Hello,

I am a new member and am in the horrible situation of my horse having a severe case of laminitis. He is just 11 years old, but has all the markings of a cushings/IR horse: cresty neck, gains weight on air, fat pockets in funny places. He is a beatiful bald face paint and we have owned him since he was a two year old. I have carefully watched his diet for several years; he is on grass hay only (currently we soak his hay in order to reduce the startch content) and no grain of any kind. He is also on Quiessence and just started taking a thyroid supplement. But, frankly, he is probably 75-100 pounds overweight, although we are working hard on reducing his weight.

He began with sore feet the beginning of December; we live in the mountains and it was snowy and I did not have snow pads on his feet so the snow balled up and our first symptoms began. He seemed to get much better until two weeks ago and then he had the classis laminitis symptoms of outstretched front feet and unwillingness to move as well as the strong pulse and hot hoofs. My vet came up and diagnosed moderate to severe laminitis. He is coming back up in two days to xray him and re-check him.

I read with interest the posts about the flare-ups when it is cold. It does seem to me that he much more sore when it is really cold (around 5 degrees this morning). I had not thought of attempting to keep his feet warm; the Soft-ride boots do not keep his feet totally enclosed.

I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to how to help the laminitis subside? He is on bute and I also had overnighted the Soft-ride boots, which are helping him a little. My vet is disappointed that he isn't improving, but I am not sure what our next course of action will be. It is just heartbreaking to watch.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

I also attempted to submit the new member case history but received an error message. Is there another method of submitting the information?

Thank you all.

Suzanne


____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

Hi Suzanne,
Welcome. Sounds like you have your plate full. First of all we would like you to get a Diagnosis. Have your vet PULL blood for ACTH, insulin, glucose and thyroid panel. Stop the bute. Keep soaking his hay until you know the sugar/starch value. Send a cored sample to EquiAnalytical. Quiessence is good but its expensive. You can probably find a 50 pound bag of Magnesium Oxide at a feed store for $15. Start him on the Temporary Diet. Many times by adding iodized loose table salt right into the feed and selenium (depending on where you live) can jump start a sluggish thyroid. Balancing your minerals to your hay will help him the most. Feed 1.5% his body weight a day in hay.
Some things you can do for his feet are wrap his feet in pampers or socks before putting on boots. Wrap his legs with polo wraps or shipping boots. Blanket (waterproof) him so he doesn't have to move to keep warm. Feed him warm beet pulp as a carrier for the minerals and warm water to drink.
Suzanne, its all so overwhelming in the beginning but once you start reading and absorbing the information in the files, it will click for you. Its not all that hard, the problem is its new so its scary. You'll find the "DDT's" work. Diagnosis, Diet and Trim.
Mandy and Asher in VA

--- In EquineCushings@..., Suzanne Fielding
<fielding_suzanne@...> wrote:

I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to how to help the laminitis

subside? He is on bute and I also had overnighted the Soft-ride boots,
which are helping him a little. My vet is disappointed that he isn't
improving, but I am not sure what our next course of action will be.
It is just heartbreaking to watch.

Suzanne,

As I read your mail I had flasbacks to my nightmare two years ago. My
horse Joe, same age, bald face like your horse, was the Poster child
for IR - about 200 pounds overweight, cresty, fatty sheath, fat
pockets, "pink" hooves with flaring - ugh - and ended up with laminitis
in the winter. Now he's the Poster Child for IR recovery. Look in the
Photos under "Joe" for before and after photos. I just wanted to let
you know that there's hope for complete recovery and soundness. You're
on the right track, just follow the emergency diet to the letter. Take
care of him first, providing hoof support (as you are), emergency diet,
diagnosis, and then get your hay analyzed so we can help you formulate
a balanced diet. I think that getting these horses
nutritionally "sound" is as important as getting them foot sound.

Anyway, I know it's heartbreaking to watch, but trust that you're going
to get past this and on the way to recovery soon.

Kathleen (KFG in KCMO)