Update... not good news. any suggestions however strange please

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rushyj

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Thank you for all your support for Tom. He had his "imprint" shoes yesterday. Bless him he got through it even though he hit the deck 5 times he kept on trying till they were on there. The Farrier Andrew Poynton from Imprint shoes was utterly amazing with him risking life and limb to get him done.

Although there is no rotation of the pedal bone the whole structure has dropped slightly and the sole of his foot has dropped and is bulging slightly but the shoes should now support all those structures now. Will post pics later today.

My vet Oscar has seen him again today and there is still no noticable improvement in his pain level his heart rate is still around 60. To give you an idea this is the pain meds he is on from 8am in the morning.

4 sachets danelon bute 8am
850ml Metacam oral 5pm
2 sachets bute at 10pm

This horse weighs approx 850kgs

My vet has now said we have to give him until Monday to make an improvement or we are going to have to call it a day as it is so painful for him. I will do what is right for him but I am clutching at straws here I don't care if I have to rub cold cabbages into his ear lobes!!!! Anything that people have found that has worked on a huge laminitis attack would be so gratefully recieved. He is the most amzing horse who deserves every chance....
 
Thank you... I thought I understood laminitis until this happened, turned out my perspective was all wrong. I always thought the laminal structures started swelling driving the pedal bone down. (I know stupid huh) I have now had a graffic description that the laminal strcutures die and the weight of the horse drives the internal structures down through the foot ripping what is left of the dying tissue.

I can't put him through it much longer bless him...
 
Oh no, what dreadful news. So glad he's got a really caring mum. I'm struggling with the same decision at the moment only with my cat Spencer. We can't control his pain from something going on in his nearside shoulder - could be severe arthritis, could be a bone tumour heart too dodgy to x-ray. I guess you have to ask yourself what you think your ned would say if he could speak. Would he say I've had enough or not? Spencer isn't yet at the "had enough" stage but your ned may be a lot closer. So, so sorry hun. We have a different relationship with our horses than with a small animal don't you think? I do hope your lad rallies even if it's just enough to keep him comfortable for a little longer - hoping that Forum members might have some ideas. Do let us know how he does xxx
 
Sorry, I don't have anything that worked because my mare was put to sleep a year ago this month because she wasn't getting better and was in excruciating pain. I wasn't, and my husband wasn't, prepared to keep her going when the only hope we had was for grass soundness which she would loathe.

I hope you find something, but I really don't know of anything else that can help his pain, sorry.
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huge hugs,
all i can say is that Imprint shoes are fab and can really really help, a slight movement on them though can make they really sore, so if he suddenly gets a lot worse - check if the shoes have moved slightly.
i'll keep everything crossed for you that he improves x x x x x x
 
My mare has laminitis at the moment for the first time in her 17 years! She has the imprint shoes on ( I didn't like the drilling bit though, she found that very scary even though she was sedated) She has been on box rest all week, the imprint shoes have really really helped her but took a couple of days to take effect so fingers and toes crossed for you he should get better this weekend.
 
What is Metacam Oral?

My laminitics usually have ACP and Asprin with the bute.

Very strange, probably ridiculous idea, but what about one of those slings from the roof that horspitals have, to help support some of his weight?
 
How sad for you but you are doing all you can. If it is the end for him please remember what a vet once told me when I was in the same position. He said it was the last act of love you can show your horse. Positive vibes coming your way. X
 
I am so sorry, there was one at my yard where she was laying down all day as she couldn't even stand and was on pain medecation and she was also in extreme pain where the vet gave the same diagnosis if there was no improvement then they would have to call it a day but she made a full recovery, so remember there is hope and i hope that he is the same!
 
Thank you all. The farrier who makes the imprint shoes is trying to develop a sling to take 90% of the horses weight off thier feet. He sadly has not made it yet.

To make matters worse I just got his number and all our wristbands for his entry at Edenbridge and oxted through today in the post. His previous owner is coming down to see him this weekend we have only had him 5 weeks.

The Metacam is just a stronger pain killer than bute to help him. We are just juggling all the pain killers so we don't fry his kidneys. He is having sedalin (tube a day) and the vet has just given me a prescription for asprin I have to collect tomorrow.
 
Oh poor you, I really feel for you. Its been a few years since I dealt with a laminitic but agree with OP that ACP and aspirin were both major parts of the treatment. They increase the ability of the blood to flow around the affected hoof or something like that. Might be worth asking your vet? But as I said maybe things have changed?


Have you tried speakin to Robert at the laminitis trust?

I am almost scared to add one final thing... The mare I had went down with laminitis in January and even my vet agreed it had nothing to do with being overweight, grass or being ridden hard (she was on holiday). It was really bad and the vet and me talked about having her pts. Her pedal bone had rotated but not a huge amount, but the pain was terrible

As a final last attempt to find out what was causing it he did some blood tests and found that she had a massively under active thyroid. (no wonder she lived on fresh air!). She went onto crushed up thyroxine (27 pills a day or something mad like that) and came sound within a week. It was startling. Now I am really not saying it would work for yours -mine was sufficiently unusual that the vet wrote a paper on the case, and I only mention it because you asked for all suggestions!

Fingers crossed he gets better
 
Ty old mare. I will phone my vet immediately to see what he says my boy does carry weight really well so is worth a look......xx
 
No advice but massive hugs and everything crossed he makes a recovery over the weekend....

<<<HUG>>>
 
So sorry to hear this, no suggestions, unfortunately we lost our mare. Hope you have a better outcome, your vet sounds to be on the ball, I'm now wondering if Sally could have had thyroid probs. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<vibes>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
 
Oh heck. OK, for what they're worth, these are my suggestions to do over the weekend.

1) Feed him Magnesium. Best is MagOx, but Magnesium Sulphate is ok, too. I feed 10g to a 12hh pony, so I would double it. Magnesium is an important metabolic component and it's deficiency is implicated in laminitis.

2) Has the vet given any founderguard? This contains virginiamycin, which kills of the lactic acid producing bacteria in the hind gut. If you could find a surgery that has it in today, you should find it has an effect by Monday.

Everything crossed for you. Hoping for good news update on Monday. xx
 
I saw an ancient video about laminitis - horses gained quite a lot of relief being stabled on what looked like deep, damp sand. This was yonks ago (the days of vhs tapes!!). Not a cure but it would be interesting if anyone has seen this as a way of helping keep a horse comfortable. I guess it offers more support that shavings etc.
 
Sorry about your horse, My old mare is slowly recovering from laminitis and is on treatment for cushings as well now.
I found permanax from maxivita seems to help her. Dont know if it will help in your case but maybe anything is worth a try? good luck, i really hope he makes it
 
Okay, you wanted 'anything'! And hugs to you hun, I know how you feel
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Memories of a James Herriot book - something about standing a pony in a cold stream. Vet also bled the pony. Have sent daughter to find title of book.

I know it's possibly on the whacky side, but I once saved a foal's foot by doing something I'd read in a fiction book many years before.

Sorry hun. Hope some relief can be found!

I'll pm the book title (second daughter has just remembered it from the video, so is off to help on the search!).
 
Thank you so much to you all. I will keep you updated. We had a small and i mean small breakthrough today he walked from the back of his box to the front today and it was when his pain meds where due. I know it sounds like nothing but for him it is something. Then he lay down for the first time in a week..not sure if this is good or bad or just exhaustion but I am going for a good sign...

I really am grateful to everyone on here you guys really don't know how much all your support means to all of us and the big man...... thank you xxx
 
Does your vet know what caused the Laminitis?

The most important thing is to fit your horse with rubber/layex frog supports as soon as the Laminitis develops. This will help to prevent the pedal bone from sinking or rotating. (Take a look at the Laminitis Trust Website and the work done by Robert Eustace that specialises in Laminitis).

One of the better pain killers is Finadyne.

Your bed should be very thick.

Feed your horse about one slice of soaked hay every 3 hours to keep the digestive tract going.
 
Thank you. I will speak to my vet about Finadyne. He has has imprint shoes fitted two days ago just hoping they are supporting it all now. He is on a really deep straw bed, I know not ideal but he has an allergy to wood chip for come reason makes him really itchy. Luckily he does not eat straw so that is not an issue..
 
hi there, i am real sorry for you and you,r horse, i expect that you,r farrier is is doing the max that he can, but if you dont mind i will mention a fiew things that i do in cases like this. if there is no real bone rotation showing at the toe, then you have a sinker, this is where the laminae has weakened enough all the way around to allow the bone to settle down onto the sole. while it is not possible to push the bone back up[or desireable], it is important to support it where it is. the imprints should do that. it is important to have all hoofwall trimmed level with the sole. this is to prevent an upward push that would pust the hoof weall up and away from the bone, also the toe should be cut back into the laminae./ apart from that you biggest problem may be abcessing, i find that in most cases like this, the rotted laminae abcesses. you will need to watch out very carefully as the imprint,s while doing a good job ,will prevent an abcess from bursting outthis will force the abcess up and out at the corenary band. if this happens the shoe will have to come off pronto. in some cases a piece can be cut out of the shoe to drain an abcess. good luck. by the way if you need to support him and dont have a way to do it, i have used a long builders plank, set on a pivot point, like a tressel for wood cutting. you can tie a couple of thick cushions at the end, put it under him behind the front legs [girth area] with most of the plank sticking out beyond the pivot ,you can push down, like a seasaw, this will take the weight off him
 
create a base under the straw with paper, it makes a really good soft support for them as well, and if he does lay down etc wont have as much give in it when he goes to get up.

ive not read your previous posts, but have you tried to contact robert eustus?

best of luck and everything crossed for your lad.
 
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