LAMINITIS ADVICE - Please!

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Tarbs

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Hi, I'm new to H&H & new to horse ownership so any advice greatfully received!

I've had my 11yo cob for 7 months and had a five stage vetting at the time of purchase which didn't show an opening above his coronet (he had thick feathers & was never lame), anyway, after 6 weeks of antibiotics an x-ray showed a change on the bone above the pastern (sequestrum) and he was taken into the vet so they could operate. This was a success but two days after having a cast fitted he developed laminitis.

He now has heart bar shoes on the front and I have started turning him out for 15-30 minutes in a patch of restricted grazing. He is standing much better & hopefully will continue improving but I noticed today that the frogs and soles on his hind legs are soft and he was a bit pottery when walking back in. Could this be because the farrier trimmed them a couple of days ago? He's not spending anytime in wet conditions (costing a fortune in shavings!).

Also, he's lost weight, all hay is weighed and soaked, he has Safe & Sound am & pm & Formula 4 Feet pm (measured amounts too).

Do I just need to be patient & hope he comes good? Am planning on more x-rays next month (can't afford more yet as over limit on insurance).

As I said at the start before waffling on, any advice greatly received.

Thanks..
 
Hi and welcome

So sorry this has happended to you - buying a horse can be such a lottery and its so disappointing when things go wrong.

I don't know loads about laminitis but a friend at the yard is battling it with her mare for the first time this year. It has taken about 4 months but she is starting to come right. Also in heart bar shoes and very restricted turn out. She is on soaked hay and I don't think she is on any feed at all. I know her advice would be just to call the vet if you notice anything different. With laminitus the faster you act the more chance they have of stopping a problem becoming worse - the vet should be able to tell you over the phone if its something they need to come out for or if its nothing to worry about.

Could be that his feet are soft from not being out much and that he is pottery from being a little weak after his op and illness.

Hope he is soon on the road to recovery. There is definately life after lami.
 
The soft soles and frogs are not going to be comfortable for him to walk on, they are not a sign of any poor care on your part just a natural consequence of being in a stable so much of the time, the frogs need to be stimulated to stay healthy and while stood in even on a clean bed this will not happen.

Daily scrubbing with salt water can help but if there is any sign of thrush that needs treating before it takes hold, again not your fault if there is, if you can walk him out on a sand school each day that would help harden them up although he obviously needs to be reasonably comfortable on his front feet as well before doing too much.

Safe and Sound has a fair amount of sugar and starch in it and may not be the best feed for him at the moment, Fast Fibre is much lower and would probably be safer.
 
be positive said:
Safe and Sound has a fair amount of sugar and starch in it and may not be the best feed for him at the moment, Fast Fibre is much lower and would probably be safer.
Click to expand...

Fast Fibre also has a fairly hight starch content, although is lower than safe and sound and still under 10% sugar/starch combined. A&P Lmix has a lower % combination than FF, and HiFi Molasses free is 3.5% combined which is good
 
Im sorry that this has happened to you and your horse :(

What has actually caused the lami? Is is the stress of the op? Weight bearing stress on the opposite foot due to the cast? How many feet does he have lami in?

While yes I agree there is most def life after lami.......most will pretty always need special management. My mare had an acute attack last spring, she was overweight and had some sort of trauma to her nearside fore hoof causing her to put all her weight on her offside fore resulting in her getting lami.........she pretty much cant tolerate grass at all any more :(

All cases are different and its a case of figuring out what works for your horse...he will feel is feet and be pottery for a while and many horses need physio after lami due to their awkward stance due to the pain they are in. I have just had to accept that my mare will from time to time feel her feet no matter what I do....dosent mean however that she is a croc....I just need to listen to what she is telling me.

x
 
So sorry to hear this my mare has been overweight when she came to us and gets pottery but no fb laminitis attack so far thank god. I would try to turn out in a school with a soaked haynet so he is getting chill time but with no risk if you can. May be pottery and just footsore from the trim as others have said but if you cover all bases it will hopefully catch things before any flare up. I don't know other brands of feed but my girl is on happy hoof and soaked hay with restricted grazing and no treats carrots apples etc - hard but essential to keep her safe.

How is the grass on the restricted grazing? If he is only out for 15mins at a time maybe it's coming thru too much , having said that at this time of year it should be safer. Are you able to excercise at all?
 
Thanks so much for your advice & experiences.

Vet & Farrier think the attack was brought on by bearing weight due to having the cast on the other leg. He has it in both front legs.

The only occasional treats I give him are cucumber and celery but he turned his nose up at celery this morning & turned his back on me! He is only having hard feed as he has 2 sachets of Equipalazone and 10 Metformin tabs a day (even though his blood test for Metabolic Syndrome came back clear the vet advised keeping him on them to help with weight loss). I'll check the sugars on all of the feeds recommended by the Laminitic Society and change to the lowest. I do give him Speedy Beet every so often but he spits out the tablets!

The restricted grazing is a round pen that has been eaten down by a greedy pony so Henry could go in there. I tried a muzzle but he bucked and reared in frustration so I took it off as my farrier said I need to avoid any kind of impact to his feet. I even tape Gamgee to his soles before turning out! I will try him in the school tomorrow as I think the lack of movement is causing stiffness. He's had absesses on both feet so havent been in the school but as I'm covering both feet he should be ok.

I think I'm dong other stuff right, I feed hay in Eliminets and recently bought a Trickle Net which is good (should be for £30). Both seem to break the boredom for him. He also listens to Heart all day!

I decided on him as I returned to the saddle after a break of 25 years & as I'm a little nervous thought he would be perfect. He's not a plod but quite safe, spooks every so often but not enough to scare me. I really hope he comes good as I really love him & I'd hate for him to be in any kind of ongoing discomfort.

It's good to hear there is life after laminitis. Hopefully I'll be riding him soon (well maybe by the Spring!).

Sorry for rambling & thanks again x
 
Hang in there Ingrida - it will get better and its nice to hear you are gelled with your horse - the medical stuff can be treated.

My pony got lami last autumn (one off mild acute, caused by overweight and underwork - I have learned my lesson!) and has been on a strict regime since. Tough for her at times, and for me but we are now getting back to where we were - did a 2 1/2 hour hack (no shoes or hoofboots yesterday) up into the moors and mountains :-)) She is in a REALLY bare paddock (she crashes thru electric so cant strip graze and she makes her face bleed with muzzles), and is fed v well soaked hay and oat straw (in Cairngorms so cant soak hay some of year - minus 20!), with 1kg of lo cal chaff for her vit/min supp and magnesium oxide. No carrots, no apples, nothing like that.

I also would say Fast fibre would be better than Safe and sound as S&S is 10 energy, whereas FF is 7 or 8. Healthy Hooves (Dengie) is about 8.5 from memory, Hifilite is about 8 I think.

Its grim at times when they are struggling with feet but the issues do sound resolvable and you are clearly an owner who will do what's required to get there.

:-))))
 
My vet always recommends Safe and Sound so I wouldn't worry too much if that is what you are feeding. Dodson and Horrell are a very good company and you could ring their helpline if you are worried. The levels vary from one manufacturer to the next but you need to weigh this up against the recommended amount that is actually being fed.
 
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