Patricks Feet

[pandoras_pony]

One of the reasons I havent been on LJ for the majority of the year is the fact that a lot of bad things happened all at once which I won't bore you with, but prolly by far the worse was my horse, Patrick, getting 'Laminitis' for the 1st time in 12 years of owning him

Comments

[mistyka]

Wow - great news. Glad to hear Patrick is on the mend.

[thydarkheaven]

That's good that he got over it. However, I have dire warnings based on foot care that you need to pay attention to - Laminitis itself is treatable - and manageable - I had two ponies who had it for over 10 years (each) - however, what our vet never told us was that abcesses and lameness they got after the Laminitis was under control was not caused in any shape or form by the conditions causing Laminitis, so giving painkillers and cutting back rich feed will not help, and poor foot maintenance can kill them. Sorry for being doom and gloom, but I lost both my ponies, not through Laminitis but because we were never advised on the foot condition afterwards, we were told to treat it as Laminitis - and it wasn't

[thydarkheaven]

(continued)

Anyways - I'm glad he's sound again. But Laminitis is easily deadly - and not so much due to the Laminitis but the associated problems which often go untreated because they are assumed to be part of the laminitis. Another thing to watch for is once they've had laminitis once, it's easier to get again. When it comes to laminitis - while the symptoms are in the feet - the problem is generally in the gut. So treat the gut, as well as the feet. Pro-biotics work well, as do other supplements to help promote good, healthy gut function.

But long ramble - just be careful, I'd hate for you to lose him. No matter how much hard work you put in, if you miss things like treating the white line, there is a good chance an animal can require being put to sleep.

[pandoras_pony]

OMG! Well my farrier, Chris, did say that he could be more prone to foot absesses now and to keep them clean , so I'm hosing off the mud each night from his feet thoroughly. Hes on '5 star laminaze' and a probiotic and has been since may. The laminaze has probiotic in it too, i guess its necessary to keep him on this for the indefinate future?

However I'm very interested in the spray solution to clean and disinfect. I'd wash his feet then spray on the stuff afterwards made up in like a plant sprayer type thing?

Whats the solution you make up cos I'll get the stuff and make some up asap!!!

Thanks very much for your tips, its extremely helpfull :O))

Nice to know someone whose been there and got the t-shirt, sorry about the sad circumstances though :O(

[hellion]

Aww poor Patrick and poor you having to cope with that. Laminitis is so upleasant. My little fat pony Bella who I had when I was a lot younger was prone to it. We had to keep her in. in spring as the fresh grass used to set her off big time. She was so unimpressed about it all!