Mare with sore feet...

[roxy's_mom]

Hello all! I had trimmed this mare's feet myself about two weeks ago. I think I might have trimmed them a tiny bit to short and now she's really ouchy. She barely wants to go anywhere. I ran out of Banamine and don't want to call the vet and pay $50 just for a service call, when all she might need is pain meds. What can I use to help dull the pain until her toes grow out enough? My vet had told me last year that we could used Buffered Aspirin if we didn't have any Bute or Banamine. We used 6 or 7, 325 mg, tablets for a 1000 lb horse. How much should we use for my mare? She probably weighs around 250 - 300 lbs, she's NOT bred. Any one have any more suggestions as to what we could use for the pain? Thanks for the help!

Forgot to mention that our ground is pretty hard, frozen, and pretty slippy due to the ice, snow, and cold temps. Should I wrap her feet with vet wrap to help cushion her feet and maybe keep her stalled until her feet get better? I know she hasn't gotten into any feed or has had anything extra that would have caused her to founder or get laminitis. I've checked all her feet and there's nothing that I can find that would have made her feet sore. No bruises or stones, nothing and her feet aren't warm like she would have a fever in them.

Becky M.

 

[Mona]

I find it strange that she should have sore feet this long after getting them trimmed. Usually if they are trimmed too short, you would have seen pain immediately, and not this long afterwards. She sounds like one of my mares I used to own. She foundered in late January, and I had no idea as to why. Actually, I didn;t even know what was wrong...she just seemd not herself. She was the boss mare, and was not her same bossy self, and seemed almost like she was walking on eggshells, and not showing the classic signs as I had read about. She did not have any change in feed, or any drastic change in temps or anything. Someone here on the Forum(I believe it was miniv) suggested I get her tested for thyroid. Sure enough, she had a low thyroid, and THAT was what caused her to founder.

 

[Scoopiedoo]

That happened with us, too, Mona!!! Our little mare came up lame and we knew her feet were ouchy, but NO clue why as nothing in her diet or surroundings had changed. Had the vet out and he pulled blood, and she had the lowest thyroid levels he had EVER seen! It's worth checking into.

Jodi

 

[looney2n]

I don't know what else you may be able to give her as far as medicine for pain. But when my little mare foundered I did all the meds and soaks too and it wasnt enough. I finally got one of those foam pads that you use in the garden to kneel on. I cut pieces out the exact shape of each foot and duct taped them to her feet. After she got over the initial ackward feeling, she acted like a new girl. It did help immensly. I had to change them often because it was during winter and they came apart easily but it was worth it. You can buy boots that soften their step too but they were more than I could afford. Anyway, just thought I'd pass on what worked for my girl. Good luck. I know how hard it is to watch them go through so much pain. God Bless

 

[barefoot]

If she is really bad you could duct tape some pieces of neoprene pad to the bottom of her feet.

Emma

 

[JourneysEnd]

If you trimmed too short, she could be just now forming an abscess.

Buffered aspirin - 1 adult tablet for every 100 lbs of horse. If it's laminitis, it will help with the blood flow to the hoof. Aspirin works, but doesn't stay in their system for long.

To be 100 % sure of what hoof is really hurting, it will be the foot she lets you pick up.

She won't want to load the sore hoof.

Do you know where the digitial pulse it ? Just below the fetlock, put your thumb on the outside of the leg and you finger on the inside and feel for the pulse. Compare with the other legs.

If the pulse is stronger in the sore leg, it's probably an abscess. If it's stronger in both front legs, it could be laminitis.

If you think it's an abcess, I can give you instructions on how to pack and wrap so you don't have to soak the hoof in the cold.

Feel free to pm me.

Vickie

 

[minih]

Sounds like she may be foundering. I would make sure she is before following treatment, could be something else like an abcess as mentioned above--good advice, but if she is foundered what works for us is to bed down her stall real soft, put her up at night where she can get off her feet if she needs, and out in a run during the day. They have to walk and keep the blood flow going thru their feet in the frog. Keep the feet clean, we keep a hoof pick on us and do a swipe every evening on our horses prone to founder (we have two). Founder horses are also bad about getting thrush in their feet be sure and watch out for that it will make them even more tender. As mentioned above low thyroid will contribute to ouchy feet, both of our horses (how did we rate so lucky

)are on thyro-L. The test if I remember was not that expensive. We give some aspirin to ours when needed, but check with your vet before giving any meds. Any change in the weather will precipitate an ouchy foot session for a few days, extreme changes in temps here have caused one of ours to walk easy. I gave her some banamine tonight and she will stay stalled tomorrow in a run. I don't like it if another horse makes them move too much, let them decide when they want to move or stand. At night it is good for them to be able to rest their legs and lay down some. Just make sure they are up the next day and moving to stimulate blood flow. Good luck.

Forgot to add, if she is foundering make sure your farrier gives her a founder trim. Straight across the front so she can move easier and with less pain while walking. It makes it able for them to roll over the foot.

 

[Matt73]

Vet.

 

[Fred]

Wrap the feet with vet wrap to cushion and CALL THE VET! If you trimmed the mare short two weeks ago and she is lame now its not the trim. Worming and vaccinations do not make feet tender thats bull and horses can have lamminitis without having heat in the feet. They are reluctant to move and look like they are walking on eggs. Giving bute or banamine before the vet sees her will mask the symptoms. She may be thyroid or IR its possible, and weather changes this time of year can trigger lammintic attacks in horses that have metabolic problems. Its better to spend the money and call the vet for the good of the horse. A horse can get lamminitis without getting into anything. Horses that chronic founder have VERY HARD feet, I know I do a lot of them. Every founder trim is different according to each individual horse. A horse with an abcess moves and stands differently. They can be reluctant to move but you would see them lame in the affected foot and they will not want to pick up the good foot like Vickie says. When I have accidentaly trimmed a horse a little too short it has been sound in just a couple of days.

 

[Jill]

I'd also get the vet. It sounds like she's possibly foundering to me.

Hopefully whatever is wrong, it is mild.

Let us know!

 

[barefoot]

How is she feeling?

 

[bfogg]

She tells me she is sore on all 4 feet. She also says her pancreas and liver are working hard. Iw ould get the vet out as fast as you can. If you want more info feel free to call or p.m.

Good Luck

Bonnie

 

[roxy's_mom]

I have the vet coming out this afternoon to look at another horse anyway, my riding horse is loosing her site in her left eye and it seems to be getting worse and my vet said there's a shot he can give to slow the process down. I'm planning on having him look at my mare when he comes and see what he thinks. I thought it may have been founder or laminitis too but I knew she hadn't gotten into anything that would have caused the attack. I will keep everyone updated on the situation. Thanks for all the help and advice!

Becky M.

 

[roxy's_mom]

Thought I would update everyone on my mare. I had the vet out to look at another horse and had him look as her as well. First thing he said was "she's got laminitis." We caught it in time to be able to get her back to normal with meds and some other stuff he recommended. She's on stall rest for at least a month to six weeks. She has to be perfectly sound before she can go back out with the others. I'm glad I did have the vet look at her. He said also said that the weather and the fact that she has a heavy winter coat and along with the temp changes probably caused the attack. I'm just glad that we caught it in time. Thanks again everyone for your suggestions!

Becky M.

 

[Mona]

Thought I would update everyone on my mare. I had the vet out to look at another horse and had him look as her as well. First thing he said was "she's got laminitis." We caught it in time to be able to get her back to normal with meds and some other stuff he recommended. She's on stall rest for at least a month to six weeks. She has to be perfectly sound before she can go back out with the others. I'm glad I did have the vet look at her. He said also said that the weather and the fact that she has a heavy winter coat and along with the temp changes probably caused the attack. I'm just glad that we caught it in time. Thanks again everyone for your suggestions!

Becky M.

Glad to hear you caught it in time. Did you by chance get him to draw up a sample of blood to test her for thyroid levels?

 

[roxy's_mom]

Hello Mona! No I didn't have him draw any blood to check for the thyroid level. I ordered the meds that he recommended last night and am going to try them and see how they work. It's going to take several weeks before we know if they are working like they are supposed to. If she's not better when he comes back to do spring shots I will have him draw blood to check her thyroid levels and we'll go from there. I'm just hoping that the supplement that I ordered works and she won't be permenately unable to walk. She's to nice of a mare to lose. We'll just have to keep our eyes on her, as it could happen again. We had noticed this winter that she does have a harder time adjusting to our different weather changes than what our other horses do. Our weather is up and down right now. Some days are warm and then all of the sudden it gets really cold and with the minis having a thicker winter coat it's harder on them to deal with the temp changes.

Becky M.

 

[HGFarm]

Oh I am SO glad you had her looked at to catch it as soon as you could. I hope she improves and pulls out of it pretty much. Keep us posted on how she is doing.