What Is Laminitis Caused By

While the exact mechanisms by which the feet are damaged remain a mystery certain precipitating events can produce laminitis.

What is laminitis caused by.

Laminitis is a complex cascade of events that causes the soft tissues laminae within the hoof to swell weaken and die. Traumatic laminitis is caused by repeated physical trauma to the feet during e g. It is now recognised that up to 90 of laminitis cases are caused by an underlying hormonal disease such as equine metabolic syndrome ems and or cushing s disease. Hormonal laminitis is the most common form.

Severe lameness in one limb will cause a horse or pony to carry excessive weight on his other limbs which may cause laminitis. Laminitis caused by overload. Chronic laminitis includes the damage caused after the initial attack and any laminitic episodes that happen after the first one. 1 hormonal endocrine laminitis.

Laminitis has multiple causes some of which commonly occur together. Horses and ponies are heavy creatures. The inflammation and damage to the laminae causes extreme pain and leads to instability of the coffin bone in the hoof. Relatively less commonly horses can get laminitis from overload typically associated with non weight bearing conditions in one limb thereby overloading the opposite limb.

There are 3 main causes of laminitis. The causes vary and may include the following. Laminitis is a painful and potentially crippling disease that can be fatal to horses. There are several causes of laminitis but the primary cause is a sudden increase in carbohydrates in the horse s diet.

These causes can be grouped into broad categories. Laminitis also termed founder is inflammation of the laminae of the foot the soft tissue structures that attach the coffin or pedal bone of the foot to the hoof wall. Overload inflammatory and metabolic. It can also be caused by overenthusiastic hoof trimming.

Essentially there are three main causes of laminitis. This can all occur before any symptoms are apparent and once the process has started it is extremely difficult to stop. Although laminitis occurs in the feet the underlying cause is often a disturbance elsewhere in the horse s body. One of the more common causes current theory states citation needed that if a horse is given grain in excess or eats grass under stress and has accumulated excess nonstructural carbohydrates sugars starch or fructan it may be unable.

The most famous example of this was the american racehorse barbaro who had a. Diseases with inflammation hormonal diseases and mechanical overload are just some of the causes of laminitis. 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.