What’s the truth about laminitis?

feet but was not optimistic about his recovery.
Both the equine practitioners Ive just mentioned played an important part in Peppers recovery and I have no criticism of the approach of either even though they differed. This article is not meant to disparage anyone who offers advice or treatment for laminitis. Rather its meant to point out how much conflicting information there is and encourage all equine carers to do their own research to become as informed as possible on this vital subject of equine health.
In the hard work and worry of the months of Peppers recuperation I asked experienced people and read everything I could find about laminitis. I was astonished at the great discrepancies in what I discovered.
Here is some of the advice I received first hand or in books
Provide forced exercise to increase blood flow to the hooves. Put food and water a long distance apart to enforce movementThe blood flow to the hoof is so slow that exercise has little effect on itRest on soft bedding with food and water within reachForced exercise of any kind while the animal is in pain is completely contraindicatedFit polystyrene pads to the feet Dont fit polystyrene pads to the feetRemove shoes and adopt barefoot hoof careSpecial shoeing may be necessaryLaminitis causes chronic severe lamenessLaminitis is a death sentenceLaminitis can be cured by diet and proper natural hoof careHoof testers can be used to determine the degree to which the hooves are affectedHoof testers are cruel and unnecessary for diagnosis of laminitisShoeing causes laminitisShoeing can prevent laminitis in horses working on hard groundRegular doses of an antibiotic Virginiamycin can prevent further outbreaksAntibiotic treatment is useless or even harmful.
There were two points on which there was complete consensus. Firstly that laminitis is extremely painful. I have no doubt about this Pepper lay down and cried for several days. The second point of agreement is that laminitis has a dietary cause. While not everyone has the same opinion about how rich grasses cause the disease all seem to agree that this the most common cause of laminitis.
Everyone providing advice says that the animal should have very limited access to grass and no grain feed or tidbits until full recovery. Most recommend grass hay but few consider what nutrients are contained in the hay. The sugar content of grass and the hay made from grass has only recently come under consideration. It seems that