My gelding has been dealing with a viral lung infection. Three weeks ago he started a runny nose and cough. Two weeks ago vet was out and put him on antibiotic and steroid, lungs sounded good but mucus in airway. In a few days he was back to his normal self. Then one week ago (Thurdsay), when we brought him off pasture he was breathing heavy, hurt to walk, shifting weight, fever. Vet came out and ran blood. Came back with a virus. He went on more meds, including banamine. Was on banamine for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, most of which time he was in his stall. Seemed pretty normal Monday. Turned back out. Vet said he could go back out if he was moving ok.

Then yesterday I noticed his seemed a little off again. Today he is walking sore. Waiting to here back from the vet, but I am pretty sure he has laminitis. He's currently in his stall. I would say it is a mild case, but I am not a vet or farrier. He walks around willingly. But when standing shifts weight a lot and when he does walk he moves gingerly. 

I've never dealt with this. What does recovery look like? How long did it take for your horse to go back to work? Did your horse return to normal running level? I'm completely panicked right now. Any insight would be appreciated. 

Hopefully Flitastic will chime in here shortly.. he just went thru a pretty serious case with his gelding and has gotten him back to almost 100% sound.  

I'd think the most important thing is adjusting the diet at this point to try to stop the progression. Getting him comfortable and avoiding any triggers. Trying to figure out what exactly triggered it helps as well.  Sorry you are going thru this .. I went thru it with a horse we had and I wasn't successful at getting him back. I wish I knew then what I know now. 

How would you go about adjusting diet?

What type of diet is your horse on? What is your pasture like, is it a healthy pasture? 

X Ray his feet. Just do it. Thats the only way you will know if it's laminitis. I've been through this 

We don't have a lot of pasture, so he's only on pasture for a few hours a day and supplemented with grass hay. It's not lush, pasture or hay. 

And if it is laminitis, then what?

What kind of diet is this horse on? 

Yep xrays will help you see what degree you may be dealing with and also if there is any sinking. That's what happened to mine. Blood testing as well to see if you're dealing with metabolic issues. Diet changes would be removing molasses, any inflammatory ingredients...soy, wheat,  sugars .... soaking hay to remove excess sugars from the hay. Extremely low NSC diet. 

If it is... then you're in for one hell of a fight. It can be done but it takes extreme diligence and figuring out what helps the horse with a good vet and an even better farrier working together. It's draining and emotional but if you can get him over the acute stage there is hope for complete recovery or even just a comfortable pasture sound light riding horse, but many have gone back to their normal lives and sadly many have not. It just depends on how quickly you catch it and how much has gone on inside that hoof. Being proactive and quick treatments are your best bet. One of my worst fears nowadays... getting to the vet asap is crucial though 

The way you describe the off and on lameness sound like to me hes getting to much sugar somewhere and the pasture is adding to it. Or it could be all the meds (steroids can be a trigger ) that he was on and being on grass can set off Laminitis . It does sound like hes on the verge of foundering, I would keep him off pasture untill you get to the bottom of this. I would check to see if theres any rotating going on with his coffin bones, Like okhorselover said get x rays. 

Then you look at how bad it is or not & you go from there. You need a good equine vet, one that is familar with not only laminitis but with the whole structure of a horse, starting with their feet. Laminitis in nothing to mess with. Do what is best for your horse. 

Is there heat in the feet??strong digital pulse???until xrays,soak feet in ice and water ALOT,clean feet to make sure its not something in the foot,or an abcess soak all hay,no grain,I do like to give remission,but I deal with an IR PONY.

Laminitis does not mean rotation, that would then be founder. They are not the same, but everyone uses them interchangeably. So xrays can come back perfectly fine in the middle of a hard laminitis attack. Mine has been through probably 20 nasty episodes of it and his xrays are still perfect. And I know several others that are the same. I would still xray, but don't rule it out if there's no rotation. I would pull grain for now, hay is a gray area. Some say feed grass hay only, but like I posted on a nother thread grass hay here in my area is way higher in sugar than alfalfa, much higher NSC rating. So I do alfalfa. That is something you'd have to test your hay for. I have a rubber tub I put water and ice in and make him stand in it and put ice down his shoo-fly's also. I have in the past put Keratex hoof hardener on the sole to help, but thats more due to my gelding having butter soft soles. Mine has always come back fine and sound. Sometimes it takes a couple days, sometimes a couple weeks. But rotation would change the outcome, I have been lucky mine hasn't started to founder yet. Get xrays and see where you stand with the situation, but I would at least pull grain for sure right now. And keep off pasture 

You are right, thats why I would do xrays to see if theres any rotation so you can go from there. Mine had/has laminitis and he did rotate slightly in his right front, the x rays helped to decide where to go from there. It never hurts to do xrays to see whats going on with that coffin bone. My gelding is on a low NSC diet to help control his sugar levels that will set off the Laminitis, if we dont do this then he could founder and that right there would be harder to deal with. He cant go out on pasture much, the grass has alot of sugar and that too will set off his laminitis. 

Here is the scoop............ Im about 10 weeks in on a serious debilitating case... and as Wanttochase 3 says, its emotional and you are in for a fight. Once they get laminitis they will ALWAYS be prone to it. My horse is NOT betabolic and got his laminitis from a reaction to a steroid. Its rare, but can happen. He was on normal horse feeds his whole life and was just fine. Once they go laminitic you HAVE to eliminate as much, if not ALL sugar because even if they didn't have a problem before, their system cannot handle those things any longer. and every single case is DIFFERENT, thats whats the most frustrating. My horse eas different from 20 other people I talked to about it. I would get to icing those feet 2-3X a day, take him off anything that has molasses in it or any feed or hay that is over 10% NSC. Mine went from alfalfa blended hay to 100 percent teff literally overnight. Let me know if you need any other ideas. 

Thanks everyone.  Vet is not worried but wants him on Equioxx and stall rest for the next couple of days. The virus hit him like a freight train. And before anyone disagrees with and bashes my vet, this is a man I trust whole heartedly. If you don't agree with that opinion, please keep that thought to yourself. I will continue to be diligent and post back with any updates. Thank you so very much for all the info!!

A follow up XRay at 40 days will often tell a different story on rotation. Damage during the acute stage may not really show rotation right away, and people think that they are out of the woods. As the laminae that are damaged weaken over time, rotation can happen quite a bit later than the original event. Keep overall starch and sugar contribution low, (remember 5 pounds of a 10% NSC feed contributes 225 grams of NSC per day, while 1 pound of a 20% NSC contributes 90 grams per day, choose wisley). Most grass hay should be soaked. I like a blend of soaked grass and alfalfa. If you are not sure just what your horse is getting from the pasture, keep him off of it for now. You are in for a challenge, but, don't forget the second Xray. It makes a difference in long term care if you have rotation or not. 

I would bed him down DEEP as well,good luck

WW, can you explain how you did the math on this?  That is interesting! 

I think I got it!  

So 10% is 45 grams a lb

15% is 67.5 grams a lb

20% is 90 grams a lb