peedle bone rotation?? Is there a comeback?

[lisa_lou]

My mums mare has suddenly been struck down by severe laminitis and could not move, vet came out today and nerve blocked all her legs and x rayed, confirmed both front legs have peedle bone rotation and bone has dropped 3mm. Prognosis not looking good, she has been given pads under shoes, sedated and drugged up to keep her off her feet and given 48 hrs to improve, if no improve it will be curtains, just wondered if anyone had ever been in a similar situation and made a comeback? x P,s all of this was caused by feeding a small amount of this years hay!!

 

[Dancing Queen]

there is remedial farriery to balance the hoof and help to correct the position of the pedal bone, there have been success stories but its not going to happen overnight you are looking at rough 9 -12 months.

 

[ruby1512]

A good farrier who knows what he's doing goes a long way in recovery from a situation like this, we nearly lost one of our big horses to Laminitis and our brilliant farrier went far beyond his normal service to help our boy and it worked, and dancing queen is right it's a long job it sucks the life out of you, it's not easy but there is hope good luck I hope your horse recovers soon.

 

[unbalanced]

Mine rotated 11 degrees in the past but didn't sink in the past. She was x-rayed this year and her pedal bones were in a normal position, so yes, they can be rotated back. Years ago she had laminitis so badly she had a hoof wall resection when they cut off the front of the hoof to relieve the pressure - I don't even know if they do that any more. But today my horse is sound and happy - it can be done. You will need a really good farrier, a great vet and a very deep shavings bed.
You can also call the Laminitis Trust for advice - it is good advice rather than free advice, but definitely worth it.
The thing that I found is to make sure you have the support of others on the yard ie make sure they know what you are doing and why. In my case putting a notice on the door asking people not to feed wasn't enough as people decided I was starving her and kept topping up her food and giving treats every time she asked for them as she 'looked miserable'! I found it hard enough without being made to feel guilty like that and having to fight people over her diet. With hindsight I would speak to everyone individually and get them on board.
You can still have lots of non-edible bonding time in the stable, grooming and scratches - I used to sit in there and read as I was studying for finals at the time.
Good luck and we'll be rooting for you.

 

[PippiPony]

Good luck

My mare rotated pedal bone in both front hooves. You could see it pressing down on the soles of her feet. I don't remember how many degrees it was as it in 1999! She was 19 at the time.

With a fab farrier, who hand made her shoes to measure and took a couple of hours to show her allowing her lots of time to stand & rest she made a full recovery. She went on to do affiliated dressage for the first time at 21 getting to Elementary!

 

[littlescallywag]

I saw some shetties with resected hooves at a local horse sanctuary a couple of weeks ago so yes it is still done. Pedal bone rotation can be fixed but as far as I know it can take a while to fix. American farrier turned barefoot trimmer, jaime jackson has a book called founder that is apparently packed full of information. X

 

[Damnation]

Friends horse a few years ago had the same thing happen. Sudden severe laminitus, rotation of the pedal bone. Time and corrective shoeing sorted him. There are alot of variables though. Speak to your farrier.

 

[DuckToller]

If just rotation, then yes it is possible. If the bone has foundered (sunk) then that is much harder but can also still be helped. To me much depends on the age of the horse as to whether you feel it is worth months of patient care. Mine came back, and was even able to compete and jump, it takes time and patience and a lot of pain relief in the early days.

However if it was caused by just a small amount of new hay, I would make sure you sort out the underlying cause as soon as possible - that is an extreme reaction, so sounds like horse could have equine metabolic syndrome, similar to diabetes in humans.

You need to get blood tests, as all the care in the world won't help if the horse's body is still producing way too much insulin. Get that sorted first - mine is on a permanent low-sugar, high fibre diet, never given carrots or apples, never allowed out for more than two hours at a stretch, all very strict but it works for him.

I second ringing the Laminitis Trust - it's a £1 per minute, money well spent in my case. Vet had said PTS, they gave me information and advice, and most importantly hope.

 

[Hedwards]

Yes they can come back, my mare had rotation in only one of her pedal bones last May, she was put into an imprint shoe for a number of months, and is now in a heart bar. It took a good 9 months to get to the point she was comfortable turned out, but she's now in a bit of work, turned out 6pm to 7am and had never looked better.

Its a very very long process, and you will have lots of downs (I nearly had Connie pts as i didnt think she was ever going to be a 'normal' horse again). So long as you have a good Vet and a really really good farrier, I'm sure you'll get through it.

Best of luck!

 

[Pale Rider]

My personal opinion of the treatment of laminitis in the UK is that it is still woefully inadequate and far behind the current thinking both in the US and Australia, where spectacular results have been achieved in recovery.

British farriers are obviously keen on remedial shoeing, and some vets appear to be hamstrung by the advice they can give.

My own experience of laminitis is based on the treatment undertaken when one of our own horses suffered an acute attack and a number of other horses which have been treated in the same way as our horse, after being contacted by other owners on the back of our own experiences.

Firstly, one has to understand that laminitis is an attack on the horses metabolism, and the problems in the feet are a symptom of the attack, and little is gained by attempting to treat the feet other than making the horse as comfortable as possible.

A number of triggers can cause laminitis, but the most common has to be dietary. This can be exacerbated when horses are insulin resistant ie. diabetic, to be simplistic.

In essence pedal bone rotation occurs when the horse, in an effort to deal with a metabolic attack shuts off the blood supply to it's feet. This causes the lamina in the hoof to degenerate causing the pedal bone to become detached from the hoof wall capsule. Extreme pain can result, also the pedal bone can sink through the sole of the hoof, where the sole is thin and weak, and the weight is being supported by a shoe or hoof wall where peripheral loading is occuring.

The degeneration of the lamina can occur within hours following the onset of an attack, and cannot be stopped by treating the hoof.

The immidiate concern for the horse is to purge itself of the cause of the metabolic attack, most often high blood sugar levels, brought on by grass or gorging on cereals.

Therefore, the horse should only be offered well soaked hay or haylage, nothing else. Starving or restricting the ad lib intake of fiber will only complicate matters and will lead to colic or twisted gut.

The horse will get most relief from standing or laying on pea gravel, which should be about 6 inches deep in its stable. Thick bedding of shavings or straw do not offer the same relief as pea gravel.

Care should be taken giving pain relief as high levels of bute will inhibit the regeneration of the lamina. Which regenerate from the coronet band area.

Gentle exercise should be encouraged, the horse should not be left in the stable without given the option to move about as much as it wants.

The shoes should be taken off, if possible, to encourage increased blood flow to the hooves to aid the regeneration of the lamina as quickly as possible. The pea gravel does what remedial shoeing tries to do but much more effectively.

Hoof boots should be used when allowing short walks out, to protect the hoof, obviously as the hoof recovers more exercise and the greater need to protect the hoof.

As far as trimming goes, short toe, low heels, as required.

The reversal of the rotation normally takes 9 to 12 months or even 18 months in severe cases, but is completely reversable. The horse has to grow new hooves in effect.

Throughout the recovery care must be taken not to cause a further attack through allowing higher levels of sugar, from whatever source, that the horse cannot tollerate.

 

[Rachaelpink]

Gosh, i didn't realise it could repair, I thought when the pedal bone rotated it was just a case of trying to prevent further rotation. Interesting post.