laminitis not improving

fatpiggy said:
Deffo get him some ACP. He'll be calmer and it helps with blood flow so better for his laminitis too. I've seen good results from wearing magnetic boots. Could you borrow some (or wraps)?
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I asked about more ACP and vet said no point as the attack is over so it won't have any beneficial effect other than to sedate him, and he's quite calm now so I think he's fine without it in that respect too.

I guess magnetic wraps can't do any harm, though I don't have any and am spent out at the moment with all this! I'm supposed to be saving for my honeymoon!! oops! Thanks for the suggestion though. If I can borrow any I might try them.

Wandamare - the bute thing makes perfect sense doesn't it. I'd read an article about it some time ago and I wish I could remember where cos I'd like to read it again now its actually relevant to me!
 
Just a thought, have you ever fed him on wilted nettles? They are very good for circulation and most horses love them. We used to cut ours and leave them until they were "floppy" and they really enjoyed them. Good vibes for your boy's recovery.
 
hope he continues to improve. x rays will at least show the extent of any rotation. fast fibre (allen and paige) is also good as belly fill mixed with chaff, Also as you are on a large mixed yard, make sure no one is feeling sorry for him and feeding him a few treats or a couple of carrots without you knowing. ten people doing this will load his sugar level sky high. Hope he comes good soon
 
Well since my last post, he got a lot better, the vet came again and said we'd wait another 10 days and then X-ray and put heart bars on. He then spent 2 days box walking (the GG not the vet!) cos he felt so much better, then, not surprisingly, got much worse. He has been dreadful ever since last Saturday after box walking Thurs and Fri. Vet is coming tonight to Xray. There are noticable changes in the one foot he's very bad on (the right front now not the left as before as he box walked on a right circle), the coronary band to me feels odd and frankly I don't hold out much hope. I have prepared myself for the worst and short of ringing the hunt today I am all set for him to have to be pts tomorrow. So if the X-rays are better than I am expecting then I guess thats a bonus. I am trying to not be too pessimistic, but prepare for the worst but hope for the best! Horse is ok, not recumbant or anything like that just munching his hay in his box, stood on 3 legs, drugged up to the eyes. He is of course oblivious! Bless him.
I will let you all know once we've got the pics! Please cross everything you can for us. :(
Thanks for all your support.
Es and G
 
Hello,
I am sorry to hear about your horse.

Perhaps it might be worth asking your vet about supporting your
horse's feet with impression material and an equicast wrap?

The impression material will support the frog and the casting wrap
will help hold it all in place as it is wrapped under the frog/sole
and around the hoof wall below the coronary band. Your vet or
farrier can get these materials.

Very best of luck -- dene
 
No come on...dont be talking about having no hope...there is every chance your horsey will be fine. He has been box walking and this will have made his feet more sore than before. Even if the xrays reveal rotation it is not the end...it can be fixed. My lad had 12 degrees rotation and was in a terrible way for many weeks. He too started box walking because he could not cope with being in and even though this made him worse the vet told me to pen an area off outside his stable and let him have some fresh air...the transformation was amazing and he went from strength to strength. In my lads case...the stress he was suffering from being on box rest was hampering his recovery.
With the COPD problem...this can be a complication to hamper the laminitis too...I assume that aswell as the haylage you have taken the usual measures of getting rid of cobwebs, having a clean bed at all times...would you be able to put him on cardboard...this has made a huge difference to my lad.
I really do feel for you having been there - you see a tiny improvement and feel hopeful and then a slight set back nearly breaks you down...it is awful but please please try to keep faith and take each day as it comes. Dont make any changes to the diet unless you really have to and keep things steady so your horse remains calm and relaxed....as best you can.
All the very best of luck and please keep us posted...take care and try to keep positive.
 
Seoirse...I feel for you and know only to well what you are going through and how you are feeling.

My horse came down with laminitis over Christmas (as it seems did many others) He was at the time carrying a little extra weight but not a huge amount. he seemed to improve very quickly so the vet I was using at that time said he could start having a little turn out all seemed to be going well to the point where he was getting a bit to carried away during turnout and was runign around then he came down with another attack. another vet came to see him (but from the same pracice) and they were convinced he had EMS or cushings and that he had to lose more weight. Then the original vet who had seen him throught his episode went in with the second vet and said yes defo wieght and EMS. Had the tests done and he wasn't and to be honest not what you would typically thing of as being a horse with EMS as he loses weight very quickly, does not have fatty deposits and no cresty neck. Still followed the vets advice as you do who said we hafd to start exercising him by riding him in walk in straight lines in the school. He then came down with another attack by which time we were seriously losing hope (all the things you are thinking now were going through my mind) and decided to try another vet.

This vet came out looked at him, heard about what had been going on and said it is mechnical laminitis now. Strict box rest, time and keep on with imprint shoes. She took further x rays then as well and asked for the previous 2 sets of x rays from the original vets...the good news was no further rotation and infact rotation was decreasing as you would hope.

So I have been doing my homework and looked up about mechnaical laminitis and it does make sense. The lamini are damaged in his hooves, as soon as he wasn't hurting that much anymore he would try an go running around which his damaged lamini could not cope with hence why he went back to appearing as though he was having another bought of laminitis. This was further emphasised when I was having to hose his back leg which swelled up (probably cos he banged it although I am never likely to really know) the other week and he paws the ground when I do that. He kept being stopped but the damage was already done so we have had 10 days of sore feet again but now right as rain. I then had to make the choice hose the leg or look after his front hooves, the fronts won and I massaged and found ice wraps I could use to help his back leg. Apparently pawing the ground, kicking the door and generally anything that will jar the hooves can cause it to happen. So i am wondering if your guy is potnetially doing any of that whch could be causing him to keep going sore again.

I am resigned to the fact that i literally will have to wrap him in cotton wool until the damage has grown out which my farrier thinks should be around July based on the x rays

So please don't give up, don't despair it is as distressing for us owners as it is for our horses and between you and your vet and farrier you will come up with the right course of action to get your horse sorted. It may not be conventional but if it works then it is the right course of action for both of you and that is what is important at the end of the day.
 
So, the vet came, over an hour late which was almost more than I could take as I was so worked up. I pointed out the weird coronary band and he agreed that it was not a good sign and had deteriorated markedly in 10 days which was disappointing given ‘we’d done everything we could’ – I wanted to cry but managed not to!!!. Anyway, so we X-rayed. I held my breath and when the pics came up on the screen I couldn’t believe my eyes, they looked great all things considered. The vet was even more astonished. Less than 5 degrees of rotation, same in the other foot too, so nice and even which is helpful too. On further inspection of the xrays though you can see bony changes in the pastern. I knew he had a bit of arthritis in the pastern as 2 years ago he damaged his tendon and in trying to work that out we noticed the bony bits, so it wasn’t a surprise, but it is a shame given he is a low mileage 12 year old. Vet thinks thats whats keeping him from improving is that the laminitis, enforced rest and the box walking on a tight circle have really aggravated the arthritic changes. He said that as G is used to living out and moving about freely we need to aim towards him being back out 24/7 as that obviously keeps his joint problems under control (he is never ever lame due to the pastern changes as I’d never have known about them if we hadn’t accidently found them while looking for the tendon problems). He said due to the changes at the coronary band we need to get support shoes on him as a matter of urgency though, my farrier is coming tonight. Gs mane is falling out in clumps too so vet thinks this is stress related and while horse is appearing fairly calm in the box generally he is actually quite stressed out, so again we need to work towards getting him out asap. I am going on hols for 5 days from next weekend, I nearly cancelled it but OH is working 65 hour weeks at the moment and I HAVE to get him away from the office for a few days or I’m going to have to invalids on my hands, so I don’t want horse going out til I am back as I need to monitor it all myself, with the shoes going on tonight though he will probably need another week in anyway at least, I’d have thought more but I think he does need to spend some time outside. We have a small pen just a few meters from his box he can go in. I’ve got something in there mowing it down for me as I speak.

I honestly can’t believe it. I really thought it was curtains for this chap. I tried to take a photo of the indented coronary band but its hard to show in a pic so not worth posting it.

We’ve still got a long way to go but I’m feeling much better and very relieved the rotation is fairly minor.

What a week. I wish I could manage my stress a bit better!

Thanks again everyone for your advice and support its invaluable.
 
p.s sorry for appearing over dramatic too. Despite all this positive news the horse is still completely lame and pretty much unable to walk on concrete. I've had horses a long time but have never dealt with this level of lameness for such a prolonged period, plus the weird foot changes, I didnt see how there could be much left to be hopeful about. Laminitis is so horrific and anyone dealing with it has my every sympathy.
 
Glad to hear your horse is improving! One thing that's worth bearing in mind is soya oil is pro-inflammatory (more omega 6 than 3) so it won't be helping, and may be making things worse - linseed is anti-inflammatory so if you can, I'd go for a feed with linseed rather than soya :)
 
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