Strange Laminitis

[Bouncer]

Last wk Bouncer came down with Laminitis :eek: but the strange thing is he has strong pulses in all 4 feet but he is not acting like he has laminitis. He aint walkin on his heels like he usually does when he has laminitis and he was put in the arena to stretch his legs the other day and he did nothin but run round buckin and fartin???

Anyone experienced this b4 ?

[Rummi]

Just wondering, what makes you think he has laminitis? Although pulses in the feet can be a sign, it not as simple as raised pulses = laminitis. What other symptoms does he have? A horse with laminitis would usually be pretty sore and lame......

Hope the pulses are just something else....I know one of my boys getting higher pulses in the warmer weather!

[amberleystar]

Yep I have recently experienced this with my mare. She had LGL (low grade laminitis) bounding pulses in all four feet, but only tender footed on concrete/stones, sound when trotting in arena or pasture.

I had xrays taken which confirmed that she had dropped coffin bones.

LGL is becoming much more widely recognised now. With LGL the horse is sometimes completely sound on forgiving surfaces, but have trouble on stones. Some horses are more obviously lame and there are those with full blown lami.

Is your horse shod or barefoot?

Within 48 hours of putting a grazing muzzle on her the pulses stablised. For around a couple of weeks they went up and down a bit, but this is because there is healing taking place inside the hoof.

She is now well on the road to recovery, and with the help of my EP we are helping her to grow new feet.

Hope your horse gets better soon.

[Bouncer]

The vets diagnosed the laminitis and he is lame when trotting in circles, he is being careful where he puts his feet

His pulses have been consistant for over a wk now but with no other signs. I dont think he got the laminitis off the grass I think it has more to do with him being kicked in the head as he was not right

Strange beastie :)

[notpoodle]

if he's on bute (which he is likely to be if he has lami), he wont feel the pain so much, hence may think bucking etc. is possible.

lami doesnt mean they have to be crippled or doing 'the stance'. even if its only low grade lami (LGL), make sure you do keep him off grass for as long as the vet recommends, because eg bute will mask things and they do take a little while to heal.

Julia
x

ps: it might be better to acp him if he goes mental with ouchy hooves ... bucking around on hard ground can't be good for lami feet.

[shandy84]

Mine had LGL and you would never really have known she had it except when first diagnosed as very footy on concrete

[Bouncer]

if he's on bute (which he is likely to be if he has lami), he wont feel the pain so much, hence may think bucking etc. is possible.

lami doesnt mean they have to be crippled or doing 'the stance'. even if its only low grade lami (LGL), make sure you do keep him off grass for as long as the vet recommends, because eg bute will mask things and they do take a little while to heal.

Julia
x

ps: it might be better to acp him if he goes mental with ouchy hooves ... bucking around on hard ground can't be good for lami feet.

He isnt on any bute at the mo he is fine and isnt in any distress which is why im stumped. He is out on his little paddock at the mo but seems to be gettin a bit stressed as his mates are all in a field (although our other horse goes out with him)

[martini55]

It's a very important thing to note- lame when turning but not in a straight line. That, to me, would indicate the very beginnings of laminitis. And taking them off the grass and boxresting them for a week or two will normally get them right again.

[Bouncer]

This is where it starts to get complicated with my pony

He cant stay in 24/7 when he has a bout of laminitis, because he stresses so much about bein in on his own he then gets stress laminitis which is much worse than when he gets laminitis off the grass

He is stables at night on a deep bed of shavings and he is in the paddock during the day

:) horses lol

[Flash Harry]

Me also a LGL candidate, can`t really offer any other info than all the excellent advice others before me have given. My fella is now well on the way to recovery, has been slow, but i thank my lucky stars that we caught it and treated it accordingly (no dropping or rotation), personaly i cannot stress the importance of box rest/ off grass if you think a horse is laminitic, prevention is better than cure - wishing you all the best:)

[Bouncer]

Thanks every one for ** advice :)

Fingers x'ed to every1's pony with LGL for a speedy recovery

Cheers xx

[lucky-one]

my horse had laminitas, but he never appeared lame, he was never taken off the grass either he was living out 24/7. He went lame due to an abcess in his foot. confused the vets no end as they origionally couldnt find an abcess or anything related to his foot, and he only showed discomfort in his sholder. he had xray and nerve blocks, which eventually loacted it to his foot. on a much closer inspection of his foot they discovered he had laminitas about 3 months previously, but there was no movement in his feet luckily. has anyone else been in a similar situation??:confused:

[wundahoss]

if he's on bute (which he is likely to be if he has lami), he wont feel the pain so much....
ps: it might be better to acp him if he goes mental with ouchy hooves ... bucking around on hard ground can't be good for lami feet.

Hi, I'm a HCP in Oz. Unless he is not comfortable in his paddock or the arena, I would not give Bute. It will mask the symptoms(pain), encouraging him to do more than he maybe should, and mask them from you, so you don't know how good, bad or otherwise he's feeling. If he's not on a painkiller & he's happy to run & buck, that's great & I wouldn't be suppressing that either, as the more exercise the better(so long as his feet are trimmed in a manner as to avoid excess pressure on the walls). He wouldn't be doing it if it was hurting him.

I don't want to speculate, without much further info & pics what the problem could be - laminitis or otherwise. Be interested to know the symptoms that had you call the vet - was it the unsoundness on a circle? Is he shod or bare? What other symptoms has he shown? How far off the ground are his heels? How much % of the hoof is in front of the frog, looking at the sole? Are his walls straight or are they flared or bulging?

I would be pulling his shoes if he has them. Unless you're absolutely positive of the proper balance & length of his feet, I'd be getting a *good* hoofcare practitioner come and trim him, regularly - perhaps every few weeks for a number of trims, to get & keep them in shape. This is one of the biggest causes of founder from minor laminitic attacks. I would be exercising him as much as possible on as firm ground as he's comfortable on - get boots for him if he needs added protection.

I would either put a grazing muzzle on him(my choice, as I also don't like separating horses & having them unhappy if you can avoid it), or keeping him in the arena or such, where he can see his mates but not eat with them. I wouldn't be keeping him on deep bedding unless he is too uncomfortable on firm or hard ground. There is a product called 'founder guard' that you can add to his feed, which will help him over the nutritional overload that may have contributed to the problem & hopefully prevent it again. I would be feeding him only on grass hay(or even straw if he's obese), avoiding alfalfa & any grains or processed pellets. You can add his nutritional supps to *a little* molasses & water & pour it over the hay.

www.hoofrehab.com & www.barefoothorse.com have some great info on this condition, among others, where you can learn more. Good luck.

[Bouncer]

I never give him bute unless he is in real discomfort as u said wundahoss he will not feel so bad then do somethin he shouldnt which will make him worse.

I called the vet out as he has had probs with his hocks (had a tildren treatment 5 mths ago) and could bearly get up off the ground, which did result in our other horse kickin him in the head :( he showed none of the usual signs of laminitis but he had very strong pulses the morning the vet came (he was fine the night before). He has such crappy feet he has to be shod all the time.

He is currently resting at the mo, I wont ride him when his feet are sore it just makes him worse esp on hard ground with the concussion. I have heard of founder guard but I much prefer the Laminitis prone supplement from Global herbs he seems to like it and he eats it too. :)

He isnt fat he is at an excellent weight and can go out in the field with his mates. His problem is not normally laminitis through grass, but through stress and anxiety, if anythin changes that upsets him with in 2 days he has pulses and looks down in the dumps :(