horselover522
Well-Known Member
I know lots of people that use Billy Crothers, and have seen a lot of his 'work' both remedial and routine.
I would not let him near any of my horses feet.
I would not let him near any of my horses feet.
Everything which follows refers directly to Leviathan as this person has put the events surrounding their horse in the public arena, and has freely given advice which I believe to be fundimentally flawed and been hyper critical of others offering opinion and advice.
In their blog, Leviathon refers to their horse being lethargic and not forward going as usual. They assume that the horse needs extra hard feed and so up the ration. This is the first error in a catalogue of disaster which has been going on for over a year. Increasing the hard feed in a horse which is showing the first signs of laminitis will exacerbate the process.
The stable door is left open and the horse breaks into the feed store gorges on barley then takes itself off fror a graze. Fairly incompetant leaving so many gates and doors open, some might say.
it should be spelt incompetent .incompetant
Throughout this the horse is being given large amounts of bute, and still is. Whilst I agree with giving NSAID drugs initially, prolonged administration will interfere with the prodction of certain enzymes required for the regeneration of the laminae. In addition prolonged administration will cause intestinal problems and kidney damage, as well as masking the real level of lameness in the horse allowing excessive movement. Although movement is necessary to stimulate and encourage regeneration, the level of movement cannot be assesed properly whilst high levels of bute are being used.
should be assessed.assesed
A further drug is then administered Founder Stop or something, which induces colic, a known and expected side effect of the drug according Leviathon. Fool hardy in the extreme to 'induce' colic in a lamanitic horse. Colic and laminitis being the two main killers of horses.
To date Leviathon claims that pedal bone reversal has taken place to some degree. I would suggest this is in spite of the treatment rather than the result of it. We are now a year into this and the horse would have had time to grow new feet completely, yet it is still on box rest, consuming large amounts of bute and still lame.
The treatment of this horse has been poor, riddled with backward thinking and unsuccessful, yet thought of by Leviathon as some sort of triumph.
The mare had done a 12 mile ride with 50 jumps shortly before the sluggish started and we had past through many fields with rape plant. Hence the reason of her breathing
2011. same ride brilliant then breathing a bit chesty so the previous year saw improvement so treatment including extra corn was given.
ON NO ACCOUNT WAS THE MARE SHOWING ANY OBVIOUS SIGNS OF LAMINITIS.
Founderguard is not a drug if you bother to look at the website
Founderguard does NOT cause colic . My mares colic was unrelated to the Lamintis
Founderguard is a pellet supplement proven to reduce Laminitis flare ups.
Founderguard's active ingredient is virginiamycin, an antibiotic that kills specific bugs in the gut. When I last used it, it was a controlled drug that required specific permission and licence obtained by the Vet from Defra to import from Australia where it is made.
Your right you have to require it from a vet who then contacts them for special license, which if approved , is then sent back to the supplier who in turn sends it to the vet for collection by the customer .
Just an aside regarding breathing in the hope that it may help others detect laminitis BEFORE any heat/pulses etc.
Heavy, laboured breathing was my mares FIRST sign of laminitis. As she had previously had a lung infection and was not lame and did not have any heat or pulses, I did not consider laminitis. When she became lame, I still did not detect laminitis and treated her for an abscess. Vet came and did not detect laminitis either. Two days after the vets visit, I suspected laminitis as I had not got any pus out with the poultice. Vet confirmed laminitis. Her heavy breathing was her first sign of the disease. She is very stoical and so this was her way of showing the pain she was in. Once the laminitis was treated (we caught it early), and she was tested positive for Cushings, the heavy breathing stopped.
I know. And if you know, why did you say it was not a drug, when it is one of the most controlled drugs that Vets use? Quite honestly, it brings into question a lot of the other stuff you have written as advice, sorry![]()
This was the same with my mare, I had no idea the breathing was lami related, as she was sound when ridden and in field, but I thought I had fed her dusty hay or something or she was unfit and I was working her too hard.
It certainly can be a big warning sign but I think few people know this, I certainly didnt. It was only when she became lame out on a ride that her (one off, acute, no rotation) lami was diagnosed. I then realised that the breathing was her struggling to manage with the pain :-((
Now if I heard her breathing more than normal, I would be on it like a hawk, but you live and learn :-(
I can't see the relevance of other things I have written reflect on the fact I don't think of it as a drug. sorry
Woah! Think this post is meant to be for Tango Mum to ask advice not a bitching fest for everyone else..think its gone abit far!
Since my gelding had lami i have heard so many different ways on dealing with it, most of all to ensure they are kept comfortable and happy (surely this is more important?)
I think everyone has given very good advice so far!
Tangos mum- best of luck and keep us informed of progress![]()
No worries, hope you find out exactly whats wrong with him. X
I will explain.
If you do not think that an antibiotic which requires your Vet to obtain an import licence from DEFRA is a drug, when no other equine medicine that I know of requires an import licence at all, then I would question whether your advice as to shoeing, padding, bute-ing for a year, etc is anything that the OP should take any notice of.
Apologies if this sounds rude but I think that the OP needs to judge the other advice that you are giving her, which has been quite assertive, against your surprising lack of knowledge that Founderguard's active ingredient was the antibiotic virginiamycin and the assertion that it was simply a "supplement" and not a drug, in spite of being aware that using it required your Vet to obtain an import licence.
If his rotation is not due to laminitis, then what is it due to? Could it be mechanical rotation? Sometimes if the toes have been left too long it can cause separation and weakness in the laminae and consequently a rotation of the pedal bone.
sorry i didnt word that very well..
hes had laminitis 3 times since october, so probably why theres rotation, and yes his toes are long thanks to bf trimmer... i was saying hes not got it at the mo...
Hmmm very strange :/ with the rotation and 'footiness' i would have said lami so id be interested to see what the vet thinks. (that isnt meant to sound rude, i generally am interested!) sounds like your doing everything to ensure that hes comfortable and thats the main thing![]()
Sorry, I should have been keeping up better! There are so many people with lami related problems on here at the moment (including myself and one of my liveries) that I am getting them mixed up. Good that he doesn't have it at the moment.![]()
Who are you to judge me first it was PR and O now you
so.. if the vet and farrier say shoe him, can i say no??... i was thinking pads and boots?.. no way can i do glue on shoes every 4 weeks at £250.. what other options are there?... i will listern to my vet, but really dont want shoes nailed on...
General plea here...can this post discuss the options and NOT become quite so unpleasant. People sharing their experiences is incredibly helpful and I learn a lot. It is useful when people clearly differentiate between their horses sypmtoms etc but no need to be shouted down or personal. Many roads to Rome guys!