Helaas in het Engels, maar wel een interessant artikel wat voor een groot deel de tekst in PN en HN onderschrijft
I'm posting this to multiple groups, so sorry if you belong to more
than one and get this message multiple times.
5 weeks ago, I was away for a week and my 25 yo gelding came up very
lame on his right front-leg that had ulna fractured 5 places and is
fitted with metal and screws. He was brought to the local university
vet hospital. After 3 days, he was worse and I left my meeting early
to say goodbye. When I arrived to see him, the first thing I
noticed was that his hooves looked AWFUL--like a neglect case with
lots of wall flare, and they were trimmed just 3 weeks before. I also
noticed he was bloated and his sheath was swollen. I poked his elbow
and shoulder with my fingers and got no response. I picked up his
right front and pushed on the center of his frog--he almost toppled
over trying to get away from the pain.
I asked the vet school what they thought of laminitis--they never
checked his feet after reading his previous medical history--it must
be his old injury. In conversation, my Hubby admitted to letting the
horses out for a few extra hours of grass the day before he
was "sick."
I was surprised that grass caused the attack, but figured that maybe
he was getting sensitive in his old age. I brought him home, trimmed
his hoof wall to level with his soles and gave a strong roll on the
toes. I booted him on and off depending on how he looked. Presently,
he is able to trot on the gravel driveway on his own. I have also
ridden him twice, for 20 in the arena (real slow). It's amazing how
fast his hoof wall is growing out--I just keep rolling it.
Yesterday, in conversation with a boarder, I believe I know what
caused the issue. A couple of people have started to make horse
treats--add 4.0 lbs COB (rolled corn, oats, barley, sweetener) to 0.5
lbs. molasses, press hard. They made several (at least 2, but
someone mentioned a 3rd) of these treats to determine how much force
was needed to get them to stay in the right consistency. They gave
them to Prism to try out, not thinking that I would mind--they are a
horse treat, after all. This was also the same day one of the girls
bought sugar cubes on sale and also fed my horses handfulls of these--
to be nice. Moral of the story: 15 lbs of sugar in less than 2 hours
of can trigger a laminitis attack! Shocking.
Prism is now fine, looks and acts normal and is full of life, but it
was really scary for a couple of days and a $600 vet bill for
nothing. I now have signs posted at both my stalls AND turnout
(where the horses actually are) not to feed them Anything, period.
I am upset, of course, but Prism is fine...so goes life.
Allison W.
[Moderator--both the new spring grass, which is high in sugar and low
in minerals, and all those horse treats loaded with sugar, are what
are behind this flare-up. It's almost unbelievable the vets did not
at least check for heat and pulses while he was in their facility. I
fully expect there to be some abscessing to come.
How all this works, re sugar and laminitis--excessive sugar in the
gut raises its acidity, and kills off a lot of benign intestinal
bacteria. This massive die-off results in the bacteria decomposing
in the gut, which releases toxins. Toxins are absorbed through the
gut into the bloodstream, resulting in an inflammatory reaction in
the hooves.
In terms of first aid, cold therapy immediately is useful. So are a
couple of doses of activated charcoal. Those old farmers' tales of
standing horses in cross-tied in creeks, where they are only fed hay
for a couple days, is founded in sound scientific fact. Researchers
have found that challenging horses with challenges such as
carbohydrate overload or feeding black walnut extract, which normally
can induce laminitis...can have the effects greatly softened, or even
prevented, by standing the horses in very cold water. Also,
activated charcoal can help absorb toxins in the gut.
Leaky gut syndrome is also worth looking into. Routinely feeding
probiotics can actually make a horse more resistant to laminitis as
well. You might read up on leaky gut syndrome. Linsey McLean talks
about it on her site,
http://www.vitaroyal.comExcellent hoof form can also give you some damage control during a
laminitis attack. Hoof form that results in the coffin bone being
ground-parallel will result in the laminar connection being equally
stressed all the way around instead of just mainly being overstressed
in the toe area, which is the case with high heels and overshortened
toes.
I am leery of riding this horse for a good while, BTW. You had a
close call, and the laminar connection may be weakened. The horse's
age is an additional factor to consider. What a young horse might
shake off readily and quickly is tougher for an old horse. The fact
that he suddenly got some flares suggests to me that he had some
white line stretching, and possible rotation or even sinking. Some x-
rays will tell you what you're really dealing with. In the meantime,
I hope you explain to the other boarders just why feeding these horse
treats to any of the horses, not just yours, is a bad idea. I love
ice cream, too, but that doesn't mean I would benefit from eating a
half gallon of it every day!
I have asked some researchers if anyone has been doing biopsies on
hard, cresty necks to see if some of this isn't actually edema. That
is what you were seeing on the swollen sheath, I believe. I have
seen a veterinary presentation by Dr. Susan Kempson about laminitis
where she showed microscopic slides of both normal and laminitic
white lines, and said the laminitic white lines had signs of edema.
This edema crowds out the blood vessels in the hoof, as it is a more
rigidly enclosed space that cannot expand to accommodate expansion
from edema...like a soft tissue area like the sheath can.
It helps to be sure the horse is getting enough magesium in the
spring when the new grass is low in it. Many cattle farmers
routinely put out "sweet lick" salt blocks in the spring, which up
the calcium and magnesium for the cows when the grass is deficient in
minerals. New grass grows so fast due to higher spring rainfall, and
the increased rainfall and water run-off washes away minerals. This
is why, when the rains increase in the fall, you have another higher
risk time for laminitis. At any rate, cattle can get grass tetany if
they don't get mineral supplements in the spring because of the
mineral deficiencies in new spring grass. If cattle get sick from
the new grass because it is missing something, so might cattle, I
figured. When I first was onto this, my horse had a cresty neck and
swollen sheath. I began supplementing his magnesium, in particular,
and within 3 weeks, his crest first softened and then shrank, and his
sheath got more normal sized, too. I have heard from other people
they've gotten similar results. Max's crest shrank without a
commensurate loss of weight elsewhere, which was interesting, and
suggested a reduction of edema by adding magnesium to his diet.
You're not out of the woods yet--you'll probably have some
abscessing.
I urge everybody to keep some activated charcoal on hand for
emergencies. One great source:
http://www.pipevet.com/pharm.asp?cat=12Scroll to the bottom of the page. I think the dosing gun makes
giving this stuff much easier. One tube = 1 dose; a typical case
would maybe need 1-2 doses. Longterm use of charcoal is not a plus
for two reasons: it can be constipating, and it can absorb not only
toxins, but also desirable nutrients as well. So, a couple of doses
immediately after a challenge is helpful, but certainly not for weeks
on end. Pipevet.com is a veterinary practice that caters to sheep
producers, BTW. They have some interesting articles. Their service
and prices are excellent.]
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Warboel
