Re: Club foot vs. laminitis, Cushing's dz.

["mmieske" <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

I'll update you a little bit here...Nelson looked at the x-rays and they were not very good ones.  Too light.  But being a farrier, he knows how to read them.  I don't know how this vet "measures" but there was very little rotation at all.   Her feet were solid with good sole AND hoof wall with no evidence of separation.  Though there may be no "rule" for amount of rotation, let me say that it is not the norm for there to be rotation in one foot without some in the other.  Other vets will agree with that.  We looked this mare over again (after several phone calls with HORSE vets that we trust) and her feet seem to be sore because her tendons are extremely tight.  She still does not test sore on her soles.  She has been standing around a lot in her stall.  If she did have abscesses in her feet, the x-rays would not have shown it because they were too light.  We could barely see the bones in her feet.  Other vets have told me that sometimes the excess cortisol in the body can be the source of the pain in a Cushingoid horse?  I don't know for sure about that.  As far as the thyroid meds this horse was on...the vet started her on them last year even though she tested normal, because she was overweight and has never tested her levels since.  I may NOT be a vet but does that sound prudent to YOU?  According to the research from the internet I have done and interviewing several vets, treating a horse with Cushings for thyroid can aggravate the Cushings.  As far as testing her blood goes, the mare was too dehydrated to get a big enough drop out of her so we gave it up for a bad job...the "large grain meal" I mentioned wasn't really large...we were going to give her 3# after testing her blood and then check it again later. She otherwise gets next to nothing.  I may have made some assumptions and assertions about a vet you don't know that offended you but I DO know this guy is totally inexperienced with horses and ANYONE should be able to see that.  He does not treat my horses and there is a reason for that.  There are several cow vets in my area that I would never call to treat my horse for something serious.  Cows are their thing and they are damn good at it.  If I have a sick cow, I'll call them.   I am concerned about my horses' health and take as much care in selecting a vet as I would in selecting a pediatrician for my kids.  I have not been throwing around thoughts and ideas willy nilly about this horse's problem...I wrote to Ridecamp looking for MORE help.  My uneducated guess is that this horse has Cushing's with a club foot (that has little to no rotation and no laminae separation) that needs to be monitored for complications from laminitis....hopefully, the second vet's opinion will concur, they can get appropriate tests done, bloodwork, some viewable x-rays to make sure there are no abcesses, perhaps start her on a proper diet with pergolide and she can live a long, pain free life.  

Maggie