remedy for equine founder?

Answer 1

A friend of mine went to a seminar/lecture at the New Bolton Center
and I asked her to take notes for me. As some of you know, NBC is part of the
University of Pennsylvania's teaching hospital and probably one of the best
clinics in the world. This is the place where Barbaro is to give you an idea.
It seems that every vet has a different treatment protocal for founder and
laminitis so I thought it would be interesting to hear what the top vets in the
country recommend:

"Here are the treatment protocols developed there and used by all vets in this
area:

1.) Ice. Then more ice. Then do it some more, as often as you can get the wash
stall and for as long as you can get Hoofer to stand there. A clean muck tub
with a towel in the bottom (so it's not slippery), about 25 pounds of ice, and
cold water mixed in to make a slurry, and get it all the way up to his knees if
possible. Especially during the acute phase this is the most helpful thing you
can do. The vets around here also say, don't wait for symptoms! If Hoofer has
done something or had something happen to him that is often a founder trigger,
get him in ice. *Then* call the vet. Feed room break-in, high fever, someone
turned him out on spring grass, whatever; if the risk is there damage is being
done BEFORE he has symptoms so get him in that ice tub.

2.) Interim coffin bone support: Since it can sometimes take a few days to get a
farrier on site, get some frog/sole support on Hoofer. Lily pads are good. You
can also get a sheet of two-inch thick insulating foam at your local home
improvement store; cut a square out of it that is bigger than Hoofer's foot. Get
Hoofer to stand on it, and mark where to cut it down to make a shaped foot-pad
that sticks out beyond the edges of his foot. Trim; apply with duct tape. Keep
him on these until the vet and/or farrier can get there. Change every 24 hours.
Even if your horse is smaller and lighter, get the two-inch thick stuff, he'll
be almost through it in a day. Don't try to use the styrofoam coolers are made
from, you need the extra-dense insulating kind.

3.) Medication: Banamine (tm) for the inflammation. It is a better
anti-inflammatory than bute. Most vets will start with a big dose IV, then issue
the paste. Some horses are sensitive to it digestively, like mine -- got the
runs. Don't stop the Banamine! it is an essential part of the medical treatment.
Use probiotics, and consider Gastro-Gard (ka-ching!) -- it works great. For my
1,000 pound horse, we began with a "500 pound" dose of Banamine twice a day, are
now down to 250 once a day (the tube of paste is marked off in pounds of horse,
for some reason).

Medication 2: Acepromazine. It's a vaso-dilator. (Not too bad to have Hoofer a
little snoozy, either .) For my 1,000 pound horse we used 1.5 cc twice a day.
It can be given orally. We are now down to 1 cc once a day.

Medications 3+: In very acute cases, aspirin, nitroglycerine patches, and
serious pain meds may be indicated.

4.) Exercise: Let Hoofer take the lead. If he is usually out 24/7 and has a
little dry lot with a shed where he can mosey out and wander a bit if he feels
like it, that is very good. Do NOT force-walk him except to get him into the
wash rack to be iced (I did mention ice, didn't I?). If he is in a stall, let
him wander about on a lead if he feels like it, perhaps in a sand ring if one is
available. If there is a dry lot available for turnout, use it for gradually
longer periods as he improves. I personally feel that a deep-bedded stall is a
Good Thing, as it encourages Hoofer to lie down and take the weight off his
feet.

5.) Farriery: There are many competing schools of thought, most of them with at
least some validity. The primary issue is support of the coffin bone to (with
luck) prevent rotation. My farrier put my Morgan, who is usually shod on all
four, in Natural Balance shoes with injected polyurethane sole pads, and pulled
his shoes behind. This has worked for him. Lily pads also work on a more
temporary basis.

6.) Continue with the ice until Hoofer has no digital pulses. Just walking sound
is NOT enough; make sure the inflammation is gone.

7.) Once digital pulses are gone, and Hoofer jogs sound, wait at least three
weeks before returning to work. The feet are still in transition, the laminae
are delicate, and you can cause a mechanical founder if you start him back
carrying weight and working too soon.

8.) Radiographs are essential to track rotation or lack thereof. Get a set of
laterals as soon as possible after the episode begins; another set three weeks
later. Then you'll know what you're dealing with.

9.) If Hoofer has rotated, surgical hoof resection is the standard treatment
here. If your farrier does not do this, have your vet recommend one who does, or
get Hoofer to your nearest teaching hospital. The farrier at New Bolton Center
is available for telephone consultation, and skilled farriers will travel to do
this work if necessary. Your vet and your farrier will need to work very closely
together for a good outcome if there has been severe rotation, and you will need
to monitor their interactions for outbreaks of ego- itis. :-/

10.) Since there are many causes for laminitis the issues of diet, supplements,
shoeing, etc. have to be dealt with individually based on your veterinarian's
assessment. Nothing useful can be said that applies to every single horse."

Answer 2

Been there. Find a drench gun if you don't have one they sell them at feed stores. Go to the local grocery store and buy mineral oil. If the horse will cooperate then fill the gun with the oil and squirt it down it's throat till the bottle is empty. If it won't then 1 tie it to a tree, post anything sturdy and get a lip twitch. Once you have the twitch on and twist it the horse will do whatever you want. Repeat this in 12 hours and again in 24 during which time do not feed any grain at all to the horse keep plenty of water on hand and small amounts of hay. As the oil works it will move all of the grain out of the horses system before it has a chance to digest all of it. At first they won't drink much water but as soon as it starts to work they can't get enough. After this make sure you call a farrier out to get corrective shoes on the horse. One of ours that foundered didn't need them as he never got HOT we had caught it early enough to intervene but still have them checked. Then find out how he foundered and fix the problem so it doesn't happen again.

Answer 3

The Shadow01 covered basically everthing. I just wanted to add that isoxoprene helped. There is also a new supplement for foundered horses (Lamina Saver); ask your vet. It does run between $200-250 (ouch) for a tub.

Answer 4

Find a good farrier and get him to but on some heart bar shoes, get the horse off of rich grains and alfalfa, a good grass hay will do fine.
Good luck, God Bless,
don't give up it will take a while to clear up if it does, some horses will continue to founder once they have once.
like I said good luck!

Answer 5

You have to find the cause to ensure it wont reoccure as in too much grain, too much grass etc.

You will need a very good vet and a exceptional farrier to get the horse through this and it can be done but the longer you wait the worse the condition can get

Answer 6

Check out this site. It is a very helpful site

http://www.recoveryeq.com/laminitis_founder_pro.htm

Also check oout this message board
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/equine-founder/

Answer 7

make sure first that you have your farrier put corrective showing on your horse, you can also start your horse on a low dosage of bute everyday, my horse foundered an i put pine tar on her coronet band everyday to help speed up hoof growth, also take your horse off grain and minimze grazing and alfafa hay switch to grass hay. i also gave my mare glucosimine for her joints it did seem to help her move better

Answer 8

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/hoof_care/living Secraitarit was put down due to the disease. I am sorry 3. equisearch.com/horses_care/.../livingwithfounder_.