Laminitis in a heifer

[wbvs58]

Just a bit of a curiosity post. I have this pair of twin heifers born late August last year. They hadn't done real well on their mother and were on grass all summer. I found the better of the two starting to lay around a lot about 2.5 mths ago, when she got up she was very stiff and stilted in her gait. Her mother always hung around her so she was getting fed and she would graze. I thought give her a bit of time and she will come right. I weaned them about a month ago and decided to keep them seperate and feed them a bit but she hasn't seemed to get any better and I decide that she has had some form of laminitis. I have noticed a ring forming around all 8 toes and have just started to see the hoof wall lifting around this ring. One of the back toes has even shedded the old hoof. I am hoping as the new hoof grows down and the old hoof sheds the pain eases. She has not lost her appetite so is the reason I have kept her going. She does a lot of grazing on her knees. I still might have to shoot her but at the moment I think she still is OK. I do not have a clue as to what caused this as she was just on grass. It has been a very good summer so forage is in abundance including a lot of weeds and being a twin and a bit short on milk may have contributed to her eating something she shouldn't have. I have hoof abnormalities from laminitis a couple of times in heavy bred heifers on ryegrass, no lameness, just the feet.

The first photo shows her stance. The 2nd you can see the ring about 1/3 the way down from the coronary band.

Ken