Foundered laminitis

[angiestan]

Peanut my 11 yr old mini got into the feed thursday night. He had horrible runs, but seemed ok.

Yesterday morning he was a sad horse thought he had colic, called vet he said as long as he is eating and drinking and not down he was probably working it out.

This morning he could barely walk, breathing heavily, still would eat and drink, but he was miserable.

We took him to the vet. He had foundered and has Laminitis. I came home with tubes of stomach meds, antibotic, anti-inflamitories, bamanine, electorlytes, wow. This is like a two week supply. I have never had a horse founder before I had no idea it took that long to heal, AND he his feet may never be the same again. I guess we will deal with that later, now we are just trying to keep him comfortable. Ice watering his feet, gave him a nice fluffy pine shaving bed, and a fan. I feel so bad for him, and have moved the grain to somewhere this will never happen again. What a weekend this is going to be! I know it'll be awhile before he's all better, but I just hope the meds kick in soon and he looks not so pitiful. It's sad to see your babies hurt!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I cannot believe your vet did not feel it necessary to come out given the circumstances.

How much grain did Peanut get?

Poor guy.

Laminitis is NASTY stuff, truly pitiful, and minis and ponies are particularly prone to it. I hope Peanut heals up easily and well.

Leia

 

[Matt73]

Laminitis is inflammation of the laminae. Founder refers to the coffin bone rotating as a result of the inflammation (pulls away from the wall of the hoof).

"FounderSee also: #Informal use of the word Founder

Normally, the front of the third phalanx should be parallel to the hoof wall and its lower surface should be roughly parallel to the ground surface. A single severe laminitic episode or repeated less severe episodes can (depending upon the degree of separation of dermal and epidermal laminae) lead to either Rotation or Sinking of the pedal bone. Both of which result in anatomical changes in the position of the coffin bone known as founder."

So he does have rotation? I'm so sorry if this is the case. It's definitely one of the top three things that any horseperson dreads

 

[Minimor]

Have you got a good farrier that knows how to deal with this? Proper trimming makes such a huge difference to a laminitic horse--even if this episode causes some rotation there is still hope that his feet can be brought back to normal, or very close to it. Good luck to you--I hope he will be feeling better very soon!

 

[AnnaC]

Like Leia, I too cannot believe that your vet didn't come out to you - to walk (or travel) a horse with acute laminitis anywhere is doing untold damage!

Poor lad, it will be a while before he feels better, maybe a long while. He needs a really thick bed (not necessarily fluffy) - we aimed for a foot deep bed of shavings in the past when we had an issue with this horrid aliment. We trod the bed firmly down so there was no danger of the horse 'shifting' it as he lay down/got up, also a bed this thick will be useful to support the bottom of his feet, plus keep him comfortable for the long periods he will want to lay down. I also used to offer my horse a very small handful of high fibre nuts at feed times when I fed the others, just a small gesture to stop him getting stressed and feeling left out! But basically it is the rule to cut out all feed and just give hay to start with.

Good luck, I hope he improves soon. Please let us know how it goes.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Like Leia, I too cannot believe that your vet didn't come out to you - to walk (or travel) a horse with acute laminitis anywhere is doing untold damage!

That too I suppose, but I meant that he did not come out and give preventative treatment against laminitis nor instruct the owner in doing so the day before. I haven't had a laminitic horse in years, thank God, but surely there are protocols for this sort of thing! It's a known risk when they get into rich food like that.

Leia

 

[targetsmom]

I am so sorry to hear about this and wish you and Peanut well. It has been a long time since I had a horse with laminitis, but I don't think things have changed all that much in nearly 50 years. It is probably easier to do an x-ray to see if/how bad the coffin rotation is, but the increased risk of future episodes of founder will likely still be there. And farriers probably know a lot more about trimming feet now. I was able to ride my mare after her first few (of many) episodes. She had a heavy crest which is now known as a risk factor for founder but was not known then. You might want to ask your vet about the supplement "Remission" which is supposed to reduce the risk of founder in those prone to it. I feed it to my insulin resistant mare with a heavy crest. She is also on a low starch diet.

Good luck!

 

[Marty]

Please take the time to google the subject and get acquainted with what you are really confronted with. Learn the terminology and as must as you can about this. I'm not sure you really know what lies ahead the way you have referred to "healing." This is not really an injury with a fix. This is more like a condition that will always exist within your horse now that the ball is rolling. The degree to what the condition will take on will rely on how badly the damage is, and your knowledge of the disease and how you handle it. Once a horse has a laminitis attack he will be prone to do it again so it is key you educate yourself and learn proper on-going care. Laminitis is the beginning that leads to founder. I hate to hear this has happened to any horse. The pain they endure is beyond belief so pain management and a change of diet is urgent. Good luck and best wishes to you during this sad time.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

I hate to comment about a situation I know little about, but the Vet should have treated this more aggressively and more quickly. Preventing complications from grain overload is far better than trying to treat them.

No point in taking xrays for 10 days. Takes time to see changes.

I think you may have a bigger problem than you realize. Good luck.

Dr Taylor

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I highly recommend Soft-Ride boots, it's much easier than duct taping styrafoam on the bottom of the feet for comfort. Thinking of you, it's a tough road to soundess again, and as others mentioned read all you can on the subject!

 

[Sandy B]

I highly recommend Soft-Ride boots, it's much easier than duct taping styrafoam on the bottom of the feet for comfort. Thinking of you, it's a tough road to soundess again, and as others mentioned read all you can on the subject!

I LOVE the Soft Ride Boots! I have never used them for laminitis but I used them on my full sized show mare when she was at shows and in the trailer.

I agree with Dr. Taylor- your vet should have taken a more serious approach to your poor guy. I would also encourage you to soak his feet in water filled with ice several times a day to keep the heat out of them. At least for the first 4 days or so until his pulse is down and the heat too.

Good luck to you.

 

[JAX]

I hope its ok to put this here...

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hoofbootexchange/

Its a link to find boots for sale or for exchange sometimes. The mini sizes are harder to find but do show up sometimes. Of course they are usually used but sometimes only tried on and and then not used!

 

[supaspot]

I hate to comment about a situation I know little about, but the Vet should have treated this more aggressively and more quickly. Preventing complications from grain overload is far better than trying to treat them.

No point in taking xrays for 10 days. Takes time to see changes.

I think you may have a bigger problem than you realize. Good luck.

Dr Taylor

what teatment could be given to prevent it from happening

 

[Royal Crescent]

I have not treated any horse for laminitis, but I do know that you have to start doing things right away to prevent the damage from grain overload. Things like giving mineral oil and fluids to purge and limit absorption of toxins that cause the damage. Being vigilant to symptoms that may develop and treating them without delay. Early Vet care.

I hope he is doing better., poor baby

Barb

 

[MindyLee]

I know what your going through too here myself. I adopted a older mini pony mix this January who has very bad laminitis and founder. And to top it off, I believe cushings as well.

His previous owners had him on 8 acres of lush dark green thick grass, 3rd cutting alfalfa, and 3 cups x2 a day 10% sweet feed for years. And was self trimming his feet inproperly. He loved him very much BUT did'nt realized he was loving him to death. (so to speak). This poor old horse was in great weight, a little fat, but could'nt walk at all. His heels where like high heel shoes with NO toe. Now that I have him, he is on a dry lot, 1st cutting timothy/grass mix and NO grain but only 1 cup a week for a snack only. It took a long time but his feet look somewhat normal after some hard core trimming, correcting, and pretty much reconstucting his hoofs. He can walk in ease, almost pain free and can even run again!

I cant stall him as he really hates it, and also no pain meds as I dont want his body to depend on them till I absolutly need to. He pulled through and has been doing well for several months now.

When I 1st got him, my intentions was to end his suffering soon as the ground was unfrozen. I cant aford to take care of a older horse with special needs as $$$ are tight, BUT since then, I have realized its not as hard as I though and have spared his life as of right now since he made such a great comeback and doing so well. He's such a love bug and thinks the world of me and makes this happy little noise soon as he sees me now. And now he will live happily and hopefully pain free till the end of his days in my back yard.

Good Luck! Hope this helps you out a little!

 

[JennyB]

Peanut my 11 yr old mini got into the feed thursday night. He had horrible runs, but seemed ok.

Yesterday morning he was a sad horse thought he had colic, called vet he said as long as he is eating and drinking and not down he was probably working it out.

This morning he could barely walk, breathing heavily, still would eat and drink, but he was miserable.

We took him to the vet. He had foundered and has Laminitis. I came home with tubes of stomach meds, antibotic, anti-inflamitories, bamanine, electorlytes, wow. This is like a two week supply. I have never had a horse founder before I had no idea it took that long to heal, AND he his feet may never be the same again. I guess we will deal with that later, now we are just trying to keep him comfortable. Ice watering his feet, gave him a nice fluffy pine shaving bed, and a fan. I feel so bad for him, and have moved the grain to somewhere this will never happen again. What a weekend this is going to be! I know it'll be awhile before he's all better, but I just hope the meds kick in soon and he looks not so pitiful. It's sad to see your babies hurt!

So very sorry your little guy got into the grain. Not good stuff, but you hopefully caught it in time and even though the vet didn't come out, you did take him there and got the treatment he needed quickly. That is most important. You can get him xrayed later to see how much rotation there is, but doing all your doing and maybe what some others have said is the ticket!

 

I had a large gelding that got foundered and the vet came right out, treated him and we did some things to make him more comfortable. He only had it in one front foot. About a year later he was doing well and we took him to get broke to ride. That all went well and I sold him to a gal who wanted to use him for endurance riding. That gelding went many miles in the trailer, never bothered him and was a top 100 mile endurance horse. The only thing she couldn't do was to turn him out on green grass...so have Faith, he might just be okay in the long run, although I don't think you will be able to turn him out on green grass. You can however turn him out on dry grass if you have that

 

Good Luck and Blessings,

Jenny

 

[weebiscuit]

what teatment could be given to prevent it from happening

I can't speak for Dr. Taylor, but I'm sure he's referring to the fact that if the feed had not been accessible to the horse then it wouldn't have gotten into it in the first place. That is the way this could have been prevented. A vet can 't do anything to prevent laminitis. It has to be done by the owners being educated and aware.

 

[Sandy B]

I can't speak for Dr. Taylor, but I'm sure he's referring to the fact that if the feed had not been accessible to the horse then it wouldn't have gotten into it in the first place. That is the way this could have been prevented. A vet can 't do anything to prevent laminitis. It has to be done by the owners being educated and aware.

Weebiscuit, I am not sure how you got this out of Dr. Taylor's post??? He said something about the vet should have addressed the situation and treated right away. While I do agree that grains and feed should be behind a locked door that is hindsight.

I also believe that you can help prevent laminitis from turning in to full blown founder (when it is in regards to feed). Immediate use of Bute or Banamine comes to mind, to keep inflammation at bay and soaking feet in iced down water. Anything and everything to keep the inflammation minimal.

I am anxious to hear what Dr. Taylor has to say in response.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Don't need to recite here the options, but suffice to say, preventive measures could have been taken. They may not have worked, but they should have been tried.

Treatment should've began as soon as the horse was found. Once the Vet was called and the horse had diarrhea then treatment really should have begun.

Dr Taylor

 

[weebiscuit]

Weebiscuit, I am not sure how you got this out of Dr. Taylor's post??? He said something about the vet should have addressed the situation and treated right away. While I do agree that grains and feed should be behind a locked door that is hindsight.

I also believe that you can help prevent laminitis from turning in to full blown founder (when it is in regards to feed). Immediate use of Bute or Banamine comes to mind, to keep inflammation at bay and soaking feet in iced down water. Anything and everything to keep the inflammation minimal.

I am anxious to hear what Dr. Taylor has to say in response.

He said, "Preventing complications from grain overload is far better than trying to treat them." That's what I was responding to.

I also agree that the vet could have taken more immediate measures to prevent founder from developing and in relieving the immediate pain from the laminitis.