Laminitis: A Scientific and Realistic Approach

If you would like it personalized, write the person's name in the "Order Notes" after you add it to your cart.  Covers the causes and treatments of laminitis, and offers prevention strategies plus practical solutions that can return a stricken horse to a useful, healthy life. SAVE when ordering a 2-Pack (any combination of titles). Save more when you order All 7 Titles (save $12) or All 8 Titles! (save $28) Paperback - 40 pages. ISBN 9781483956169. ---- Description Excerpt All too many horse owners and managers have dealt with the heartbreaking dilemma of laminitis and, all too often unnecessarily, laminitis has brought an end to a promising equine career. In these pages, noted expert Dr. Juliet M. Getty guides the reader through the causes and treatments of laminitis, and offers prevention strategies plus practical solutions that can return a stricken horse to a useful, healthy life. Highlights: Insulin resistance - what, how, and why Preventing relapses and chronic laminitis Hormonal responses to physical and mental stress Supplements to help cure laminitis and prevent further episodes Obesity and role in laminitis About Dr. Juliet M. Getty Juliet M. Getty, Ph.D. is an independent equine nutritionist with a wide U.S. and international following. Her research-based approach optimizes equine health by aligning physiology and instincts with correct feeding and nutrition practices. Dr. Getty’s goal is to empower the horseperson with the knowledge to provide the best nutrition for his or her horse’s needs. Dr. Getty is the author of the comprehensive resource, Feed Your Horse Like a Horse, as well as seven topic-centered Spotlight on Equine Nutrition series of booklets: Whole Foods & Alternative Feeds Joint Health - A Nutritional Perspective Aging Horse - Help Your Horse Grow Old with Dignity and in Health Laminitis - A Scientific and Realistic Approach Easy Keeper - Making it Easy to Keep Him Healthy Equine Cushing's Disease - Nutritional Management Equine Digestion - It's Decidedly Different Save on Book Packages! Save $2 when you buy any 2 Spotlight Titles (mix & match) Save $12 when you buy all 7 Spotlight Titles Save $28 when you buy all 7 Spotlight Titles + Feed Your Horse Like A Horse   She also offers an informative e-newsletter, Forage for Thought. Opt-In here. Her Resource Library offers a world of useful information for the horseperson, including a library of her past articles, tips and recordings. Her Free-Shipping Store helps horse owners choose the right supplement for their horse’s specific needs. Excerpt from Laminitis – A Scientific and Realistic Approach Prevention Is the First Defense (small excerpt of longer section) Exercise. We’ve known this for years really but a recent study presented at the 2011 Equine Sciences Society’s Symposium demonstrated that exercise improves insulin sensitivity and reduces cytokine production. From this we know that the insulin receptors on the surface of the cells are increased by exercise and that allows insulin to come down to normal. Feed. Make sure that you’re feeding a low-NSC hay or forage, and if you choose to feed a commercial feed, then check the ingredients. It should not contain oats or corn or barley—any cereal grains. It should not contain wheat middlings, which are pretty high in NSC. It should not contain rice bran, which is lower, about 24% NSC, but still too high for the insulin-resistant horse. Certainly it should not contain molasses. If it contains soybean oil, that could increase inflammation due to omega 6 fatty acids, so you want to make sure the horse is getting enough omega 3s to counteract any inflammation. Soaking your hay is effective but it’s difficult to do (and certainly in the wintertime it’s nearly impossible) but if you test your hay, test it after you soak it. Let it dry and then test it so that you can see what your horse is getting. The studies that have been done with soaking hay vary in the amount of time and the air temperature. The warmer the temperature and the longer the time, the more sugar is removed. But you have to be careful because when you soak hay for too long (for instance overnight), that removes a lot of the sugar but it also removes minerals and also the water-soluble fiber, the pectin, which is so beneficial to the hind gut. So what you’re left with is the water insoluble fibers, the cellulose and the hemicellulose and lignin, so you’re feeding basically a very poor quality, very low in nutrient product. So soaking can really be a catch-22, and you may need to add another water-soluble fiber source such as beet pulp. I usually recommend soaking the hay for about thirty minutes to an hour. Remember to feed your hay throughout the night. As I mentioned, horses will gorge themselves if fed only periodically. The transformation from feeding free-choice is beautiful to see. Those of you who have done this know what I’m talking about: When your horse used to grab at the hay when you would greet him in the morning, he doesn’t do that anymore. After you get him accustomed to knowing that he has all the hay that he needs and wants and he can walk away from it, when he sees you in the morning with a fresh batch, he will just kind of look at you as if to say a simple “Good morning,” and “Just set it down in the corner, I’ll get to it later.” Food is no longer an issue. And the fascinating thing is that they don’t eat as much. Treatments for Laminitis (excerpt of longer section) Cryotherapy Drugs Rest? Farriery Supplements (excerpt of longer list) Psyllium. In terms of supplementation for laminitis cases, there are a few things that I like and one of them is psyllium. Psyllium is best known for its prevention of sand colic. Products like Sand Relief or any kind of psyllium husks are generally given to horses that feed off the ground and consume a lot of dirt and sand, and for these horses, the recommendation is to give psyllium for seven days out of a month. That’s fine and you can continue doing that if you are doing that already. But if you have an insulin-resistant horse, I recommend giving psyllium every day because psyllium actually inhibits the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream, and when you reduce glucose absorption, then insulin doesn’t rise as dramatically. So it’s very helpful for the insulin-resistant horse. A good rule of thumb is to give one-third of a cup per meal; if you feed meals twice a day, that will total two-thirds per day; if you feed three times a day, that will add up to a full cup, but the point is that they should have some with each meal. (By “meal” I mean a feeding that is in addition to the normal hay and/or pasture you’re providing.)