Sudden first time laminitis advice please

[trojanpony]

Would love some advice from those with more experience.
My 15yo horse never had laminitis before currently on very little grass, haylage and grass nuts and balancer this morning suddenly completely lame i.e. barely walking on both front legs. Heat in feet and fetlocks and slight swelling tendon area. No sign of puncture or injury.
Vet came, not sensitive to pressure on the foot (sorry don't know the name of the tool they use to squeeze the sole but you know the one!) But raised digital pulse, seems most likely laminitis. Advised box rest (hard as they live out but we are doing our best have converted shelter with rubber mats and bedding) and soaked hay only. Possibly shoes off but unsure. Taken bloods for cushings test. Bute for next few days and coming back Monday.
Tonight he is a bit too active for my liking in the stable/ shelter and not sure how well he is going to adapt to being in! Obviously feeling a lot better with the bute but I wasn't expecting such an improvement.
My veteran (32) on same diet no laminitis (yet) should I also change her diet do you think?
So I've ordered some sole support pads (DJM).
Can anyone advise what to expect treatment / recovery/ recurrence wise?
Any tips for things I should be doing or avoiding? I admit I'm a bit ignorant and any knowledge I have is probably well out of date.
What do you think about shoes on or off? Should the farrier be doing any special trimming at this stage? I think shoes are on about 5 or maybe even 6 weeks so he would be due them off or new set soon anyway.
Any tips for keeping him happy on box rest/ making the hay last as he is a big eater and hates having no food!!
Thanks in advance!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Weigh all your hay dry before soaking and then split into 4 nets and feed over 24 hours. If he needs to lose weight you need to feed 1.5% of overall weight. So a 600kg horse will need 9kg of food which includes feed as well as hay. Swap the grass nuts for something like HoneyChop Lite and Healthy because you are aiming to feed less than 10% starch and sugar combined. When my Connie had very mild laminitis I had his front shoes taken off so the blood flow wasn’t restricted but he was in on a very deep shavings bed so he wasn't footsore. I also had his feet xrayed and had my Farrier there with the vet to discuss any shoeing requirements in case of pedal bone rotation. In cold weather frost can cause a sudden rise in sugars in the grass which can bring on sudden laminitis as can concussion from trotting on the roads. Cushings is also another trigger so if the bloods come back high you will need to be vigilant because once they have had it it can reoccur and sadly if not managed it can be a killer. Lots of exercise, keep them lean and muzzle if you need to and Pracend if positive for Cushings.

 

[meleeka]

The Cushings results should give you more of an idea. My bet would be a positive result with sudden laminitis at this time of year. In the meantime, soak hay and a deep shavings bed. As first aid that’s all you need to do for now. Hopefully horse will be sound in a week or so, but If it does on longer than two weeks then I’d X-ray.

 

[holeymoley]

Soak hay, deep bed. This is the point where you need to support the hoof. Did he put pads on? It sounds mild but time will tell. Then you go down the route of xrays and remedial trimming and/or shoeing. Hopefully the bloods will show the cause. Haylage and grass nuts can tip them over the edge if there’s something not quite right.