Dr. Getty,
My 7 yr old Arabian founderd first in December of 2005 by getting into some sweet feed, thus she had a carb. overload. She recovered after several months, but has had 2 occurances, not as severe since then. Recently, I thought she was having another occurance, and my vet exray both front feet, and there was no negative change. She was favoring her right foot, but yet when we checked her with the hoof tester, there seemed to be no pain. We put her on bute 1 gram twice a day to help with any inflamation and pain. When we took her off of the bute, within 48 hours she was showing pain and lameness again. Both my vet and farrior are stumped. We had reversed shoes on her which seemed better than others that we had tried. However this past Friday she has showed problems with her left front foot. My farrior came Sat. and took her shoe off, tested her, and we think she may have an abcess. I have her on 1 gram of bute a day, and soaking her foot twice a day with ebsom salts. I have taken her off of the pasture completely thinking that may help her also. Am putting her out in the riding ring with plenty of grass hay so that she can get exercise for her circulation. She seems to be so sensitive to everything. Oh, my vet also put her on thyroid medicine as that is suppose to regulate the insulin in her. Is there any other supplement that you would recommend for her. I really want to get her well again--miss riding! Thanks so much for your help.
Flo Davis

Where are you from? Boone, NC

How did you locate this forum? research for products for laminitis

Hello Flo,

Thank you for writing about your mare. Yes, there are two supplements that I would suggest. The first is an overall vitamin/mineral supplement that is high in antioxidants to help improve circulation to her foot and assist in healing. It's called Laminex.

The second is an additional source of magnesium. She will already get approximately 6 grams of magnesium from Laminex, but you'll want to give her more. She should have 5 grams per 250 lbs of body weight. So, if she's 1000 lbs, give her three scoops of a product called Quiessence, to complement the Laminex. Magnesium is important for reducing circulating insulin levels.

Her diet is also important and if you find a personal phone visit to be helpful, please let me know. That way I can go over the big picture and evaluate her siutation from a holistic perspective. To goal would be to prevent another attack and aid in healing, as well as remove her reliance on medications that may be harmful over the long term.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO