We were fortunate
I managed to catch Smartie's laminitis right at the beginning, she was literally barely sore on her feet but I knew straight away what it was. So I phoned in sick (small white lie
) and got the vet straight out. He checked for abcesses in the white line and was satisfied it was indeed laminitis.
The main thing that I was really grateful for was that he went through with me and made sure I understood everything (in laymans terms) I needed to know about laminitis and why he was treating her as he was. He put her on a bute paste for 5 days and some tablets (which she wouldn't touch unless they were crushed and put in diabetic's jam sandwiches
). She also needed to be moved from the field to the barn and was to be walked three times a day for five minutes to get the circulation going in her feet.
So with spending a fortune in taxi's to get to the barn and to work in time we managed it and all told it was about three weeks before we could move her to her current yard where she is blissfully happy with three laminitic shetlands for company
But we were the lucky ones and although I tried to restrict her grazing with a muzzle on during the day, we still got caught out.
Our vet was also brilliant by giving me his home phone number and a specific time to call him when he knew he would be there and didn't waste his time or my money by coming out unnecessarily.
All I can say is that it will take time and patience before your pony will get better and let's keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again
.
Jo
PS it's great to see a vet taking part in the forum, you're the first one I've seen and it really reassures me to know that you're there!