Beet Pulp and Laminitis

[Treasmare2]

A horse I know recently had an acute attack of laminitis with coffin bone rotation. Finding the cause would be a little like finding a needle in a hay stack but it is my understanding that such things are caused by recent events. Someone is suggesting that two years of eating beet pulp caused a sugar build up and thus caused or contributed to the attack. The horse has not been eating beet pulp since he moved to a new barn nearly two months ago. Does such a pronouncement make any sense?

Also has anyone heard of this happening after a high nail followed by an abcess? Or would the abcess be more likely the result of the liminitic process?

[Treasmare2]

One more thing...horse was eating molasses free beet pulp.

[jn4jenny]

Are you talking about plain beet pulp without molasses or beet pulp with molasses? And if it was with molasses, was it soaked and strained to remove excess sugar?

[Treasmare2]

Molasses free and soaked

[Hilltopfarmva]

I don't think Beet Pulp would be the cause. I have been feeding soaked it for 15 years with no ill affects. The only problem I ever had with it would be the senior feed with beet pulp caused an old mare to choke severely to the point she was on iv fluids and the vet was ready to euthanize her if they could not dislodge it by the 3rd day.
I would look at the hay they are feeding, the new feed, type of bedding and anything in the field that it could have nibbled on. I have not had any experiences with a horse getting laminitis from a high nail or from an abcess. Other people on here may have. We usually have 40 to 55 horses here so we get a variety of issues from time to time. Only one came in from the track as a lay up that developed mild laminitis from putting all his weight on his front end because his back end was so sore. We had him on styrofoam pads for a month or so and painted his feet and stablized him with no rotation. He is now showing hunters.

[jn4jenny]

In that case it seems pretty darn unlikely. The NSC on plain beet pulp is really low. Your "informant" is probably under the common misconception that because beet pulp comes from the processing of sugar beets, it must be loaded with sugar.

[Treasmare2]

yes I find many have that misconception about beet pulp. I have always found it was a nice safe feed provided one pays attention to the vitamin/mineral balance. I think this is a case of wanting to know the cause to avoid any blame since this condition is mostly a condition that is a result of management issues. I am interested in the comment about hay and bedding. Never thought that a high quality of hay could be a contributor since grasss is a deadly situation for horses who have had laminitis. Bedding is an interesting thing...I know black walnut is deadly. What about other beddings like peet moss?

I am also intrigued about the above mentioned race horse that over loaded the front end. If a horse was doing alot of flat work with engagement of the hind end could it then overload the front end because it was sore from the hind end work?

[JB]

Grass isn't automatically a bad deal for horses who have had laminitis. It entirely depends on what trigger the attack. Even some horses who are insulin resistant can tolerate some level of grass. But "high quality" hay means many things, and in some cases, it can mean high sugars.

Let's say the beet pulp WAS the cause (ie sugar buildup :lol:) - even then, it would be much more likely the laminitis would have been building up, not come on suddenly.

When was the last batch of bedding brought in? Is it possible there was a smidge of black walnut in there? That alone can bring on acute laminitis just standing in it.

As for the last part - sure, if a horse is sore behind (for whatever reason) he can over-load his front end in compensation.

[buck22]

not for nothing, but I was talking to my vet the other day and she told me a horrible story about a horse that recently abscessed and then later was pts due to complications that resulted in laminitis.

I don't recall all the details, but the essence of it was the abscess burst out the coronet in the middle of the front of the hoof. the opening was huge, and as it started to try to grow down the hoof wall collapsed somehow, somehow the coffin bone rotated badly, lack of tendon support was involved in some way, and the horse ended up in so much pain the owner put her down.

[Melyni]

But it could well have been due to the inflammation from the abcess.

Laminitis (inflammation of the sensitive laminae) has many causes, and insulin resistance is only one of them.

Sugar beet pulp is not high in sugar, it's what left after the sugar has been removed and in fact is a very safe feed for IR horses.

I would be checking the bedding for black walnut, the feed for too much grain (oats, barley, or corn).
Bacterial toxins from disease (abcess) or from a toxicosis in the hind gut.

If you PM me I can send you an article about the causes of laminitis and how it can be prevented.
Yours
MW

[Dalemma]

Is this horse obese or overweight?

Dalemma

[Treasmare2]

No he is not obese or overweight. He tended to be a horse that was hard to get weight on but has looked great for over a year now.

[Hilltopfarmva]

The Tb came in very foot sore behind. His soles were soooo thin and even with hind shoes he was not comfortable. His front soles were thin as well and not in as bad of shape. If I can remember correctly, he did have slight rotation. He was also recovering from a bowed tendon. He went on timothy hay, a low protein feed and stall rested for months. When his feet started improving he had to wear full pads for a year and now i think he is in normal steel shoes.

[Cherry]

An out of whack thyroid can cause laminitis!

I say no to the beet pulp causing this problem. Most likely the laminitis was a response to the high nail that was not treated successfully.

[Cherry]

An out of whack thyroid can also cause laminitis!

I say no to the beet pulp causing this problem. Most likely the laminitis was a response to the high nail that was not treated successfully.

[Murphy's Mom]

Murphy had a mild bought of laminitis about four years ago. He eats beet pulp (1 lb dry weight, then soaked overnight) all the time and never has any problems with it. He was not on beet pulp at the time of the laminitis episode but he was a little overweight and he did have access to spring grass (what grass there is in the desert).

[Hunter's Rest]

I thought (and I'm sure I 'learned' it here) that molasses on beet pulp was only added to keep down dust (and gosh, that stuff is sure dusty pre-soak) and that the amount of molasses is minimal, just a tiny bit so not sure that *beet pulp with molasses* has all that much more sugars than without.