Laminitis: A Debilitating Disease for Horses

By Jon Geller and D.V.M.
Published on April 12, 2021
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by Adobestock/Bigc Studio
A horse with laminitis will stand in a "sawhorse" stance, with all four legs angled out from the normal position.

Jon Geller, DVM offers his farm animal health experience in caring for cows, calves, horses and sheep. This issue covers laminitis, a deadly disease for horses that can be easily prevented.

An ounce of prevention could save your horse a world of pain.

Fort Collins, Colorado, November 1994

The stallion was sedated and quickly settled down. Sure enough an exam revealed a sky-high heart rate and brick-red gums — unmistakable signs of colic. A belly tap, done by carefully inserting an 18-gauge needle into the horse’s abdomen, yielded a tube of thick, brownish blood-tinged fluid. A ruptured stomach was suspected. Too many injections of painkillers, given to treat the stallion’s laminitis, had eaten through his stomach wall, allowing feed to spill into the abdominal cavity and causing severe infection and the resulting colic. Laminitis was attempting to claim yet another victim.

Emergency surgery was needed. The once champion racehorse was led, legs trembling and wobbling, to the surgery room. A catheter was quickly placed, and the horse collapsed to its knees as the anesthetic coursed through its veins.

Twenty years earlier, on the first Saturday in May, Foolish Pleasure pranced rebelliously. His handlers steered him toward the starting gates of Churchill Downs, as a buzzing sellout crowd anxiously anticipated the start of the Kentucky Derby. Finally settled into their gates, the three-year-olds bolted as the starters gun released them. Foolish Pleasure quickly moved up along the rail.

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