laminitic in recovery looking poor. feeding advice please !

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JLD

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6 weeks ago my pony developed severe laminitis as a result of lymphangitis, he has recovered well but is just not looking as good as I would like, before the attack he was out on a track system fed soaked hay and a tiny chaff feed with his vitamins once daily. He was a really good weight my vet was very pleased with. He is gradually going back on his track overnight, is in during the day with soaked hay and has two very small chaff feeds with anti lam balancer. Obviously I don't want him getting overweight but he is looking poorer than I would like, he is running a bit under, his coat is greasy and flat looking and I think is dropping more weight. Not sure where to go from here. I have tried muzzleing on Longer grass but despite 3 different muzzles, sheepskin and gradual introduction any longer than 2-3 hours and he is rubbed raw so restricted grazing is the only way to get him out. Should I feed more hay or more balancer, or any other thoughts ?? Help !
 
Vet has gone all non committal on me !! He says no more than 6 kg forage in total/day but agrees he isn't looking too good but doesn't seem to offer any other suggestions !
 
Have you had bloods done to check for cushions and equine metabolic syndrome? I have a pony with lami he gets 6kg of hay and he's on a spillers lite balancer . I have just started putting him back out on a night so now need to reduce his hay during the day.Are you giving the recommended amount of food for his weight ? As I was told he will need the recommended amount to give the right amount of vits and minerals for that weight if you give him less food he wont get enough. Good Luck!
 
mmm not very helpful-see if there is a different equine vet at the practice to speak to, that often creates discusion at the practice and a swift kick up the bum often makes the original vet more helpful

JLD said:
Vet has gone all non committal on me !! He says no more than 6 kg forage in total/day but agrees he isn't looking too good but doesn't seem to offer any other suggestions !
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JLD said:
6 weeks ago my pony developed severe laminitis as a result of lymphangitis, he has recovered well but is just not looking as good as I would like, before the attack he was out on a track system fed soaked hay and a tiny chaff feed with his vitamins once daily. He was a really good weight my vet was very pleased with. He is gradually going back on his track overnight, is in during the day with soaked hay and has two very small chaff feeds with anti lam balancer. Obviously I don't want him getting overweight but he is looking poorer than I would like, he is running a bit under, his coat is greasy and flat looking and I think is dropping more weight. Not sure where to go from here. I have tried muzzleing on Longer grass but despite 3 different muzzles, sheepskin and gradual introduction any longer than 2-3 hours and he is rubbed raw so restricted grazing is the only way to get him out. Should I feed more hay or more balancer, or any other thoughts ?? Help !
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Its a horrid disease - I lost my mare of a lifetime to Lami two years ago.

Here is my suggestion I have a pony who wont keep muzzles on.


strip graze him with electric fencing - soak his hay for 24 hours. Turn him out later after the dew - give him a full belly of soaked hay before he goes out.


if he is sound walk him gently around to help circulation, maybe give him a bath to rid the grease then give him good grooming to help his coat.


give him something like laminator to help blood flow in feet, or get a lami supplement like lameze.

put a sign on his door explaining no treats etc


get vet to check bloods

speak to D&H for a lami diet and lami supplements, they helped me no end and can give you a tailored diet for the pony
keep sedaline handy, I wish I knew of that when my mare gorged on barley rings :(

I know he is not on box rest but some ideas here might help him when he is in the stable. http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/horses-on-box-rest.html
 
Hi, thanks for your replies. He has had bloods done, no cushings or EMS. He is at home which helps as I can strip graze/ track system him, avoid treats etc and also avoid everyone's unsolicited advice but does mean I have no one to bounce ideas of which is why this forum is great ! I am soaking his hay for 24 hrs now. It is quite difficult to judge how much forage he is getting off his track and during the few hours a day he goes out with his muzzle ( it gives him a chance to hoon around a bit, roll and socialise ). He is sound but still on danilon every other day and gets a bit footy if I drop it down so clearly some inflammation there. He is on top spec anti lam balancer but I thought he seemed a bit more foot sore on the recommended amount so I cut it back a bit but maybe now deficient in bits. May go back to bog standard equivite coz at least I can make sure his has enough, and up his hay again. It feels so difficult to micro manage so tightly but he got so sick so quickly I am terrified of getting it wrong .
 
Not sure if your on face book but there is a good site called "equine metabolic syndrome, cushions and laminitis" I've found it so helpful. I've heard lots of different people mention different amounts of times for soaking hay but ive gone with what the lami site said that soaking for an hour is enough as most of the sugar comes out in this time then rinse it , soaked for longer makes it tasteless and be careful soaking in warm weather as it starts to ferment. Unfortunately for me with my back problems I had to stop soaking and instead went with what my vet said which was just to give smaller amounts of dry hay so he gets about 3kgs in a tiny holed net which lasts him all day.
 
That's interesting about soaking - will.look into it. Was worried it smelt a bit 'beery' I have been soaking overnight to avoid the heat but going up to 24 hrs stopped that. I have a bad back with disc prolapse and my haycube had been fab. No xrays yet vet and farrier don't think there are any signs of rotation but if I cant drop the danilon down soon I will push for it.
 
Personally I don't rate topspec anti lam, its full of cheap fillers plus molasses which is the last thing u want to give to a pony that's had laminitis.
I feed mine a egg cup full of fast fibre just to mix in vits that's all , and tbh it's not really as much as a egg cup full with equimins advance complete ( can't rate it enough its a fab high spec vit supplement with pre/pro for the hind gut and linseed based no cheap fillers) and some mixed hedge herbs and he looks fab. The advance complete will help build him back up nicely
 
I definitely won't be buying any more - have been very disappointed by it. Really hasn't done him much good at all ! Pains me to Chuck out a £38 bag of balancer but may need to. Is the equimins a powder vit supplement ? I hoped the balancer would help due to the protein content helping his healing and general well being as had fab results with my old boy when using d+h ultimate balancer but not at all convinced by this one.
 
He's been in a lot of pain so it's understandable that he has list weight and the quality of his coat will also reflect this.

For what reason did he have a lami attack in the first place? Maybe your vet feels that your horse is an ideal weight. If he's sound and well at his current weight then that is the weight you need to keep him at.

A current photo of him would be a great help.
 
He got lami after an episode of lymphangitis after a fly bite got infected ! He was ideal weight at the time but can balloon literally in days given the chance but also drops condition quickly too. I agree his illness will affect condition just want to give him best chance of recovery. Think I put too much hope into the balancer, and he just needs more soaked hay and multi vit and time. I guess is still early days.
 
With regards to the soaking, no longer than 6 hours if you can. Less in summer as the hay/water tends to ferment, you can always rinse it with water afterwards to get rid of extra sugars...About 6 hours in winter is sufficient....
As said before, give him a lovely warm/tepid bath, and maybe another next week as its been so warm.
You could try adding micronised linseed to his feed which is fine for laminitics, and fast fibre to bulk out feed, again you can soak and rinse FF to leach any sugars if you're worried...
My lad has PPID ( cushings) and i have only soaked his hay in this heat for 2 hours ( he had LGL last year) and he has been fine...
Check his feet are correctly aligned trimmed to rule out pain too..
Good luck, you can always have a geek at the laminitis site and go to the forum to see recommended feeds/balancers for laminitics...all very informative and helpful.
 
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