Managing low grade laminitis

[little_critter]

My boy went in for a lameness work up yesterday. The vet feels that in addition to the cause of lameness (further investigation required) he has some low grade laminitis that has been grumbling for a while. Bloods have been taken to test for EMS and Cushing.
For the moment the vet has said I don’t need to change management other than making sure he doesn’t have enough room to have a proper hooley
While we wait for the bloods to come back I’m looking at what I’ll need to do if he does have low grade laminitis.

How would I go about managing him?
Hes not overweight at the moment (he’s not slim and trim, but he’s not fat). His hard feed is reduced over summer and was cut back even further when he initially went lame (8 weeks ago now, this is his 2nd work up because the lameness switched legs. It was thought the initial lameness was a stone bruise). He’s on Baileys Ease and Excel which I see has more than the recommended 10% combined sugar and starch. I had been pondering on switching him to speedi beet and a balancer previously so I may go ahead and do that (I would anticipate he’d need additional linseed through winter)
Does this sound like a plan?

He’s been prescribed 2 danilon a day and I’ll be speaking to the vet again next week when the bloods come back.

 

[shortstuff99]

Don't feed him any hard feed, just enough for medication and vits/mins.

Take him off grass if you can and feed him soaked hay.

That would be my start.

 

[NinjaPony]

Box rest on a big thick bed while he is lame. Take him off his hard feed and switch to something like Dengie hi fi molasses free, with a vit and min supplement, linseed oil and his danilon twice a day. Soak all hay and reduce the amount if needed, I double net mine to make it last longer. Is he shod? Hope he makes a quick recovery, mine has always bounced back well from laminitis but you have to go in hard and fast IME.

 

[scats]

Remove hard feed or give a token of light chaff to carry a supplement if needed. I’ve found any balancers trigger my EMS mare even more.
Soak hay.
I actually wouldn’t box rest, I would allow natural movement but ideally on a track or in a school. When my mare gets a LGL flare, box rest tends to make her tip over, she improves when she can move around (obviously this is when there is no rotation). I recognise she might be a slightly odd case though!

 

[Goldenstar]

Bran is a good way to make sure they get all the supplements and any drugs very little is needed to bind everything up .
I would be giving him no hard feed and restrict his forage by the soaking the hay or feeding low calorie hay replacers like chopped straw and giving him periods with nothing in the stable .
Do all the usual lami stuff I would not be able to do nothing after a vet said that to me .
Have you access to small turnout which is bare ?
My bare strip was great ten days ago now it’s rained and it’s not really useable without causing damage that will keep it out of use all winter .

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I'm not sure why a pony that isn't trim and slim is having any hard feed tbh. I would certainly stop that immediately. I wouldn’t bother with balancer/ linseed anything but forage until you know what is going on. Otherwise if vet is happy with him being turned out, I would carry on with that, unless he is on very rich grass.

 

[little_critter]

I'm not sure why a pony that isn't trim and slim is having any hard feed tbh. I would certainly stop that immediately. I wouldn’t bother with balancer/ linseed anything but forage until you know what is going on. Otherwise if vet is happy with him being turned out, I would carry on with that, unless he is on very rich grass.

He’s a horse with a high proportion of TB blood, I’d never considered him to be a laminitis risk in the past. When I say he’s not slim I mean he’s not a competition horse looking like he’s ready to go round Badminton. He’s a leisure horse who could lose a few kg, but if he were to lose more than 15kg (by my weightape) he’d be looking a run up. If he lost 10kg I’d say he’d look spot on.
His grazing is fairly well grazed down, especially now I’ve halved it. If he wasn’t so sore I’d put him on the track, but it’s pretty stony and he’d struggle at the moment.

The lameness actually seems to be linked to the fetlock rather than the LGL, but vet felt he may have 2 things going on. Vet did say I didn’t need to change management yet, there is no rotation, she is just being supremely cautious pending the bloods.
I have reduced his feed to a small amount needed to take his danilon and hoof supplement.

 

[HollyWoozle]

As laminitis has been suggested I have to say I’d agree with the others and be cutting the hard feed and grass immediately I’m afraid. I feel like there’s just no time to waste in these situations and it would be the safest option until you know more.

 

[shortstuff99]

He’s a horse with a high proportion of TB blood, I’d never considered him to be a laminitis risk in the past. When I say he’s not slim I mean he’s not a competition horse looking like he’s ready to go round Badminton. He’s a leisure horse who could lose a few kg, but if he were to lose more than 15kg (by my weightape) he’d be looking a run up. If he lost 10kg I’d say he’d look spot on.
His grazing is fairly well grazed down, especially now I’ve halved it. If he wasn’t so sore I’d put him on the track, but it’s pretty stony and he’d struggle at the moment.

The lameness actually seems to be linked to the fetlock rather than the LGL, but vet felt he may have 2 things going on. Vet did say I didn’t need to change management yet, there is no rotation, she is just being supremely cautious pending the bloods.
I have reduced his feed to a small amount needed to take his danilon and hoof supplement.

If there is still green in it then he is eating the very sugary new shoots which could be making it worse.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

It does sound as if the bloods will probably give you the answer. If he has had the ACTH Cushings test and it comes back 'within normal range' please ask for the TRH-Stim test which is much more accurate. Our Appaloosa mare had several ACTH tests, all came back normal but with rising level each time. We were suspicious of her symptoms and asked for the Stim test. That came back *8 times* the normal maximum. Fortunately her symptoms didn't include laminitis.

 

[SEL]

I had the vet out for teeth last week and she said they've had more laminitis cases this year than the practice can ever remember - not the usual suspects either. Youngsters, TBs, warmbloods etc. In fact the usual suspects of natives and cobs were around the same level and I guess that's because their owners know they're a risk.

I use simple system soaked hay cobs if I need to get supplements or drugs in without much sugar / starch. 1/2 Stubbs scoop does me 6 meals so it's more of a token feed than anything which will cause problems.

Otherwise if shoes are off then hoof boots are good for helping them move

 

[maya2008]

If you can, I would take off grass or at least muzzle if you can’t.

 

[tda]

Low grade laminitis is still inflammation in the hoof and if you don't change anything then there is always the chance it will get worse. I would treat the horse as laminitis for at least a couple of weeks