Yearling colic/laminitis

[wvgal2004]

I know this is a long one... at any rate last friday i came home and noticed my colt had been rolling in the stall and had diarhea, he was alert but uncomfortable so i gave him 10cc of banamine and walked him, continued walking and monitoring him until 12:30 a.m. gave another 10cc of banamine.
Saturday Morning, eating and drinking, still some runny stool, depressed but nibbling hay and drinking water, gave 10cc banamine at 9:00 a.m. walked him some, Saturday evening he was still depressed and pawing the ground, i thought the pawing was going to lead to another colic episode so i think i gave him another 10cc of banamine at 4:00 ? Sunday morning he was standing in the arena munching hay before i went to a local horse show (6:00 a.m.) came back at noon he was still standing in the same spot (very odd) i tried to call him to the gate still nothing, he was so wobbly he could barely stand he was in the founder stance, when i led him to the stall, gave him 2 bute at 12:30 that afternoon called the vet, the vet prescribed uniprim, and his temp was 104. the vet stated that she thought he was trying to founder on me. by 7:00 p.m. his temp was normal, and since then his temp has been normal or below normal. he is still sore on his feet, and I have kept him in the stall this week with some turnout in our grassless ring for a couple hours in the evening, i can pick up his feet and pick, poke and prod with the hoof pick and he doesnt flinch although he is still somewhat wobbly on his feet or unsteady when putting his weight on three legs. My question is since he is still not 100% sound do you think he could have foundered, and if so since he is a yearling can he bounce back since we started treating immediately. I am just unsure of the window of opportunity when it comes to laminitis issues and whether catching it when we did was good or not soon enough?... I am having him exrayed 5 days from now, and i know that is the only real way to tell how much damage was done, but can you offer any advice or rays of hope?

[J.H. shoeing]

good background information in the post. Your Farrier will need all the information your vet can get also, ie:x-rays and blood work. Talk to your Vet and Farrier as they will be most helpful in this case.
Jeff

[tcwgrl362]

I just read your post,and First I must say I know how your feeling.I too am in the same boat has you. I have a reg.paint stud colt that is the same way.
Unfortuntally for me I have had to care for my horse without the assistance from a vet.You see it seems that our local vets will not "I QUOTE"will not even look at him because at the time I had nither cash or credit card.The same day I found my colt in the same way has yours,I puppie came down with parvo.When I got home from the vets,and giving them my whole check for the pup.I found hooch standing there wabbles and all.
To make a long story short.I have been caring for my colt on my own.Luckly for me,Our vets here will administir advice over the phone at no additional cost,And hoooch is stable and doing ok.
I wish you all the luck with your babie.It`s a hard thing to go thru when your babies our sick.

[Jeanie Connors]

Your vet will be able to give you more answers than I could, but I just wanted to mention the possibility of ulcers developing in your baby with that amount of Banamine being administered. I recently had a colicky colt myself, and she warned me that too much Banamine can encourage their development (he got two doses over two days, and the vet thought that was pushing it).

In short, yes it's possible your colt could have foundered, but there is no reason he shouldn't be able to recover fully given time and appropriate conditions to healing. It's also possible he has some tummy ulcers going on and is appearing to be lame due to pain in his gut. It's best to concult with your vet about this, and they can check him out and get a handle on his condition, and how to help him from here.

I hope he starts feeling better soon. I know it's tough to have a little one in pain :( .

[calshoer]

I'm sorry but Ill be blunt.
The vet should have Xrayed him the FIRST DAY, to get baselines.As well there should have been taped on support applied to the feet that first visit.
In my opinion a veterinarian who fails to apply support to a potentialy laminitic foot, and fails to take X-rays the first visit is remiss in their job. Unless she suggested this, and you wanted to wait, in which case it is your fault. Laminitis,(even potential laminitis), is an EMERGENCY , requiring immidiate aggressive supportive care, not a 'wait and see'.

Laminitis is a common side effect of gut problems , due to the toxicity in the gut and some of those toxins leaking into the bloodstream.
As well, laminitis-founder that is caused by gut toxins is generally FAR more serious than ordinary one-time grain overload founders.
Your yearling could at this moment be sinking his coffin bones straight through the bottoms of his feet.
Though in pain and reluctant to move, they sometimes do not have a lot of palpaple pain in the soles when they are sinking like that because the innervation to the foot may also be damagedas the blood supply is destroyed.
The veterinarian should have applied some sort of taped on foot support the first time she saw the colt,laminitis or not, bcause of the high incidence of laminitis concurrent with toxic gut problems.
If you wait Five days you may not have a colt anymore. In fact if he IS laminitic from the gut issues, It may already have been too long without proper mechanical foot support.
Get those X-rays TODAY, and get somehing taped on his feet for support TODAY.
Two websites have instructions available for taping on construction grade stryrofoam. Equipodiatry.com, and NBHoofare.com .
Patty