Laminitis?? Help please!!

[Emma R]

My Welsh Section D (22 yrs) had a hoof abcess in January. We had a lot of problems getting all the pus out and he has hence only just recovered (he had a large hole sut in his sole).

He had his shoes taken off (as he was too uncomfortable to stand on 3 legs for long!) he has been fine without them until we moved to our summmer grazing which is a short walk up a gravel track.

Within a couple of days he seemed rather foot sore, so I left him in and have had his front shoes put back on. Within 3 days he was almost back to normal and I thought I might finally be able to ride again sometime soon.

BUT, as always seems to happen, just when you think everything is going to start going right, within a couple of days of walking up to the summer grazing his feet were sore again and he started to take up a 'laminitic' stance. The grass is quite long but he only had a couple of hours out - I got him in at lunchtime every day as he is quite greedy!

I've got the vet coming out on Friday as I'm worried it could be laminitis. However, when the farrier came out (5 days ago) he could see no signs of laminitis in his hooves. Could he be this uncomfortable with laminitis and still have no signs in his hooves?

Also, if it is laminitis would the symptoms get almost completely better if he stay in for 3 days with no grass (as this is what happened)? I wouldn't have thought he would improve that quickly - but I've never dealt with a horse with laminitis so I'm not sure!!!

Has anyone elses horse been foot-sore from being bare-foot and needed a couple of weeks rest to recover properly??

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not laminitis, but any ideas greatly appreciated!!!

[Gemma16]

Hey my old Sec B used to be totally prone to laminitis and also being foot sore. It was hard to distinguish between the two sometimes as there was no heat in his feet until it got hold of him properly. CHeck for increased pulse, that is also a sure sign an can come out sometimes before the obvious heat.

You say he was taking the lamanitic stance, this would automatically say laminitis obviously, Rus used to just need a few days in if i caught the laminitis before it go bad to recover. In the end I had to put him out when he was in full work just at night from about 6pm until 7am before the grass started photosynthesising (sp?) this is when the grass is richest and worst for laminitic ponies.

I would see what your vet says and if it is lamintis ( hopefully not )
Then you'll need to tailor his turnout and exersice to keep him out of the danger areas. How much work does he get?

[Emma R]

Yes obviously as soon as you see a horse standing like that you think the obvious.

Before the abcess stuff I was riding him several times a week, but fairly light excercise as he has got arthritis in his hind legs now. I haven't ridden him since January when the abcess first reared it's ugly head!

There are no more signs that I can find (no heat etc), apart from how he stands (although he doesn't always adopt that position, he just shifts his weight onto his heels sometimes - I assume to try and get more comfortable).

He does seem a bit better today (hashad no grass for 2 1/2 days now). If it is laminitis hopefully I've caught it before it's got too bad & he'll be OK.

[liz--y]

there is a supplement out called lam'o' of something like that it is a liguid. and is really good stuff

[Bebe]

There are a couple of laminitic ponies on my yard. None have had a full blown attack whilst I've known them but at this time of year one or two of them come in looking a bit ouchy. They all seem to recover with a few days off grazing & feed (box rest with just hay) though their owners have to be very careful from then on.

I think if you catch it early enough the farrier won't be able to tell anything has gone off until the ring on the hoof (sign of some sort of change within the body) grows down a little.

[welshcoblady1]

hello emma ,i have a few suggestions for you ,as your horse was having antibiotics for the punture wound in his foot ,the antibiotics kill of good bacteria in the gut ,then he was turned out on good grazing the gut population in the gut was already disturbed by anibiotics ,and could not support the new grazing and in that case would release endo toxins into the the blood which is one cause of laminitas,
the other suggestion is , that the damage done by the abcess plus the possiblity that the infection had not fully cleared ,this would have been covered over if you had been using bute as a painkiller and antiflam .
also if the horse had been placing weight on the other front leg for a long period of time he may have sore ness in that leg and foot due to more weight placing.
as you also walked a gritty path to the feild if the sole was soft
the pedal bone lays close to the sole he hay have bruised both soles .

some times treament from drugs for a injury ,can cause gut upsets and the gut release toxins which can cause laminitas.

if it is laminitas ,there may be several causes ,not just sudden diet change although the sudden change may not have helped .

and with his age several things have all happened at once that can take its toll on the older horse .

i have a pony livery who has had laminitas before coming to me and showed
signs of it last year ,he had imflammed laminae
and i put him on a high fibre diet and had his toes took really short ,and kept them short ,he has not had any signs of it back yet as i keep him from the new grass .
i hope that you find the problem and your horse can be made to feel more comfortable ,best wishes .

[artemis]

If you already have him off grass I would keep him like that untill the vet has seen him. Give plenty of hay to eat. Better to err on the side of caution Laminitis you don't want.

[Emma R]

Thanks everyone! He has been off bute for many weeks now and had been sound on the soft ground in his winter field - he even started chasing my 4 year old round the field!

The last time he had antibiotics was February, but his diet has changed a bit suddenly as he had no grass for weeks and then when he went out it was just as the grass started growing (although he did only have a couple of hours for the first few weeks - I was trying to stop him getting laminitis!!!)

I am hoping that he has just badly bruised his soles, however if it is laminitis he has had so many thing which have made him more suceptible that hopefully I'll be able to prevent him getting it again.

He is already fed 'Simple Systems' high fibre diet (no cereals) along with my youngster (see www.simplesystem.co.uk or give them a ring, they're very helpful if you're interested).

Taffy's been in with plenty of hay for 3 days and is a lot better already, I'll let you know how he gets on.