SolveYourProblem.com Article Series: Horse Care
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What
is Laminitis? How Do I Treat It?
Laminitis
- what is it and how to treat it, is an article that every
horse owner should read. This article
will give you information about laminitis, the causes, and
what you can do to prevent it.
Laminitis
is an inflammation of the laminae inside the hoof. These laminae attach the coffin bone to the hoof wall, and
when they become inflamed or swelled, they become very sore.
With most swellings and injuries, the swelling is not restricted
in its growth by walls. Inside the hoof there is not room for
expansion of the swelling, thus making a very sore hoof. When
the laminae inside the hoof swell, they put pressure on the
blood vessels inside that hoof which in turn restricts the
flow of blood inside the vessels of the hoof or hooves, (usually
the front), causing the hoof to begin to die. When the hoof
begins to die and the coffin bone rotates, there is a great
deal of pain for the horse or pony involved.
Laminitis
is most times fairly easy to detect with a little
knowledge about horses, ponies and their habits. Most horses
and ponies at rest will bear the majority of their body weight
on their front legs. When a horse has sore feet or legs, they
will often ‘rest’ the sore front hoof as they would a rear
leg or hoof. This is not normal behavior for a horse and any
time a horse is ‘resting’ a front limb that limb should be
immediately checked for lameness. A vet should be consulted
when a horse is acting is such a way that he’s rocking his
weight from his fore limbs to his rear limbs or standing on
one front leg.
When
it comes to laminitis - what is it and how to treat it, your
information should come from a qualified veterinarian who is familiar with horses. There are many different causes
for laminitis, among them are fever, overfeeding of grains,
overeating of grain, (your horse gets out and gets into the
grain bins and eats himself sick), too much fresh, green grass
in the spring before his body becomes accustomed to it. Another
leading cause is people feed horses grain when it’s not needed.
To give your idle horse some grain as a treat now and again,
is not going to harm him. However, giving him five pounds of
grain per day when he’s not working is going to lead to a fat,
unhealthy, horse, who could very likely contract laminitis.
If you suspect your horse has laminitis, the first thing you
should do is schedule an appointment with your vet for an examination.
The vet who does the exam should have treated cases of laminitis
in the past. Ask him how many cases he’s dealt with, successfully.
Can he shoe your horse for laminitis, or can he recommend a
good farrier for you? Your farrier and vet should be working
hand-in-hand with each other to treat your horse properly.
One should not be used without the other. Your vet should take
x-rays of your horse’s hooves to determine the degree of coffin
bone rotation in the hoof. This will help him determine the
best route of care for your horse.
If you don’t ever want to have to deal with laminitis in your
horse, it is imperative that you learn as much as you can about
laminitis-what is it and how to treat it. It may be some of
the best information you ever read up on.
It is essential to ensure your horse is getting an adequate
feed/exercise ratio. It is also important to ensure your grains
are located where a loose horse cannot feast on them, should
he get loose in your barn.
If you should have the unfortunate event to end up with a
horse knowing about laminitis-what is it and how to treat it,
can be helpful in making the appropriate decisions on which
vet and farrier to call, so as to make the best diagnosis and
treatment plan for your horse.
Bute and rest in a stall will not do anything for a horse
with laminitis. It will take months of corrective shoeing and
vet treatments to right your horse to a useable condition. #
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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