Founder

Hi,

I need help.  I am at my wits end right now and totally disenchanted with both my vet and farrier.  About 6 weeks ago I came home to find my 10 yr old horse "not himself."  Usually being very active and at times obnoxious, it was obvious something was just "not right" with him standing quietly in a corner of his paddock. 

After about 12 hours of his "not quite right" behavior I called our vet, who told me he had somehow injured his hind leg and was just "very sore and sorry for himself."  OK, so after another 12 hours to come home and find him lying flat out on the ground I called the same vet out.  Again I was told he was "sore and sorry for himself."  After 5 days on "bute" he still wasn't right so I called the vet out again who then told me he was foundered.  Until now I didn't realize exactly what that meant, and the vet didn't bother to explain the seriousness of the condition.  All I was told was that he would be sore and sorry for a while and to give him Bute and restrict his diet.  That wasn't difficult becuase he refused anything but water.  Again, not normal, and again I was reassured by my vet to "NOT PANIC" and he will be OK. 

My farrier then came out and told me that the horse wasn't foundered but he actually had a hoof infection.  OK, so then I called the vet again and he told me "DON'T PANIC" he doesn't need antibiotics etc. etc. etc.  This went on and on for approximately 6 weeks.

Now I have a horse who is not only in extreme pain but has a 'rotated pedal bone' which is apparently causing the bleeding in not only one but two hooves, because it is all but coming through the sole of his hoof.  This was pretty much diagnosed by myself from what I have researched on the net and confirmed today after I demanded an X-Ray.

The problem I have now is #1, what kind of pain relief I can give him (with less side effects than bute) and #2, what can I do now to save him ?

Please help. 

Regards
M

Hi M,

Sounds like quite the roller coaster ride you've had with the farrier and veterinarian!  Do not despair, there is a way out of this.

Now that you're dealing with a Founder case, you need to read a lot of the info that can be found on the internet.  Do a search for "barefoot founder trim" and you'll get a lot of good sites come up.  I noticed your email address may be from Australia?  I know a couple in SE Australia (see www.equethy.com) Chrisann and Mike are a very good source of information for you!

Simply correcting the diet (low sugar, high fiber grass) and proper, careful trimming are the BEST things to do for getting a horse comfortable.  Occasional, Bute can be helpful, but I rarely have to resort to using it in the cases I deal with.

There is a book by Jaime Jackson called "Founder" that you should get. 

Click here to go to the website and e-mail Chrisann.

You're on the right track.  Keep up your research and keep your chin up.  The next few weeks and months will bring you closer to your horse as you get through this.

Dr. Tom T.