Laminitis Support Thread

[Northernlurker]

For Cazboldy - and any other traumatised horse owners.

[MarmadukeScarlet]

My generator is charged and on the fence, the paddock is divided into v small areas.

I'll keep the greedy blighters sound this year if it kills me!

[cazboldy]

NL started this for me

I also have my paddock split into very small areas - thought i was being very careful..... ponies look very well, but not fat iykwim

today my baby (he is only 4 ) was looking very sorry for himself, suspected laminitis and got the vet straight out.

He says at this stage he thinks we can be "quietly optimisic" and hope we have caught it early enough to have a warning/ near miss

He has left me some bute , and put some lilypads on him, and is coming back on Friday.

I feel so rubbish and guilty........

I was scared to post on here, beacause I know it is my fault

[cazboldy]

should also add that he was absolutely fine yesterday.

he has no heat in his feet, and didn't react at all to the hoof testers

[Northernlurker]

Caz - don't feel guilty and don't feel !

It isn't your fault - look at Marmaduke - she's bringing the power of the National Grid to bear on her lot. Horses are greedy - it's just how they come.

[Pixel]

Cazboldy I know how you feel, our shetland is just getting over it too (we hope!). We were determined she wouldn't get it this year (she has cushings so we have to be extra vigilant), she isn't at all overweight, has had no grass whatsoever and we even stopped giving her carrots in case there was too much sugar in them, all to no avail. Apparently it was triggered by her being in season, why can't mares get the menopause?!

The farrier checked her feet on wednesday and declared her fine but by the sunday I was saying I wasn't happy about her although her feet weren't hot either (she wasn't happy to trot but then she does have some rheumatism being an old lady so it's hard to tell sometimes). On thursday she was down in the field . It does come on very suddenly and even catches those of us who are on our guard so don't feel bad. i'm sure your boy will be ok, you've caught it nice and early.

[MarmadukeScarlet]

Mine are shetland/welsh X, they are rescues who were in a very sorry state when I got them - hideous long ridged/spongy hooves, no frogs due to thrush etc, crawling with lice/worms...I could go on.

So mine, having had it, are nightmares.

Last yr nearly had the gelding destroyed as I just couldn't keep him sound - he was in some discomfort. I gave in at the sight of DD's tearstained face and her getting up at 5am to walk him/minister to him for hours before school

I give them all sorts of herbal stuff - garlic, happy hoof feed, laminaze and devil's claw (DC only if a bit lame, not all the time) but still struggled last year.

I'd never had ponies before, only glossy well bred stuff that needs it's own bodyweight in hard feed to keep condition types. So this is all new to me.

There is virtually no grass in the tiny are they are in right now, but after a while they will put their heads down (v thick manes) and stage a breakout through the electric ropes.

I have a feild shelter with a gate on, so I can shut them away but the mare will beat the gelding up, our of boredom - won't play with stable toys - and he is a poppet and won't fight back (not that I want them to start taking chunks out of each other).

Talk anti-lam regieme to me, please!

[Nekabu]

Have any of you tried feeding magox (magnesium oxide)? I don't know how much of it has been proven but there's a fair bit of positive talk about it with regard to laminitis. Have a Google/check out some of the equestrian forums and see what you think.

[fourkids]

maybe a grazing muzzle? on in the day and off at night...

[ABetaDad]

Big sympathies to everyone with a pony suffering with laminitis.

I had a Shetland as a child and he pigged out on grass in Spring and went off his feet.

We worked out that he had to be let out for really short times in the day. Had a good farrier too.

The shetland in the field next door to our house has it too. They built a special wooden fenced pen (wire will not hold a Shetland as they push under it) for him right in the field so he could be with the other ponies but he has nothing to eat for part of the day. They let him out about 8 hours of the day and put him in the pen at night I think.

[Northernlurker]

I notice there's a bit of a Shetland theme here - can anybody tell me (as a non-horse owner) if that breed is especially prone to laminitis?

[ABetaDad]

YES - VERY.

[ABetaDad]

Sorry for shouting. I have not got used to my new keyboard yet.

Shetland ponies were bred for living on rough course poor pasture so when they get lush fresh grass they pig out and basically make themselves ill because they were never designed to eat such a good diet.

[Northernlurker]

No need to apologise - I just thought you felt very strongly about it! Thanks for the explanation.

[fourkids]

likewise little welshies etc...though you have to be careful because people make the mistake of thinking bigger ponies and horses will be fine - and then one day they find they've got a hobbling horse in the field!
Equally not to generalise, we had a gorgeous little round shetland who never got laminitis and was brilliant as a lawnmower to crop the grass down so you could use the grazing for those that were prone

[fourkids]

also, I just wanted to add that it's lovely and refreshing to find a forum/thread where people are understanding about laminitis. Too often on horsy forums as soon as someone says 'my pony has laminitis' you get a host of people roasting them, berating them and blaming them for being cruel/useless/uncaring - and sometimes you just CAN'T help it. With a horse/pony prone to laminitis it can be unbelievably difficult to keep them sound, sometimes to the point of impossible, even if you do everything right!

[MarmadukeScarlet]

You are quite right fourkids.

I have tried grazing muzzles, 2 different makes as the first one sent them crazy - the mare injured herself on a wild bucking/rearing spree which follows each putting on. I got a different type that was more open - same problem.

I think I'm going to have to get a different shelter so I can divide it - they are half brother and sister and hate being away from each other.

[frostyfingers]

Another thing to watch out for, though obviously less important now, is when there's been a frost, the grass is more sugary (not sure why), so keep them off then.

[Butkin]

We are constantly worried about it with our Sec As although as they are show ponies we do need to keep their condition.

We section them off with electric tape and turn them out from 7 until 6. At night they get a little hay and they do get feeds morning and night but only 1 mug of lo-cal balancer and 1/2 scoop of Outshine mixed with a small handful of Hi-Fi lite.

This is the worst time of year but we also avoid turning them out in frosty conditions in case there is too much sugar in the grass on those occasions.

At the moment they are still in quite a big section but it doesn't have hardly any grass and as we've not fertilised the field they are in it's not really coming through yet but we check their feet/coronets twice a day just to be sure.

[fourkids]

frostyfingers,

its those sunny frosty days, because the warmth of the sun makes the grass produce sugar to grow, but the cold frost sitting on it stops it from actually growing so it gets super-sugary...or something along those lines!

[Pixel]

Yes I was going to mention that as my friend lost her horse after we had heavy frosts and sunny mornings for a few days. He was fine, had never had laminitis and was a great big horse but then suddenly he was hobbling. The vet was called straight away but there was nothing he could do.

Well the gorgeous hunk () vet came yesterday and was very pleased with dshetland. She trotted up like a youngster (a youngster with arthritic knees!) and was generally her old self. He congratulated us on her condition and said she was just the right weight and to carry on as we are.. Even better, he said it in front of her owner who had come along to pay the bill, so that was nice!

Btw, she is in a bare paddock (with three strands of electric - little escape artist!) and has one feed a day of chaff, fibrebeet, garlic powder and a chopped-up apple. Also two feeds of coarse hay so that she's always got something to pick at to keep her gut moving and stop her getting bored. We're just keeping it simple atm as she seems to respond to that but the vet said she will most probably get more frequent attacks as the cushings progresses so we will look into extra supplements if and when.

[Pixel]

Marmaduke, there is a company here that hires out field shelters, maybe that would be an easier option for you?

[cazboldy]

hi was offline all day yesterday with some kind of technical problem

The vet is coming at 2, so fingers crossed!

[lubblyjubblies]

Trying a new muzzle here. Our welshy X is a lardy despite my best intentions. He simply will not tolerate being separated from others so strip grazing/stabling out of the question. Although he has never had full blown lami, he does have a tendancy towards abscesses and i strongly suspect he has low grade lami.
This leads me to worry about his weight as I have never met a greedier creature. His previous owner used to leave him grazing for a couple of months then stable him for a few weeks and literally starve him. Seriously I think it has affected him. He turns into a nasty dangerous creature if he cant constantly graze.
He wears a muzzle 24/7 basically. Last year we got through 5 shires muzzles because if he does get them off, he stomps on them
Within the 3 weeks he has been turned out this year he has mastered the knack of getting the muzzle off, despite me plaiting it in!.
The neighbour has told me he stands hours literally rubbing the muzzle on the gate to dislodge it.
He is now sporting a huge solid bucket muzzle now, the ones that look like plantpots. Hopefully he wont be able to remove this as easy as it comes higher up his face.
Has anyone tried the greenguard ones? I ask because to me they look like they could still get a good amount through them as the holes are quite big.
Does anyone else permanently muzzle? Last year I worried he would lose condition etc but he is still overweight (although much slimmer than when we got him).
What did vet say Cazboldy?

[cazboldy]

as well as can be expected really. going to keep him on box rest for 6 weeks.keep the lilypads on to take the weight of his toes. she halved his bute dose,as she doesn't think he is too bad, which is good.

she said she will be really surprised if there is any permenant damage, which is also good.

she said to soak the hay for ages, to take out a lot of the nutrients, so he can have a bit more, and won't be tempted to eat his bedding

[Northernlurker]

That sounds like things are going in the right direction Caz.