I do live in an area were rabies is common so that is a concern. I have still decided to hold off on it because my horse does get really sore after vac’s and usually gets IV bute. He doesn’t need any more bute at this point! I’m already concerned about ulcers from the 3g a day for a month ordeal.
Thank you OzarksRider for your post. That gives me hope that maybe my horse can recover.
Push vaccines off as far as possible. Mine will have a flair if too many vaccines at one time so we stagger.
There is hope at end of the tunnel, my pony had a bad episode and is right as rain now. His was caused by steroids for a neck surgery. Now I keep on dry lot and muzzle if on any grass. We use meds if he gets a bit heavy but otherwise manageable.
If it gets unmanageable there is no shame in Euthanasia.
Ugh I had two horses on Equinety for quite some time. Dont think it did darn thing. Their facebook page basically spouts miracles.
It’s hard to know, for sure. Arginine is supposed to help feet/lamina.
I’m going through the same thing with my welsh pony, laminitis hit him Feb 3. He is wearing casted on clogs as Soft Rides made him much more uncomfortable. To get to your question about vaccinations, my vet told me no vaccinations for now. We had talked about the Thyro-L but his weight is coming down without it, but IIRC she said it’s something he’d probably have to stay on once he started it to keep up with the benefit of it. We tried the supplement Insulin-Wise but I think it caused some gastro issues so I stopped it after a couple weeks. Good luck with your horse, hoping he continues to improve for you.
LSMarnell, a couple more comments about your original post. . .
My horse was on bute for 3-4 weeks when he had laminitis, and like you, I fretted constantly about ulcers. Turned out to be worry for nothing; he was fine. The bute was necessary both to blunt the pain and to help alleviate the inflammation in his feet.
The acute attack lasted 2-3 weeks before it calmed down enough to start therapeutic shoeing. The vet put my horse in Nanric Ultimates to get him past the acute stage and they made a huge difference in his comfort. After that, we went to the vet clinic for therapeutic shoeing, and the farrier would meet us there. The vet took x-rays both before and after shoeing to see how to customize the shoes and then to make sure it was right, and he and the farrier would discuss the best way to proceed. I remember the vet said if the shoes we tried didn’t work we would try something different–the horse would let us know. Point is, there’s more than one way to do therapeutic shoeing and you just have to find what works best for your horse.
The vet said that one big mistake owners make is to think the horse has recovered too soon. Horse gets past the acute stage and seems comfortable, so owner thinks it’s ok to put him back to work. But the laminae are still weak, and next thing you know horse has foundered worse than before. When the hooves start growing out you will likely see gas pockets on the x-rays. This is normal, and they will eventually grow out. I didn’t ride my horse until those gas pockets were completely gone, and I think it took 8-9 months.
Once he was past the acute attack, the confinement was the worst part for my horse. It was mentally very hard on him. His feet weren’t hurting any more and he didn’t understand why he had to stand still all day and all night and eat nothing but hay when all that lovely grass was growing just out of reach. I tried to make it easier for him by grooming him and taking him for hand walks, very short at first and progressively longer as time went by and x-rays looked good. We worked a lot on ground manners during that time.
One awful thing about laminitis is that it’s impossible to predict how it will play out. A good outcome requires a big dose of good luck. Or you can do everything right and still have a bad outcome. The best you can do is work with your vet and farrier and keep your horse as quiet as possible while those hooves grow out.
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