Laminitis

S

scrappydoo

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Feb 8, 2007
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Found my horse in the field hardly able to move, Managed to get him stabled. Hes a 4 year old heavy weight cob and a little lean, he did show a little footy on one hoof durning the summer. He livesout 24/7 with a grass muzzle almost most the summer cause he can jump out of the electric fencing 4.6ft high and help him self to an extra 40 acres. ive found out today that the farmer does give him a few nuts but i would hardly call it a hard feed as the other horse eats most off them joined by the pet sheep. Now im worried sick and wondering......

Is it the few nuts ?
A peice of hay i put out yesturday nite the first time this winter ?
The Frosty ground and two foot of snow?
How much damage could he have ?

i would be greatful for any other experience
 
Have you had the vet out to confirm? It sound more like an abcess.......they usuall cause 5/5 lameness.

Frosty grass can cause lamintis but it seems unlike if he's not prone. You can get concussion and stress laminitis so if he's been thundering about on hard frozen ground in a panic it's a possiblity.
 
Yer i know stress..galloping around,ect ect been reading all about it, but most seem to be horror stories, just wondered if anyone has found their horse hardly able to move with laminitus and then got them sound again in a few days without any serious damage such as dropped pedal bone, ect.
 
If it is laminitis you need to get the feet xrayed to find out the damage - that's the only way you can tell if there has been degree's of rotation.

The out come depends entirely on medical management now. He needs to be on deep think bedding with frog supports and possibly wedges, pain killers and minimal feed.

Being hobbling lame with laminitis means a severe attack and will take month to heal.
 
vets comming in morning, i given him first aid, bute, deep bed , rugged and bangaged up with cusion support.

Its not an absese, he has a rapid pulse in both pasterns and is shiffting weight from leg to leg hes also been lying down in the field to ease the pain.

It just worries me cause for all i know he could of had it for some time from what ive been reading cause not all horses show lamness in acute stages.
 
he could of had it for some time
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Unlikely. He would have been foot sore and stumbly for a couple for days at most. It sounds more like an acute attack.

You've done the best thing for him. Make sure he gets nothing but a small amount of poor quality hay and plenty of drinking water.

It's not to to cure in a couple of days I'm afraid - you'll be looking at weeks of box rest. But if you've caught it early he will hopefully have no pedal bone rotation and will be back to normal once this bout has healed.
 
thanks i hope so,

Just been to see him and whilst i was there he had two pees. I have also noticed he has a swollen sheath ... could it be cushings or too much protien? oh god thats what too much reading does for you? but just all seems to tie in. cushings causes laminitis. Hes that fluffy its hard to judge his coat, will get the vet to do some blood as well.
 
He's 4yrs old? In which case he is far too young to have cushings.

There aren't that many causes of swollen sheat but one is a lack of movement and therefore lymphatic return. If he's been sore and standing still for hours his lymphatic drainage won't be very good and fluid will build up in his legs sheat and ventral abdomen.

Give the vet a call now - you'll get through to an emergency vet. They will tell you if it's an emergency and needs attention now (which acute laminitis really is) or if he can last out till tommorow.
 
Yes thats what i thought, youngest case ever reported is an 8 year old, so he is a bit too young.

I called my vet told him what i was going to do and he said they would be nothing else he could do other that give him an injection for the pain. By the time hed called me back he was eating the straw and shuffling around the stable i felt an idiot one minute hes dying with pain, next minute hes flying around on his hind legs looking for his next meal. This is before the bute has chance to kick in.

Hed better come out first thing in the morning !!!

Ive had to muzzle him even though the straw is drenched in watered down JsFluid.
 
Is he insured for vet bills? In which case I would have his feet x-rayed to check he's not had any pedal rotation. And he may need heart-bar shoes on for a while if so (at £150 a set:eek: )

You can't starve him totally - if you don't give him anything at all he'll colic. If he's happy to eat straw and it's fairly good quality I would mix some into the little hay he's getting to pad it out.
 
Just thought hed end up with a burnt jsfluid mouth, and he once got colic with stuffing too much wheat straw. He also eats paper and rubber matting, wondered why his previous owners called him Hoover.

I think your right though, hes got a small haynet now with some of that haylage for laminitic horses. Hope thats mostly fibre ? What do you think ?
 
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Haylage isn't suitable for laminitic horses- (it's got a high sugar content) - he should be on poor quality or soaked hay and can be padded out with straw.

Can he actually eat his hay if he's got a muzzle on? You might need to give him it loose so he can get at it.
 
Hes only insured 3rd party :( Been a long time since i had a horse xrayed cant belive its that expensive now. think its best though for a peice of mind. He he had any damage, would he come sound quickly ? Should i wait a week ?
 
god im getting worried now, no his muzzle is off now, the haylage ive given him is a small hand full but it the special low suger one for horses with laminitis, it has the lamintis trade approval mark on the packaging, is that still not suitable do think?
 
Xrays are really expensive (you'd be looking at £300 or so for a set) so if the vet is sure theres been very little damage I would leave it and see how it goes.

If he's not rotated he'll be sore for a couple of weeks (it sound like quite a severe acute case) and will need weeks of gentle walking. He won't be back in full work until the summer at least.

If he has rotated it will take much longer (6months+) and will probably need remedial shoeing for a long time. He should eventually become sound though.

Lamitic feed is for horses prone to laminitis, not those who have it. I wouldn't be giving any haylage to a lamitic horse. He also needs to be eating fairly constantly so a tiny bit isn't going to be enough. I would either double bag hay in very small holed nets, soaked and mixed with straw, or put his muzzle back on and have it loose on the floor (check he can actually eat it with the muzzle on though)
 
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Phoned my blacksmith this afternoon he is comming on monday if hes less tender, hes suggested the heart bar and will fit them for £55. He will trim him first and pad out his frog then come back when he thinks hes ready to fit the support shoes
 
Pink's lady said:
Is he insured for vet bills? In which case I would have his feet x-rayed to check he's not had any pedal rotation. And he may need heart-bar shoes on for a while if so (at £150 a set:eek: )

You can't starve him totally - if you don't give him anything at all he'll colic. If he's happy to eat straw and it's fairly good quality I would mix some into the little hay he's getting to pad it out.
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Trouble is with claiming on insurance, you need to claim on what will probably be the dearest course of treatment otherwise chances are the condition will be excluded on the next renewal as a pre-existing condition :(
 
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