Equine · Musculoskeletal · Internal medicine
Equine laminitis
Painful shifting weight, a bounding digital pulse, and heat in the hoof wall. Endocrinopathic causes now outnumber grain overload.
The lamellar interface fails when perfusion, inflammation, or insulin signaling is deranged. Three broad buckets: endocrinopathic disease from equine metabolic syndrome or PPID, sepsis-associated disease from colitis, retained placenta, or grain overload, and supporting-limb laminitis. Obel grading guides urgency. Radiographs establish baseline distal phalanx rotation and sinking for prognosis and farriery. Treatment is treating the primary disease, cryotherapy of the distal limb in sepsis-associated cases, sustained analgesia, deep bedding, and mechanical support that shifts load off the dorsal lamellae. Long-term control means diet restriction, testing for insulin dysregulation, pergolide for PPID, and a committed farrier plan.