Thank goodness Ellie doesn't have Navicular however she has.....

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guisbrogal

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Laminitis
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What a nightmare. El has been on and off MILDLY lame for ten weeks.
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The farrier diagnosed a bruised sole and said it could take three to eight weeks to get better. So I poulticed it and rested her, she came sound, went lame, came sound etc.

Farrier came on Friday and said could see nothing wrong with her feet but that with intermittent lameness and worse downhill he thought it was Navicular and to get the vet!

Left her in her paddock over the weekend and fret myself stupid. Got her out this morning for the vet and she was really lame in three legs!
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So bad that she was nearly falling over
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Anyway the vet has diagnosed Laminitis and 10 days box rest. Cue HUGE problem. Ellie HATES her stable with a passion. I put her in with her field mate but she was soaked in sweat within a few minutes and trying to get over the door. So I have muzzled her and fenced some paddock off for her. Will this be ok? I feel sick with worry, what will I be able to feed her? She is 1/2 ID and 1/2 TB, 16.3h and weighs 570kg

I need as much help as you can all give me please because I have no idea where I go from here. Will she be ok outside? I don't feed her as such just a small handful of Alpha Oil, a scoop of Glucosamine, a scoop of garlic, a handful of Farriers formula and some Biotin. Can she still have these?

Thank you all in advance because I know HHO is fab for giving information.
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Sorry it was so long!
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Why not ask the vet and explain the problems you have keeping her in the stable..... he may have a better solution for you.

Is she any better slighty sedated in the stable.... can you soak hay for her and keep her off the grass...

She really doesnt need any grass at the moment... it is so rich with the weather being so nice.
 
Ditto brightmount about the food, and also MQ about the grass... although stress can be a laminitis trigger so I would be more inclined to keep her out on a TINY BARE patch if you really can't stable her without her going potty. My friend's horse came down with really severe lami which continued mildly for months. Eventually we thought it might be related to the fact that her beloved field mate had moved away and she was stressed and pining for him, so she moved into his stable and got to talk to him over the door whilst he was in the field/yard. She came home sound within a week. If your mare really is that bad in a stable, either sedate her for the 10 days or find a patch of soil for her to be turned out on. Talk to your vet about it.
As for feeding, the best thing to do is give her ad-lib hay that has been soaked for 24 hours.
 
Thanks for your replies. I will have a look at those websites in a minute brightmount, thank you.

MQ I did tell him but he obviously didn't take on board HOW much she hates it. I think I mentioned to him that I would maybe have to keep her out but I was really hoping that I had imagined how bad she is with it and that she would be ok. She isn't getting any grass at the moment as she is muzzled and hasn't sussed how to eat with it on. I am just praying that she doesn't manage to get it off. I think I may ask them for a sedation for her for a couple of days and bring her in.
 
Hi S Yes she is dreadful and it is really stressful to watch her. I really couldn't leave her in today or she would have done herself and injury. I will go in the morning and ask for something to sedate her. i bought some Oxyshot? today. Would that be enough to do it do you think or would she need something stronger?

She is on a 'thin' bit of grass at the moment but as I say I hope the muzzle will stay on.
 
I'm sure that acute laminitic horses need soft bedding to support the frog over the critical period? Not sure how that sits with field turnout but I do understand that sometimes it's a balancing act between what the text book says and what the horse can tolerate. I'd defo go for sedation. Good luck x
 
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Besides, Oxyshot is a load of ******** anyway

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Say what you mean won't you
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I am going to go to the vets in the morning and get some sedation for her. i have been reading up on it ton ight and I am not happy to have her out in the paddock.
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It seems awful to sedate her for so long but I think I have to be cruel to be kind.
 
When mine went down with laminitis, the farrier put 'lilypads' on his two lame feet taped on with gaffer tape. The vet advised putting him on a deep bed of shavings, shutting him in a yard about 20 feet by 20 feet covered in woodchip, giving him a couple of slices of 12 - 24 hour soaked hay and a handful of Happy Hoof by spillers morning and night to get the bute into him. He was on this regime for 5 weeks before being allowed back on to grass for half an hour or less. The grass was restricted by using electric fences. As he got better, the electric fences were moved further back. He had the laminitis for 5 weeks in all. I wouldn't be without the electric fences now. He is like yours, goes mad in a stable if shut in, so i was very lucky to have this woodchip corral attached to his walk -in shelter/stable so he could come and go. I'm still paranoid about grass, fructans, rain, sunshine even now, 3 years later.
 
As others have said, she really does need to be on a padded surface when in the acute stage. A deep bed of shavings is far better for her than the field. I'm actually surprised that your vet didn't give her ACP anyway to aid in vaso dilation
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. Giving ACP is standard in the acute stage of laminitis.

Once she is stable and no longer pottery, you could turn her out in a dust paddock. I fed ad-lib Dengie HiFi Lite with Farriers Formula to my pony when she had laminitis. It was expensive to do this but it turned around a pony on the brink of death, to becoming totally sound within a very short period of time. She has lived out 24/7 for 4 years now with no recurrences; however this is because I found her trigger and thankfully it is not grass.

Hope Ellie recovers and you find a happy medium that both of you can work around. Muzzles are incredibly useful. Soaked hay and some types of haylage can be fed with relative safety to laminitics.
 
Unfortunately I agree - She needs to be kept in for the quickest recovery. I'm surprised your vet didn;t give her Sedoline (think thats how its spelt) Its the new drug of choice for Lami's as it encourages blood flow and has a mild sedative I would ask your vet - Ryan doesn;t mind staying in so when he had a mild occurrance a short while ago he was a sleep most the time cos the sedative
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However another horse at the yard has just been diagnosed and is the same as your Ellie - Hates his stable its been rebuilt that many times! However now he's on this stuff he loads better - so its defo worth a try.

And also agree with the Lilly pads for support - otherwise try bedding on easibed its great for foot support (and easier to muck up if she's stressed as its doesn;t move around so much)

Hope she's better soon
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My boy went lame in his hinds back in May last year and the vet diagnosed a pulled muscle as he was tight through the pelvis and down one hind leg. So I fenced off a small area outside his field (he has a mobile stable in the field) and left him there on ad lib hay for 2 weeks to pootle about. He was sound after a week and back to normal. Some months later he developed an abcess in a rear foot (same one) so we dealt with that as normal and he was fine. But when the farrier came to re-shoe when he was better, the hoof had grown down and there was evidence that the lameness episode back in the May had actually been a touch - very mild thankfully of laminitis!!! In his hind feet only!!!
I was shocked to say the least and so lucky that I had put him on no grass and a small area and kept him quiet and calm...heaven knows what would have happened otherwise.
I really do think as other have said that you need to get your horse off the grass and on hay to keep things moving stomach wise. If your horse is in a muzzle and cannot eat through it or has nothing there to eat, it will make the condition worse...you are better off giving ad lib well soacked hay. Good luck I hope things improve soon.
 
hi there my pony hates being in too how about fine woodchip over a very small area of the field and fenced in that although may get muddy this time of year. she needs to be able to eat - starving doesnt help the condition so make sure woodchip thick enough to cover any grass so doesnt have to wear muzzle and feed low quality hay (soak if necc as this strips it more of any goodness) stress is an imortant contributer to lami so need to reduce stress levels if we can
 
Thank you all for your replies they are so appreciated. *insert slightly weepy smilie here*

I went to sort Ellie out this morning and she had the muzzle off so I brought her straight in. She is however walking a LOT better than yesterday. Immediately she started to stress so I rang the vet. He had said yesterday they don't believe that Sedolin makes any difference
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Anyway after a bit of a tussle with the receptionist I got to speak to the vet and he has prescribed a couple of days dose of it.

I went back and gave her it and she was a lot better in her stable. When i went back tonight she was still quiet
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Can I ask does anyone know what dose a 16.3h 570kg horse should be on?

I have soaked her hay and she is on a tiny feed to get her bute into her so I am hoping she will be soon on the mend. YO is looking to find me a really bare patch that I can put her in when she comes out of her stable.

I am at a loss as to how she has got this. She is not overweight, not fed any hard feed as such and our grazing is very rough and patchy. She has been on and off lame for nearly twelve weeks
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would she not have become much worse than this sooner as she has been permanently turned out and it was laminitis?

I hope they are on the right track although she did definitely look laminitic yesterday.

Thanks for all your ideas please keep the coming.
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Hi, sorry to hear your news.

My mare had an acute attack last year she is 16.2 7/8 TB 1/8 ID although not to look at LOL!! Not a heavy weight at all.
It was brought on by a stressful event we think something got in her field and chased her, a lot of hoof prints around in a very small space although her field mate was fine?? strange

She has never has laminitis in her life before but July last year went to poo pick the field to find her stuck at the back of the paddock with what looked like a broken pelvis to me she had such a problem walking I thought the vet would of put her down there and then
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after finally getting her back to the stable and having a good look at everything Laminitis was diagnosed,4 weeks in very deep bedding to start.
Long story short she had sedalin ,2 bute morning 2 bute night 1 week,then sedalin and bute were slightly reduced over a period of time.She also had imprints on the front and lilly pads on the rear.
I spent a very very long summer increasing her turn out from 15 mins etc in a very small bare paddock.
She now has NB shoes which I think have really helped her,they were fitted after the imprints taken off after the 2nd xrays.

Touching wood so far so good.
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Its a long process, I'm sure you will manage just fine.
Its always daunting in the beginning and there aren't as you know any short cuts in the healing process.

Best of luck and healing vibes to Ellie
Jx
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...Immediately she started to stress so I rang the vet. He had said yesterday they don't believe that Sedolin makes any difference
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Anyway after a bit of a tussle with the receptionist I got to speak to the vet and he has prescribed a couple of days dose of it.

I went back and gave her it and she was a lot better in her stable. When i went back tonight she was still quiet
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Can I ask does anyone know what dose a 16.3h 570kg horse should be on?

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Surprised your vet didn't give you this information and print a sticky label for the package. I give my horse 2ml when the farrier comes, and she is 16hh. I would ring the vet and ask though as you want longer term continual sedation rather than with me, I just need her to be in la-la land for the hour it takes to shoe her.

I have re-read your original post and realised there was a conflict of opinion between your farrier and vet, and that you haven't yet had the diagnosis confirmed by x-ray or scans. If it's laminitis wouldn't the vet want to x-ray to see if the pedal bone(s) has/have rotated? I don't know though, I'm not a lammi expert. I do know a fair bit about navicular though from bitter experience, but if three feet were affected that would be unusual for navicular, which generally affects one or two of the front feet, so maybe your vet is on the right track.

I do hope your horse soon turns the corner. It's so upsetting to see them in pain, especially when the cause isn't totally clear.
 
What a shock for you to find her like that
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Ellie was given an injection yesterday and then two bute last night. She is now on 1 bute twice a day for 7 days and then one a day for 4 days. She is only on Sedalin becasue I begged for it this morning when she was trying to rear out of her stable
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It is good to hear your mare is doing well now.
 
Hi BM yes he has, but I wanted to ask what others thought she might need based on their experiences. She is on 2ml twice a day, however tonight when I went down she was still groggy and I gave her it at 11am, so I had expected it to have worn off a bit by then? Did the job though.
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On Friday she was barely lame (just the usual footyness that she had been showing) and only on the fronts (mainly near fore). The farrier looked at her and said he thought it was Navicular. I turned her into a reasonably grassy paddock until the vet could come on Monday. When I brought her in for him she was severly lame on three feet and he diagnosed Lammy.
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I have to say my sister turned up to see me as the vet was due and she said straight away 'do you think she has lammy?' her pony has it so she seems to recognise it easily.
 
Cass was on 2ml twice a day for the 1st week then 1 ml 3 x daily then 1ml twice a day then 1/2ml twice a day.
I always was under the impression it was meant to make them groggy so they don't move around so much in the beginning plus it helps with the blood flow to the area.

I really think you should insist on X-rays to see if there are any changes.

Cass is now out 24/7 albeit in a much smaller paddock than before, I now have shares in electric fencing,although I brought her in yesterday for the farrier to find she has a swollen back leg typical !!
if its not one thing its another.
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