need iyswim!). If you are looking at feeds for him then consider ones with lami trust acreditation very carefully indeed - many have added molasses which is really the last thing you need. Long soaked and rinsed hay is your best friend! Can you give him some bute to help the pain while he recovers?

Sending vibes, hope he feels better very soon!
 
I would get the vet in to check him over and take bloods etc. so as to get a diagnosis and try to determine precisely what has caused this.
If it is Laminitis then it could be caused by Cushings Disease, Equine Metabolic Syndrome (Insulin resistance), an infection, trauma or mental stress. If you can determine which of them it is then you will be better equipped to manage your horses condition in the future in an attempt to avoid future incidents.
 
OWLIE185 said:
I would get the vet in to check him over and take bloods etc. so as to get a diagnosis and try to determine precisely what has caused this.
If it is Laminitis then it could be caused by Cushings Disease, Equine Metabolic Syndrome (Insulin resistance), an infection, trauma or mental stress. If you can determine which of them it is then you will be better equipped to manage your horses condition in the future in an attempt to avoid future incidents.
Click to expand...

Plus he could have some painkillers and possible ACP to help the bloodflow :)
 
You are absolutely not a terrible owner - you noticed. I've come across several recently who haven't, and who, if they have thought there might be something amiss don't even consider laminitis, sticking their head in the sand and hoping it will go away.

So stop beating yourself up, you've done all the right things, and vibes for Merryn that he is on the mend soon.
 
Thanks guys. I've given him some Bute in a small amount of Happyhoof. A friend looked at him and wondered what I was fussing about. But after dealing with 10 years of Lucy's lami I got good at catching it early. It's due to the grass, I'm prity shore of that.
Rain and sun not a good combo when you have a lami pony.
He is on restricted grazing and hardly any feed but I've just been caught out :( He's deff not overweight by anymeans.
 
LauraWheeler said:
Thanks guys. I've given him some Bute in a small amount of Happyhoof. A friend looked at him and wondered what I was fussing about. But after dealing with 10 years of Lucy's lami I got good at catching it early. It's due to the grass, I'm prity shore of that.
Rain and sun not a good combo when you have a lami pony.
He is on restricted grazing and hardly any feed but I've just been caught out :( He's deff not overweight by anymeans.
Click to expand...

Since you manage him carefully it would be worth your while getting bloods run to check there is nothing amis causing the lami to develop more easily. I would def get him on some mag ox too - has helped our two no end.
 
Oh no Laura, I am so sorry - poor Merryn.

I know how carefully you look after both him and Herbs, and he is certainly not over weight or over fed, like you say, you have just been unlucky with this weird weather. I hope it will pass quickly and he feels more comfortable soon.
I am worried about my two ponies, like you I am ultra careful but it can still catch you out. :(

Please let me know how he goes, and I am here if you need me. x
 
You know what your looking for so that's good, how many people would off kicked the pony on thinking he was lazy??? Iv seen it done but on the other side iv also seen how bad laminitis can get without a good check over and ACP to thin the blood. I neally lost my beloved lad because he didn't get the ACP he needed and his pedal bone started dropping. So your not a bad owner as u knew the signs and picked up on them early but please get the vet and I also agree a blood test to check for IR etc. My lads bloods were clear so it was my fault/my managment which gave him lammi and he won't get it again and he's been clear for 3 yrs now :)
 
:( Oh laura you are not a bad owner at all!

Thinking of merryn and hope as you caught is so early that he is fine again really soon.
 
Just a thought but before you start worrying about cushings etc, any chance he's been fed something? No idea what its like where you keep him, but if some numpty has been emptying a bag of carrots over it might be all he needed after the grass. Sounds far fetched but I know of two cases & have heard of others where its later been found to be the case.
 
My lad was diagnosed with very low grade laminitus last Thursday by the vet after a period of lameness during which the grass grew very fast and as I couldn't exercise him this happened. Like you I was horrified that this has happened and feel very guilty, but if he hadn't originally been out of work I don't think this would have occurred..

Lots of vibes for Merryn to recover soon and don't feel bad you are not the only one!

Interesting about the Mag. Ox, I will def. get some . I have also bought a grazing muzzle to put on him when goes back on a limited grazing area, if he doesn't go crazy with it on!

Best wishes to you both x
 
littlelegs I'm hoping you hit the nail on the head.
My OH fed the boys this morning so I'm thinking he may have given him alittle to much feed (He's not that horsey and sometimes says i'm crule for starving the boys, He's only joking realy, but today he probably felt bad due to the rain so gave them extra, Not realising this is what may happen) Then with the weather probably causing high suger in what little grass has it has just tipped the balance against us :( So I'm not worrying to much about cushings just yet. I'll see if he gets any worse. Hopefuly It's just the feed and grass and I've caught it early enough. I had this with Lucy once when she escaped into a fertalised field :rolleyes: Afew days off grass and on a very very strict diet and she was right as rain again.

Before anyone worries if he starts showing even slightly worse signs then i'll call the vet. As I said before noone else can even see he has it. He may not even have it it could just be paranoid me. But I'd rather be this way than not care at all. ;)
 
You're not a bad owner, by any stretch of the imagination. I am confident you'll get the vet if you need them, and meanwhile you're in control of the situation and fingers crossed Merryn picks up soon.
 
Ahh sorry to heat that, hoper he gets better soon. Let us know how he goes. Also as others have said your certainly not a bad owner so don't beat yourself up about it, just beat your OH instead ;)
 
Like I said on fb, same thing that got Mysti :(
Don't think you are a bad owner it is so so easy to miss the first signs and suddenly find yourself with a pony that's got acute laminitis.
Loads of vibes for Merryn xx
 
YOU ARE NOT A BLINKING TERRIBLE OWNER!!!!

If you are, then so am I (and I'm not, on the whole :cool: ). Little Lad's first bout with us was within a day. He was fine in the morning, and by the afternoon he couldn't move - we had to haul and push him off the field into the stable.

You've done the right thing by him lass.

We always soak hay for 12 hours and feed it ad lib. LL actually lost a huge amount of excess weight that he came with when he had to have three months box rest for laminits.

Hopefully with it being caught early and with the bedding and breaking the pain and stress cycle, all will come right very quickly.

Hugs hunny.
 
You are definately not a terrible owner, well done you for noticing your boy was uncomfortable in the first place. Some people don't notice these changes until its too late and their pony is off its feet. Please don't be so hard on yourself, the grass doesn't know what to do with its self just now, the weather has been hot, cold, wet and frosty. I was caught out too nearly 2 weeks ago with my Billy Bob Turbo Cob. He has never had laminitis before but thankfully like you I noticed very quickly something wasn't right and acted quickly.
Hugs to you and Merryn xx
 
Oh poor Merryn. And poor you! It's so horrible isn't it :( Please don't beat yourself up - you've acted quickly and been a lot more responsible than so many owners.

If he does have a history of being prone to laminitis, it might be worth testing him for Cushing's as others have said. Not to worry you unnecessarily though - obviously you know if he has other symptoms. If you do think it's a possibility the Laminitis Trust are offering free Cushing's tests this month (still have to pay vet call out and blood test fee though). (I don't work for them! I just know about it because I got my native done for peace of mind after someone else posted the link on here).

http://www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk/certificate-form/
 
3 horses on our yard have come down with it in the last two weeks. Luckily all of them have been caught early and none of them are overweight!!!!

Two of them came down with it last week when we had a really cold frosty night (-2) and then it was 14 degrees during the day.

The weather is playing havoc with them at the moment.

And I don't really know much about lami but you def don't sound like a bad owner to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top