Laminitis Update on Little Anna 6 weeks now

[Miniequine]

My filly, Little Anna, not yet 3 years old,

has been suffering with laminitis for over 6 weeks now.

Initially, my vets thought it was lymes or an infection,,

I was thinking laminitis. All tests came back neg.

She is not overweight, not cresty.. nothing. We have NO grass.

She gets soaked grass hay and 1/2 cup triple crown lite.

(I still think this all started with the "dark" beet pulp, but she has not had

any of that for weeks)

She continues to be brite and eating and pooping etc...

We just couldn't seem to get her front feet comfortable.

My farrier made her shoes yesterday.. and immediately, I could

see she was more comfortable

The shoes are glued on, made of a hard rubber stuff, and so far,, they are staying put.

Her toes are free of pressure now.

Today, she continues to appear more comfortable.

)

This whole ordeal has been heart breaking.

If anybody has ANY ideas or suggestions on how/what we can do to

ease this.. I would love to hear from you!

Here are a couple pics of her new shoes. It may be a bit difficult

to really see the shoes,,, it's a bit muddy here.

~Sandy

 

[Sixstardanes]

I don't know if they have these for minis but perhaps look into Nolan Hoof Plates?

See http://www.hoofplates.com/product/needed.cfm

I've seen several episodes featuring these on Horse Shoe'n Time.

 

[eagles ring farm]

no added suggestions

but so glad little Anna is more comfortable

 

[Ferin]

Sandy, I'm very sorry to hear that Anna has laminitis.

One of my show mares was diagnosed with laminitis last September. It was pretty severe and our vet suggested that we have hydrotherapy done for her to reduce the inflammation in her feet and hopefully prevent or lessen rotation. We went ahead and tried the hydrotherapy. Luckily, a farm close to us had just installed a hydrotherapy machine for their full size horses. It is a solid aluminum tank with a rubber mat in the bottom. Sierra had to stay in the machine for 48 hours. The water had to be kept between 8-10" high and at 45 degrees or less at all times. Besides the hydrotherapy we were also giving Sierra DMSO, Ace, and Equinox. At every check-up our vet would give Sierra a percentage score on how much better she was doing then when he first diagnosed her. She was at 25% at the first check-up and by the time she came out of the tank she was at 90%. The hydrotherapy had taken the heat out of her feet, her leg pulse had gone down a whole lot, and she had alot less pain in her feet.

When our vet x-rayed Sierra's feet he found that she had rotated 6-7 degrees on her front feet. Without the hydrotherapy it could have been much worse. He had us put frog pads on Sierra that she had to wear 24/7. She wasn't allowed to get her feet wet and she wasn't allowed any grass at all. The frog pads started to become a pain and a friend of ours recommended Soft-Ride boots, which she had used on her pony who had foundered. We decided to buy a pair of boots for Sierra along with the foundered horse inserts which have a soft toe area to cusion the toe and a firm frog area to put pressure on the frog. By placing pressure on the frog Sierra's toes grew much faster then normal, which is what our vet wanted. With the boots making Sierra's feet grow longer and our farrier doing quite a few corrective trimmings on her we began getting her hooves back to where they should be.

I love Sierra's boots and I am so glad we bought them for her. When our vet came out to recheck Sierra about a month ago he couldn't believe how much she had improved. His xrays showed that the corrective trimming had corrected the rotation and rebuilt the angle of the hoof so that she isn't rotated anymore. He said that without the boots Sierra would have only come half as far as she has so far. He is impressed with the boots and said that he would most definately recommend them for any foundered patients in the future.

Sierra is more than half way to having perfect hooves again. After several more trimmings the foundered part of her hooves should be gone and she'll be totally normal. Since her rotation has been corrected and we don't need the extra pressure on the frogs any longer we were able to remove Sierra's boots for good a few weeks ago. She is moving totally normal and we haven't had any problems. I would definately recommend these boots to anyone with a foundered horse. They have worked wonders.

If you want any more info on what we did for Sierra or on her boots PM me and I would be glad to share more with you. Good luck with your little girl.

The hydrotherapy tank

Sierra in the tank

Sierra in her boots

 

[Miniequine]

Hey Ferin

Thanks for the info! I wold love some info on the soft-boots.

She is on ace and equioxx, has been for a while. I don't have a tank around here....

That would be nice! I have not had x-rays done. Vet bill is already out of sight,,,,,,

If there is rotation, we think it is minimal.

How long did your mares "spell" last? This is really what is getting me. Little Anna just

doesn't seem to be getting over this. IT has been 6 weeks, with little improvement.

Thanks again, please e,mail me any info on the Soft-Boots. I really appreciate it

)

And thanks you all for your kind words

~Sandy

 

[Viki]

I'm so happy Little Anna and YOU are getting some relief! Congrats on that! Hope she continues to improve and quickly now!

Viki

 

[Ferin]

I'll email you.

 

[mizbeth]

Hi

I have nothing to add to what you have been doing. Sounds to me like you are doing a GREAT job! If the shoes help, keep using them.

Good luck,

Beth