Main Causes Of Laminitis

Digestive upsets due to grain overload such as excess grain fruit or snacks or abrupt changes in diet.

Main causes of laminitis.

Overload inflammatory and metabolic. Overload metabolic and inflammatory. There are 3 main causes of laminitis. Laminitis caused by overload.

The horse is designed to digest carbohydrates starches and sugars in the small intestine and fibre in the hindgut. A horse favoring an injured leg will both severely limit its movement and place greater weight on the other legs. An increasingly common cause of the disease is a hormonal imbalance called cushings disease and womb infections after foaling are a well known cause of laminitis. Around 90 of cases of laminitis are thought to be caused by endocrine diseases such as equine metabolic syndrome or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction ppid which is also known as cushing s disease.

Another common cause is nutritionally induced laminitis through carbohydrate overload. Although laminitis occurs in the feet the underlying cause is often a disturbance elsewhere in the horse s body. Systemic diseases that have a septic or toxic focus can cause laminitis. Lack of sufficient movement alone or in combination with other factors can cause stagnant anoxia which in turn can cause laminitis.

From diarrhea and colic to black walnut toxicity to a horse that has binged on feed to a mare with a retained placenta or even a horse with a fever. When these conditions cause laminitis the initiating cause must be identified and treated before you can turn your attention to the laminitis. Relatively less commonly horses can get laminitis from overload typically associated with non weight bearing conditions in one limb thereby overloading the opposite limb. The causes vary and may include the following.

Horses especially ponies allowed unrestricted access to pasture particularly lush spring grass before the digestive system has had time to adapt are at extremely high risk. Horses that pound their feet can sometimes cause sufficient damage to the laminae to cause concussion laminitis. This includes pneumonia pleurisy diarrhea colic and purulent metritis. Blood poisoning or toxaemia can also be a cause.

Affected horses have an abnormal response to the sugars in grass which can make them more susceptible to equine laminitis. The main cause of laminitis in horses in australia and in most parts of the developed world is from allowing horses to overeat and become obese. In addition any infection in the body can produce enough toxins to damage the sensitive blood vessels and cause laminitis. Inflammation can also be a cause of laminitis.

This sometimes leads to static laminitis particularly if the animal is confined in a stall. Anytime they have an injury and must bear weight unevenly there is a huge risk of laminitis due to overload in that weight bearing limb.