Laminitis - Progress/Recovery - what to expect?

Kis Vihar

Kis Vihar

Nutty Saddlers !
Feb 14, 2008
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Norfolk, UK....or Hungary!
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Well, I'm hoping everyone with laminitis stories can help me! :)

I've had little ponies for 28 years, and never had one come down with laminitis.

Now Rio has laminitis, :( I am a little 'out of my depth'. I consider myself to be very experienced with horses and ponies after all these (eventful) years, I've encountered just about everything imaginable, but never had to deal with a laminitic, so I am unsure what to expect.

I've read all I can, I'm confused by some of what I read, sometimes different articles contradict each other! :rolleyes:

The story so far:

Last week I noticed Rio was 'footy' so I felt his hooves and they were warm. I suspected laminitis, so took him off his (sparse!) paddock and put him on a very bare piece of ground and soaked his feet in cold water. I phoned the vet who advised me to give him some bute, and then the vet visited.

The vet advised heart-bar shoes so he and the farrier liased, (I am lucky to have a brilliant vet and farrier) and Rio now has tiny heart-bar shoes on his front hooves. He was prescribed 2-3 mils of bute (it's a gel formula, I'm not sure what that equates to in sachets) per day.

He had his shoes put on last Friday. He is walking strangely because he has never been shod before, and finds the sensation (especially walking to his stable over concrete now his hooves are suddenly 'noisy') strange.

What should I expect in terms of recovery? When should I start seeing recovery and what else can I do for him?

Currently, he is very stiff coming out of his stable on a morning. He goes into a bare paddock where he has a haynet tied up, so he does have something to nibble. I am soaking his hooves several times a day in cold water (which he loves) and giving him his bute in the evening.

Being a complete 'laminitis virgin' (!) when should I notice his feet cooling down? When should he appear less lame? What else can I do for him? I really need a muzzle so he can go into the other 'sparse but there's grass if they hunt for it' paddock with his friend.

Sorry for all the questions, but I have no idea what to expect. Whether he should show signs of recovery quickly or over several weeks? I have been told to give him bute for 3 weeks. After that, should I expect him to be without bute or ask the vet if I can give him more if he is still sore?

Please can anyone offer me tips, advice and encouragement :rolleyes:?

THANK YOU! :)
 
When Dolly got laminitis (very mild - xrays show no damage to the internal structures) in January this year, I kept her in her stable for 4 weeks before reintroducing turnout. I was concerned about causing more damage by making her walk about when she was already sore. I also soaked her hay for 12 hours before feeding it to her to get the sugars out.

Good luck, laminitis is a pain!
 
Showjumper said:
When Dolly got laminitis (very mild - xrays show no damage to the internal structures) in January this year, I kept her in her stable for 4 weeks before reintroducing turnout. I was concerned about causing more damage by making her walk about when she was already sore. I also soaked her hay for 12 hours before feeding it to her to get the sugars out.

Good luck, laminitis is a pain!
Click to expand...


Thank you :) See, soaking hay, that's the sort of tips I need! :)

Haynet for tonight about to be dunked. :)

I really can't keep him stabled, he lives (even in the stable) with his little buddy, she would go nuts without him, and the pair of them in 24-7 would just be hell. His paddock is TINY, not much bigger than his stable really.
 
Feed only sugar reduced foods. I only soak my hay for 1/2 hour (researched) In winter avoid grazing on frosty, sunny days. (increase in fructans in grass). In Summer be careful whenever rain & sun increase grass growth.

Every animal with laminitis is different. One of mine had it first about 17 years ago with strict diet & management he was symptom free until 5 years ago when he developed Cushings & is now much more sensitive to laminitis. You learn to watch for the early signs - stiffness in the shoulders & on turning corners in him.

Some horses do not have hot feet, some do not have raised pulses.
He should have no access to grass until he is sound. Bare grazing can have high sugar levels. I get my hay tested for sugar content. I don't feed carrots, apples etc.
 
I think keeping him out is the best as movement will help recovery as long as he has no grass.

Mine recovered barefoot as I did not like the idea of shoes but you are not alone in using heartbars. The idea of them is to support the pedal bone and stop it rotating but if the hoof is trimmend correctly the laminae no longer tear and the bone stables itself.
If the hoof wall is bearing no weight, tearing is unlikely!
 
See this is where peoples opinions differ;

When my cob got laminitis 3 years ago, I was told by my vet NOT to move him. Not even to muck out. No shoes, soaked hay and plenty of it so he wasn't bored.

He was stabled for 6 weeks, and this was only a mild attack. He then went out into a small paddock and I started to ride him. He went onto doing 12/13 mile fun rides, cantering for a lot of it :) fit as a fiddle.

Management is the key. Strip graze/muzzle, do whatever to stop them getting fat. Exercise to keep them trim.

Rant over :D
 
Sorry to read you post - lami is a pain, one of ours suffered a bout of lami before we bought him, we've had him a couple of years and so far "touches wood" he's been fine. Sounds as though you're doing the right things, soak hay, remember to rinse it afterwards though;);) turnout(limited space wise) IMO is important as if they are used to being out, they will stress at being stabled and stress for a lami pony isn't the best. Someone on here was talking about a trial that involved the horse being given cinnamon - dont know the ins and outs of it though. We give our the lami supp made by Global Herbs - he's been on it for the last two years - even in winter.

Did you vet xray ponies feet?

ETA - turnout only if your vet agrees!
 
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Firstly look on the other laminitis thread, its something like laminitis now abcess? its got some VERY supportive owners of ponys in the same situation as your's is now. I completely sympathise with what you are going through - my mare was diagnosed last wednesday and she has been in a closed in field shelter with deep shavings ever since, vet thinks at least four weeks before she is able to come out.
Secondly look on the lamimitis trust website, very informative, it will give you more idea about the condition and how best you can help help, don't think they reccommend cold water tubbing anymore? thats just one thing that i learnt.
My mare is on two sachets of bute a day and ten tablets of ACP, she's definately much more comfortable than she was. She is a big girl but is at the slimmest she has been for a long time, just recently moved onto her summer paddock and it obviously was too much too soon ( was sectioned off and is only a tiny paddock but there you go :)
Anyway have a look at that thread, it has been a godsend for me these past few days. Mandy.
 
Hi, I'm one of the people on the 'laminitus now abcsess' post (which is now looking like a book) ... I have had horses, like you all my life and I know what heartache this can cause. The little mare that I talk about is Lucy, I purchased her 2 years ago for meat money as she was a crippled laminitic... Last season this dear old lady cleared up on the show circuit, so believe me, it can be managed and dealt with... (this is why our thread is so supportive as we all have gone through the same thing) Yes, there is very conflicting information... and its hard to know which way to pull... the laminitus website is the way forward.... the research they have done is brilliant and very informative.... DON'T STARVE, this is old school and will not help as the sugar levels fall and rise... give hay (soaked as described) and muzzle when out, get shoes off and have a trim that supports the heals and get the shoes back on if they are needed (mine has to wear them as her sole is so sensitive) If I we can help anymore, post a thread on that post thats going and we'll all help. all that we can. Good luck and don'r suffer alone x
 
Thank you everyone for your support and advice. :)

Rio had his feet trimmed before the shoes went on, the farrier is very VERY well respected in Hungary, Austria and Canada where he worked for many years, I trust him entirely. He works closely with my vet, they always 'refer' each other (if the vet has a horse with a hoof problem, the only farrier he recommends is this one, and vice-versa) I also trust my vet entirely too. At this stage, we didn't x-ray Rio. The vet said it was very early stages of laminitis, and we would treat as such. He wants to see how he gets on with our 'treatment plan'. I know not to 'starve' him, the vet also commented on this, he said that starving him and causing him to 'live off his body fat' can cause the body to do all sorts of bad things. :(

Rio is in a bare paddock for 18 hours a day, where he can see his friend and talk to her through the fence (I mean bare paddock, as in, nothing but a few weeds that ponies don't eat growing in it) and has a soaked haynet tied to the fence, which he picks at 'as and when'. Trying to keep him in his stable was impossible. He tried climbing out. It was very distressing. In the little paddock, he is happy. He is also having something called 'Glauber salt' (I have no idea how to translate the 'glauber' bit from Hungarian!!) It has Natrium and Sodium in it....As far as I can translate. ;) The vet said it was really good for Rio, and he has a tiny handful in some soaked 'Bazis' (very basic non-grain horse feed) which amounts to about 2 tablespoons full per day of feed in total! Fortunately he LOVES it. He also still loves soaking his feet, but I will go and read on why this is not recommended now. :rolleyes:

Thanks again for your replies. He actually looked less sore today, and hasn't had any bute yet. :)
 
http://www.laminitisclinic.org/

Hi have a look on here, apparently cold water tubbing restricts the blood flow to the hoof which is the opposite to what you want to do.
I havent touched my mares feet since the vet put her frog supports on and bandaged them up, farrier coming on friday so i will see what he suggests after he's taken off her shoes. Pulses still strong in her front legs this morning but she is comfortable on bute and the ACP. Hope Rio continues to improve. Its a real worry.
 
Hiya

Sorry to hear about your pony, I know the hell and questions you are going through!

Recovery is so varied it is impossible to say (I was asking exactly the same as you in January)! Have you had x-rays done? If not you probably should so you know if you are dealing with any rotation of the pedal bone yet. It may make a difference on how you manage it and box rest etc.

Lily was on box rest for 3 months in the end on bute and ACP to sedate her as she doesn’t do box rest. She is now out in the field and vet has said I can start riding her (though I am not sure about that myself yet..)!

Because of the shock of it all and the conflicting information I found I wrote a blog about our progress and how she came down with it and the information I found out along the way. It may help you to have a read

In it are posts I made on forums with various questions that ran through my head (including how long) so it may help answer some of yours. The link is in my signature (Lilylaminitisblog)

Join us in the post “laminitis now abscess” if you like, there are a few of us there as Mandy said who are going through it at various stages and we are supporting each other and offer tips etc!!
 
Thanks again everyone.

Rio now has a muzzle! I made him one from leather off-cuts in the workshop. It has a flat piece at the end, with 2 small holes in (drinking!) and leather straps all around so he can't 'wiggle it' off!!

He was very p-d off with me, but tolerated it. I wanted to let him be with his friend, the pair of them are so distressed being apart, so I put his muzzle on and left them together. It was SO sad...his little friend, Daisy the Welsh A, was very suspicious of Rio in his muzzle. She sniffed it, then as Rio began trying to remove it, and gave up, she began trying to pull it off his face. :( Poor little girl was so worried about her friend. So eventually, they both ended up in the bare paddock. I was worried that Rio was scooping sand into his muzzle and would eat it. :rolleyes:

Now he's stabled. It was for the best, as he decided that it was possible to kneel and reach under the fence to get the grass...despite having soaked hay in his bare paddock. Little sod! :eek:

Tomorrow, Paul is going to get the strimmer out, and strim an area next to Daisy's paddock, then rake it. This area is the same size as his stable, and is NOT sandy, just soil. Once the strimmer has done it's job, (It's a big old thing with a disc blade, takes the grass right down to root level) and everything has been raked, I plan on Rio staying on there, next to Daisy, without his muzzle, with some soaked hay. There really will be nothing else for him to eat.

It's a nightmare managing the ponies! :(

I am working my way through the 'laminitis, now abcess' thread! :) My internet connection is so dire, it took me an hour to get as far as page 6 this morning! Each page was taking forever to load. I WILL get it all read, a bit at a time. ;)

You regular contributors are really going through the mill. :(
 
Hi,
Firstly, I sympathise with your confusion over differing advice & opinions. That's actually a major reason for me becoming a hoof care practitioner myself. Had a foundered pony & donkey & got so much unhelpful advice, tried & paid out so much, was told by most 'experts' that saw them that they were 'incureable', best to put them down, etc. All I can advise on that is to firstly NOT just blindly trust your vet/farrier, but do bucketloads of research, learn pros, cons & rates of success of all sorts, then make up your own mind on which 'experts' to get help from. www.hoofrehab.com & www.safergrass.org are 2 great sites that come to mind for starters, and they both have plenty of links to other sites too.

After successfully rehabbing my guys - who were well into their 20s when I started, pony with serious rotation, donk's P3 had actually penetrated the soles! - and going on to rehab many other founder cases in the 10 years since I've been practicing, I strongly believe shoes & 'stall rest' is NOT the answer. Good quality trimming which conforms to natural principles of healthy hooves, using boots or pads for comfort where necessary, correct diet & nutrition, lots of exercise & healthy lifestyle are the keys IMO.
 
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