laminitus stories anyone?

[FinkleyAlex]

My PBA gelding has just been diagnosed with laminitus. We never saw it coming, he had problems walking three days ago and we put it down to being footsore as his shoes were removed whilst he had surgery 3 weeks beforehand. The farrier came out yesterday and said it looked like he had laminitus, I feel terrible for not having recognised the signs (high pulse, soft coronet bands, tucked up a bit) and vet came out today and said he has 7 degree rotation in each foot. I've never had a pony suffer from laminitus before, honestly didn't think he was the "type" to get it - being a relatively bad doer araby type. The vet said it was caused by him putting weight on his good foot off of his foot that had been operated on (had surgery for a kick to his knee to flush out the joint) and then alternating the weight for such a long time, with a combination of long toes (we werent allowed to get him shod untill yesterday as they didnt want to damage the knee) and him being fed more than he needed whilst on boxrest (although he isnt fat)

the vet said he should *fingers crossed* return to work, does anyone have laminitus stories (happy/sad endings) to enlighten me a bit? I've researched it but I'd like to know whether most horses go back to work? Thanks!

 

[Llwyncwn]

One of mine went down with it 3 years ago, had 9 months off and came back to work fine. He had both feet x-rayed yesterday due to another problem and there has been absolutely no rotation of the pedal bone.

If you google The Laminitis Trust, their site gives you much valuable information - it was a Godsend to me at the time.

Dont give him carrots or apples, only give sugar free polos as a treat.

My boy was, and is still on Hi Fi Light, Spillers High Fibre Cubes and Equivite. There are other such feeds on the market, most of them are stamped with 'Approved' by the Laminitis Trust.

You will need to give him a very deep bed, pref shavings, and deep litter (this is what worked for me and advised by the vet).

Was he given a steroid injection at all during his operation? If so this could have caused the pedal bone to rotate. Talk to your vet and farrier about where to go from here.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[lucy245]

Unfortunately it seems that no horse is safe from Laminitis anymore - i have had 3 cases of it in the last few years. 1st was a 16yo mare 10 ½ months in foal – was fine one day, had a extremely severe case the next – vet concluded it was stress induced. She never came fully right after and had to be PTS this Feb at 22. 2nd case was a Stallion I bought who was very overweight, he was bad for approx 2 months and since then (finger crossed) has been great – back in full work for 4 years now and is staying sound – but we do put him on Equine America Lamigard every year. 3rd case was last year a 4yo mare, in work at the time – extremely fit had been hunting and hunter trialling all Winter, came on very suddenly last April, again vet concluded it was stress related. She was on box rest for 4 months and was them turned out for the Winter – she is actually due to come back from Grass tomorrow so I will update on her then – farrier is not convinced that she will stay sound, as her sole had dropped very badly and is only just starting to come right in the last few weeks.

 

[dozzie]

My pony went down with it at the beginning of january a couple of years ago. Totally caught me on the hop!! She came right and has been fine ever since but she is never allowed on good grass or to get overweight.

 

[custard]

This horrible disease can catch anybody and any horse out at any time so dont despair. Get the Robert Eustace book and keep it as your bible. More often than not several things can contribute to the cause just as you have desribed

Mine, a PBA and not overweight got it in the spring of 2000, I'd bought him in the Nov of 99. Vet xrayed him and said it was only mild but discovered 8 and 10 degrees rotation which he said must have happened previously. Vet wanted to do a dorsal section but the farrier was reluctant to take such drastic action, thank God, and he was got right with corrective shoeing, he was back in work inside 8 weeks so was lucky.

He went on Founderguard for a while but we found it better to sort his routine than rely on this.

We now manage it with a grazing muzzle and a high fibre diet, no cereals and no starch. He's never short of food and looks very well on it, he's the one in the signature and 15 going on 5 so hang in there

 

[mrsbloggett]

My NF mare went done with lami last August, and it is thought a combination of things brought it on, including her being a bit chubby and feeding her recently cut Rye grass stalk hay (which is very high in sugars) and working on hard ground.

She developed most complications of lami including pedal bone rotation, under-run sole and seedy toe. She had a hoof wall resection in October.

My vet had to eventually refer her to Newmarket in November as we were finding it very hard to knock the lami on the head. She was on strict box rest over Christmas and was eventually allowed out for a potter in February and she is now out during the day in a dirt paddock. Whilst under the care of N'Market she was put on a strict weight loss programme and shod with plastic glue on shoes, the latter helped tremendously.

What ever the cause of lami it is important to keep the pony on a low sugar / starch diet. Maisie is on rationed well soaked hay (NOT rye grass), HI-FI lite, Speedibeet and Formula 4 feet, all foodstuffs recommended by the Laminitis Trust.

I've been advised that there is no reason why she shouldn't come back into full work, though it will be a year until the hoof resection grows out. I will have to keep an eye on her weight and seriously restrict her grazing, and be cautious about the condition of the ground she works on.

Good luck with your boy, I hope all works out.

 

[equibabe20]

My arab X got it October 2005, aged 15. He had never suffered from it before. I only noticed it one day when I got on to ride he was very 'pottery'. Vet came out and was totally shocked as he has it bad in his back feet and very mildly in front. Hence why I didn't notice it straight away as he was not showing all the usual signs. He was immediatly put on box rest (very thick bed) and shoes off and frog supports on. He was x-rayed regularly and he had some rotation and the pedal bone sunk slightly, but with the help of my fantastic farrier and vet he was remedial shoed for 4 shoeing sessions.
He is now back to normal doing everything we did before. The only problem is he is foot sore on stony ground and when the farrier takes his shoes off too but then he is fine again. I now manage him with the greenguard grazing muzzle, and he goes out at night and in during the day with hay soaked for hours so the nutrients are minimal. I also use Equilife's Formula4feet which seems to 'touches wood' be working, but anyway his feet have improved and his coat by being on it so it's doing something. Good luck with your horse and keep us updated X

 

[lisareno]

My TB mare (which goes to show any breed is susceptable) had a real nasty bout of lami 2 1/2 years ago. She had suffered some rotation. Although she was never huge she was slightly over weight and had always had brittle feet.
She had heart bars fitted & her front feet realigned, She was off work for the best part of a year with the first 8 weeks on box rest. However after careful shoeing, a strict diet & lots of TLC she is now back in the best of health & ridden daily.

She is now fed Hifi Lite, Spillers Hi Fibre Cubes, NAF Pro Feet supplement and always last years hay Fully Soaked for at least 20mins as it can still hold a high calorie content when fed dry. Although in your geldings case it was not necessairly his weight that was the cause I Just thought id also mention that just because certain feeds hold the Laminitus trust badge may not necessairly mean it is suitable for your horse as each laminitic case is different. Also try not to deep litter your shavings bed try and keep it deep & clean as possible as, nearly all lami cases suffer seperation if they are on box rest all sorts of nasties from the urine especially can weedle their way into the feet and cause absesses. Anyway the best of luck with your chap, many cases do make a full recovery and return to full time work.

 

[Scarlett1980]

I went to a really interesting conference last saturday about laminitis.

it was held by WALTHAM Equine Studies Group and very informative.

you can buy the proceedings from spillers or winergy if you call 01908 576 258. i think they're about £30 but full of interetsing advise and the latest research etc.

 

[Wooleysmum]

My Welsh cob got it in 2004, pedal rotation in fronts, 7 and 7 mm. I was shocked, did not see it coming. You blame yourself. Not had it since. In during the day March to November, muzzle on when the grass comes through. Fed hay, Hi Fi Lite with Lamigard and Yea Sacc. Ridden 4 times a week. When he was ill, he was in for 8weeks, had plastic shoes fitted, then went out gradually, ridden very soon after. Lost lots of weight, slim now. There are loads of us out there! I found the forum was excellent support.

 

[FinkleyAlex]

thanks for your replies everyone, its great to see so many horses came back into work

 

[MagicMelon]

My very first pony got laminitis as a 5yo, we believe it was caused by concussion as we'd never allowed him to have much grass etc.

He got it really badly and was basically not right for an entire year, at one point we did think we were going to loose him. He had loads of corrective shoeing which continued for about 2 years. He does get the odd absess still, usually 1 or 2 a year but otherwise he's totally sound and has not had laminitis since (15 years on!). He even did some BSJA about 5 years ago, however I never allowed him to jump on hard ground again, and only tiny stuff on a surface purely because of the concussion worries.

So they can come right but I think all horses deal with it differently. Good luck, its not nice to go through!!

 

[lilym]

my old mare had it about 10 years ago, before i owned her she was found in the field unable to walk she had a complete dorsal wall resection where they remove the front of the hoof to relieve the pressure and she came back into full work took about 18 months,she never had lammi again- i had her put down 2 weeks ago from a completly unrelated condition, as i say 10yrs after the lammi attack.