Why do horses get laminitis and what is the cure ?

Question

Why do horses get laminitis and what is the cure ?

Answer 1

There are many contributing factors to a horse developing laminitis. it's not something that usually occurs just overnight, but develops over time. As far as a cure, i don't think so. You can't reverse it completely but you can contain it and help your horse recover to a point.

Answer 2

Chronic founder means he will always have foot problems with that leg, and will occasionally cross the line to full blown laminitis on occasion. Founder is when there is an inflammation in the blood vessels and tissues that surround and help adhere the coffin bone to the hoof. Laminitis is when those tissues start to break down and the coffin bone pulls away from the hoof, starts to rotate, and then sink down through the bottom of the hoof. Founder is very painful and if not addressed properly and immediately, it will lead to laminitis which typically has a very guarded prognosis.

The x-ray will show if the coffin bone is rotating as in laminitis. A horse with chronic founder and laminitis problems may show a displaced coffin bone (sunken) caused by past problems. Founder is usually detected by severe pain in the hoof, increased digital pulses, and heat from the hoof.

Horses can founder from various causes, too much fresh grass, too much grain, hard concussion from running on hard ground, foaling and retaining the placentia, too long riding in a trailer and not being able to move around, just to name a few.

Answer 3

laminitis is when there is change to their feed/grass. so if the horse is used to like really poor grass then gets onto lush grass, it may well get it, same for change in their feeds.

there isnt really a cure but to prevent it, take account what they are eating and dont make any sudden changes to them.

Answer 4

Shannon X is the correct description of Laminitis, there is no cure for laminitis it requires a complete change of management if you have a horse/pony that comes down with the disease which is grass induced you will have to completely change the way in which they are kept permanently, not just until the symptons go away, once a horse has had laminitis once, it become susceptable to further attacks, in this country with the Spring and Autumn becoming wetter and the grass becoming richer there are more and more cases of the disease and not just in the traditional months, you have to be able to read the grass growth, my boy had an attack in Feb once because it was unusually mild.  Weigh tape is an essentail tool, and weighing food and haynets for good doers is also essential. Reading everything that you can find and really educating yourself to the disease is also essential the Laminitus Trust website is excellent, treatments are changing all the time so keeping up to date is a must.  There is life after Laminitis with good strict management I am able to ride my boy as if he never had the disease but it took a whole year for the stretching in his hoofs to completely grow out, You can never be complacent to Laminitis, and a good 2 to 3 years to completely get to grips with how ruthless you have to be with food rations.

Answer 5

its to do with how the horse digests its food. its more common in little ponies that are kept out on the grass every day or night. grass is the main thing that causes it and horses dont tend to get it, its mostly ponies!! it wont happen over night the pony will slowly get laminitis at first it wont be too bad but if you dont notice it and still keep your pony out on the grass and ride it then it can become worse to the point where the pony cant even walk properly! a pony at my yard has just come up to the stage of getting it really bad she was led down in the field and wouldnt get up so this is a sign that the pony has laminitis. if you feel down the ponies leg and it starts getting warmer towards the bottom then lift up the leg and feel the bottom of the hoof and if its warm then he/she has laminitis. when a pony is walking around you can easily tell if it has bad laminitis it really does effect their legs and they are in alot of pain when they have it!! there isnt really a cure once your pony has laminitis bring it in from the field and feed it on just hay, do not ride the pony and walk it around for a while each day so its legs dont stiffen up you can get certain feeds for a pony with laminitis to help it get better. doing these things will improve your pony so it can be ridden again but you will always have to watch out as it will get laminitis again quicker then the time before!!

Answer 6

The cause of almost all laminitis is poor digestion. When food is not broken down properly in the hindgut of a horse, acids and toxins are produced which leak into the body and damage blood vessels and organs throughout the body. When blood vessels and cells that feed the feet are affected in this way the amount of blood flowing down to the sensitive laminae is reduced and they become swollen. (Some alternative theories also suggest that toxins more importantly affect horn growth and that these are the cause of most laminitis). Swelling or inflammation of laminae means that they cannot do their job of holding the pedal bone in place properly and this results in a lot of pain. As the situation gets worse and if the flow of toxins is not reduced then the laminae can be so damaged that the foot bone sinks right through the sole of the foot and the horse will have to be euthanased. When the foot bone sinks a little the pedal bone is said to have 'rotated'.

http://evrp.lsu.edu/06laminitis.htm

Answer 7

Mostly it is down to too rich food and overweight.  The tiny blood vessels in the feet become inflamed and like brain swelling there is no room for the foot to expand causing pain and discomfort.  A pony will stand almost on his or her heels with front legs looking as though they are sticking out infront.  Back legs drawn up underneath and generally the poor animal looks miserable as sin.  The affected hooves will be very warm to the touch.  Usually only the front feet are affected and the horse is reluctant to move.  But in some cases all four feet are affected.  It is never just one or 3 feet affected.  If you get that, then there is usually something else wrong.

Horses who have the early stages of cushings disease can suddenly develop it - and follow on with curly coats, and diabetes symptoms - ie loss of weight, excessive thirst, etc.

There is no cure but treatment can seem quite brutal.  Practically starvation diet, ie on a bare paddock with only a small section of hay.  Of course he must have access to water and shade at all times.  Of course this can be done in a stable, but I do not like this method as a the horse can eat bedding and get bored, also the bare paddock forces some form of excersise - ie he has to go looking for what little he can get.

It is extremely painful for the horse and treatment consists of some kind of anti-inflammatory ie bute, soaking or hosing feet in water, frequent trimming.  And of course the starvation.

When the horse has lost enough weight and is a little more comfortable excersising either in hand or under saddle is a necessity.  And keeping the weight off.

Answer 8

This is a bit of a monster question - to answer it fully would take an essay! Laminitis is inflammation of the sensitive laminae, a network of tissue found on the front and sides of the pedal bone in the hoof. The sensitive laminae interlock with the insensitive laminae on the inside of the hoof wall and allow the pedal bone to be suspended within the hoof. In a nutshell the laminae anchor the pedal bone in position.

Laminitis happens following a temporary loss of blood supply to the laminae. The laminae begin to die, and the dead and dying tissue releases free-radicals and other compounds which are highly irritant to tissue. When the blood suply is restored to the laminae these compounds are released into the local blood stream and damage the surrounding tissues causing inflammation (this is known as a reperfusion injury). This inflammation can be very severe and very painful; part of the reason it is so painful is that the hoof wall causes pressure due to it being so solid (a little like having a blood blister at the base of your nail, only try walking around on it!). The inflammation initially causes heat to be felt on the hoof walls, pain in the hoof wall and bounding of the digital pulses. What happens after this is dependent on the severity of the attack. A mild atack will resolve to anti-inflammatories, rest and vasodilators, whereas severe attacks may be followed by sinking of the pedal bone (founder), rotation of the pedal bone and microfractures of the tip of the pedal bone.

The cure for laminitis to a degree depends on how severe the attack is. All bouts require box rest for the first week, bute, ACP (used as a vasodilator to improve the blood flow to the feet, it is also a mild sedative to encourage lying down), a deep padded shavings or paper bed and a reduction in feed (I only ever advise unmolassed chaff at 2 handfuls per day and one slice soaked hay per 100kg per 24 hours plus a sugar-free vit and min supplement with no titbits whatsoever). Horses with more severe laminitis require padding of the feet, and those with very severe laminitis sometimes require morphine-like painkillers or even putting down.

Longer term one needs to know the root cause of the laminitis in order to prevent it from happening again, although almost all benefit from therapeutic shoeing. Possible types of laminitis are: sugar-based laminitis (fructans in the grass cause incorrect fermentation in the caecum leading to release of bacterial products into the bloodstream which then cause loss of blood supply to the feet - this is usually seen in late winter and early spring); over-feeding (similar to fructan-type in pathogenesis, but can happen at any time of year); obesity (high blood cortisol due to excessive abdominal fat causes insulin sensitivity - the high cortisol and high blood sugar cause loss of blood suplly to the feet - this is very like diabetes in people but is reversible if the weight is lost); hormonal derrangements (high blood cortisol can also occur because of equine Cushings); endotoxaemia (colic and some gut infections can cause release of bacterial products into the bloodstream causing loss of blood supply to the feet - this can also happen with other infections such as metritis); excessive weight-bearing (usually due to a problem with the opposite limb eg fracture, tendon strain).

If you can identify which is the cause then you can try to eliminate that problem, for example if a pony tests positive for Cushings then treating with pergolide will almost always prevent the laminitis (providing attention is also paid to the diet), or if a pony is overweight then drastic starvation will help to lower blood cortisol and resensitise to insulin. Sadly there isn't always a cure, but as our knowledge is improving we are able to save more and more.