Before we get into what causes laminitis in horses let s quickly cover what is laminitis.
Causes of laminitis in animals.
There are 3 main causes of laminitis.
Laminitis in horses is caused by the number of different factors acting alone or in combination.
The most famous example of this was the american racehorse barbaro who had a.
The classical one and one area that has been investigated in greater detail is an excessive intake of carbohydrates in the diet.
Certain types of colic.
Laminitis involves the failure of the bond between the hoof wall and the distal phalanx commonly called the coffin bone pedal bone or third phalanx p3.
The main cause of laminitis in horses in australia and in most parts of the developed world is obesity dependent laminitis odl.
Laminitis means inflammation of the laminae of the horse s hoof.
Animals that are overweight or have suffered previously from laminitis are particularly susceptible.
A number of different factors can cause laminitis or predispose a horse to getting the condition.
Overload inflammatory and metabolic.
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 inflammation and damage to the laminae causes extreme pain and leads to instability of the coffin bone in the hoof.
The media has made a significant push on the unfortunately high rate of human obesity but companion animals such as horses dogs and cats are also suffering from alarming rates of obesity.
Common causes of laminitis in horses.