The Results Are In

" I'm feeling better and think I can go back out now, you know "

" Hey, where do you think you're  going, come back here, right now !"

" That did it, I'm not speaking to you anymore"

I’ve been waiting for the results to come back from Dusty’s many tests performed by our vet.  Yesterday I got the call: there is absolutely nothing wrong with her.  She had a slew of blood tests and all her chemistries are good, just a little underlying Lyme, but that’s to be expected since they are constantly exposed and, as many believe, once you have Lyme it never completely leaves your system. Dusty is not insulin resistant and doesn’t have HYPP, which were the two big ones I was worried about.  When she first injured herself her muscles were so tight she looked as if she might be tying up.  She may have been tying up, but it was most likely due to the stress and pain of compensating for the pain in her feet.

She is still on stall rest until next Friday when the vet will come out and evaluate her progress.  I’m hoping for an ultra-sound of her hind suspensories to give me a clue as to how they are healing.  Dusty is not getting any grain or grass but I do take her out for short walks on soft ground and grooming.  I’ve even let her in the small paddock with a grazing muzzle on for a few minutes just so she can roll; it seems to make her feel better. 

Even though the vet wants her to have no grain or grass, I’m not totally convinced that the reason for her founder is the grass and grain. I know it’s the pat answer for any horse with this affliction in the spring, but I’ve read in studies done that they can’t reproduce founder/laminitis in a controlled setting with spring grass or grain.  Personally, I suspect it could be due to the multiple vaccinations she gets in the spring.  Some of our horses have bad reactions to them.  Blue is one of the ones who swells up terribly (and not just at the injection sites), Nate often gets lymphangitis, Mellon gets colicky and once had a bout of laminitis after his vaccines, etc., and Dusty often runs a fever after her shots despite giving her bute.  This year in particular they all seemed especially miserable for a few days after their vaccinations….

I’ve been to some message boards concerning a certain company, which shall remain nameless because I don’t want to open a can of worms here; I’ve found horse people with the same problem of founder and colic after the vaccinations are administered.  This happened to her last year after the vaccinations so I am suspect and wary and will most likely change companies for future vaccinations. I should mention too that my horse Erik colicked and died two days after his spring vaccinations.  We have always tried to limit the number of vaccines we give and space them out over several weeks, but the reactions are still an issue.  Our previous vet wouldn’t use this particular company’s vaccines because of just these reasons.  Makes me wonder…

In the meantime we’ll try to make Dusty as comfortable as possible. Being locked in her stall, she is going stir crazy and is making her annoyance known: there’s a lot of door slamming and ear pinning, of course, she’s in a raging heat again which isn’t helping.

Until next time

Quote for Today

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire.
    - Sharon Ralls Lemon-