Recent Feedback
I own a 20 year old Appaloossa mare who has recently been diagnosed with laminitis with coffin bone rotation in her RF and very little rotation in her LF. She has a very wide frame with strong looking hind quarters & tends to gain weight even without any grain feed. She seemes to gain weight by grazing on the very little grass plus lots of weeds on a clay-mud-mixed paddock she is turned out in. I give her Bute daily just to get her to walk. The farrier is coming tomorrow to fit her with corrective shoes.I have also noticed swelling in the cavities above her eyes several days ago. When she puts her head down to graze, the swelling gets worse, prodruding about 1/2" from the skull.I am now wondering as to whether or not I need to put my horse down or whether all of what I am planning to go thru with will make a difference to the remainder of my horse's life. As a note, I don't care if I ever ride her again, which obviously currently I cannot.I am anxiously awaiting your kind reply, as I think about this entire issue regarding my beloved horse day & night.Thank you, XXXXX XXXXX
Optional Information: Type of Animal: Horse Gender: Female Age: 20 years old Name of Horse: Snowy (registered name 'Wintersong') Already Tried: 1) Bloodtest shoes 'Negative' for thyroid problem. 2) Large measure of BUTE administered daily for 8 days so far. 3)_Corrective shoeing scheduled for May 30, 2012. Would appriate advice on what type of shoe to be applied in the case of coffin bone rotation.
Good Morning Barbara and welcome to Just answer. I am Dr. Loretta, a licensed veterinarian and I am happy to answer your question.
I know how hard this can be but horses even with coffin bone rotation can be managed and kept relatively pain free with the correct medication and corrective shoeing. I am not sure what this swelling may be caused by but I would worry some that Snowy may have an underlying Cushings disease. This is a condition caused by over production of steroid hormones and those horses affected with this will always founder at some point in time. I would certainly ask your vet about this, Barbara, since treatment could help Snowy. The shoes used are those such as eggbars that add support to her soles where the coffin bone may be headed for...your farrier will know what will be best for her.I would certainly not put her down now. She can have a happy pain feel life when the medications and shoeing is done...does that make sense, Barbara?
There was some mention of bar shoe earlier on. So I will speak to the farrier tomorrow and also let him view the x-rays I had made. I am wondering, is it safe to keep giving her BUTE daily or what should the treatment be?
For now,it is safe to keep giving the bute.Long term treatment could cause stomach ulcers but for now, Snowy really needs this to ease her pain. Once the pain is under control , you can use the bute when she has bad days.