Benefits of Insurance Case Story: Laminitis in a horse

Milly is a 20 year old Welsh pony. She used to be ridden in pony club activities by her owner’s daughter. But when she outgrew her, Milly was retired. She now lives out all year round in a paddock that she shares with a few sheep.

Milly’s owner Steph goes to see her every morning to check her. And, one morning, she noticed that Milly was reluctant to come over to her. When Steph got nearer, she noticed that Milly was leaning back on to her hindlimbs and didn’t want to walk. She decided to call the vet as she had never seen Milly do this before. 

Milly’s problem

When the vet examined Milly, she found that her heart rate and breathing rate were higher than normal, there were increased digital pulses in the front limbs, and the hooves were warm. Milly was reluctant to pick up her feet. And on examination with hoof testers, the vet found that she was painful on the soles of both of her front feet. Milly was also overweight, with a body condition score of 5/5.

What is Laminitis?

Laminitis is a painful condition of the foot, where the sensitive laminae in the feet become inflamed. This results in movement of the bone inside the foot, the pedal bone. As the pedal bone rotates and moves, it causes severe pain to the horse. Horses show signs of pain by not being able to move and by having an increased heart rate and breathing rate. Horses with laminitis are also seen to be rocking back on the hindlimbs in an attempt to take the weight off their painful front feet.

Laminitis can be caused by a number of factors, such as damage to the foot or severe infection. But in Milly’s case, being overweight and overeating lush grass were probably the major factors in the cause. Being overweight not only puts more strain onto the feet but it also increases the amount of inflammation in the body couple this with increased sugar intake from lush grass and the sensitive laminae in the feet will have suffered from severe inflammation, leading to swelling and pain inside the feet. 

Often laminitis is caused by an underlying condition, such as Cushing’s disease or Equine Metabolic Syndrome. And once the initial signs are under control, testing should be performed to ensure that these underlying diseases are controlled