Laminitis winter attack - advice / stories on recovery

[Hollyanna]

My horse has recently come down with laminitis for the first time. We are waiting on bloods to gain further perspective.

This is my first time dealing with lami, and it’s certainly been intense! We have started to see an improvement - day 10, very bright in the daytime, eating, drinking etc, getting around a bit now, but still very sore, but not rocking as much.

However At night seems to spend pretty much the whole night flat out. During this time will eat while lying down if any hay (all soaked of course) nearby and will go to toilet (number 2) while lying down. This freaks me out a little as I can’t imagine this is very good for them, but all articles seem to say let them rest their feet.

Anyone got any recovery stories they can share?

 

[Hollyanna]

Also wanted to add, X-rays shown no rotation or sinking. Has had feet wrapped and frog supports placed by the vet.

 

[meleeka]

If you get to the cause then there’s mo reason why they won’t recover. My first thought is Cushings so if you haven’t tested for that you’d be wise to do so asap. Just like people some horses are just more tolerant of pain than others.

 

[twiggy2]

It may just be that he is more confident to rest up when the yard is quieter.
If your worried though just run it past the vet.
What pain relief is he on and when does he get it?

 

[windand rain]

Best thing for him is to lie down restricted movement is as important as diet. He should be mildly sedated so he does lie down a lot it keeps his weight off his laminae letting them heal He also needs to be box rested for a minimum of 30 days after he is sound off all drugs. I have a small pont who has had laminitis 3 times he is fit sound and in show condition. He was twice let out of his restricted grazing onto a hay field by passers by who felt sorry for him the third time was my fault as he was out in a slightly bigger field while I went to a show and we were delayed so he was out longer than expected. He has to be micromanaged but he is fine just watch out for the well meaning they are a pain in the neck

 

[Pinkvboots]

My friends horse has just gone down with laminitis and was very lame his on Bute and paracetamol it's quite a common drug used now for laminitis, I think his been lying down a lot more as well it's not a bad thing as they are then taking the weight off the affected hooves, it can take several weeks even months on drugs to become comfortable again, it sounds like you caught it early if there is no sinking or rotation so he should make a good recovery, and obviously if the bloods show his got cushings being on prascend will really help.

 

[_HP_]

When were the xrays done?
I'd be worried that he is still so sore after 10 days and if the xrays were done on day one and he is still rocking on day 10,even if it is less than he was, I think I'd be asking for more, to recheck for rotation, especially if you haven't yet found the cause.

 

[holeymoley]

You are lucky if there’s no rotation. Did you find out the cause? Sorry if I missed. Heads scrambled with my own case of laminitis at the moment.

 

[laura_nash]

My daughters pony went down suddenly with severe laminitis around Jan last year during the snow. Unfortunately bad rotation on both fronts and sinking on one. He spent about 2 weeks lying down a lot of the time, despite strong pain killers.

His recovery was more straight-forward than others as he's small and light and had very thick soles (never been shod). After the first month or so it was mostly a case of waiting for the new hoof to grow down. I have to be very careful with him in the cold though, that is definitely his trigger. He's now back in work in boots and pads.

 

[holeymoley]

Any updates from anyone? My guy had some pain again but presenting differently, the vet managed to pair away some sole to disperse some serum. Not impressed with farrier the last time, I got told I could use my 'normal' farrier for the last shoeing and he went very sore again, he seemed to cut him back incredibly short, so have insisted that he gets done at the vets again by remedial farrier until we get the hoof grown out. He's much more happier in himself though since the serum has came out, he's still cautious with walking but looking forward to what the next lot of x rays show.

 

[Zink]

After going badly lame, my boy was diagnosed with laminitis in mid-November. X-rays showed what the vet described as "slight" rotation. He was ok to start with but then seemed to lapse into shuffling and rocking about a couple of weeks later and I was in tears. Luckily the farrier and vet came along with some ideas from a specialist in laminitis [suggested a different trim, other shoes] and he seemed instantly more comfortable. Box rest in shavings etc.

When I came back at new year, the grooms told me he'd been moving around a lot around his box. Not without trepidation, I walked him to the end of the barn so he could stand in the sun for a bit. He was hesitant to start with but not lame at all.

Following that I built up to a few more steps per walk on softer surfaces and a couple of weekends ago I put him out in a small dirt paddock for his first free movement in months. This morning I left him out there, happy as anything with a full haynet, and came to work...

So it looks like he will recover. Apart from box rest and bute to start off with, I've had him on low starch/low sugar feed since the shoeing. Swapped carrots for cucumbers, timothy hay for omani hay. Chia seeds twice a day in feed and a big shout-out to Dodson & Horrell Lami-Free herbs!

 

[Leo Walker]

When were the xrays done?
I'd be worried that he is still so sore after 10 days and if the xrays were done on day one and he is still rocking on day 10,even if it is less than he was, I think I'd be asking for more, to recheck for rotation, especially if you haven't yet found the cause.

Mine had no rotation or sinking on day 1. He did the next week and was PTS after 4months of trying to save him. I'd want another set of xrays ASAP

 

[HashRouge]

Just a heads up to those who haven't noticed, this is a ghost thread!

 

[holeymoley]

Ghost thread. But l update. My guy made a full recovery. Hooves are realigned to no rotation. He’s sound and back in work!