Laminitis! Moli's Backgound Continued...

Jump ahead a year from the last post about Moli's fight with laminitis.  Her feet were looking pretty good, definitely better than when shod, but there was a little bit of wall separation that just wouldn't go away and occasional unexplained lameness.  I had been doing research here and there and still had no answers.  Then, one week in Sept, 2009 I went out of town.  When I returned I was surprised at Moli's condition.  Had she slowly been losing weight, or suddenly dropped? I wasn't sure, but there was obviously a problem. I took her back to the local vet.  Again, he couldn't point to any specific reason for the weight loss.  Because of the off and on lameness, I had decided to try getting her off alfalfa (Mark's suggestion and some research showing that some horses can't handle the richness of alfalfa) and had been moving her over to grass hay.  I thought maybe I just wasn't giving her enough, so the vet suggested I provide more grass, and he also suggested that I call an out-of-town vet that he himself used for his horses on occasion.

I did call that vet clinic, and was surprised that the vet actually spoke with me for quite awhile, even though I had not previously been a customer, and he had never seen my horse.  I explained that my research was pointing to laminitis and based on what I had told him, he thought I could be on the right track.  He suggested that I add a low starch feed called "WellSolve" made by Purina to help with the weight gain without adding more sugar and carbs to her diet.  By this time, I had started seriously researching Insulin Resistance (even though she had never really had a problem with being OVER weight) and its ties to Laminitis. After about two bags of WellSolve, I was in my local feed store trying to find out if they were going to carry the product. I let them talk me into switching to a different product, a senior feed by Alliance Feeds that had an NSC content of 12%, I knew I needed low NSC, and WellSolve is 10%, I figured the 2% difference was okay and at least the local store would carry it so I wasn't having to drive an hour each way to get feed.

The new feeding regime did work to add weight.  I also separated her from my gelding, who at times could be very aggressive when asserting his leadership.  Plus, the grass took much more time to eat and he would take most of it, only allowing her a nibble here and there if they were not separated.  The occasional lameness continued though and I was having to turn her out in boots daily, which was becoming an issue not only with the amount of time but also the boots were rubbing her pasterns and causing sores.  Nine months after the first X-rays, she came up so lame that she was lurching more than walking.

I took her to the vet in Sunland Park that I had spoken to before because they specialized in equine lameness. X-rays showed less than 5 mm of sole depth and both front coffin bones showed degeneration and small fractures. You could see a piece of the coffin bone on her left front foot had actually broken off. I was well into the barefoot world by then, trimming my own horses and spending lots of time learning about the hoof, and how the horse's diet can affect the feet. I had started to switch her back to the WellSolve. The other feed is probably a great feed for a healthy senior horse, but like many horses, Moli at 15 had developed a sensitivity for foods high in sugar and non-structural carbs – the senior feed contained molasses, which even in small doses I've learned is just not good.

The results of the x-rays pretty much floored me. First off, they showed the left foot was worse than the right, but she was much lamer on the right.  I was unprepared to receive that information and I immediately blamed myself, assuming that my trimming was causing the issue. I didn't know what to do, and at the vet's urging, allowed him  to put rocker shoes on which he expected would improve her sole depth over one or two settings of six weeks each. This vet believed strongly that barefoot techniques don't work. I hated the decision, I felt then and still feel that barefoot techniques are better for the horse and by allowing the shoes I was making the wrong choice. I was slightly comforted by the fact the he put them on with adhesive and casting material instead of nails because her walls were too weak to hold the nails. He suggested that the second round be nailed, I was pretty sure I didn't want the second round to happen. When we left the vet, Moli was walking a little better, and by the time we got home even better. Once she got used to the shoe, she was moving around well and I let out a sigh of relief. At least she would be comfortable while I figured out my next move. I called Mark, who had so patiently and graciously shared knowledge with me over the last two years and announced that I could no longer trim Moli's feet because I was sure it was my fault she was in this fix. He assured me that he did not believe that to be the case, and that following the vet's advice about the rocker shoe was not the worst thing to do. He arranged a time to come by and check out the situation and gave me some ideas on research. We would put together a plan for addressing the issue at the end of the six weeks, or when the shoes fell off, whichever came first. He suggested I get caught up on what was happening with Pete Ramey and his research project with Auburn University. Thank goodness I have Mark to help, I would suggest if you are thinking of trimming your horses feet, you seek the support of the nearest Barefoot Practitioner!

We would take Moli back in six weeks for new x-rays…..those I will post next!