Is it Laminitis?

[jen_jenc]

Hi Everyone!

I've found myself in a bit of a strange situation, so any advice would helpful.

About 3 weeks ago I had to call an emergency vet out to my 17.2, 20 y.o horse who was displaying signs of lameness. After 15/20 minutes of scratching his head the vet decided that it was laminitis, which I was unsure about but went along with his advice. My horse was put on box rest and a blood sample was taken to test for Cushings (which came back negative). After about 2/3 days of bute, he was almost completely sound and looking alot better. The vet came out again last week and said they were happy that the laminitis was under control.

Last Thursday the farrier came to do his feet and said that he doubted it was laminitis as he couldn't feel it in his feet and he was showing no signs of being a laminitic horse.

I'm not sure what to do now, as I've restricted his feed and grazing as if it was laminitis, but if it's not laminitis then I should be keeping an eye on what is wrong.

What would you advise I do? Is there anything else that has similar symptoms?

Thanks x

 

[HaffiesRock]

I have just been through the exact same thing with my mare. Shes 9, perfect weight and when we had all the really bad rain (shes on grass livery and was stood knee deep for days) she came in one day very foot sore. There was no grass as it was all underwater. I kept her in for a few days and spoke to my farrier. He suggested i put shoes on her (currently barefoot) as the wet weather was softening her feet and making them sore. I declined his offer, but she didnt improve so I had the vet. She hoof tested her and found no pain, did find some thrush though. Walked her up and she was very stiff. Very feint digital pulse and no heat. She was unsure so decided to treat as lami.

Same as you, box rest and bute and overnight with one bute she was bouncing around. I kept her in for 5 days and then turned her out in the bare paddock. She proceeding to bronc around and then jumped the 2 5 ft gates to get to the grass. The trimmer came last week (about 4 weeks after the episode) She found a small bruise on the wall of one hind, and a very slight separation of the wall at the toe on one front hoof, but it was tiny. She said it was probably very mild lami and that a large percentage of horses suffer with it and it is never noticed. The wet weather made the symptoms more obvious.

I am now paranoid :O( Keep her on minimal grazing and been bringing her in over the wet weather. I have just bought a muzzle also.

I hope your horse improves and you dont end up paranoid like me! My vet said there is a lot of mild lami this year due to the weird weather.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I would tend to listen to your vet not the farrier.

Having mis read the warning signs a year ago I am currently over a year after it started and have had a long road.

Treat for lami restrict grazing check pulses daily . Don't over feed during this high growing time in the grass.

 

[Pale Rider]

I tend to think that even if the vet has not made a 100% accurate diagnosis, he has made a 100% correct decision when it comes to treatment.

Nothing is ever lost by suspecting laminitis in these difficult non specfic type symptoms. Treating as a lamanitic can do no harm, ever, probably a lot of good, but not going down that route initially can be catastrophic.

The farrier in these circumstances is looking at the horse some three weeks down the line and making a retrospective guess. Bare in mind that if it was the start of a lamanitic attack and you managed to get in quickly and alter the situation, you would expect things to improve in a couple of days.

Just because Cushings is negative, does not mean that it wasn't laminitis. All Cushings horses will probably develop laminitis (according to Eustace), whereas all horses will not develop Cushings but can develop laminitis.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I tend to think that even if the vet has not made a 100% accurate diagnosis, he has made a 100% correct decision when it comes to treatment.

Nothing is ever lost by suspecting laminitis in these difficult non specfic type symptoms. Treating as a lamanitic can do no harm, ever, probably a lot of good, but not going down that route initially can be catastrophic.

The farrier in these circumstances is looking at the horse some three weeks down the line and making a retrospective guess. Bare in mind that if it was the start of a lamanitic attack and you managed to get in quickly and alter the situation, you would expect things to improve in a couple of days.

Just because Cushings is negative, does not mean that it wasn't laminitis. All Cushings horses will probably develop laminitis (according to Eustace), whereas all horses will not develop Cushings but can develop laminitis.

agree with this and also wonder if it would be possible to mobile x ray the hoof to see whats going on in there. this was very useful for me and also reassured me that there was no rotation but it also showed where the hoof structures were sitting and therefore exactly where the farrier should trim/not trim and the angles etc, vet and farrier together.

you wont harm your horse by treating as if it was lami, but could do a lot of harm by thinking it wasnt if it was.

 

[superpony]

I had the same situation a fee years ago he was very lame and wasn't allowed out of his stable for 2 months when the farrier saw him afterwards he didn't believe it was lami but it certainly was. We found out later he has metabolic syndrome.

I would still act as if it was lami much easier to prevent than cure. Best to play it safe.