Laminitis in winter

[hollysb]

Does anyone have experience of laminitis in the snow? our pony has had a bad bout of it before Christmas, she got a littler better when the weather warmed up, then the temperature dropped again a week or so ago and she got worse. My vet took 3 litres of blood from her and replaced it with an isotonic solution to thin the blood and she has had some Heparin and painkillers. She is better on her feet since this, but this morning it appears her back end has seized up and she was almost unable to walk. She has pain in the area behind the saddle. I can see no evidence of her being cast in the stable over night, I simply cannot understand what could have caused the problem. I have only one other theory on why she could have got laminitis in such cold weather and that is that a week before she got it I changed her from TopSpec feed balancer to Blue Chip, both were the laminitis ones, but I wonder if this could be a trigger for it. Any ideas would be most welcome I am wondering if she is ever going to get over this.

 

[zoelouisem]

Yes feed change is defiantly enough to trigger a lami change.
Sounds like she's got it in her back feet too! Has the vet been out again? What did he say ? I would say she needs x rays to see if rotation in the feet.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

X-rays, test for cushions or ems.

Our appy got in in jan two years ago after heavy snow. Found out he has ems. The snow froze the sugars in the grass so when he ate it is was just sugar.

Pm if you want a chat.

Xx

 

[hollysb]

Even in something like a laminitis specific feed balancer? She has had xrays of her front feet, there is some rotation, I have the most amazing farrier who has stopped it rotating further. The pain is in her back, she almost sits down if you try to lift the hind legs. Am wondering if it could be from where she has been standing in an awkward position to make her front feet comfortable, and now they are more comfortable she is standing more correctly and her back is now hurting because of the change. Seems quite dramatic in 24 hours to have been walking quite well, obviously not taking up racing any time soon, but considerably better than she has been, to being like this.

 

[Wagtail]

Has she been tested for cushings and ems? Usually around Christmas time is peak time for cushings related laminitis. I would feed soaked hay or high fibre low sugar haylage such as Marksway hi fibre horshage.

 

[fuggly]

hello and welcome . first off how old is your pony and could she now have developed cushings ? a simple free test ( if the offer is still going ) will confirm this . last time we had low temperatures my old pony suddenly became very laminitic infact he could barely move he was fine the night before but the following morning after a temperature drop he wouldn't/couldn't move i paniced as couldn't understand why and spoke to my farrier who explained winter lammi to me , in effect what happens in the cold is they get restricted blood flow to their feet and if their system is compromised as with cushings /old age they get the pony equivelent of frostbite very painful , we combat this now by if temps are going to be low he has warm leg wraps on all four and a light rug if needed and only goes out for a short time if the temp is very cold with leg wraps on. hope this helps

 

[Honey08]

Has he been tested for cushings and ems? Usually around Christmas time is peak time for cushings related laminitis. I would feed soaked hay or high fibre low sugar haylage such as Marksway hi fibre horshage.

This.

So wish I'd been on this forum when our pony got lami in winter. I had no idea, and the vet never suggested it either. Now it would be the first thing I would ask for.

 

[zoelouisem]

Yes even in a laminitic based food it can be enough to trigger an attack. My sisters lami prone pony could get an attack triggered by a different set of hay and it would happen over night.
It could just as easy be in her feet the reason she may nearly fall over when you lift one foot as she may be in to much pain just to stand on one foot.
They do look strange when they have in the back feet like its there back or bum that hurts.
I think your only option right now is getting the vet back out.

 

[hollysb]

Yes has been tested for cushings and came back clear. Wondered about bandaging to keep warm and increase blood flow to legs. It's bitter cold here and snow, the vet said she would be better being in and being walked 3 times a day for 10 minutes. Just totally confused by the issue with her back.

 

[TigerTail]

Get her off the blue chip and other mixers ASAP - they have sugar, grains and flash dried grass products in

It sounds like she should be on the emergency protocol immediately

http://www.ecirhorse.com/images/stories/Emergency_Diet.pdf

 

[hollysb]

Thank you, I will stop the Blue Chip ASAP. Farrier coming in the morning so he will be able to tell me if she has it in her hind feet as well.

 

[Montyforever]

You said the pains in her back because when you lift her back legs she almost sits down? Don't be so sure, my mare had lamintis in both fronts and backs and she almost collapsed when the vet tried to pick up a back hoof because it was putting too much pressure on the fronts. I'm not saying its impossible but it just sounds very like what my mare was like for the first week or so

 

[rema]

Is her digital pulse bounding?.Is she sensitive to the touch above the coronet band on her hinds?.

 

[Rosiefell]

I had a New Forest pony that developed laminitis in January 2011 during snowy weather. I was sharing a field with someone who wasn't giving hay & I was reluctant to subsidise someone else's pony so I thought I was doing the right thing by feeding "laminitis trust approved" high fibre cubes to keep her fibre intake up. I now believe it was these that tipped her over the edge and looking back I realise she was slightly overweight too. At first I thought she had an abcess as there was only lameness in one front foot but she reacted to the hoof testers all round. Fortunately it was a mild case with no rotation but I was still very strict and put her on several weeks box rest with soaked hay. After that I kept her on a much more strict management routine and she never had it again with me, I sold her in the spring last year to a very knowledgeable home and AFAIK they've kept her laminitis free too.

 

[amandap]

Does anyone have experience of laminitis in the snow? our pony has had a bad bout of it before Christmas, she got a littler better when the weather warmed up, then the temperature dropped again a week or so ago and she got worse. My vet took 3 litres of blood from her and replaced it with an isotonic solution to thin the blood and she has had some Heparin and painkillers. She is better on her feet since this, but this morning it appears her back end has seized up and she was almost unable to walk. She has pain in the area behind the saddle. I can see no evidence of her being cast in the stable over night, I simply cannot understand what could have caused the problem. I have only one other theory on why she could have got laminitis in such cold weather and that is that a week before she got it I changed her from TopSpec feed balancer to Blue Chip, both were the laminitis ones, but I wonder if this could be a trigger for it. Any ideas would be most welcome I am wondering if she is ever going to get over this.

I'm sorry your pony is suffering. I have never heard of taking blood and thinning it before.
It might be worth another visit from your vet to take routine bloods and consider taking samples for Cushings and Insulin resistance and to check her over. The soreness in her back could be from standing/holding herself in odd positions to get comfortable or it could be something else.

Follow the emergency dietary instructions on the link provided above and she will need a balancer such as Pro Hoof added at some point.
The cold can make some horses more sore but it's usually severe cold. The link with cold is usually tied into the effect it can have on grass and it's sugar content.

ps. Is your vet an equine vet? If not I recommend you use one who specializes in horses.

 

[MarchMare]

May be nothing to do with the snow. Laminitis can be initiated by so many different things. In my horse it was emerging encysted small red worms. They only show up in a blood test not a worm count. Your vet needs to determine what caused this incident of Laminitis.

 

[amandap]

I hope the pony is improving.

May I ask if the vet explained about the blood letting and isotonic replacement? I am interested in his thinking and if this is a new therapy.

 

[Traveller59]

Hope your pony is improving too.

I would also be interested to understand your vets treatment. I have heard of new research in the US where blood stem cell therapy is administered in laminitis with some favourable results, but not heard of blood letting as a therapy. Was that done for some other purpose?

My horse had laminitis during the very hard winter of 2010, but with strict box rest, deep bedding, soaked hay and minimal low calorie feed (to carry medication in) made a full recovery