questions on how you have managed laminitis-acute and aftermath!

[amandaco2]

you manage it?
what sort of horse was it-how old,breed etc
what happened leading up to the attack and what was thought to cause it?what were the horses symptoms?
did you get the vet?
how did you manage the horse(feed,bed etc etc) during the attack and how long before you saw improvement?
how did you manage the horse after that with turnout etc?how did you start this off?

Am
X

 

[Happytohack]

Type of horse: 17 year old Icelandic - he was "pottery" for a little while and the first vet thought it was the onset of arthritis! When my usual vet looked at him, he said chronic laminitis straight away - this was in the late autumn. In the following Jan, he suddenly became very lame with acute laminitis - xrays showed he had slight pedal bone rotation. He was on bute, acp and stabled on a deep shavings bed on rubber matting. He had frog supports and then my farrier fitted heartbars. After 6 weeks, he was turned out for short periods of time. He was fine until the next winter when he suffered another acute attack. This time my vet suggested testing for Cushings which was positive. He was stabled as before but this time he was much worse. I had changed farriers and my new one fitted heartbar imprint shoes which were great. It took 10 weeks before he could go out for short periods. He is now on Pergolide for Cushings and he has responded well. He cannot be turned out in the winter when it has been frosty, he is never turned out on fertlised grass and is never turned out 24/7. He still has the imprint shoes. He is on a high fibre forage diet and never has cereals or molasses. I also try to ensure that he has as little stress as possible - I am lucky in that he is kept at my home with my other 3 horses which means he has a stable herd. With strict management and routine, he has not had laminitis for nearly 18 months.

 

[_daisy_]

you manage it?
Type of horse/pony - 14.1hh Welsh D, 5year old mare
We bought her in the April and she got lammi at the end of May. She was increasing her fitness being exercised every day. She was definitely not over weight. We knew when we bought her that she was a prone lammi but to what extent we didnt. Where I kept my horses I had very limited grazing (approx 1-1/2 acres) so I rent an extra 6 acres. They used the small field all winter then turned out on the big field at the beginning of May. I muzzled her from day 1 but obvioulsy even though she was muzzled 24/7 she still got too much grass. She is very greedy and wont stop eating (eats when she lies down - think sheep like)
The day I found her she was laid down. She got up but when she walked she was slightly pottery. She had already got gel pads in her front feet. I took her upto the stables, checked for digital pulses and yes they were there even though they were faint. I called my farrier who came straight out and removed her shoes whilst we waited for the vet. She was stabled with ad lib hay. She was given bute and some sedalin, twice a day for approx 1week. She had her lilly pads on on all 4 feet as she had got lammi in her hinds but starting in her fronts too.
She had ad lib hay both day and night, and had 2 feed of happy hoof and speedibeet with some (I think its called) anti lam sachets, bute and pro bitoic powder. When we finished the anti lam sachets we put her on Naf laminaze
We noticed improvements straight away as I had caught it very early on. She was back out grazing (limited on the winter turnout) within 3weeks. She was muzzled most of the time but had little time without it as the grazing was poor. She was turned out in the evening for a few hours (whilst I rode,mucked out etc) and an hour or so in the morning whilst I mucked out etc.

She now has it quite nice - I moved yards. I have a biggish field for both Flighty and my big mare Chantin. I strip graze the field so Chantin goes on to eat all the grass off whilst Flighty is muzzled. As soon as it has been eaten off Flighty is un muzzled and Chantin moves onto the next strip. Only thing is at the minute the main electric fence doesnt work and little ponio isnt stupid and has been getting out into long grass so she is back muzzled for the moment being.

 

[bensababy]

you manage it?
He is a New forest Pony aged 8 at the time
My old Yard owner decided to empty his lawn mower over field fence and my boy ate them, he was fine in evening, next morning he was crippled in all 4 feet.
I got the vet straight away and farrier to remove shoes
He was on a deep bed of straw with no concrete showing, 2 sachets of bute a day, had his feet rasped every 2 weeks, they need to keep the blood flowing to the feet so he wandered around yard till he was tired and had had enough.

It took him about 2 years to fully recover - due to a crap vet and even worse Farrier. He had his toes bled, american style shoes put on (which were fitted too tight and caused more pain - which vet thought was pedal bone coming through - mad panic preparing for the worse - turned out to be bad farriering
First of all he was in a starvation paddock, but he go so lonely so he now has a greenguard muzzle on and is out everyday and is back to his naughty best but still has his foot sore days.

 

[AmyMay]

Friends horse - who I was very involved with care and help of when it was first diagnosed with Laminitis.

Overweight. Dramitcally lame overnight. Total box rest on a deep litter bed. Daily visits by the vet for a week to administer intravenous pain relief. All four feet affected and poulticed. Sinkers in all four feet.

Diet managed very, very carefully. Small haynets given four times a day. 1 tiny feed of hi fi which contained Electrolytes and multi vit. Increased to 2 small feeds a day when Bute was administered orally.

The horse didn't step out of the stable for a year.

This was 8 years ago. The horse is now healthy, happy and slim. Was brought back in to work - but never stayed sound, so is totally retired.

Very servere case - and not one that I would have perservered with personally.

 

[Honeypots]

8yr old Eriskay type pony, 13.1hh
Very easily overweight
Always got a bit footy in spring but last year went very lame overnight.
Total box rest for 2 weeks with bute. Stable is in the field so made a small dirt area outside the stable for her to move about on if she wanted. Sound after 4 weeks.
No problems since. (touches wood)

Totally my fault for letting her get so overweight..We hacked her out the evening before on grass with no apparent symptoms. It was definitely weight related and she is now on constant lami watch...
No vet involved this time..

 

[amandaco2]

gosh if one of mine sank in even one foot i wouldnt let them fight on, i dont think its fair to have them in so much pain and have such little chance of full recovery and have to live in a 12ft space for so long.personal opinion of course.

 

[mrsbloggett]

NF pony 14hh 11 years old

She was in 'show' condition, boardering obese. Her last attck was possibly brought on by a combination of excess grass, being fed newly cut rye grass hay and work on hard ground and being overweight. She appeared unlevel, but not lame to start with, but then went seriously lame overnight.

I called the vet when she came up v lame, he diagnosed pus in the foot. Treated it as this for 10 days, with no improvement, so pony then xrayed and found her pedal bone had rotated and suffering from seedy toe. Dorsal wall resection on affected hoof.

Pony put on box rest on shaving/ chopped straw mix with ad-lib hay. Inspite of this she showed no improvement so 2 months after the initial attack she was refered to Newmarket. Vet there advised that she needed to be dieted strictly, also given remedial farriery (plastic shoes). I changed the bedding to shavings only, as she was eating the chopped straw bedding and cut her hay by 2 thirds!

Kept pony on box rest for 3 months, and then allowed out to potter for an hour at a time increasing up to half a days turn out in a "play pen"

Maise is now slimmer than she has ever been and is turned out 12 hours a day in a very well grazed "play pen" and kept in at night. I have tried a muzzle, but she can escape from one in less than one hour flat!

regretfully this will be her regime for the rest of her life as I can't risk her getting another attack and my bank balance wouldn't cover the vets fees again now that lami has been excluded from my policy. All in all, with vets fees, transport costs to Newmarket, box rest bedding and remedial farriery I think this has cost me in excess of £3,000. Very painfull experience for maisie and me!