Who else has a horse/pony with laminitis?

[Bronya]

How are they progressing? How long has it been and how bad was it to start with? Are you as sick of the box rest and 2x day muck out as I am? How are you holding up? I'm still worried, even though I can see progress, and the whole thing is costing me a fortune!!

I'll start - thought it might be nice for people in a similar situation to share experiences, encourage each other etc.....

We're one week in from official diagnosis, although been in for longer. There were no severe symptoms, just footiness which didn't go away. Within a week, we've gone from 'ouch I can't walk on anything harder than grass' to happily pottering about on the concrete when taken out of the stable to tie up so I can muck out (for the first few days had to muck out with horse in stable - not fun!). The grey, pinched look has gone, suggesting that nothing hurts anymore, or at least not as much. My life seems to revolve around mucking out, buying bedding, mucking out, grooming. Love her dearly but so can't wait 'till she can go out again! I'm hoping she'll only have to be in a couple of months in total (figuring probably 4 weeks 'till she's completely sound, then another 4 to be sure like it says on the laminitis trust website). Hopefully, by the time she goes out again, she'll be in enough work that we'll avoid a repeat occurrence!

So, anyone else?

 

[martini55]

I do. My horse got laminitis in Aug 2004. It started with her just being slightly unlevel at trot in the school. You could hardly even notice a difference at walk. Being the paranoid owner that I was I got the vet out the following Tues (it was a Saturday when I first noticed and this was the quickest they could come out). I told him she was unlevel in the front and that the left-fore (I think!) seemed to be worse than the right. He came prodded about all four feet and concluded it was an abcess in one of her hind feet. Confused, I felt I could trust his judgement as lameness is not a strong point of mine. He prescribed box rest and to poultice the foot. There was never any pus on the bandages and when I went up on the Thurs, she was down flat out and wouldn't get up. I had orginally suspected laminitis and so when this happened I felt so guilty as I really should have stuck with my gut instict! At least she was already on box rest but had she had frog supports etc, who knows it might have not been as bad as it got.

When the vet came out I told him she had laminitis but he made me walk her out her box (even though it was more than clear by her stance!). He concluded that because she was overweight she had been resting the foot with the abcess and put too much strain on the front feet. He then said that the abcess had burst and dried up nicely... I am still 110% positive that it was laminitis from the start and he just had no clue.

Anyway, end result was a few months on box-rest and rotation in both fores. She was off work for over a year and even now her feet are far from perfect. I have just taken her barefoot in the hope that we might see some improvement that way.

All the best with your horse, I hope she recovers soon. Has there been any rotation? Or was it a mild attack?

 

[eventerbabe]

i had a mare with very severe laminitis. She developed it through stress NOT the typical fat native route. First attack was manageable. She was back on her feet in about 6 weeks but she kept on getting it again and again. An unco-operative yard didn't do us any favours her muzzle wasn't replaced when she got it off, no access to restricted grazing and a YO who refused to lead my 13.3hh pony as she was "a lunatic" We had 5 years of on/off attacks. She had a hoof resection after her second attack and imprint shoes upon the third attack. Now those were an expensive mistake! Fourth attack was concussive due to her going loopy in her starvation paddock (which we had to fight tooth and nail to get). we had months and months, and months and months of box rest. Endless syringing bute down her throat, hiding pills in apples, renewing frog supports........... £10,000 and a yard move later and i'd a sound pony again we lost her to grass sickness last year. Only my bonnie could fight and win against laminitis and then go get something worse

the battle doesn't end when they've recovered, and i'm sure martini55 will agree with me. You have to watch them like a hawk forever after. once they've had it once from whatever source, they are much more susceptible to getting it again.

we moved onto hemcore to save on the mucking out. Super stuff! i got so fed up of digging out shavings twice a day

 

[LokiSofi]

Well Loki developed Lami but no one knows how as he wasn't on any grass and was at the time being stabled 24/7 he wasn't overweight (he was when i got him) he wasn't being overfed, wasn't doing much hard work as was just coming back into work and wasn't worked on hard ground etc at any speed just walk. He has been in for almost a month now and has been off bute for about 2 weeks now he is acting a lot better and is walking around his box fine (I'm still mucking out with him in the box as I'm terrified he'll cause more damage.......taking my vets words a little too literally probably ) He has got a slight rotation of the pedal bone as a result of it and is getting incredibly bored of box rest but vet has told me he can have nothing additional so can't hang anything up for him to do so he has taken to stripping his door hopefully he can come out this week for a little bit a day. He has stopped pottering now and is just a little stiff and he is walking with his head up instead of dragging his nose along the floor but yes Loki and i are both sick of box rest

 

[Jessey]

Last year Bo was diagnosed with lami in all 4 feet, concusion induced.

I found him on the monday morning, when I get to the field he always comes to say Hi, that morning he didn't, when I went over he didn't move (still stood) when I made him he nearly fell over, i brought him in and every step was cripplng and he really did nearly fall over, put him in his stable and though I would go home lunchtime and check on him, got to work and decided that was a mistake and went straight back YO said he had a major panic the evening before when they took the tractor in the next field and the horses in there ran off up the top of the field (he was on individual grazing).

Vet came out and looked at him, poked, prodded and fiddled about with him and said it was concusive lami in all 4 feet and he should have bute and box rest and to see how he was in a weeks time and if it didn't improve to get frog support on. I have to say I wasn't convinced as his stance was normal and he didn't react to hoof testers or anything, but hey ho trust your vet

Straight away he was kicking at his stable door and not happy about being in (he had just come off almost 3 months box rest for a stifle injury), 2 days of bute and I took him off it as he was kicking the stable door like mad and I didn't want him to make it worse. Day 5 I got him out to assess him and he was 100% fine.

I spoke with the vet and he went out into a nursery paddock, he remained sound for the 6 weeks he was in there and was then put onto a restricted grazing paddock and has been sound ever since.

I'm still not sure it was lami, I think he may have tied up instead or pulled muscles higher up but I do still continue to keep him on lami diet etc just in case. He was back in work in 7 weeks.

 

[SO1]

I almost had a horse with laminitis.

Long story but I knew a lovely horse who got it due to naivity of her owners who left her in a field and allowed her to get very fat whilst whilst their daughter was away on a long holiday.

She then came up for sale at a very cheap price and I considered buying her as she has a lovely jump but changed my mind after doing some research on the disease & getting some advice. I felt there was a risk with jumping as my understanding is that once they have had it for whatever reason they are prone to getting it again through other routes eg she could get concussive laminitis. Also turn out can be tricky if the yard does not have a starvation paddock especially from spring to autumn.

I am pretty sure I made the right decision but am interested in this thread as I wonder how people cope and if they knowing what they know now would consider purchasing a horse that had had laminitis in the past.

 

[Bronya]

Oh my, does my horse feel better today!!!!

The day started with a walk down the drive. She's sound enough to walk on a hard surface and it was only a short way, so I took her out to see somewhere other than the manege. So far so good, we walked down past the horses in their fields, past empty fields, then just before we turned around, she spotted a little shetland with a grazing muzzle on. Now I know it did look rather weird, but she was petrified! Dead halt, front legs splayed, head up, refusing to take one more step towards it! I have to admit that I found it incredibly funny, my bombproof horse scared of a shetland, and laughed and laughed and laughed. Eventually, persuaded by the fact that Mummy obviously found this very funny, she reluctantly walked on, past the scary object!

At lunchtime, a friend came with her horses to use our school. Cue much neighing and excitement, but not much else. Ok, nothing out of the ordinary so far....

Then came this evening. Cue one mare throwing herself at the door of her box while her friend was tied up nearby, trotting round and round and falling over at least once, whinnying to her friend, who was in plain sight, all of 3 metres away! Took her out and lunged her in the field (softer surface than the box at least) - 5 mins on each rein in trot, perfectly sound, not tired at all. Still restless half an hour later so took her in the school. Trotted and cantered for about 15 mins, then went for a long walk around the fields. Finally, after all that, I had a calm horse.

Could she be feeling better by any chance?!!!

 

[MelanieD]

My coblet had a mild bout last year after partying on some grass she wasn't meant to have when a gate got left open by mistake. She had sore feet when she'd been happy to tank off up quarry tracks a week before and raised pulses and her feet flared and got flat soles. Fortunatly realised what had happened within hours of her little adventure and fed lots of magnesium and a detox supplement. I didn't stick to the 30 days box rest thing, she had a week off after totally sound and all digital pulses gone, which took a while because she had a frog abcess in one back foot which kept the pulse up in that foot for an extra week or so. After that started gentle work on sand and built it up. She did light work for about 3 months building up to totally back to normal by about 6 months. She's barefoot, was before and has been since the laminitis, and now after nearly a year her feet look totally normal.

I'm pretty sure she'd had a similar mild bout of laminitis while shod, but then her feet flared and got infections and generally turned into total disaster feet until they weren't holding shoes very well anymore and I gave up on shoes and tried barefoot.

 

[gingeremmie]

My cob has so far had about 6 months off work with laminitis. We moved to a new yard in September and I had his shoes taken off in October as his feet were crumbling and were basically just a mess. The yard fed haylage as standard and the grass was ex cow pasture and very very rich. I initially suspected something wasn't right in November but all the other liveries were trying to tell me it was because he had no shoes on.

Put him on hay for several weeks and less turnout and he was doing well. The farmer talked me into putting him back on haylage (easier for him) and stupidly I went along with it. Bailey went downhill and I daftly enough didn't put 2 and 2 together and was still thinking it was because he was barefoot.

In January he was accidentally put out all day on the paddock. It didn't look like it had much grass in it but I got to the yard after work to find Bailey flat out and groaning in his stable. Vet came and gave him painkillers and put sole supports on his feet. Put him on soaked hay and I got L94 and founderfrei from Roger Hatch.

He was xrayed 3 days later and there is 5 deg rotation in one front foot and the bone has dropped in the other front foot. He is now in imprint shoes on the fronts and bare on the backs, he has been on box rest ever since January, I last rode him in December (1 ride where he seemed fine but in hindsight he wasn't) and before that it was September. I am very bored of not riding.

He is doing very very well. We have moved yards to another yard where they have a bare turnout paddock (not appropriate now but useful for when he can go out again) and the hay is cheaper, and the YO is much more interested in the liveries and much more helpful. He is still on hay although I no longer soak it. I am now allowed to take him for little walks around the yard and he loves going in the school for a roll. I have to hang onto him though cos he wants to yeehaw around!!

He is on his second set of imprint shoes and the vet is coming again on the 19th April to re-xray and put another set on. I have said that I don't want to shoe him in the future, that I want to go back to barefoot and the vet is supportive of that. His backs are coming on nicely bare.

I know it will just take time now, he needs to grow lots of lovely new hoof and get reattachment of the pedal bone to reverse the rotation so I will just have to be patient. I miss riding him soo much though.

Feeding wise I feed him safe and sound, salt, mag ox, rosehips and Bailey's lo cal balancer. And he gets through 3 bales of hay a week, that's with being in 24/7. He is much more settled at the new yard, does not seem desperate to go out and has accepted box rest quite happily.

Fingers crossed there are some improvements on the xrays in 9 days!