Managing the older laminitic also in vet

digitalangel

digitalangel

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Hoping someone can help here??


Im hoping for tome tips/advice - i have a 25 year old welsh sec A mare who is a chronic laminitic - after 3 years lammi free shes had two bouts this year - the last in all 4 feet some time in the last 6 weeks - she hasnt appeared lame, but given her age she is stiff and sometimes its hard to know where the stiffness is from the lami of from her arthritis. I do check her feet/pulses regularly.

Farrier picked it up today and advised me to muzzle and/or restrict the time she is out. i am happy to do that but she really stiffens up when shes in. She has gentle exercise twice a week or so.

On one hand i really want to get a handle on her lammi, on the other i really want her out as much as possible - shes not got much grass and she as 2 slices of hay pe night, mixed in with 1 slice of straw.

Have also called vet for advice.

Just not sure what to do?
 
Our girl is 16 y/o and a chronic lami - she too has had 2 severe bouts this year resulting in slight pedal bone rotation :(

During summer she was turned out every day, muzzled for 2 hours max. She has 4 soaked slices of hay a day, 2 in morning and 2 at night then one scoop of Happy Hoof at night.
The vet says we are doing nothing wrong and some horses just "get it". She is exercised every day and was rideable (currently lame with lami :rolleyes:) fingers crossed she will be soon again.

If your girl gets stiff as long as turnout is at a minimum and muzzled, I'm sure there will be no problem. It often does them good to wander round a field and keep moving :)
K x

ETA vet advised us when Kel was to be kept in to give her sugar free treats or specific lami treats into a treat ball just to keep her moving :)
 
Do you feed any supplements for the laminitis at all?

I have a 20yr old laminitic and used to feed naff 5* laminaze, which never seemed to make any difference that I could tell.
I then read about magnesium on the laminitis.org website, and how it is good for helping insulin resistance by balancing the gut as it were. My mare's feet have grown back wonderfully after being very deformed at the front after very bad laminitis and neglect of her feet at her loan home :mad:
And *touch wood* no attacks and brilliant feet.
The magnesium is so cheap it may be worth adding to your ponies diet just to try, it could just help balance the gut a little better and ward off attacks, worth a shot maybe.
All the best with it, I understand your predicament, its so hard trying to keep their feet stable
 
thank you. I try to manage her as simply as i can. she is strip grazed most of the year - i did try supplements but they didnt help. i will try some magnesium. At the moment she hasnt got a lot of grass anyway. Was shocked to see her feet today when farrier trimmed her - theres a ring of red/bruising on her sole. ive never seen that before. She is barefoot. Farrier says that theres no current laminitis.

Im not sure if muzzling will help as no grass anyway.

sorry, just very upset and not sure what i am doing wrong.
 
Has she been tested for Cushings - they don't always show all the symptoms such as the long coat and fatty deposits. It may be worth your vet doing the tests as if it is cushings that is causing the laminitis pergolide can produce a rapid improvement.
 
no, she hasnt because she hasnt shown any signs of cushings, but you are right, it could be cushings that is causing this. i had forgotten about cushings. is it a specific bloodtest? she had her all her bloods a few months ago due to photosensitivity - would it show up in that?
 
digitalangel said:
no, she hasnt because she hasnt shown any signs of cushings, but you are right, it could be cushings that is causing this. i had forgotten about cushings. is it a specific bloodtest? she had her all her bloods a few months ago due to photosensitivity - would it show up in that?
Click to expand...

It is a separate test "ACTH", please don't ask me what is stands for! Often persistant laminitis is the first sign - The test is not expensive and well worth eliminating it as the cause.
 
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