Laminitis, scouring horse and stress due to grief...

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shellonabeach

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Hi Guys, I hope you can help me with some wisdom

Hi Guys, hope you can help me with your wisdom

Last Saturday my trimmer came for a routine trim and noted my mare (16.3hh 14yr old ID x TB) was weight shifting with bounding pulses and showing signs of laminitis. Advised to get off grass, onto soaked hay and call vet if no improvement.

The week prior to this the horses companion of 7 years was PTS due to lipoma colic, I allowed my mare and gelding to spend some time with her body so they knew she was gone. The gelding is retired and I did not work my mare for the week between the ponies death / trimmer visit as she seemed very subdued and also I was struggling emotionally being at the field with the pony missing. My mare also started scouring badly about 3 days after the ponies death. The horses were turned out on a tiny patch of grass approx 40m x 15m and supplemented with hay. By my own admission my mare could do with shifting some weight.

Vet came Tues and diagnosed laminitis in the hind feet, so box rest with frog supports and soaked hay continued. However one problem has remained and despite still being off grass for a week now she is passing normal solids but also a lot of liquid manure and her whole backend is a total mess.

Vet came back out again today, and says no pulses, cool feet and to take off danilon and reduce ACP and if all remains well to start turning out again in a few days time. She has given me a supplement (I have forgotten the name) to firm up her droppings.

Cushings test was negative and I am going to have her tested for EMS as soon as possible but I am concerned that this bout of laminitis has been brought on by stress and what is going on inside to cause the scouring.

Her current feed consists of fast fibre, pro-balance, magnesium oxide, yea-sacc, salt and cider vinegar. She is also at the moment getting global herbs restore.

The thought of turning her out again terrifies me, especially if her insides are not working as they should. Having done some research I am wondering if I should start feeding something for hind gut support such as Equishure or Mycosorb?

Any advice?
 
What a tough time you've had, I'm so sorry about the pony.
When my horse had laminitis, he was scouring quite a lot too. As he got better in himself, his stools firmed up and returned to normal without help. I'm not surprised that his gut was upset as he was so unwell. He appeared nauseous and headachey and thoroughly out of sorts.
 
Try giving her a tbsp of natural yogurt in her feed x2 a day, may help her tum recover from the acp and danilon...keep her in a bare paddock with soaked hay if you are unsure/worried about putting her back onto grass again...
 
I have read horses with laminitis can scour, but this should clear up now she is sound, also would stopping soaking the hay eliminate the excess water.
 
I would cut some stinging nettles dry them then feed them to her, most horses love them and will seek them out as they naturally clear toxins from the body so will help with gut problems and Laminitis, I wouldnt stop soaking the hay as you dont want her getting extra sugar just after a bout of Laminitis.
 
My horses won't eat soaked hay even if they are starving. I discovered the Lami Trust don't recommend soaking for this reason.
 
Thanks everyone, I have spoken to my vet again who agrees she thinks the horse has hind gut acidosis which is what caused the laminitis. The bio-sponge she gave me should help to get her hindgut back to normal and I have ordered some Equishure to put her on once the Bio-sponge runs out. Thankfully my mare is quite happily eating the soaked hay. I have also been pulling and feeding her wilted nettles - so pleased to read I'm going in the right direction.
 
Rollin said:
My horses won't eat soaked hay even if they are starving. I discovered the Lami Trust don't recommend soaking for this reason.
Click to expand...
Haven't looked at that site for a while but hopefully they recommend feeding tested hay with a low sugar carb content.

All mine happily eat soaked hay.

ps. Just looked and LT they say feed limited hay and one of the feeds approved by them!
Not the advice I follow.
 
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My ID is very prone to scouring if he has any kind of upset, he's also prone to ulcers. Anything that upsets his gut will risk a laminitis attack in him.

I find EquiShure is very good stuff, though he can sometimes be picky about eating it. I regularly use Biotal Gold as well, and if he's very loose I've found Protexin Quick Fix will often help restore his gut balance.

I've read that too much mag ox can cause loose droppings, and I know that I can't give him anything vinegar based because it flares his ulcers up. He also won't generally touch salt, probably for a similar reason, so I offer that in lick form rather than adding to feed.
 
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