Spotting the early signs of laminitis

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Jericho

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Should a good farrier have spotted the early signs of chronic /low grade laminitis?
Our 14.2hh suddenly went very lame on his hind feet and it appears his pedal bones have now sunk ☹️ There were no obvious signs - he was happy out jumping 90cm the week before, never refused, napped, working hard, not much hard feed, on pretty rubbish grazing, not trotted on roads, never had lami before. . The only possible sign that he may have been feeling sore was that he ran on the forehand and could be what at the time could be seen as lazy. Hind sight is a wonderful thing.

However I asked my farrier every six weeks how are his feet? Any problems? Any sign of lami? I have another pony prone to it and so am ultra careful / worry about this!
 
I doubt it unless there was anything obvious in either of the hooves - a lot of heat or extra sensitivity . I would have thought the chances of the farrier picking up on it would be the same as yourself noticing anything out of sorts such as lameness or footiness.

Is it concussive laminitis ? What is the pony's prognosis if the pedal bone has rotated so much ?
 
It's unusual to occur in hinds, I wonder if something had started going on previously when it was discussed he looked sore behind?
 
I think the better question is what caused the laminitis in this case, and how can I better prevent future bouts of it.

Hind end laminitics are rare, but they're also quite tricky to get right, check for EMS or cushings as the underlying cause maybe.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
 
Golden Star - Because they take the shoe off and can see the white line and whether it was stretching whereas I cant on routine hoof picking. Feet always slightly warm, pulses normal
 
Andalucian said:
I think the better question is what caused the laminitis in this case, and how can I better prevent future bouts of it.

Hind end laminitics are rare, but they're also quite tricky to get right, check for EMS or cushings as the underlying cause maybe.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
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Thank you - no obvious cushings / EMS signs and both ponies are managed as such anyway other than that they were on grass albeit poor grass but I think a flush of spring grass tipped him over. I will get his blood checked anyway
 
Jericho said:
Golden Star - Because they take the shoe off and can see the white line and whether it was stretching whereas I cant on routine hoof picking. Feet always slightly warm, pulses normal
Click to expand...

white line stretch indicates historical issues from when that section was involved in attachment, not representative of the current situation. I cannot think of anything a farrier should have necessarily spotted on their visits depending when the situation first started of course. Do you think it was subclinical/LGL occuring back in feb? Did he have a lameness work up as advised then? hoof tested/blocks? Were they/are they shod?

I would definitely check for metabolic issues.
 
Ok thanks for your replies - he was seen by vet for a general lameness work up but no blocking. Vet said he looked tight but we could spend thousands on him and not necessarily pinpoint any area without nerve blocking many different areas. His feet weren't even mentioned... The advice was to watch for any changes and I f he was 'happy' in his job generally there probably wasn't too much bothering him so continue until something really showed up. I wasn't overly happy with this conclusion so we also did a bute trial with no differences. Am glad to know that it wouldn't have been picked up by the farrier as really respect him and he has been very good. And yes I suspect mild hoof pain has probably been present a while and he showed no real clinical symptoms or behavioral issues and just dealt with it. We generally tended to ride on surfaces over the winter with very little roadwork other than more recently when he has been Eventing so again maybe that his discomfort. No excuse though - I feel terrible. Will ask vet for bloods when she is here next week
 
Yes, it can be very hard to spot when shod. Having transitioned mine a few years back it also makes you acutely aware of how not being 100% on feet can affect how they move elsewhere and make them very tight muscularly- and without the knowledge that the feet are possibly an underlying issue it can be a very chicken and egg situation! The possibility of LGL/subclinical lami is quite a new possibility for vets anyway and even if you had nerve blocked at that point it might have not have shown up if he had made himself muscularly sore from it too. I was just wondering what had been done at that point and whether it would confirm/deny that there might have been an issue then if that makes sense- as there might well not have been! because it is all info in the bank of examples when others are struggling.

At least you know now so can check nothing metabolic and be super careful in future as you say you are experienced with it anyway. That's two hindlimb cases on this forum posted on the same day! I hope for a quick recovery for you and don't feel terrible, it happens however hard you try and as you say yours are generally well managed, plenty aren't and somehow get away with it.
 
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