Good News! The vet was out to reassess Safi's laminitis He was walking out just fine and she gave us a clean bill of health. He's no longer in confinement, a week on deep cool sand seemed to do the trick. If I notice any soreness I'll get him into a pair of "slippers" but as of this morning he seemed fine. off the bute , One more week 2xday on ACE (2.5mg to promote circulation). Still on strict diet, We taped him at 880#. He doesn't look like he lost much weight. The fat pads are still there though a bit less evident. NO PASTURE or yard (lush green grass). He can go out freely in the paddock, dry lot and arena. We've had a lot of rain and though it's all weeds, it's pretty lush. She wasn't concerned about that, but I'll monitor him closely. Last night I cut his evening hay back to 2#'s and there was plenty left over this morning.
I brought up all of my and your concerns regarding mechanical vs systemic. She based her diagnosis "mechanical" on the fact that he came up lame the day after a rigorous ride, he's overweight and his toes were long. She assured me "he had no symptoms other than being overweight to indicate anything else". If we don't see weight loss and of course if he has any kind of relapse I'll have him tested for thyroid and/or IR. But she didn't think it was necessary to do xrays or tests at this time. As far as she's concerned he's fine and as long as I keep him in a balance trim (toes short) and get some weight off this should never come up again. You can trust that I'll be watching him closely. The weeds are my biggest concern as I don't see how I can monitor his intake but maybe the sugar/calorie content is so low it's not an issue. I'll be looking for information on that. She did say something that I may have misunderstood. "20min of grazing 4" pasture is equal to 10lbs of hay". I'll try to confirm or dispel that, it sounds like an awful lot, plus there would be so many variables. If anyone knows where I could find info I'd appreciate it. I'll keep you posted, Thank you all for your help, maybe the info we've gathered will help someone else who's going through this. Janine n- Safi
