White Line Disease Laminitis

The more a farrier tries to patch or cover up the damage the wetter and darker the environment becomes for the fungi and they just get happier and more aggressive.

White line disease laminitis.

The exact nature of white line disease has been debated among veterinarian and farriers for years. Lameness was of 6 weeks duration and the mare had been treated with stall rest and phenylbutazone dominion veterinary laboratories winnipeg manitoba 2g d po. The rise of white line disease has driven thousands of horse owners and farriers to natural hoof care. A 5 year old quarter horse mare presented with a grade iv v lameness 1 in the right front leg.

This has allowed much more focused research and effort in treating the cause rather. Laminitis is now regarded as a syndrome that occurs secondary to something else rather than a discreet disease all in itself. Dropped soles or flat feet. At the toe or heel you will see a separation in the form of a crack or hole.

Bruised soles or stone bruises widened white line commonly called seedy toe with occurrence of seromas blood pockets and or abscesses. White line disease is an opportunistic disease meaning the pathogens take advantage of a weakened or compromised hoof wall such as hoof wall separation caused by an improperly balanced hoof i e. Whether white line disease or laminitis was the primary lesion remains unclear. White line disease may be diagnosed during a routine trimming when a farrier notices a small area of crumbly or powdery black or gray tissue at the white line.

To identify this hoof problem you should look at the sole of your horse s hoof. During the weeks that followed the high fever the gelding was slow to walk in small circle and. Signs of chronic laminitis may include the following. The difference is where that cavity a gas pocket shows up on the x ray.

The horse becomes very lame or topical antibacterial or antifungal treatments don t seem to help. Fortunately in the last 10 to 20 years there have been great strides in understanding the causes of this terrible condition. Tapping on the hoof wall over the separation produces a hollow sound. The horse hoof disease forms after fungus and bacteria enter the crack and begin to destroy hoof tissue.

One year prior the gelding had developed a high fever of unknown origin presumed viral. White line disease and chronic laminitis can sometimes be confused with each other fraley said. White line disease suspect laminitis if. Equine laminitis has been with us for a long long time.

White line disease can also cause some rotation of the coffin bone like laminitis but it s a little different type of rotation. Paring away the damaged horn reveals separation of the hoof layers leading upward from the toe toward the coronary band. The radiograph in figure 1 is that of a middle aged gelding that presented for intermittent foot pain. In general however the disease leads to chalky crumbly tissue in the stratum medium layer of the hoof.