Max has laminitis

alwaysfallingof

alwaysfallingof

Active Member
Jul 17, 2004
1,666
0
36
37
London
Visit site
The thread I hoped I'd never have to write. :(

He came in fine yesterday, but had a digital pulse in all four feet after excercise. I noticed it, but thought that because he'd been as sound as a bell when working that it was just because he'd been worked quite hard.

This morning I brought him in, checked him over. His feet were ice cold, no pulse and he came striding across the yard like anything.
I turned him out in his muzzle just in case.

At lunchtime I went down for a visit (I was working at the yard), brought him in and although not lame he was slightly reluctant to move, and had a pulse again in all 4 feet. He did look uncomfortable, so I went up and phoned the vet. Put him in a box and gave him well soaked hay.

2 hours later the vet arrives, watches him walk out his box, has a poke with her hoof testers and confirms that he does have laminitis.

He is wearing frog supports and is on danilon. She said that ACP was probably unnecessary, but to give her a ring if he got stressy and she'd drop some round.
I put another 5 bales of shavings in his box, and he's on very, very well soaked hay.
The vet said that I'd caught him early, but even so it's disappointing. He was working really, really nicely, he was fit and in good shape and hasn't had laminitis in the 2 and a half years I've had him, even though he has been obese at times.

So please...good vibes for a swift and complete recovery for him.
 
That's just what you didn't want but you know what you are doing and keeping a close eye on things so it shouldn't get out of hand and you should have no major problems if you remain vigilent :)
 
it's so disappointing, i was gutted when Rosie got it despite having got a lot of weight off her - she went into summer mode last week, so on restricted grazing as she got laminitis in early April before

you can be so so careful and still get caught out.
 
Thanks for the good wishes.

I just can't believe it, it really was my worst nightmare and although I always treated him as lamanitic because I didn't know his history, I just can't believe he actually has it. Poor boy. He was just standing in his box this evening going "my feet hurt mum" :(

However, it's at times like this that I'm so glad that I am paranoid about him and check his digital pulse before I turn him out and as soon as I bring him in. His front feet weren't even particularly warm:confused:

Anyway, some piccies of the boy. He'd even lost weight since these pics (the one of him grazing was taken a few weeks ago and he'd been worked *hard* since then.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u199/MrMaximillianMoo/Max017.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u199/MrMaximillianMoo/Max015.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u199/MrMaximillianMoo/Max008.jpg
 
You've caught it early which is the main thing, and he will get better. I cannot believe the difference in my girl already, and it hasn't been long. She lost her 'ouch I'm in pain' look quite quickly after being in, as the soft standing really helped, and once they look comfy everything starts to be less worry. The best day is the one where you realise that your horse looks alert and cheerful once more, rather than just not in too much pain, and then you know they're on the mend. It's just the mucking out twice a day that's the killer - I'm sure I could do it in my sleep now, and there's so MUCH bedding to sift through!

Give yourself a pat on the back for catching it early, and look forward to the future. Plan some nice things to do when he's better (I'm aiming at the end of the summer for my goals), and look forward to those.
 
He's a very very sore boy this morning. :( :(

He's just standing in his box, not moving, shifting his weight from one front foot to the other occasionally.

For some reason I'm finding it harder to see him today than yesterday.

I'm just so terrified I'm going to lose him, even though the vet was positive. He's such a special boy :(
 
Aww, poor Max. I completely sympthasize with you, I brought my horse in with laminitis two weeks ago - he was on bute for one week and has stood this past week on box rest. Is a little bit sore but defiently a whole lot better, though is still on box rest. He was the same, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. It's awful to see them in pain :( . You seem to have caught it in time so just hang in there. You are defiently very observant, my horse could do with spending a bit of time over with you :) No matter how much I watched for the signs and restricted his grazing he still got it - there's no winning!!
 
so sorry to hear max has lami.
i completely sympathise, Loki has been on box rest with it for 5 weeks now, he has a mildly rotated pedal bone and is driving me nuts as he is now feeling better is off the bute and insisting on getting in the way and attempting to escape at every opportunity:rolleyes:
Luckily you've caught him early enough and hopefully it won't be too long before he's feeling better again.
sending you good vibes
 
Completely agree about the no winning Sam. And it seems so random too - before I was as clued up as I am now (the first summer I had him) I let him get ridiculously obese:eek: and he was fine. Now he's a nice weight, fit and he goes and gets it. Horses:rolleyes:

Sounds as if you've got your hands full, Dakota's mum. I'm really lucky that my pony's a saint when stabled 24/7, it doesn't seem to stress him at all.

He seemed a lot, lot better today :franticallytoucheswood: he's moving around happily, all but one foot has cooled right down, and there are no more pulses. He's a much happier boy:D

My boss/RI/friend told me that I should take him for a quick turn around the yard in hand (with his pads on) to reduce the chances of him getting colic, but I wasn't convinced - he's only been in for 3 days - I'd be inclined to keep him on strict rest for another couple.

Opinions?
 
My girl was much milder than Max, and I didn't walk her at all until she was 100% happy standing on concrete while I mucked out, and she wasn't on bute. I'd agree with you, not your RI - it is safer not to, not yet at least.
 
best not to let them move as if the bone is potentially going to rotate and move further then yo u are just letting them do more damage.

we let rosie out before it was corrected fully and she had a set back and was off for 9 months - the second set of x rays showed further damage which explained why she hadn't come sound.
 
if there is any doubt when she visits again, get an xray as without it you don't know what you're dealing with

when we had rosie x rayed all 4 feet showed slippering, so she had had it before, but never been properly diagnosed with it or treated for it.

it also meant that the farrier could trim her properly when he saw the rotation. good luck, fortunately she was a model patient and did very well.
 
Thanks for the advice. :) The more I can nag my vet when she comes next the better. Although she is FANTASTIC, I don't feel happy unless I've given her a Spanish Inquisition about the treatment she's chosen:eek: (You should have heard me quizzing her about why she didn't want to give him ACP, and why she was using the particular frog supports she had:eek: )

I'd be quite interested to see xrays anyway. I'm just so perplexed about how this happened, I'd be interested to see if he actually has had it before or not.
 
Good vibes coming your way :p I hope he is feeling better very soon.

You are so lucky you caught it early, and remember that you have done everything you can to make sure it didn't, he doesn't look fat and it doesn't look like there is that much grass in that field either. Lami can be brought on by more things than just being over weight, My anglo arab got it from running round like a twit on hard ground.
 
Thanks Jessey. Yep, I have been thinking of other possible causes, but...:confused:
Never mind. As I said, he seems quite a lot brighter today but we'll see in the morning because when I went up to see him for a last check, someone (trying to be helpful) had given him more hay. Think I got most of it back out though:rolleyes:
 
Oh dear. Your poor horse and poor you. So sorry.

I might have missed it, but were xrays taken in all of this. I'd want xrays to know the rotation and to help with the remedial shoeing. The more information, the better.
 
Thanks Scarlett:)
X-rays haven't been taken because he's only had lammy since thursday, and the emphasis has been on keeping him still and his frogs supported so that the laminae repair themselves.
The vet also seemed to think that I'd caught it so early that there would be no problems at all. However...once he's less ouchie, his pulses have gone and his feet cooled down then I will push for x-rays if there's any sort of doubt whatsoever.

Best case scenario though is that there has been no rotation and he gets back to normal without remedial shoeing. The vet seems to think that this is most probable but...we'll just have to wait and see. Things tend to end up being complicated when Max is involved:rolleyes:
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back