# What treats can you give a laminitic?



## binkymerlin (3 May 2011)

Would like some suggestions please guys i have given him a jolley ball, its hung in the middle of the stable. What i have done is dipped it in water and stuck some powdered mint on it which he seems to enjoy. I was just wondering if there was anything else i could put on without upsetting his lami. He is on box-rest until we know whats going on in his feet. The vet is coming tomorrow to do x-rays ect. We are so worried about him because of his lami plus he is a big fellow and PLUS he gets bored easy. so, has anyone got any tips/tricks to keep him from being bored and fed up?


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## ThePony (3 May 2011)

Am assuming that by big you mean fat? In which case, no treats! Is he allowed out of the stable at all? If so can you give him little walks in hand each day? Can you give him one of those blow up balls to play with instead, or perhaps a mirror? I would super soak his hay and then double net it so his ration lasts him as long as poss.


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## Happy Hunter (3 May 2011)

A suede?
My mates horse loves a football at head height within a haynet - bashes it about all day!
mirrors to watch.
put his dinner (all 6 nuts) - in a roller ball thingy?


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## binkymerlin (3 May 2011)

sorry abit vague. he isnt fat in the slightest. he is on soaked hay, has been since the start of spring with restricted grazing as we have a herd of very good doers {they are native and live on fresh air}. he is fed half a scoop of hoof kind to get his supps into him and has his soaked hay in a small hole net. We are well aware of lami and did everything to avoid it. we caught him eating his straw bed so we *think* that that is what has caused it? he is going to be blood tested the lot. he is a 16.1hh brick s**t house and to look at him you would think he is in full work. he is very cheeky and a very lovable brute who has a very active mind. I am just worried about him getting bored. he loves the jolley ball and it takes him a while to eat all his hay. i dunno prehaps im just thinking ahead incase he has to stop in for a long time. we are also giving him daily massages to keep the blood flowing. we dont want to walk him out untill we know what is going on in his feet. also he has a section in his stable which used to be a doorway into the stable next to him. we have built a wall half way up so he can still touch/groom/play with my horse {his best mate} and when my horse is out we put the mini in the stable next to him to keep him company. we have put him on shavings deep deep bed ect. so anything else would be great.

thanx guys


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## ThePony (3 May 2011)

didn't mean to be rude - 'big' is so often used as a euphamism for fat!!


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## ofcourseyoucan (3 May 2011)

well in my opinion the sooner they get bored in the stable and knuckle down to box confinement the better. the more  toys/stimulation you give them the longer it takes to settle. i would doubt the straw eating triggered the lami, more likely the guzzling of new grass(short grass is more stressed and higher in sugars!) if you are very concerned buy a pen and put it out, box rest doesnt have to mean a stable just a confined area. if he is not fat then i would get your vet to blood test for cushions/EMS. something is driving the laminitis.


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## ofcourseyoucan (3 May 2011)

sorry treats ? could that be your problem? a good groom, a massage, a cold hose and feet wash?  NIL by mouth! except maybe some happy hoof/fast fibre.


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## alliebaxter (3 May 2011)

try giving him clivers if there`s any growing near you, its that long strandy sticky stuff that sometimes gets called sticky bud you may remember throwing it at each other as children its great for circulation


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## 0ldmare (3 May 2011)

Sugart free mints are a good little treat. Old Mare gave me a bit of an old fashioned look when I first gave them to her but decided they were better than nothing. Might also be worth checking the sugar content of a swede. You could hang it up on a string to make it a bit more interesting (I've never given mine one, but she spent her confinement in the school so had a bit more mental stimulation than being stabled)


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## RobinHood (3 May 2011)

I'd give him plenty of clean straw so he can forage for tasty bits and get plenty of fibre to keep his gut healthy.


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## binkymerlin (3 May 2011)

by treats i mean mental stimulation 'but' i understand what you say about them getting into the throws of box rest. Dont realy want to put him out as the ground is as hard as hard can be and if he dicks around he could aggrivate the lami more. We never feed treats from the hand or give food treats atall never have done spesh with him, very mouthy horse< not in a vile way just uses his lips to explore things. I think i have come across abit dim here. I meant mental stimulation treats. Gah its hard to express on a forum.


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## Aru (3 May 2011)

NO treats!
You dont want to trigger his laminitis again.
Nil per mouth bar supersoaked and washed out hay.
Work on other types of treats like a good groom,handling and giving him loads of attention. If hes a true laminitic and at risk of attack then the days of feeding him treats are over  

Turning out to an outdoor pen or a very small section of the field-no grass cover in it though so a sacrifice pen- well bedded down-wet sand or deep shavings, might be good for stimulation if hes difficult to handle on box rest.

Stable mirrors can be good as well to stop vices and relieve boredom.

Also if he is under condition...and not carrying any extra fat do you know whats his predisposing cause to lami is?
Cushings might be a problem  
but it is a very multifactorial thing...could have been the new grass the hard ground...theres a lot of potential causes for laminitis.


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## binkymerlin (3 May 2011)

again sorry i didnt mean food treats we have never done such a thing. Mental stimulation treats ie stuff i can rub on his jolley ball to get him to streatch out or any kind of veg he can have. We are massaging him daily and streatching his legs out ect. He will be blood tested and is being x-rayed tomoro. Cleaver is good stuff also good for bad chests will look into it more. I just want to do the best by him as its very scary when a big horse comes down with lami :-(


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## maggie123 (3 May 2011)

Someone at my yard recently had their cob on box rest with lami -Vet told them that a  log smeared with a little bit of marmite would be something they could give him safely. She also suggested if he didnt like the marmite (love it or hate it  )  then smearing a tea spoon of those herb pastes you can buy from the supermarket over it instead was also ok.


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## lochpearl (4 May 2011)

My big ID has just got over a very nasty case of lami, he's 16.3 and was in for 4 week, 3 with meds and one off. He has now started going out in a starvation paddock. Mine is a big lad and had a lot of box rest for different injuries over the last 24 months so he was holding extra weight that we needed to get off. So add starvation to box rest again, I had a monster on my hands!!

He hated swedes, however he loves them now, I tie them to the rafters of the stable and that kept him quiet for a while. Double netted his haynets, he chewed through them so that also took up some time  he has his jolly ball to play with. He used to have a mirror that he loved until he ate it, so all there is, is the wooden backing that it was attached to, that he is gradually destroying.

I would say you are probably doing everything you can and what a bonus you have something in with him all the time. my poor lad was alone. I agree that you shouldn't move him, mine wasn't allowed out of his box for 4 weeks and we did xray him and there was no rotation or sinking so I was very lucky. Take everything as slowly as you can. Mine is out for the second time, vet came yesterday so he had a few hours in a starvation paddock and this morning he has gone out for a few more hours to get him used to the hard ground after his padded stable and the grass again.

I feel for you and hope your lad comes right quickly x


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## Amymay (4 May 2011)

maggie123 said:



			Someone at my yard recently had their cob on box rest with lami -Vet told them that a  log smeared with a little bit of marmite would be something they could give him safely. She also suggested if he didnt like the marmite (love it or hate it  )  then smearing a tea spoon of those herb pastes you can buy from the supermarket over it instead was also ok.
		
Click to expand...

That's a brilliant idea.


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## nightrider (4 May 2011)

Nettles ... Cut them (long) lay them out flat and dry them in the sun  you only need to feed a handful. All goodness 

Hope your chap gets better soon, my IDx got laminitis last winter due to the hard ground was on box rest for 8 weeks, he got compacted colic too as he usually lives out!  We went through hell and came out the other end,  thank god! 

Good luck and think positive


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## Amaranta (4 May 2011)

binkymerlin said:



			sorry abit vague. he isnt fat in the slightest. he is on soaked hay, has been since the start of spring with restricted grazing as we have a herd of very good doers {they are native and live on fresh air}. he is fed half a scoop of hoof kind to get his supps into him and has his soaked hay in a small hole net. We are well aware of lami and did everything to avoid it. we caught him eating his straw bed so we *think* that that is what has caused it? he is going to be blood tested the lot. he is a 16.1hh brick s**t house and to look at him you would think he is in full work. he is very cheeky and a very lovable brute who has a very active mind. I am just worried about him getting bored. he loves the jolley ball and it takes him a while to eat all his hay. i dunno prehaps im just thinking ahead incase he has to stop in for a long time. we are also giving him daily massages to keep the blood flowing. we dont want to walk him out untill we know what is going on in his feet. also he has a section in his stable which used to be a doorway into the stable next to him. we have built a wall half way up so he can still touch/groom/play with my horse {his best mate} and when my horse is out we put the mini in the stable next to him to keep him company. we have put him on shavings deep deep bed ect. so anything else would be great.

thanx guys
		
Click to expand...

Eating his straw bed would not have given him laminitis.  Straw is nutritionally very very low.  In fact, if you can find some oat straw, you could bed him down on that and let him pick at it, failing oat straw (rocking horse manure!), barley straw will do but not wheat straw as that could cause a blockage.

Double net his hay, feed everything in a ball, hang footballs from the rafters (my mare loved to beat them up  ) but sadly no feed treats 

I have one on six months boxrest at the moment so I feel your pain!


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (4 May 2011)

If talking about treats: my farrier says don't give carrots to a laminitic coz its something to do with Beta Carotene (which is what makes carrots orange colour) which doesn't help. Also (an aside) because of this, a lot of horses shouldn't have carrots as it can make them very hyper, like some children have to avoid beta carotene.


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## Bigginge (4 May 2011)

Keeping him on a deep shavings bed is a good idea as the shavings will mold into his feet and provide support. Have you calculated how much fibre he should be having? Soak the bejeesus out of it and feed it small and often (divide it into 3 or 4 'feeds' a day) in double netted small holed haynets. Double netting will slow him down more than just using one small holed net. I guess you're getting the vet ASAP to see what is happening exactly with his feet, until you know I wouldn't be letting him out of his stable at all, even to muck out, let the bedding give him the support he needs. The laminitis trust recommends they stay in for a month after they are symptom free on no medication.

Sometimes too much stimulation in the form of people coming in and out just winds them up more and they can settle better when left alone, I guess they're hoping when they see people they will let them out especially if they kick up a fuss.

Formula 4 feet, also from the laminitis trust can be fed to laminitics, it contains all the vits and minerals he will need for healthy feet and is apple flavoured so mine thinks he is getting horse treats! Not sure if they will work in a treat ball, but you could try it, although if your horse is kicking the ball with his feet the extra concussion might not be good for laminitic toes.

Hope he gets better soon


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