"Rehab" after laminitis

[alwaysfallingof]

Max and I are getting to the stage now where I can think about getting a permanent routine back again, including being turned out and being ridden. It is now a week and a half since he was off the bute and had his frog supports taken off. At the moment, he is still stabled 24/7 and being given hay soaked for 12 hours. Xrays show no rotation, and he had his feet done yesterday. He is completely sound on all surfaces.

My vet said that I could start turning him out for a short while this week, but I'm not convinced and would like him stabled for a while longer, just to make sure.

Here is my plan:

Week 1(just finished) - stabled, no grass, walked in hand 5-10 minutes.
Week 2 - stabled, no grass, walked in hand 15-20 minutes, or 10 minutes twice a day.
Week 3 - stabled, walked in hand for up to half an hour a day.
Week 4 - stabled, grazed in hand for 5 minutes twice a day. Gentle long reining.
Week 5 - turned out wearing a muzzle for 20ish minutes while I muck out, more long reining.
Week 6 (by which time the vet says that his laminae will have become as strong as they're going to get) - turned out for an hour, muzzled, start ridden work (walk only to start with, and I might even leave this because at I have no school and so no soft surface to start him on)

Then just gradually build up turnout time until he's out either all day or all night, muzzled. (I know that night would be better, but I'm not entirely happy about leaving him unsupervised and muzzled).

Thoughts??

[gingeremmie]

Sounds good. How long has he been off work? If he's been off work for a while you might need a little bit more time lunging and long reining, but if it hasn't been long then you should be fine :)

[notpoodle]

having just begun a similar episode with angel, how are you getting on with max? which routine did you settle on in the end? how does he take to being muzzled? is he in a strip field or starvation paddock or something?

im planning ahead for when angel is allowed off boxrest (she is luckier than max though, vet says she is allowed out up to an hour in a bare field every day already. i made that half an hour though, to be on the safe side) ...
Julia
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[tubby]

Be very careful when turning out,my boy had mild lami in 2005 & still is only out,muzzled for a couple of hours except in the middle summer & winter when he's out all day in at night.If he goes out for longer I can feel a faint digital pulse so be very very careful.

[Nookster]

Let us know how you get on. My boy is about to come back from the hospital. Sunk and rotated in both front feet. Long long way off where you and your boy are up to but like to see how different people introduce work and grazing again.

[scrappydoo]

Let us know how you get on. My boy is about to come back from the hospital. Sunk and rotated in both front feet. Long long way off where you and your boy are up to but like to see how different people introduce work and grazing again.


sorry to hear that, its an awful thing for horse and owner to be going through, hope you mind me asking but what treatment has he had and what prognosis have they given?

alwaysfallinoff, Glad to hear hes on the mend.

[Nookster]

sorry to hear that, its an awful thing for horse and owner to be going through, hope you mind me asking but what treatment has he had and what prognosis have they given?

alwaysfallinoff, Glad to hear hes on the mend.

He has been with them for 3 weeks and 2 days tomorrow. He has been on 1mg bute and ACP. ACP was stopped on Monday afternoon.
X rays have been taken weekly.
He has imprints on his front, but also had the pads as well as the imprints to make him more comfortable. His back legs then started to pulse after a week and he had pads put on these too

As of today his x rays are rotated and sunk in both fore feet. Toe of pedal bone touching the sole. I have been asked to collect him and keep him stabled at home on 1mg bute until 4 weeks when he will be reviewed.
Have been advised at anytime he can go down hill and will have to consider PTS

[scrappydoo]

He has been with them for 3 weeks and 2 days tomorrow. He has been on 1mg bute and ACP. ACP was stopped on Monday afternoon.
X rays have been taken weekly.
He has imprints on his front, but also had the pads as well as the imprints to make him more comfortable. His back legs then started to pulse after a week and he had pads put on these too

As of today his x rays are rotated and sunk in both fore feet. Toe of pedal bone touching the sole. I have been asked to collect him and keep him stabled at home on 1mg bute until 4 weeks when he will be reviewed.
Have been advised at anytime he can go down hill and will have to consider PTS

Im so so sorry, i really dont know what to say, i have been in the exact same position, please feel free to pm.

[Bronya]

If it helps, this is the experience of rehab my horse and I have had...

Starting from the day she was sound in walk and trot on all surfaces including concrete, as from when sound in walk to when sound in trot just walked her in hand on soft surfaces.

Week one: lunged her in the school, and walked her out in hand.

Week two: longer walks in hand, longer lungeing sessions (mostly trot). Her signs of getting better were that she was starting to eat a lot more, and to be fizzy when out and about.

Week three: Lungeing in trot and canter, beginning to ride out in walk through the week, starting at 1/2 hour, progressing to 3/4 hour. Horse now seriously fizzy if not lunged, eating fine, looking well, back to her normal self 100%.

Week four: Lungeing in trot and canter for 20mins a day. Riding out in walk with short periods of trot if the ground is soft enough (like yesterday as it was fairly wet!).

We're just starting week four now, and she won't be allowed near a blade of grass until 1st June. It is far too rich, and I don't want to risk it until she is in a decent amount of work each day. Even then, it'll be a very short period, muzzled. In this week (four) I am not going to fuss if she goes near the odd leaf on a tree, because she needs to get used to 'real' food gradually, but she won't get more than one/two leaves a day. The laminitis trust says to keep them in for 28 days after they are sound - advice I'm following to the letter! It does seem to take some time after the horse is sound for it to be fully well, and I won't be jumping this year. I want her hooves to grow through more before I try anything with much concussion, as I know from injuring myself that even though you might feel fine, the slightest thing can be too much and the delicate, just-healed tissues tear once more.

[LokiSofi]

well my little man has marked rotation in both fronts and has been on box rest for over 2 months now (longer than my vet said but I have gone into over protective mummy mood) He is now going out for 10 minutes walk a day (with a muzzle on) and will soon be turned out for 2 hours a day with a muzzle on and in a small field with not too much grass in. He is getting just a handful of happy hoof morning and night and soaked hay.
He is absolutely nuts at the moment and is the liveliest I've ever seen him (even before he got lami he was never ever this active and never moved so freely)
I'm getting him some equi boots with gel supports to support his feet then he'll be coming back into work but very very slowly.

[alwaysfallingof]

Oooh, I'd forgotten about this thread. Thought it'd disappeared.

Max is (desperately touching wood) doing great. I've been playing it really carefully with him - it's now 6 weeks since he was first diagnosed, and 5 since the Xrays came back showing no rotation.

We've been walking inhand for 4 weeks (3 of those on hard surfaces because we didn't have a school) he's been long reined for a week and a half, and I've been lunging him for the past 5 days, we've built up to quite a bit of trot and so far we've kept ice cold feet.

As long as he's ok tomorrow I'm going to try my first sit on him - just for 10 minutes walking. Can't WAIT!!:D :cool:

[notpoodle]

did the vet siggest an xray or did you? SIX WEEKS? thats a very long time :o

glad to hear hes on the mend though!!!

Juia
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[alwaysfallingof]

Hi Julia, I must have missed the thread saying that Angel has laminitis - hope she's ok.

The vet (the one I like from the rvc) said that it takes six weeks from when they stop being acute until the laminae become as strong as they will ever get again. Because we were stuck without a school and the ground was so hard, I didn't want to risk anything and so have left it longer than my vet considered necessary (in her opinion, I could have been on him 2 weeks ago - she said 3 weeks in hand work after he stopped being acute)

I suggested the xrays - the vet didn't think they were necessary.
But...I spoke to my insurance company. Now that he's had lammy it's going to be excluded, so I might as well claim for this attack. I had the xrays done to put my mind at rest, also because I was over my excess anyway.

[notpoodle]

same here! i just rang my insurance people and they said it would be excluded, whether i claim or not.

was max 'acute' then? vet said angel was 'sub acute' or 'pre-acute' or something ie not acute - a good thing :)

i am considering just getting as much bute and acp and whatnot off my vet as i can shake a stick at and claim on the insurance now. nothing to lose there if they wont pay for it in the future regardless!

still, what a bummer!!!

Julia
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