Case Study ID #84:
“Sunny - foundered mare with sole penetration”
Photo Galleries | Videos (new!) | Discussion
| Author | purdylady |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 07-29-2007 |
| Last Updated | 05-31-2008 |
| Status | Public |
| Comments | Accepted |
| Description | Sunny was a rescue from Missouri in 2005. She was in the process of being rehibilitated and was progressing nicely until her adopter went through a divorce and had to move. Sunny was moved to a friend's farm and her laminitis again flared up due to dietary issues. In several months' time she was in so much pain and was down the majority of the time that it was advised to have her euthanized. Another friend in common from Colorado thought that Sunny was too nice of a mare to give up on so she consulted with me and together we came to the conclusion that I was her only hope. She was shipped to me an hour away from where she was being kept and from that point on her life has changed dramatically. She is currently on grass hay, outside 24/7, wears Deluxe Equine Slippers with pads and has daily stretching and PT. She is on a soft flat dirt 100' diameter area so she is able to get around and move. In the first months I was persuaded by a farrier to put Steward clogs on her. I learned very quickly that horses with rotation such as Sunny's do not do well in this type of situation. I waited to give this option time to work and after two and a half months rasped those clogs off and took over her trimming myself. The farrier was disappointed that I did not want to continue using the clogs but said to keep him updated on her progress with my trimming. I am hoping in a year from now I will be able to show him that Sunny is recovered and running around in the pasture. :) |
| Type(s) | Founder, Laminitis, Long Toes, High Heels |
Galleries
Click on a gallery title below to view the photos, enlargements and captions.
Sunny 1-26-08 (Date of Photos: 01-26-2008)
Sunny is looking sooo much better. She is even walking further distances during her hand walks each day. I would say she is walking close to 600ft away from her pen and she is doing this at each feeding time. I just have her follow me with bucket in hand and go as far as she is willing and then leave her be while she eats. Then she will usually wander back to her pen on her own to be with her buddy Panda.
The only view I was unable to take a picture of is the left front sole. She thought it was time to get up when I was done rasping the heels on that foot and I didn't get a picture in to show. All other views are after the sanding with the dotco.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny- July 2007 - Oct 2007 (Date of Photos: 08-07-2007)
This was the period of time when Sunny was first here and a farrier friend told me that he had seen good success using the Steward clogs. Against my better judgment I decided to go ahead and try using this technique but after two resets and Sunny's condition worsening I rasped them off and took over her trims from that point out. The clogs were put on 8/7 and I took over trims 10/22. I also had x-rays done while the clogs were on 8/30 and they show the screws beside the hoof but you can still tell the rotation was around 20 degrees at that time. My decision to take the clogs off was a no-brainer since the hairline at the heel was taller than the dorsal. My farrier insisted that we keep her in them and was pretty disappointed that I did not want to continue on the route. I just told him I was her only advocate and that I had to do what I thought was right. The clogs no longer made sense to me any more. :(
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Turning point 10-22-07 (Date of Photos: 10-22-2007)
This is the pivotal point in Sunny's rehab where I "fired my farrier" and took over her trims. Her hairline was horizontal to the ground so I needed to slowly every week lower her heels. I just took the clogs off and did a small amount of trimming to even everything up and roll the wall a little. I wanted her to at least adjust a day or two before going full throttle.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Starting to lower heels 10-28-07 (Date of Photos: 10-28-2007)
This is the first heel trim I was able to do. I was excited at this point because the heels were already chalky and looking like they wanted to come down anyway. This was lifting the toe off the ground some but not enough because in my future trims you will see where I have changed tatics and start bringing the toe back. I am being advised by the people on the Equine-founder Yahoo! group. :)
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Nov 17 2007 trimmed and then soaked with Clean Trax (Date of Photos: 11-17-2007)
This trim I was able to lower the heels a little more as well as have her soak in Clean Trax for an hour and then have the vapors absorb for another hour.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny 12-2-07 (Date of Photos: 12-02-2007)
My second trim with the dotco. Her hooves changed a lot in one week and even the new growth is amazing at the heel.
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Sunny 12/18/07 (Date of Photos: 12-18-2007)
Third trim with the dotco. Her feet are really starting to change. The RF is beginning to show a lot of progress both with hairline angles and toe. Her abcessing in this foot is minimal. The left however is still a problem and I think is ready to blow an abcess. She is very sore and is laying down a lot this week, both before and after the trim. I had to go back out the next day 12-19 to do the heels and level up the walls on this foot. It's starting to really list to one side.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
11-25-07 Begin to use dotco sanding disk to trim toes (Date of Photos: 11-25-2007)
The first pictures were taken 11/24/07 when I had only accomplised trimming the heels. This week I started using the dotco powered by our air compressor to trim Sunny's toes and did them the next day 11/25. I have heard of abrasive trimming but never though to use this way until now. It is actually fairly easy to do and Sunny stands very calmly even despite the loud noise from the compressor. I have been starting out using 80-grit sanding disks and have been advised to use something closer to 40-grit. But these work fine for now and I'm not able to mess up quite as easily since it doesn't take away too much hoof wall too quickly. I am still trimming the heels with her laying down with knob cutters and then rasping them smooth. The sanding disks are only used to shape the toe and reduce the laminar wedge. Sunny just stood and licked and chewed the whole time.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny 12/19/2007 trimming the heels and leveling up the foot (Date of Photos: 12-19-2007)
This is the following day after the dotco trim to work on the heels and the walls. She was laying on the manure pile in her big pen so I took the opportunity to go out and trim. The right foot looks good in comparison to the left. The right has improved steadily since I started trimming and looks better from all views but the left is still not up to par. It is improving but I am going to do another soak with White Lightening this time and see if it helps. The left also needs more toe taken back on the wall and probably a smidge more heel. The hairline on the right foot is nearly 30 degrees but the left is still at about 25...so still more work yet to be done.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny 12-27-07 (Date of Photos: 12-27-2007)
I was able to get out and trim Sunny again this week. Our snow and muddy conditions have been making things a little harder on Sunny and I hope things dry out soon. I was able to trim her heels while she was laying down and took the left down the remaining degrees so that now both feet are 30 degrees at the hairline. YAHOO! I only took maybe 1/8th inch off the right and about a 1/4th inch off the left. I was also able to balance the medial view of the hoof a lot better this trim. Then I walked her into the barn. She was limping badly on her left but I do believe she is building up an abcess in this hoof. I was able to sand down with the dotco using 36-grit sanding disk the toe and down through the laminar wedge. Both feet are changing and she is getting into her heels a lot better. The left is still not quite there but I think once this abcess blows she will be more comfortable. I plan on soaking her in oxine AH activated with citric acid cystals daily and then weekly to help with the bacteria and fungal intruders that are possibly trying to destroying her hooves.
I still really have a positive outlook for Sunny even though she still is laying down a lot and is on the thin side weight-wise. I know once she gets some new growth coming in and pushes some of the old material out so she can start to heal then she will start feeling better. From this point on I plan to only trim her once every two weeks since I finally got her angles where they need to be. I do change her diapers and pads daily or every other day and have her in Deluxe Equine Slippers. They are a real time saver and keep the pads in place.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny 1-1-08 Left front coronet band starting to abcess (Date of Photos: 01-01-2008)
Sunny's left front coronet band is bulging and on the verge of abcessing. I soaked her in hot apple cider vinegar solution to help get her through this. I will be soaking her daily until it finally blows. I have oxine AH on order to start soaking her hooves in that to help with any thrush or bacteria that might be up in her hooves. I'm hoping she be comfortable soon. :)
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny 3-9-08 Sole seems to be filling in (Date of Photos: 11-30-1999)
Sunny is still doing ok but laying down a lot. I have her in the slippers still but some days give her a rest from them and let her feet have some air.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny 3-15-08 sanding from the top (Date of Photos: 11-30-1999)
These pictures are after a trim with the dotco sander. Her balance side to side is still off but the sole on the bottom prevents me from getting it right. Not too sure at this point how to correct this.
Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized photo and caption.
Sunny is going downhill in May (Date of Photos: 11-30-1999)
The weekend of Mother's Day Sunny laid down for nearly three days straight. She has new spring grass coming up in her lot and I believe she is becoming laminitic all over again because of her Insulin Resistance. Her eye orbitals are sticking out at least a good two inches from her head and she is extremely sore. I have been trimming her about every two weeks but the heel growth is coming in very fast. I was told to let her heels be back in March because it looked like she was in a negative coffin bone plane. Now looking at my pictures on May 23rd...I need to level everything up from the bottom while she's laying down and take off some heel. I won't do that until next weekend. She has lost a massive amount of weight in a small amount of time from the pain. I have been giving her bute just to get her through this. Both her heels and toes are abscessing.
I was able to take pictures today. I also took back her toes. I took the right back a lot since it was soft and mushy at the toe. I just sawed through it and took it clear back. Then a bunch of very yucky material came out of a hole in that area. Now the corium is exposed in a couple of areas. It was really gross. So now that foot looks really uneven because I was not able to touch either sole at all. She was very very tender today. I soaked the right and then worked on her left. She had a bunch of really gross green stuff come out of the frog area. I just really don't feel like I am getting anywhere with her feet. The heels now need to be brought down again but I won't do that until next weekend. Taking back that toe today was a lot of change for her. Also the right looks like it is going to abscess at the coronet band and also at the heel. The heels look pinched and very swollen.
She was doing so well until now...this is very disheartening. I have her off the grass and stalled some and then out in a dry lot with prairie hay only with two other mares. I also feed her beet pulp that I have rinsed the molasses off of first along with her regular low NSC feed. I have her on the ulcer meds and E3Live. She was off the E3Live for about three weeks and I really think her feet deteriorated a lot during this time. I can't believe it makes that much difference. She is back on it now and I've been giving her double doses. I have Forco on order and will be giving that to her soon to help with her weight loss. She just seems very critical right now.
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Rest sweet girl...Sunny 1999-May 27, 2008 (Date of Photos: 11-30-1999)
Today Sunny lost her battle with founder. She is running freely with the other horses who have gone before her. I made the decision this morning with the blessing of her owner to go ahead and put her to rest. I am extremely saddened by this but know that with as fast as she was deteriorating that I did what was best for her. I was right there with her stroking her face all while the vet was giving her the shot. Her owner asked if I would save her mane and tail hair so that she can make a bracelet for all those who cared for Sunny. She will forever be in my heart.
Go run free sweet girl...I love you.
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