By: Aprylsnow
Symptoms and Treatment
There are many signs of the onset of laminitis, but the most commonly known symptom is the “founder stance” a horse exhibits when only two feet are affected. It is more common for a horse to get lamanitis in the fore feet rather than the hind, but all can be affected. A horse with laminitis in the fore feet will stand leaning back on its haunches attempting to shift his weight from the front legs to the back. This is noticeable as the horse appears to have his fore legs out in front of him and bearing weight on his back end. If all four feet are affected the horse will lay down for extended periods of time. These horses may refuse to stand and once gotten up may pull all four legs under him more so than the normal stance of a horse. Unwillingness to walk and shifting weight from one leg to the other are also common. Heavy breathing, profuse sweating, flared nostrils, trembling, and a glazed look in the horses eyes may also become apparent.
On close inspection the afflicted horse will have heat in his hooves and will feel hot. A pulse taken from the digital artery, over the fetlock at the widest part may be pounding or racing. Taking your horse's pulse in other areas is also effective, but taking from the digital artery can be more effective when determining laminitis, since each fetlock can be checked and if the horse is lame in one leg rather than both fore legs this could mean some other infection other than laminitis. Note: It is very important to know all of your horse's vital signs when he is healthy, in order to determine changes when the horse is feeling ill.
In the long term each time a horse as a bout of laminitis a horizontal ring or ridge will appear as the hoof grows out. Seedy toe or white line disease is common in horses with laminitis. This is where when looking at the bottom of your horse's hooves the wall is separated from the sole and leaves a gap, which is filled with string like tissues. In a healthy horse hoof the wall should be snug up against the sole with a very thin white line between.
If your horse is exposed to any of the possible known causes, such as grain binging, be proactive, act fast and follow these three steps.
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Immediately remove the horse from the source of the problem and place him in a deeply bedded stall.
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Call your veterinarian immediately.
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Run cold water over your horse's hooves or soak them. Ice packs on the hooves can be used also. This will help prevent further damage by reducing inflammation.
Long term treatment may vary from horse to horse and in accordance with the severity of the disease. Some things most veterinarians will do is x-ray the affected hooves to determine the severity. Prescribe an NSAID (an anti-inflammatory drug). Advise you of corrective trimming and shoeing. They may also prescribe ongoing therapeutic treatment. While some horses with acute laminitis respond well to treatment designated for laminitis, others do not and this may be in fact due to the fact that the cause of the laminitis may be hidden, such as if the horse has Cushing's disease and it has not been recognized to this point. Horses can have several re-occurrences of the onset if the cause is not found for the individual. Some horses with mild cases where no rotation has occurred may fully recover.
(part 4 coming soon)
