"flower child"
From AlexBrownRacing
Notes and pictures of Pelle’s recovery (Laminitis, initially misdiagnosed for Navicular Syndrome...)
June 2008
June 5th: Noticed Pelle being off (RF) as soon as I took him out of his stall. I thought it was because of the “splint” he had developed about 3 weeks earlier. I had stopped riding him then (although he was NOT lame at all, but there was a little bit of heat around that "bump"...) and was just watching the splint, alternating liniment and poultice treatment (no wrapping) I cold hosed the RF and then wrapped him, put back in his stall. In the evening I took wrap off for a few hours and then wrapped both front for the night.
June 6th: Pelle was laying down in his stall in the am. Got up, but seemed very uncomfortable – noticeable lame on BOTH front legs. No heat in toes, a little around heals and outside hoof wall towards the back. Thinking laminitis of course… Started him on Bute (1,5 gr am/1 gr. pm). Cut down on grain (Ultium), NO alfalfa, smaller amounts of coastal… Called Bracken Equine. Dr Ball out of town. Dr Blevins can see me, but do I want to trailer Pelle in this state? And Dr Ball will be back next week, they say…
June 7th - 13th: Kept Pelle on Bute, thick cedar shavings bed in “backyard”. Pelle lying down a lot, looks comfy…
June 13th: Called Bracken again, want to bring him in for x-rays. STILL no Dr Ball – but I can’t wait any longer (weekend coming up too). Dr Blevins finds no heat or reaction to hoof testers in toes, but in heals. Thinks it is navicular related. X-rays shows no rotation (?). Steroid injections in coffin joints to fix navicular and put on Isoxsuprine 20 mg (20xBID) Cut down on Bute, now 1 gr/day.
June 14th – 16th: Lying down a lot, mostly outside. “Serum”, or something, slowly dripping out of front “mini holes” where injection was given…
June 16th: Report to Dr Blevins; “lying down a lot, not any better, told him about “serum-drip” – he said, don’t expect injections to work until after 7-10 days. No clue about “what’s” coming out… Clean with chlorhex + dry”
June 17th: Dr Blevins called back. Wants me to bring him there, to stand on sand, diet and monitoring. Not doing that, but will get sand and start diet. Seems like he is still thinking there could be inflammation of laminae… (Did he talk to Dr Ball??, I’m thinking…) Wants Lilly pads on Pelle's front feet.
June 18th: Got sand delivered and Lilly pads on. Although, took them off within 24 h – bruised his heels (too small, wouldn’t stay in place). Also discovered big bruise on outside of RF hoof. (?)
Bruises from the Lilly-pads...
June 19th – 22nd: Pelle likes his sand – lays down a LOT outside!
June 23rd: Day 10 after injection, not much change – other than he stopped lying down as much…
June 24th: Only took one nap in am, seems a little anxious. By the evening I turned him out for about 3 hours with Bosse. Very content, walking slowly just grazing (nothing to graze off of) NOTE: I was thinking NAVICULAR (NOT laminitis) at this point. Dr Blevins had said it’s better for blood circulation if he moves around a little, and can go out if he doesn’t run or do any thing crazy…
June 25th -27th: Went out daily with Bosse. Happy, slowly grazing, shuffling along. (Note: there was NO grass left in their pasture, after at least a month without rain, everything was dead, and all they would graze off of was roots and whatever they could poke at...)
June 28th: Kept Pelle inside. Tried to get Mario to come trim Pelle, he wants to see x-rays and talk to vet first. Called Dr Ball. After almost 1 h. on the phone, it is clear to me that Dr Ball is 99% sure Pelle has laminitis, NOT navicular syndrome… Dr Ball thinks the reason has to do with Equine Metabolic Syndrome. Start soaking hay, only handful of Ultium. Recommends putting diapers on feet for transporting there Monday. Called Mario back, he TOO thinks it is laminitis (was almost afraid to say so…)
June 29th: Can’t wait for Monday, to take him back for more x-rays and for Dr Ball to see him as well as Dr Blevins.
June 30th: Bute early in am (1 gr) Bracken at 10am. Now reacts to hoof testers in toes, a little. Not so much in heels… X-rays (without sedation!) – perfect patient. Here is interesting: I see rotation, Dr. Blevins sees NONE, Dr Ball sees “some”… I ask about side bones – both “no big deal, they are just there, does nothing as far as cause lameness”. None of the Dr’s can explain the big bruising on outside of RF hoof. Why is there heat in heels and around the outside of hoof towards the back (where bruise is)??... Dr’s orders: start on Purina WellSolve L/S (1/3 scoop twice/day) and keep soaking hay. Keep on 1 gr bute/day, until he looks like he doesn’t need it anymore, then try to take him off of it. 1 gr a day will not hurt him, even for a long time. Has to spend ALL his time in stall + run, only on DEEP bedding of shavings, and sand.
Current weight: 1360 pounds. Needs to loose at least 100 pounds...
July 2008
July 1st: Mario here. We’re looking at x-rays, both old and new. We both think he has significant rotation, worse in the second x-rays than the first…We’re wondering why vets are “sugar coating”. We also think that bruising is caused by the movement of coffin bone, and “side bones” rubbing from the inside, causing hemorrhage. Interesting, there is more HEAT where the side bones are bigger (ie. outside RF, inside LF)… Pelle is better today, then the last couple of days (probably from being kept INSIDE …and the diet change?) Was trimmed by Mario WITHOUT bute (hadn’t had any since early am the day before) and stood fine on three legs at a time…
July 2nd – 4th: Pelle not lying down much, only short naps in am and pm. Decide today was last day of Bute…to see how he will do without it.
July 5th: No bute! Still doing OK, not much change…
July 7th: Told Dr. Ball I stopped giving bute. He said that was VERY good news, that he didn’t deteriorate without the bute! :)
July 8th: Out of Isoxsuprine, had Dr Ball call it in to Hope Animal Clinic and p’d/u.
July 9th: Some weight loss (?) pictures…
And the hooves:
(LF inside) --- (RF outside)
July 13th: One month from initial Bracken visit. Took him out of his stall to x-ties and spend quality time, grooming, trimming mane, conditioner on hooves etc. Almost one hour out of his stall, and he stood on all 4 legs very comfortably! Never shifted his weight around on his front feet. You couldn’t tell he had laminitis, until he actually walked back to his stall. Even then, he took quite large steps… :)
But, why are the hind feet bruised now??
(LH outside)
(RH outside)
This is a very SKINNY picture – unfortunately, I think it is just the camera angle… :)
July 17th: Wormed everybody with Strongid...
July 18th: This evening I took Pelle out of his stall to give him a bath. First, on the way to the shower he started acting up a little (like getting very "light" in the front and striking out with his front feet a couple of times, and bouncing a bit) - normally not something I would encourage, but the way he has been lately, it was just great to see him like that.
Then after the shower, I left him in the x-ties for a couple of minutes (while getting a carrot) and when I came back he was MAD - pawing high up in the air and stomping with his FRONT FEET!! Obviously he was feeling a LOT BETTER, all of a sudden!
Once I got him back to his stall, the REAL SHOW started - bucking & kicking & twisting in the air, coming down the opposite way he went up etc.
I think I can safely say: HE IS FEELING BETTER!!! THANK GOD!!!!!!!
July 19th: We went on our first little walk today. Put a bridle on Pelle, just in case, but he behaved perfectly fine :)
Are those ribs I am seeing in that picture??? (bottom left)
Sorry Pelle, that was all the "fun". At least he got out of his stall for a few minutes...
July 23rd: My e-mail to Mario (farrier) today:
Pelle is doing SO MUCH BETTER!! Please read the last 2-3 updates on Pelle's recovery log. Of course, you're welcome to read the whole page :) just the last ones are the really POSITIVE ones.
I have a call in to Dr Ball, to ask him what he thinks I should do next with Pelle - but I wanted to ask your opinion too. Can I take him on short handwalks (I know, I cheated already, but he just sooo wanted to get out of his stall...)? This morning, he came "flying" into his stall from his outside "sand beach" and then kept trotting in and out several times, before he settled down a bit. He frequently walks circles in his stall now, with big SOUND steps...
I know he is telling me he is feeling better, BUT I also hear Ric Redden's words in the back of my mind, saying: "Horses are very durable, and they'll lie through their teeth about how they're feeling," Redden said. "Do not depend on the horse to tell you how healthy the laminae are. Depend on your venogram."
Oh, and what do you think about the bruises on his HIND feet??
Dr Ball called back. He said I can start handwalking Pelle, first on supersoft footing, then on something a little more firm and gradually on harder surface, to see how he does. LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS TELLING ME, basically. If he responds well, I can start longing him a little, but ONLY on good footing. Excercise is GOOD, helps with bloodcirculation and to make him loose more weight (faster). Pelle is going to be HAPPY about that report!! He gets to leave his stall for walks!! Here are some pics from our first "longer" walk. 10-15 minutes on the trails behind the barn, where I spread manure, ie. real "spongy" footing because of all the old shavings...
Eyeing the grass...
RF bruise
Front feet
July 25th: A few trot steps on our daily "walk"... Pelle wanted to do more than "a few", practically dragging me along... :)
July 26th: Yesterday, in one of the last few steps before we came back to the barn, Pelle stepped on a rock, which made this damage to his RF sole:
He also has a "hole" in his LF sole, where he is very sensitive if you put any pressure there (like stick a hoof pick gently in the hole). He reacts MORE to that, than he ever reacted to hoof testers...?
Front hooves
Today, since we had rain the other day and I was able to drag the arena, making it really soft & fluffy, we walked in there instead. Tried the round pen first, but even though I had dragged it too, it was just not soft enough for Pelle to look totally comfortable. He is still very sensitive to the footing, and really "ouchy" if he happens to step on a rock...ONLY WALKING today.
July 27th: I wanted to get Pelle some sort of toys to play around with in his stall, to break up the boredom and prevent him from "walking circles" in his stall. So where better to ask for advice than the ABR discussion board! Within a few minutes some FOBs had given me some tips on home made toys.
I tried one, a milk jug with some whole almonds inside, and it sure caught Pelle's attention! :)
Unfortunately, not for long... I was getting on Mango in the ring and Pelle got very upset about being the only horse inside the barn, and started flying in & out, screaming off the top of his lungs (even though he can see us in the ring the whole time...). So I had to bring Bosse in from pasture to keep him company, and he settled right down...
I also learned something new today; that APPLES are VERY BAD for horses with laminitis!! My friend Maria in Sweden told me this. She lost her wonderful Irish jumper pony, Borage, to laminitis/founder some years back :( He was the coolest pony and we nick-named him "Mini-Milton" because not only did he LOOK like (John Whitaker's) MILTON, but he also JUMPED LIKE HIM!! :) So, sorry Pelle - I know you love 'em - but NO apples for you! (not that he has had any since he became ill...)
July 31st:
August 2008
August 1st: Pelle's feet are not holding up very well...
But otherwise he's looking & feeling GOOD!!
August 5th: Talked to Dr Ball about Pelle's feet (not holding up), shedding a lot of coat and losing weight and he thought everything sounded great, well except for the falling apart-hooves, but he said it was expected. He suggested EZ boots for whenever he is outside his stall, for excercising or occasional turn out in the round pen. Dr Ball wants him to be without shoes for as long as possible (at least 2 more months), but he also wants him to start excercising more, lunging to start with. So the feet falling apart caused a dilemma...
I was then just about to hop on the tractor, to spread manure (old shavings) on our trails behind the barn (where Pelle and I take our daily walks, to provide more cushion for his delicate feet), when Mario (my farrier) called from CA. We discussed the EZ boot thing, and he wasn't to happy about that idea, as it would add to the length of Pelle's toes, and he said, from looking at the pictures, Pelle has grown a LOT already (which is a GOOD thing really - but not when your farrier has to be "imported" from CA...). So Mario came up with the bright idea to make a "lunging-circle" with manure/old shavings footing!! So, on the tractor and get to work :) I was really glad I hadn't already spread the manure, as I had just about enough "saved up" to make a nice, thick, soft, cushioned lunging circle...
August 7th:
August 12th: This is what his feet look like now. More pieces have fallen out, but the "new" sole, growing underneath, is now getting harder and not as sensitive. When the first few pieces started falling off, the new sole was all soft and "spongy", and Pelle vas VERY sensitive. He would react more to just me pushing on it with my thumb, than he ever did to the hoof testers, when he was really ill...
RF sole
WE had RAIN TODAY!!! Which means that the round pen was SOFT ENOUGH for Pelle to go out and play for a while:
