Laminitis advise please

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louise1967

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Our pony has had laminitis since late Dec now, after keeping him in and having pads and reconstructive shoeing, he is still not right. He had tests for cushings which came back good, he hasnt got cushings, his xrays show a very slight movement in the pedal bone in one foot. He is not overweight, and the vet has agreed he isnt overweight, he is much better on bute but just cant walk at all without it. He did pinch half a bag of pony nuts the other day and had an afternoon binge which I know obviously didnt help, the vet has allowed him limited grazing for an hour or two a day and all he has is a couple of flaps of hay and a hanfull of happyhoof to put his bute in. I dont know what to do next!! Help!!!
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Persevere. We couldn't work out why ours wasn't getting better (this is years ago) turns out she was pinching haylege through a hole in the wall from the horse next door, which was massively not helping!! Then oce she went out, on bare ground really rather than grazing, it took a while for her to loosen up and she eventually looked much better once turned out with a similar sized friend who got her moving again and stopped her being so stiff! She was just not moving for so long that he couldn't very well once she tried, if you see what I mean?
E.x
 
Sometimes it takes time for the to become completely sound. With only slight rotation of the pedal bone you should find he does get there in the end. An old mare I had some years ago got it because she got stuck under a fence (she rolled and then couldnt get up - so much for having safe post and rails!). Anyway it took nearly 3 months for her to be completely sound
 
When mine had laminitis (and was then diagnosed with Cushings), the farrier tried pads, but they didn't help at all, so then he tried Imprint shoes which gave him pretty instant relief. He has slight rotation of his pedal bones as well. There is no quick fix to lamintis and if your pony went down with it in December, he is still in the stages of recovery - so be patient. Imprint shoe information here
Dietwise, he should be having old hay, preferably soaked for 12 hours to get ride of any sugar and happy hoof is fine. Laminitics should not be starved. His bed should be thick shavings to give him maximum support and cushioning.
Good luck
 
Laminitis can be caused by all sorts of different things. For instance emerging encysted small red worms can cause it. These are not picked up in a worm count either.

It will take many many month close on to a year for the new hoof to grow all the way down and elimenate the widened white line where the laminae have broken down as a result of the Laminitis.

I would also suggest putting your horse on a daily amount of Formuae Feet as this will help him (Developed by Robert Eustace of the Laminitis Clinic - specialises in laminitis.)

As above always soak hay for at least 1 hour in a large tub of water.

Keep on very restricted grazing and no hard feed apart from possibly Hi-Fi Lite and Low Cal
 
Good advise from above posts, especially deep shavings bed, please don't have any shoes on until sound on hard ground tho! Happy Hoof is good, as is speedi-beet. I wouldn't bother with any other supplements they are all expensive, I've tried them all over the past 4 years! Patience is the best advice
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if he is still not sound dont feed anything other than soaked hay(dont resrict if he isnt overweight) and mineral and vitamin block(not a sticky mollasses one!)
no turnout,
ideally he should be rested for 30days AFTER he is sound on a soft deep bed with his frog pads on.than turnout on soft ground like a sand school if possible!
 
I had the shoes taken off straight away as I think they may have triggered it off, but then 4 weeks later was advised by my vet and farrier to have shoes put back on which is what I have done now, the vet has just put pads on aswell this morning.
 
We had a laminitic pony for a few months as a companion for my horse after I lost my old mare. I didn't (and still don't) know overly much about laminitis but I put my pony's Bioflow (magnetic) brushing boots on and they really help his lameness. Also, if you have a choice, he seemed to be fine on our meadowy, un-fertilized grass, with no 'attacks' even in summer. Fertilisers seem to cause the kind of quick grass growth that trigger the problem every time it rains, but then wouldn't have thought grass was the problem at this time of year?!
 
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