Imprint Horse Shoes on Laminitics

Ah, in some ways that's a shame.
I hope it goes ok today with the imprints and you can hopefully see some improvement. I have to admit to not really knowing how they are supposed to work though I am sure they do.
 
Hope you are feeling more positive by the end of the day - sending you a hug, just remember you are doing everything you can at present x
 
We might have some hope! We finally found an abscess and we now have that draining. Andrew Poynton was also fabulous and we have refitted imprint shoes in a different way and already horse seems slightly happier - we were able to shoe his opposite foot with him only sedated whereas last time even with sedative and nerve block he was not willing to put the weight on his poorly foot so we could shoe his other foot.

Trying not to get too excited, but horse already seems slightly happier (won't know for sure until sedative completely worn off).

I will update with more details later (in the hope they might help someone else), but now have to dash back to work to make up the 3 hours I've been at the stables with vet and farrier!
 
Oh that's good news, I was almost scared to open this thread to see what the update was! I'm looking forward to more details, I spent a lot of time dealing with laminitis in a big horse, though his was Cushings related, & while he's no longer with me I'm still interested in anything I can learn about treatment.

Wishing you all the luck in the world & so relieved that this isn't an update saying there was no hope :D
 
dressage_diva said:
Hi TallyHo, I'm following my vets advice on feeding - he is having soaked hay and only a small amount of Spillers Happy Hoof for breakfast and dinner in order to take his bute (vet wants him on feed as he is loosing too much weight being in).

I now have Andrew Poynton (who invented Imprints) coming out today to examine him and refit the Imprints (vet is going to take fresh x-rays whilst we are there for him to work off), so this is our last hope!
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Just to say, many vets suggest happy hoof as it's been approved by the laminitis trust... However!! It's really high in sugar. Don't feed it. I'm sure your vet is great but he may not be a nutritionist. Sadly, happy hoof is one of the worst things to give. Try speedibeet with a chaff instead and Red Horse Laminitis Support. Much better.

Brilliant, AP lives not that far from here. I know lots of horses he has helped :). Some have successfully competed again shod and barefoot.
 
dressage_diva said:
Thank you. Trust me I am doing everything I can for this horse - I've had him since a 4yr old (he's 21 now). But I also understand sometimes the best thing you can do for a loved pet is to end their suffering.
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When listening to the experts, just also, take the time to look at other options as there has been huge improvements in laminitis which have been dismissed over the years. Take in all the expert advice, but also, trust your instincts and intelligence. The more you educate yourself, the better you are armed with knowledge. Together with all the advice, you will be better prepared for everything to come. Laminitis was a huge learning curve for me... many complicated twists and turns.

I'm just saying that you should love a lot, trust a few, but always always paddle your own canoe!
 
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dressage_diva said:
We might have some hope! We finally found an abscess and we now have that draining. Andrew Poynton was also fabulous and we have refitted imprint shoes in a different way and already horse seems slightly happier - we were able to shoe his opposite foot with him only sedated whereas last time even with sedative and nerve block he was not willing to put the weight on his poorly foot so we could shoe his other foot.

Trying not to get too excited, but horse already seems slightly happier (won't know for sure until sedative completely worn off).

I will update with more details later (in the hope they might help someone else), but now have to dash back to work to make up the 3 hours I've been at the stables with vet and farrier!
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Great news :)
 
dressage_diva said:
We might have some hope! We finally found an abscess and we now have that draining. Andrew Poynton was also fabulous and we have refitted imprint shoes in a different way and already horse seems slightly happier - we were able to shoe his opposite foot with him only sedated whereas last time even with sedative and nerve block he was not willing to put the weight on his poorly foot so we could shoe his other foot.

Trying not to get too excited, but horse already seems slightly happier (won't know for sure until sedative completely worn off).

I will update with more details later (in the hope they might help someone else), but now have to dash back to work to make up the 3 hours I've been at the stables with vet and farrier!
Click to expand...

Good news! :)
 
Hi everyone

I realise that although I promised an update, I never actually got around to doing one! A lot has happened in the last month and it hasn't been easy - for every step forward we've taken a step back. The horse isn't out of the woods just yet (and has sadly taken several steps back this week) but I wanted to post an update in case my story helps anyone else considering Imprint shoes.

After Andrew Poynton fitted the imprint shoes and we had released the abscess, there was a definite improvement in the horse. We used iodine to treat the abscess (and antibiotics) and it seemed to be taking a long time to heal. Unfortunately it transpired that after a while what we were drawing out with the poultice was not abscess, but actually soft tissue fluid and the horse started to become slightly more lame. We then stopped poulticing and just did daily tubbing in salt water and applied an iodine sugar paste using cotton wool and duct tape. Initially this was working and the sole hardened up and the horse was much more comfortable (not sound by any means, but no longer horrendously lame!). But at the beginning of this week he took a turn for the worse , went horrendously lame and suddenly proud flesh formed on the sole (it is so large it was deeper than the shoe, meaning when he puts his foot down the proud flesh touches the ground first instead of the shoe). We've been treating it with copper sulphate for 48hours but no major improvement yet. We're giving him until Monday but if it hasn't made progress by then we will debride the proud flesh. I've raised another thread about that so won't discuss it any more here.

During all of this my usually hungry horse went off his soaked hay - he was simply bored of it (still had appetite for his happy hoof and the hand grazing he was now allowed). Tried dry hay and he stopped eating that within a day or so and he rapidly began to lose weight - he looked very hollow (nothing in his gut), very ribby and like a welfare case!). We eventually found that he was happy to eat Readigrass, so he is on that with several meals of Happy Hoof a day (vet isn't concerned about laminitis so much now as making sure he doesn't starve!). We then mixed the readigrass with dry hay and he's now happily eating again and looking less ribby.
 
Has he been on bute for the pain for some time? Friends horse developed colitis in similar circumstances, if his gut is compromised due to either the NSAIDs or the stress he could have either gastric ulcers or colitis. so may well need medicating for that. What does your vet say? I think a blood test was used to diagnose hers.
 
So sorry to hear you are having such drawbacks :( Sending hugs all around... can't believe he's got like that. Why did they prescribe antibiotics for abscess? It's completely contraindicated.

I know this going against your vet but please stop feeding Happy Hoof - it is molassed and has a high amount of sugar. Just switch to grass chop or grass nuts. I did this and it made a huge difference to my laminitic. Mix it wth speedibeet to add fibre and calcium which will help palatability too.
 
Thanks both. He has been on Bute for a while and ulcers are a concern for us but equally vet and I agreed that right now our concern is getting any food inside him and we don't want to try adding more things to his feed which is just going to turn him off eating again. As we've now found a combination of forage that works we are going to stick with that until he has some more weight on him. Once he's been eating regularly for weeks we can start trying to tweak his diet.

I know Happy Hoof is not liked by some people whilst others swear by it. At the moment it's one of the few things he'll happily eat (trust me we tried for several weeks to ride out his stubbornness by refusing to give in but it got to the point where we had to give him something he would eat or he would starve). I will definitely plan to get him off it as soon as we can.

Antibiotics were prescribed for abscess as it seemed to be taking a very long time to drain and vet was concerned (and other people have agreed with their decision). The abscess started showing signs of improvement once he was on the antibiotics (admittedly could have been a coincidence).
 
Poor you OP, but thanks for the update, I am sure it will help others on search in future too.

prolapsed tissue is an issue with wet poulticing so I hope the copper sulphate starts to work.

If you can get it I would feed Agrobs over happy hoof or readigrass, it is very palatable but not just ryegrass like the readigrass or molassed like the HH. Just a suggestion though, obviously eating is important.
 
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