What Causes Winter Laminitis

It s a laminitis like syndrome triggered by cold weather.

What causes winter laminitis.

Cold weather can cause laminitis in horses. Many have a history of laminitis at other times of the year but some do not. Should you protect a laminitic horse when the weather is cold discover how you can help your horse and avoid laminitis due to the cold. The pain is often severe but the feet are not hot as they are in classical acute laminitis cases.

Laminitis has become one of the most heavily researched aspects of lameness because it affects so many horses. The horse does not necessarily have a prior history of laminitis. In all species cold causes a reflex shunting of blood away from the extremities and toward the core to. The pain is often severe but the feet aren t hot as they are in classical acute laminitis cases.

Here s how to spot the warning signs and act fast to manage them. Veterinarians working with many laminitic horses are well acquainted with the problem but others may be unfamiliar with it. Here in the uk our winters are long and wet. Every winter some owners and caretakers are faced with the onset of obvious foot pain in their horses for no apparent reason.

The causes vary and may include the following. Some horses have a history of winter laminitis that strikes the same time every year and is resistant to all efforts at treatment until one day in early spring it suddenly goes away. Horses normally have a very high tolerance for cold. Winter laminitis strikes with n0 change in diet or management.

Many horses seem to struggle with laminitis in winter. Although laminitis occurs in the feet the underlying cause is often a disturbance elsewhere in the horse s body. The digital pulses may or may not be elevated. Winter laminitis can strike with no change in diet or management.

Many questions need to be answered but significant headway has been made in understanding and controlling this issue.