Posted by Patty Stiller on December 10, 2003 at 18:50:45:
In Reply to: lame pony - please read - too much to mention in this little space!!! posted by Charlotte on December 07, 2003 at 18:10:19:
: hi, basically my 10 year old shetland has been suffering from seedy toe/white line seperation for years. each time the farrier cuts the front wall away etc and we wait for it to grow its fine - no sooner this happens then it flares up again!!! we have tried lots of lotions and potions from both over the counter and the vets to kill off whatever is causing it. it flared up again a few months back and as normal we got the vet - she watched him take two steps and said he had laminitis - didn't use hooftesters etc - of coure i complained about her to the surgery etc and she came to have another look to do the job properly. yet again she was convinced it was laminitis - (newly qualified yet) as i've owned my pony since a yearling - i would know if he had lami, i argued my case on her second visit as i'd done my own research - even my farrier doesn't believe its lami. i suggested that i may be underrun soles - this also causes pulses etc and he was walking on his soles - not on his heels like a laminetic! he also improves if hes turned out for the day rather than in his stable. As the vet and myself couldn't agree, we decided to have him in for x-rays. as it turned out i was correct - underrun soles. no evidence of the pedal bone moving. my farrier went to see x-rays and again he cut away the flared out bit and this time we've fitted him with a mould on shoe (imprint shoe). this caused a huge improvement, but then his other front hoof begain to flare out badly, the farrier trimmed this right back the other day and even though he struggles to walk, he improves greatly if he's turned out in one of the fields for the day. he walks better on soft ground. the farrier is at a loose end as to what is at the root of this problem, he's never known anything like it. before anyone says try a new farrier - he's the only one whos stuck by my pony and wanted to try different things etc. he is also the most qualified and experianced for miles around - and there are a lot of farriers in my area. we really are at a loose end plus my farrier is retiring in January. any advice or information on any equines with similar problems would be greatfully appreciated.
: (I'm also not being nasty about the vet, i understand that they all have to start somewhere - i was on course for becoming a vet before i became very ill, but it took her over 20minutes to try to find a vein to sedate him to x-ray him and he wasn't flinching! in the end she couldn't do it so twitched him!!!) the farrier and i have decided to send him to a specialist vet hospital about 2 hours from where i live but any comments / advice would be so greatfully appreciated as i'm willing to try everything and i'm not going to give up on him that easily. he may not be able to walk very well at the moment but when hes suffered previously hes never been lame. if he is in pain hes doing very well not to show it. he is managing without any painkillers. he has NEVER suffered from laminitis. i believe that there is an injection called Metronidazole that can be ingected into the hoof to kill off any anerobic bacteria - has anyone had any experiance of this???
: please try to help and thanks for taking the time to read this.
: charlotte.
You say he ;'s not walking very well but not in pain???
Geesh what kind of logic is that? If he were pain free he would be walking fine.
Even wihout seeing your Xrays,given the description of everything I have to tend agree with your vet, the pony probably DOES have laminitis as all the symptoms you describe point strongly to it.it is vital to undersand that just because the Xrays show no rotation of the bone does not rule out laminitis.There are other signs on the Xrays that an experienced vet will understand as pointing to laminitis. and Often there is no rotation of the coffin bone in laminitis! There will be signs of chronic inflammation around the bone, with slow insidious sinking of the bone straight down.This sinking creates the type of sole you describe.
The Xrays will reveal a thin or bulging sole,and an exceptionally thick dorsal hoofwall. The coffin bone will sit lower in the hoof capsule compared to the hairline than is normal.
The constant separation and whiteline disease is also a common result of chronic laminitis.
Also I have seen many horses with bad whiteline disease that was undiagnosed too long or undertreated, and therefore undermined the hoofwall so badly that they effectively foundered from the mechanical disconnection of the hoofwall, sinking the bones.
I suggest you quit denying the fact your pony could be foundering (either from the whiteline or from chronic laminitis, the more likely culprit) and get that extra veterinary advice.
Ponies are VERY high risk for being 'insulin resisatant', which can create a sort of 'peripheral cushings' or what is now being coined "Equine Metabolic Syndrome" ,and subsequent laminitis. Ask for some blood work to assess his metabolic state. Laminitis can exist at a low grade for months or years and be misdiagnosed. And have the veterinay hospital recommend a repalcement farrier the can work with on this, since your current one hasn't figured this out and is retiring in a month anyway.
Patty