Vet has been...

Sol

Sol

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Following on from http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=472239

Firstly... thank you to everyone who gave me advice last night :) *hands out cookies*

Did have a look at him again this morning and he did seem a bit better, could hardly find his pulse etc. Still not quite right on his front feet but not awful either.
Vet came, watched him move, watched him lunge (he did look rather perculiar to me on the lunge, but then, I know how he moves), had a feel of his feet etc.
She thinks there is a small chance that he is just foot sore, having had his feet trimmed Thursday, but it could equally be the start of lami. Given bute, he's to stay in for 5 days with bute twice a day, then two days in but off the bute, then see how he is. Which sounds like it could be worse!!
Gave him a sachet of bute as she said at about 12 when she left and by 1pm he marched me down the 'garden', down the road and into a horse trailer striding out as perfectly normal :rolleyes: He's currently settling into his new stable with its nice deep shavings bed & some soaked hay. :D

Now my problem is... he's very clever. He gets bored exceedingly easily. He's not allowed 'hard feed' and I presume he's not allowed any form of 'treat' really?
a) how on earth do I keep getting bute down him? Am I ok to give it with a single apple/carrot/pear/banana (so just 1 per dose which means two per day) which has been through the blender and a tiny sprinkle of chaff? (I do mean tiny) I have a funny feeling he's already caught on that it doesn't taste great!
b) How do I stop him from getting bored?! :confused: Will he be ok to leave his stable AT ALL? ie. just plod around the arena for a bit on the leadrope in walk? Is there anything I can give him to entertain him? If he has to stay in for an entire week, I can see him eating his stable or driving the world insane! Even if it is for his good :(

Bloody horses.... :p
 
If needs must then make it into a paste, possibly even with the blended apple, put it in an old worming syringe and squirt it in!!
 
If you feed a non molassed lami approved chaff such as the Dengie or Topspec ones then it should be fine to feed in reasonable quantities, I use it as a hay replacer for a laminitic, so by the bucketful!

You can also feed decent amounts of Fast Fibre and some speedibeet which should help to disguise the bute. I'd steer clear of fruit and veg. A variety of chaff/soaked hay can help to alleviate the boredom a bit too.

If mine's on bute I don't allow exercise, personally I feel its better for them to feel their feet and avoid further damage if they are moving about.
 
When my old girl was on bute to keep her comfy in retirement I used to syringe it down her in apple juice, so she positively looked forward to it & would take the syringe between her teeth ready for her 'treat'. Stopped it being a battle & became a nice part of her daily routine.

Can he have any hay replacer nuts? Could put these in a treat ball to amuse him.
 
Try a marmite sandwich - the savoury taste hides the bitterness of the bute, try him with a small one without bute first, plenty of marmite, if he likes it add the bute to another small sandwich, like 1/2 slice bread folded, plenty of marmite and bute - most horses love it!
 
When my mare got lami I was advised not to take her out of stable at all, not to muck her out or for any other reason. Feed wise, soaked hay (12hrs - use fresh water each time) and a very small handful of lami safe chaff (ie hifi lite) to put meds in.

I can't tell you how important it is to be patient and follow your vets instructions to the letter, any questions I would ask them as they have seen your horse. It'll drive you mad how much conflicting advice you will get but try and just listen to what vet is saying.

Boredom wise, radio, grooming, massage, stable a horse next door if you can, little and often haynets xx
 
Get a syringe, make it into a paste and do it that way. That's what we used to do.

I wouldn't walk him out at all, I know its not severe etc but I never risk it. Box rest means box rest. If it is lami you want them moving as little as possible.
 
Thanks for the ideas everyone :) Looks like I will head to the feed store on monday and see what I can get for him. He will just have to cope until then!! (dont have enough money on me & dad isn't home today :rolleyes:

Also not entirely sure how to go about bringing him back into work if he IS sound in a weeks time.... (this really is a learning experience!). How slowly do I need to go about it etc? I do feel stupid :o
 
Again, follow your vets advice. They've seen your horse/pony, we havn't so please go along with what they're telling you xx
 
When my horse had it alot worse than yours I must add, he stayed in his stable for 30 days after he was sound off the bute. He only came out of the stable so the vet could look at him in the meantime. Then I walked him in the school for a week then started to walk him out on hacks. I had to have X Rays done too but I think you have caught it early maynot need them. I fed mine speedie beet and Naf Lamintez. I was surprised how quickly he got over it as he was very sore and he had in worse in his hinds. Hope your horse recovers soon and good luck x
 
He doesn't dislike being in as such, just gets bored :) He seems to get bored in the field too though! :rolleyes:

I AM following vets advice btw, but considering that she was the emergency vet, had other horses to see asap, I was stressed, etc etc, she didn't have an hour to spare to fill me in on all of the finer details, and there were certain things it simply didn't occur to me to ask. I figure lots of people will have dealt with lami before, therefore people will be able to give me advice. Doesn't mean that if someone on here tells me to jump off a cliff, I'll do it, I just plan to gather peoples thoughts & opinions and go with what seems reasonable, within my vets advice & ultimately, is best for my horse (:

Thanks again everyone x
 
I used to give Bute to my old mare in a syringe, I mixed it with Propell and oil as apparently it burns a little.

Good news about the pony. Huge cheers for spotting it early :)
 
Sorry Sol - I didn't mean to make you feel like that and can now understand you didn't have time to ask questions. I lost my mare and I still find it upsetting to talk about laminitis. It does sound like your boys has been caught early (if it is lami), for along time the vets thought my mares was a abscess as only initially showed in one foot so she got all the wrong treatment xx
 
Sol said:
I AM following vets advice btw, but considering that she was the emergency vet, had other horses to see asap, I was stressed, etc etc, she didn't have an hour to spare to fill me in on all of the finer details, and there were certain things it simply didn't occur to me to ask. I figure lots of people will have dealt with lami before, therefore people will be able to give me advice. Doesn't mean that if someone on here tells me to jump off a cliff, I'll do it, I just plan to gather peoples thoughts & opinions and go with what seems reasonable, within my vets advice & ultimately, is best for my horse (:

Thanks again everyone x
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I am the worst person for forgetting to ask my vet questions lol so you are not alone :D And for some reason its as soon as the vet leaves i have something to ask ... Dohh!! Just write out a list of questions and ring them on Mon just to keep your mind at ease and save you from insanity :p There does seem to be alot of lush grass around this year compared to last (I only realised that this morning :o ). Iv never had a horse come down with Lami so cannot offer any advice, but it does sound like you have caught it early so hopefully he will be as good as new in no time. Good luck :)
 
leave a radio on
make a mobile from veges like swedes parsnips carrots apple put apples in water bucket to keep him amused put herbal treats and polos so he has to find them, put veges in hay so he will come across them .



mix a little bran with apple juice from supermarket to disguise it, mint powder works at does spearmint buy things like raspberry leaves from D&H jam sandwich is another way core out an apple put but in there danilon and prodynam are both a type of bute but not as bitter tasting as equipalozone

also what about apple puree mix it with it
 
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Have been unfortunate enough to deal with laminitis twice, do keep him in stable with minimal moving around as if it is lami it will heal much beetter this way. With regards to bringing back into work, my horse had 3 weeks box rest and I was then advised by vet to ride as much as possible. The lami was probably due to her being a little overweight as she kept escaping onto new grass out of starvation paddock, so I was told to ride to get weight off.
 
My mare had lami last year and was stabled for 5months, only going out for x-rays and farrier. I fed a small amount of Happy Hoof and soaked hay, I used to visit her 4-5 times a day to hang more nets and to give her a lovely brush and attention. Sending you healing vibes.
 
Fantastic news well done for spotting it so early!! No doubt your eagle eyes have prevented it getting a lot worse, if it is lami.
When our girl was on box rest, we split all her haynets up so she could have quite a few throughout the day, double netted them so it lasted her longer - I would advise against any treats unfortunately :( BUT our vet did say sugar free polos? (so we can get Kelly's tablet down her)
I'd say a low sugar chop, such as Happy Hoof etc to get bute down, mixed with a bit of water - our vet advised this for us.
How about a ball of some sorts for him? The radio will give him some company, and you can groom :)
We're just bringing our girl back into work now - we started by a walk up and down the yard, literally 2 minutes, then going out into a very small field so she could choose the level of exercise she was comfortable with, and following vets and farriers advice, built it up slowly and she's now walking for 10 minutes at a time.
Its a minefield, I think you just need to listen to your horse and together with the vet and farrier, do it from that - just remember you have all the time in the world, no point rushing it :)
K x
 
Go out and chop down a branch of gorse and hang that in the stable, he will pick at it and it will keep him amused for quite some time and it will not do him any harm.

Another thing, I kept a very laminitic pony (Cushings) sound with NAF D-tox. Helped her a lot.
 
I repeat Yahoo Groups 'themetabolichorse' Join it and learn. You shouldn't be feeding him much above maintenance forage (again, theories change on exactly what so Yahoo Groups 'tmh' for the most current practises) Temptation is to try this laminitis trust approved thing and the other. I think Speedibeet is useful and some years back alfalfa was recommended.. Please don't just dive in. Jackie JA Taylor is an authority and a good one, through very bitter experience.
 
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