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  Discussion on Laminitis Dilemna Need Help Please
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New Member:
Donna7

Posted on Saturday, May 7, 2005 - 12:47 am:

I have a homebred, 7 year old, 16.3 hd, Dutch warmblood/TB cross, raised on pasture for 2 years. He had arthroscopy for OCD in his hocks at 10 months of age, but was never lame. They x-rayed his stifles at the time of the surgery and saw no evidence of OCD. Because of his developmental issues and late development, he was 4 1/2 years old before I started him under saddle for dressage. I took the whole process very slow and things went well.

All three horses are on 22 hour/day turnout. He began to get really heavy over the last few years, but is not a hoover at meal time. I started complaining to my farrier and a few vets two years ago that the quality of his gaits had declined and he was very lazy and not wanting to go forward. I was told he was just fat, lazy and out of shape and to force him to work.

In October 2004, he was a tad off behind a few days before a show, but we attempted to go anyway. He has been barefoot all of his life and living in a sand arena with wood grindings in the covered pens for the last 5 years. The vets came ot after the show and concentrated on his hind end diagnosing a sore back, resulting from stifle and hock arthritis issues and wanted to do a nuclear scintigraphy to diagnose the pain. The regular x-rays they did take did not show much wrong with those joints. He was given a shot of Legend and started on Joint Combo (glucosamine/chondrtroitan/MSM), Hylamotion (hylauronic acid), Yucca Saponin, more MSM and electrolytes. Then one night a few weeks later he was dead lame on one leg. Thought he pulled a suspensory. Vet diagnosed a abscess. The lameness susided in 4 days. Then the diagnosis was changed to stone bruises from trying to load out on the gravel road. The to sore soles for unknown reason.

We had 3 times our annual rainfall from October to March, so very little work could be done. He was on free choice bermuda grass, but changed it to Timothy in October. All along he maintained sound, but was sensitive if he stepped on a rock of clod.

On March 25th 2005, we tried shoes and pads and he went the best he ever went. I rode him 9 out of 17 days and had the best rides ever. He was sound until three dyas off after the 9 rides. He acted slightly ouchy, but the packing was gone from the pads and it seems like some sand and gravel had worked its way into the space. I assumed that he had been made sore by the abbrasive rubbing of the gravel. The farrier came out and reset the shoes with better packing.

He did not come sound, but we gave him some time in case he was sore/bruised. He did not come sound. We noticed he had crushed the pads in the heel region and reshod him at 5 weeks (last Saturday) and changed to leather pads and dental impression material for packing. No change. This week I called the vet and arranged to have him evaluated yesterday.

We put styrofoam on him and he gradually walked more sound. We took that off and lunged him...lame. We blocked (a P.D.) the back of the heel only and he came totally sound. We began to think heel pain/navicular. We removed the shoes and took 3 views of each front hoof. Still thought heel pain.

Vet called last night and stated that he had rotation (did not state degrees of rotation) in both hooves. His right front is upright and has a different look. Where he should be 15-17 mm, he was 20 mm at the top and 25 mm at the bottom with 7 mm of sole. We do not have original x-rays t compare.

Nobody knows when he rotated. Here are my questions?

1) Can the separation of the lamina be a abnormal "normal" for him (like he has always looked like that)? Could that be normal for him?

2) Why would he block sound with a P.D., and not need the front of the coronary band blocked?

3) He only has an elevated pulse in the front, and never had a fever, nor lies down, nor walks on egg shells, or sweating or lost his appetite.
Are we sure that it is laminitis?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, May 7, 2005 - 9:45 am:

1) The measurements you give above can come from things other than founder but it would take a careful examination of the radiographs and the horse to determine if this might be the case.

2) The coronary band is not the painful area in a founder, it is the laminae in the wall and often the sole at the edge of the toes wall that is painful. Though a very low PDN block might miss these if the block was done at mid pastern it could easily get these areas.

3) If he appears head bobbing lame in one foot and relatively sound in the other I would say there is a question, even mild founders tend to walk tenatively.
DrO
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