What feed are you feeding now that's corn and molasses free? I need to add this horse WAS on nutrena when we bought him... he was being roped on daily and went all day... he said it was nutrena in a green plain bag and he added in topline balance to his rations.. he also said at certain times of the year he fed pro force fuel but only for a few months at a time.. it kinda confused me but the horse looked and moved fantastic. I put him on purina when we got him home... now hes on the bluebonnet x factor which he hates! :-(   I'm not a nutrena feeder but I have to admit the horse looked pretty darn outstanding when I went to get him. 

Alfalfa is still better than grass hay, grass hay is higher in NSC & sugar. Mine eats 25lbs of straight alfalfa a day just fine 

That's what I thought but the vet said avoid alfalfa ... lol! See what I mean.. its crazy...  I put him on  a very alfalfa based feed and this happened to him so this just may be a case where hes ultra sensitive to alfalfa in more amounts ... I feel like most of the feeds are alfalfa based or at least have alfalfa in the ingredients. 

I feed Tribute Kalm N Ez pellet. He gets 1 cup of MaxE Glo rice bran meal with it and I soak some alfalfa pellets too. He eats a mash basially, he used to get impacted a lot & the wet food keeps it pushing through. He's done well on it. I also fed the Progressive Nutrition Grass Advantage ration balancer. I think its called ProElite Grass Advtantage now, I chose it over the alfalfa because it was higher protein and he's in his late 20s so he needs extra protein. It was super nice because I didn't even have to feed a pound a day. It was basically just one cup in the morning & night. A bag would last like 3-4 weeks, but I just had to drive too far to get it. If you can find that in your area I highly recommend it too, I believe it is 13% NSC but again I didn't have to feed as much as it said to. But my horses are also on Exceed 6-Way, Gastro-Plex, and Vitamin E so most of the extra nutritional needs are met. I also would recommend the Anti-Carb, I haven't personally used it yet but if he progresses more I might. Everyone seems to like it that use it 

 Please don't take this the wrong way but maybe get a second opinion? Alfalfa is a lot lower in startch and sugar.  Its just very nutrition dense.  Before you go buying this supplement or that grain since you are on a budget get him tested for Cushings and insulin resistance. It's important you find the cause so you can actually maintain him. Like I said my mare was 12 and diagnosed with Cushings and insulin resistance... 16 isn't unrealistic for either disease. 

Vet told me $200 for cushings test. I'll have to wait a few weeks on that. I'm not buying anything new until then. I'm just trying to plan and research as much as I can. Last thing I need is more worthless supplements for him. Im doing what I can at home right now to get and keep him the most comfortable until I figure out if he has a metabolism disorder or whatever it is. I may call around and see if I can get the test cheaper.. my sister got lucky and got a free one done on her horse earlier this year... I need that right about now! 

Well hopefully you'll get it figured out. But unfortunately the only way you'll know is if you run the test.  He may get better again then have another episode of laminitis in the mean time. If there's one thing you could do for him now to prevent further issues it's to just do it so you know how to go forward.  I don't mean to sound like a broken record but I saw earlier how worried you were about him and he was in pain... actually getting the test done is probably the cheapest part of any treatment you'll deal with if you prolong it more. 200 is honestly cheap insurance compared to the cost of injections ect... We spend on our horses just to maintain them to compete.

Oh believe me if I had an extra $200 laying around it would be done. I just simply dont right now. Some people will say I shouldn't own horses if I cant afford a measly $200 for a test but whatever.. I just spent $600 on xrays, lameness exams and boots for him. We live week to week at times and Christmas just passed so it's been extra snug. The xrays didnt give us very much to go by to be honest... I mean I'm glad we got them done but there wasnt really anything alarming on them other than slight inflammation and him needing his toe trimmed back some 10mm. And being that I just recently changed his feed and this happened the vet and my farrier both think I may have triggered it with that. The only "sign" he has that may point to cushings, is his age,  and that's right from the vets mouth. He doesnt have much anything else other than a laminitic flair up which is a big deal, dont get me wrong! I'm going to have him tested next week to give me some peace of mind. Then I'll know and can move on 

When you feed them good feed, supplement them well, provide good hay, and vet/farrier them regularly. . . Well, that next "measly $200" can push you over.   We all know you love him much and are doing best by him.   I know no one on this thread thinks otherwise--we all know how expensive these things are.  Hugs and prayers

I hear you there! I bet the change in feed effected him because he does have a metabolic issue. In my experience if feeds are changed slowly they should not react with something like laminitis unless they are a metabolic horse. 

Ok to be clear, so I understand,  Cushing's and IR are two completely different things? He will need to be tested for both? Hopefully the IR test will be a little less expensive! I always thought cushings and IR were kinda the same situation. 

On a lighter note... Chuy is doing better tonight! He is walking more willingly, still really sore but definitely improving! We pulled him out and did an ice bucket treatment got him to tolerate 15 minutes each side before he decided he didnt want to cooperate anymore. My husband put up some panels coming out of his stall so he could get outside in a smaller corner of the yard ... barely any grass right there coming up.. it's pretty dry lotted.. after his ice treatment I buted him a little more and put my BOT on him .. he walked slowly "outside " in his new mini run and seemed to enjoy the sunshine he was walking around slowly and much better! His eyes seem brighter today, less depressed.  I put him back up in the stall after 20 minutes of being outside and then we repacked him with the magic cushion and diapers  .. my boots didnt show up today, unfortunately... ups tracking now says Thursday :-(   so the good news is, he seems to be slowly improving now.. 

A lot of times they test together initially.

Well we got thru new years eve fireworks extravaganza (eye roll) ok.. my horses were stalled and didnt seem too uptight with all the ruckus from the neighbors. I'm happy to report chuy is looking better and better each day. I was up all night because of the fireworks and worrying about my boys in the barn... so I read ... and read ... and read.. just some observations... seems like folks in the UK deal with laminitis a lot more than we do! The last one I read was from Australia... They have completely different procedures and protocols. Not saying they dont work but I just found it interesting how they treat and handle their laminitis horses. They have an emergency diet. All our "American" grain, even the low NSC and feeds made for IR or cushings is BAD. Idk.. it made me wonder though... i dont even recognize pretty much all of their suggested feeds or hay ... I reached out on a Facebook group but it was UK and was pretty much told our vets and farriers dont know squat Lol! Maybe so... i see my horse slowly improving with what I'm doing so far so I'm not going to change it up right now. Just going to keep him comfortable so he can heal.. hes happy with his small dry lot run, just getting out in fresh air does wonders for him.. hes starting to eat his food and supplements more readily and looks more perky than he has in the last few days.  I thought the treatments and supplements available to us was overwhelming but now that I'm researching laminitis holy cow! Talk about overwhelming! 

Happy New Year, Chuy!!!!   So glad each day is better

I've got the horse in soft rides now and he seems just a little more comfortable... not much but its better than it was.  I thought we were getting better but that was short lived. I had my farrier and trusted friend out this morning and he pulled his shoes off on my request for now and his opinion as well. He said his soles appeared to have dropped... so that's not good. We put the softrides back on him and let him be ... he looked to be walking slightly better after that. He suggested more xrays from a different vet, he recommends. He said to me it's highly unlikely but not completely out of the question, but hes seen it before, the horse will probably never be able to perform again, he straight up told me, the horse is crippled. I knew it. So now I'm at that point what do I do... more xrays, more tests, more $$$$ I dont have .... do I just leave him be and see what happens as long as hes comfortable? I'm doing everything I possibly can to keep him comfortable... the boots are helping tremendously but hes still sore ... I've taken him off all grain and just giving him soaked hay and beet pulp with some salt and minerals in it. Hes eating happily, alert and doesnt appear to be in horrible amounts of pain. I know he cant live on bute ... but I gave him some more after my farrier left to try to ease him a little. I'm very tempted to get another set of more thorough xrays to just verify what my guy said. I trust him 1000% hes not my normal farrier I use for stuff... hes a trusted friend of my family and works a ton of laminitis cases for a few clinics and has seen it all. He didn't take a dime from me today or the last 3 times hes come out here to look at him, I insisted to at least pay for his fuel and he refused it. We both agreed testing for cushings and IR is moot at this point, the damage to the hoof has been done... we just decided to feed him like an IR horse and keep the sugar and starch out of his diet. No grains, no molasses and no sugars/starches... I'd personally rather spend the money on more xrays than blood testing theyll run roughly the same by the time they test for both. It doesn't matter at this point if he has it or not... Cushing's medication will not reverse the founder. I dont think anyway... kinda just writing my thoughts down as they come. I'm so sick over this... it's been a huge learning experience if anything. My good horse is fat, cresty in the neck and now I'm working feverishly to get him back into his work clothes... his diet is changed as well.  I feel terrible this happened I feel like it's my fault. 

He also told me hes going to talk to a colleague of his and pick his brain about a clog shoe? I think that's what he said.. he told me this vet he recommends will be able to see how much blood is getting to the hoof as well, we need to know that if we are going to make a go at this. Clog shoes would stimulate circulation in the hoof. But I'm here trying to decide if it's worth it.. of course if I had an endless healthy cash flow, I'd be doing all of it right now but it's just not the case. You know, how is it my neighbors who do nothing with their horses has a mare founder and they did ZERO, no xrays no nothing other than keep her off the grass and then put a muzzle on her and turned her out and she makes a full recovery with nothing, no vet, no pain meds... nothing... shes older than my gelding ... it just doesnt seem fair.. just the way it is I guess.

Your story is similar to mine and my gelding.  This has been at least 10 years ago but there's not a doubt in my mind losing him the way I did was my fault.  I overfed him.  He was too fat and since he was old (21) and on grass I didn't think about the consequences.  I vetted and farriered and fretted not knowing what to do until his pain became more than I could stand to see and I had him put down.  It was the right decision but it wasn't an easy one.

If you can wait til spring Boehringer Ingelheim does the Cushings Test and PPID year for free through your bet ( at least they have every year for the last few years). You just have blood drawn at the vet and they send it in to BI. Ask your vet about the program  

Yeah ... I probably overfed mine... I mean I dont give a ton but I buy the best, in my opinion, and tend to feed them like they are in heavy use in reality they arent ... they dont need all the extras that are fed with the best of intentions and thinking I'm doing good. My good horse is now being fed like hes IR ... I was told that's the best way nowadays with all the fertilizers and yada yada ... GMOS and high fat super rich grains added.... it's just too much for your average horse I guess... who really knows anyway but I'm not taking any chances on him ... hes getting a muzzle and limited turnout our grass is starting to come up like crazy already. Plus hes cresty already and that's not good! I was told roundup can cause cushings in horses ... theres been an explosion in that diagnosis with the last few years ... 

My vet pointed out the crest on my old horses neck too and began to explain how toxic overfeeding can be.