Laminitis & weight loss feeding

[margaretb]

The farrier came this morning to trim P's feet, I was concerned as yesterday P seemed a little foot sore, uneasy going through the stoney gateway but ok on grass. Farrier urged to act now and treat as for Laminitis, also said P was too heavy. P is now inside for at least two weeks, on deep bedding (previously habited with cattle so no surplus straw to pick at) with poor quality or soaked hay only.
He recommends that she lose at least 70 - 80kg. She is to have a haynet morning and night whilst inside. Would she require any additional minerals & vitamins..?
She is normally outside 24/7/365 grass only. This will need to be looked at as the grass is coming thru too much now. She normally grazes alongside sheep. When she is able to go back out I plan to fence off smaller area and ensure it is kept much more bare.
So far she is quite happy in the loose box. ....

 

[Nudibranch]

Dengie do some good feeds for laminitics, e.g. Hifi. Also Spillers Happy Hoof. I'd be feeding as a "hard" feed, alongside the haynet, with the additional of a supplement like Laminaze (NAF). Put the hay in a small-meshed net (or two) so she takes longer to eat it and always has something to nibble on. Empty stomachs are not good for lami's or pre-lami's.

I have a Shires grazing muzzle which is great for turnout; mine gets very depressed if kept in 24/7. They can still graze a little, and if you can turn out onto a well-munched paddock even better as even less grass will get through the muzzle. I would be reluctant to keep her in all the time as she needs to lose a fair few kilos and that won't happen if she's standing idle in a box. Turnout with muzzle for a few hours = very active horse always moving to find something to eat!

 

[suestowford]

One of mine had laminitis last year. He was too fat.
He had to go on a diet - soaked hay, straw to nibble at, no sugary treats at all. But he does get a low calorie balancer as I was concerned that he wasn't getting enough vitamins etc. He does well on this and looks great now he's slim. Good luck, it can take a while to slim them down but it can be done.

 

[margaretb]

Thank you!

 

[Hedwards]

My mare had concussive laminitis last year on 1 front foot, but i treated her as if she had 'normal' lami in both. Box rest as you have with deep bedding. I fed her 1 soaked haylage net morning and evening, and also gave her TopSpec Top Chop Lite in a big trug at night as well as i cup of Top Spec Anti Lam (she was kept in for a number of months due to the severity of the condition in the one foot and wearing an imprint shoe for a long time before moving on to steel heart bar shoe). Now she's basically recovered and turned out 6pm-6am in a grazing muzzle on a relatively well grazed paddock, shes probably lost about 40-50kilos and looks fantastic.

best of luck - sounds like you're doing everything right so far!

 

[tallyho!]

May I suggest some detoxing herbs? It will get her system up and running and help get rid of any build up of toxins.

I wouldn't give a lami too much additional vits and mins. Needs careful selection. If they have lami then thier system is already clogged. Having said that vit e and calcium, magnesium are very good for cleansing and ciculation.

hope she gets better soon x