RubysGold
Well-Known Member
Roo got laminitis in January and I am just so grateful that she is still here. I just wanted to share our story so far
This was the day the vet first came, a sunday. I got to the yard and Roo would not step off her bedding, she wouldn't move a single foot outside of the stable when the vet came. She took bloods for cushings test, wrapped up her feet and gave me instructions on how to manage her for the following week (I put in the shavings that I had stored in the yard and then went for more to make a nice big bed)
At first everything went well, soaking hay, big bed, box rest, bute
We found out she had cushings and we started the medication for that. She had xrays done that showed no rotation
Roo got very poorly very quickly. It was horrible, she wouldn't eat or drink a thing and she wouldn't move a step. She looked so depressed and I had the vet out again and again, asking for more pain killing injections, more advice, anything they could give her. Nothing was helping. She didn't eat or drink for 2-3 weeks, the only thing I could get into her was fast fibre, but after a few days she wouldn't touch that, so she started having hifi lite. A few buckets a day and as much water in them as possible to get something into her.
I went to the yard to find massive lumps on Roos stomach, and her urine went red. I rang the vets, I knew this was bad and I waited for the vet thinking she would pts
The lumps were Oedema, blood was taken to check her kidney/protein levels. (They were very low) I was told to stop all bute, within a couple of days Roo perked up and started slowly to eat small amounts of food. The vet says she has only seen a couple of reactions to bute like this one, we think she was just so poorly and so dehydrated in the end that the bute was overloading her system
For weeks and weeks, I had to put soaked hay in big tub trugs and mix the hifi lite into it to get her to nibble some of the hay, but she really did not want to eat a thing. Mostly it just resulted in hay kicked all over the stable while she searched for the chop. It was heartbreaking.
The Oedema took a good couple of weeks to go down, one day I went to the yard to find her legs were completely full and solid as blocks of wood. But the vet had told me that as the oedema softened it would travel down the legs before going
Once she got over the kidney problems, she improved quickly. I was able to start feeding her soaked haynets and I gradually reduced the amount of hifi lite she got.
In March we started walking in hand. Sometimes she was quiet and walked lovely, other times she was boisterous
At the very beginning of May, I was finally given the go ahead to turn her out
To start with I used some sedalin and had a friend walk in and out of the field with me to be sure she wouldn't get loose/hurt me.
She has lost so much weight and is looking fantastic for it
I have been building her turnout up slightly and now allow her 1hour20 minutes turnout every morning, and in the afternoons we now ride in walk, only 1.4 miles at the moment, building up very slowly. I cant feel the pulses in her feet anymore, and I cant keep up with her when she strides across the yard
I noticed this tonight so took a picture, one of each front hoof
I cant put into words how happy I am that we overcame this, I had the darkest moments I have ever known in the early days, not only is winter hard as it is but I was going to the yard every day praying for an improvement, pleading with her to eat something, anything, and ultimately being disappointed and depressed when she didn't.
This was the day the vet first came, a sunday. I got to the yard and Roo would not step off her bedding, she wouldn't move a single foot outside of the stable when the vet came. She took bloods for cushings test, wrapped up her feet and gave me instructions on how to manage her for the following week (I put in the shavings that I had stored in the yard and then went for more to make a nice big bed)
At first everything went well, soaking hay, big bed, box rest, bute
We found out she had cushings and we started the medication for that. She had xrays done that showed no rotation
Roo got very poorly very quickly. It was horrible, she wouldn't eat or drink a thing and she wouldn't move a step. She looked so depressed and I had the vet out again and again, asking for more pain killing injections, more advice, anything they could give her. Nothing was helping. She didn't eat or drink for 2-3 weeks, the only thing I could get into her was fast fibre, but after a few days she wouldn't touch that, so she started having hifi lite. A few buckets a day and as much water in them as possible to get something into her.
I went to the yard to find massive lumps on Roos stomach, and her urine went red. I rang the vets, I knew this was bad and I waited for the vet thinking she would pts
The lumps were Oedema, blood was taken to check her kidney/protein levels. (They were very low) I was told to stop all bute, within a couple of days Roo perked up and started slowly to eat small amounts of food. The vet says she has only seen a couple of reactions to bute like this one, we think she was just so poorly and so dehydrated in the end that the bute was overloading her system
For weeks and weeks, I had to put soaked hay in big tub trugs and mix the hifi lite into it to get her to nibble some of the hay, but she really did not want to eat a thing. Mostly it just resulted in hay kicked all over the stable while she searched for the chop. It was heartbreaking.
The Oedema took a good couple of weeks to go down, one day I went to the yard to find her legs were completely full and solid as blocks of wood. But the vet had told me that as the oedema softened it would travel down the legs before going
Once she got over the kidney problems, she improved quickly. I was able to start feeding her soaked haynets and I gradually reduced the amount of hifi lite she got.
In March we started walking in hand. Sometimes she was quiet and walked lovely, other times she was boisterous
At the very beginning of May, I was finally given the go ahead to turn her out
To start with I used some sedalin and had a friend walk in and out of the field with me to be sure she wouldn't get loose/hurt me.
She has lost so much weight and is looking fantastic for it
I have been building her turnout up slightly and now allow her 1hour20 minutes turnout every morning, and in the afternoons we now ride in walk, only 1.4 miles at the moment, building up very slowly. I cant feel the pulses in her feet anymore, and I cant keep up with her when she strides across the yard
I noticed this tonight so took a picture, one of each front hoof
I cant put into words how happy I am that we overcame this, I had the darkest moments I have ever known in the early days, not only is winter hard as it is but I was going to the yard every day praying for an improvement, pleading with her to eat something, anything, and ultimately being disappointed and depressed when she didn't.
