Laminitis

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I don't know where to begin. My beautiful girl has been xrayed this morning and the vet has confirmed that her pedal bone has detached. Thinks it was caused by an acute episode rather than a slow build up. She has been in for 10 days now and has to continue to be rested until the vet has spoken to the farrier about getting some bar shoes fitted. She is retired and hasn't been shod for years.

Anyone got any experience of this?

I've lost a horse and a pony to laminitis ,both had acute episodes and were then chronic cases with ongoing management . As a family we have literally spent thousands of pounds on vets and farriers .In your position I would get an honest prognosis from the vet and then make a decision about what to do .You have my sympathy its a soul destroying battle,which ultimately in our experience you lose.

Were they ever pain free enough to have some care free days in the sun?

Yes , our Shetland was permanently lame and on bute but pottered about for about 6 years and our mare ( Anglo Arab) had her first bout at 7 and was sound off and on and ridden until 18 ,we finally had her PTS when she was 21 . We were very careful with their management and exercise and had an excellent farrier .

Mine is 22 and retired because of my inadequacies. Only been 10 days bug she is stuck in and I hard it.

Thanks for responding. Did you blame yourself for the situation?

No ,they were both predisposed to it and with the best will in the world we couldn't avoid it and they did have the best care money could buy . We had 2 other horses at the time who never got it and I've got a 21 yr old Dartmoor that has never got it ,so it's not me. The Shetland was a sickly creature in general ,the other had had laminitis before we bought her but we went ahead anyway because she was just what we were looking for in every other respect.

I am heartened by the fact that you had them for so long post diagnosis. When I read your first post I burst into tears as I thought you had lost them because of the diagnosis. I realise at 22 it is the beginning of the end, but I would like her to have a few more years out in the field with her friends. Something has to go wrong with them all eventually

My first pony got laminitis at 24 out of nowhere . An Arab x welsh , she never had any issues until the day I found her seized in the field . She got put on box rest for 3 months solid ( bearing in mind she HATED it ) with bute and a very very thick bed and then very very carefully managed , until we finally lost her at 35 to a completely unrelated problem , and she was being ridden up until the day she went . It can be managed these days , as long as you're careful . I went through every label on every bag of feed , carrots were banned , everything she got fed was endorsed by the laminitis trust , and I found their website very helpful .

Had her pedal bone detached? That's what I can't get my head round.

I cry all the time.

Have I mentioned that I had a new knee the day after she went lame? Planned for when she would be out at grass? So the whole situation has been managed by someone else. And she has been stuck in her stable without me for the exact amount of time that I have been unable to drive.

You couldn't make it up.

Hers had rotated certainly , although not fully . She started off on about 4 bute a day ( which was a major PITA because she hated bute with a passion , always did ) and had her soles padded out for nearly the whole time , although they did get changed and her feet trimmed as she went on . It was difficult and I had to have help from a friend , but she got through it . But I can remember coming home crying my eyes out , because at 24 I really didn't think age was on her side , and it made me paranoid thereafter about her weight , and what she ate .

Her bute is being mixed with a smidgen of molasses, the thought of which is giving me the heebies. Her pedal is detached but only 10% rotated I believe. Sigh. My poor mare.

It's been a very bad year for laminitis . My girl had a bout of it 8 weeks or so ago, fortunately I realised something was amiss with her and got her off the grass PDQ. Feet were xrayed and fortunately no rotation etc but being kept in meant her arthritis flared up big time (now has bone spurs in her hock). We think the laminitis was caused by a joint supplement (didn't realise glucosamine can cause it in insulin resistant/ems horses), a flush of spring grass and YO worming her plus she had had steroid injections etc in her hocks and Tildren in the previous 6 weeks - my farrier described her as a chemical battlefield!

I found this site very useful and should give you a lot of hope .

I have now managed to get some weight off of my girl (as haven't been able to exercise properly sine last November) and she is now sound so I can up the exercise slowly.

I feel for you, my old pony had to be PTS due to laminits so I was beside myself when my current horse when down with it.

Good luck.

Thank you. She is being fitted with bar shoes next week and we are awaiting the blood results. I just hate her being stuck in during this lovely weather. Although she doesn't seem too bothered.

Are you sure its the pedal bone that is detached and not the laminae ? Pedal bones generally rotate .

Yes I think so, detached with a 10.5% rotation on the right and 7% on the left.

Oh. Maybe the laminae has detached causing the pedal bone to rotate. Does that sound right?

I am too scared to google at the moment.

That sounds more likely to me , and more optimistic as with corrective shoeing and good management she will hopefully improve .

How is she today ? I think too it's more likely the laminae have detached - Ab's detached on one side which was why her pedal bone didnt rotate completely so the vet said .

Lots of fingers crossed for you . I opened up my summer fields today , which I wean them onto in half hourly increases over a month , so they don't suddenly get a huge rush of grass , and I've spent the evening watching them like a Hawk and checking pulses .

I can't drive because of my new knee so I haven't seen her since Monday. If I do go I can't do anything as I am on two crutches. It is breaking my heart.

Thanks so much for the encouragement

How's she doing OP ? Have you had any more news . Have been thinking of your girl all week .

Oh thank you.

Blood results showed she was not insulin resistant and bborder line for Cushings so it would seem that it was caused by stress or trauma. She had some weird scrapes a couple of weeks prior to the onset so can only presume something triggered it then. Have since heard of another horse that had a scare when out riding and developed laminitis a couple if weeks later.

Who knew?

She has been fitted with heartbar shoes and us facing synthetic thyroid tests on Wednesday.

Left me very confused about the way forward with her diet but intend to fain understanding from the vet on Wednesday.

She is being an exceptionally good patient and I am less teary. Have managed to spend some time with her on one crutch and given her a good brush.

Can't help thinking it is the equivalent of a break and wondering about her quality of life stuck in a stable during all this fab weather. But any life is better than no life.

Sorry for typos.

I wouldn't worry too much about the fab weather - the horseflies are awful and dhorse is voluntarily spending most of his time during the day in his stable.....

Has anyone mentioned The Laminitis Trust? www.laminitis.org/
I've not had a laminitic and I would imagine there's a huge amount of conflicting advice, however it may be worth a look at. It may also be worth visiting the Horse and Hound Forum, there are loads of threads about foot care and lami so you might find something useful there too.

Good luck with her (and your knee).

Oh love her . My girl was stuck in from May until late October , and to be honest , although she used to absolutely loathe being completely stabled , it wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it would be . I was lucky inasmuch as she had a stable with a window and was on a busy yard so she had plenty to look at , but she got by .

My boy's pony had lami a few years back too, but we'd moved by then , and were lucky to have an isolation stable that looked out onto the fields , so when she was box rested she could see the others . Fortunate really because my big lad is so needy , he'd graze as close to her stable as he could get !

She'll get used to it after a while, and it's not forever . Diet management really isn't that complicated tbh . I rang the laminitis trust people , and also rang Dengies and Dodson and Horrell , both of whom were really really helpful .