RSPCA officer Suzanne Smith has been in contact with Dr David Marlin and the team with a plea for help!
Watch Suzanne’s video and then read her heartfelt email below.
Hi, I hope you don’t mind this email coming directly to you. I know you are now the new NEWC President and I know you’re very active on social media so thought you would be the ideal person to bring this to, but I apologise if there is a contact procedure I should have followed…..
Anyway to the point…
I am an Inspector for the RSPCA and an equine officer. And whilst I deal with many inexperienced owners and provide advice etc, one common health issue I have to deal with year in, year out, with owners who should know/claim to be experienced owners, is Laminitis.
Time and again I see Laminitis mismanaged. For example – an owner has identified it and taken the equine off the lush grass but then keeps them on hard ground with no foot support, they do not contact a vet, instead they give them either bute which they already have or that was given to them by a friend and therefore they give the incorrect dosage to manage the pain levels, or they provide bute substitutes (ie devils claw). These owners also fail to engage a farrier to provide any foot support etc.
I’m not sure whether it’s through pride/thinking they think they know best, or just plain not wanting to spend the money. I’ve been a field officer for over 21 years now and see the same thing every year…
I just wondered, given the rise of social media and the following you have on facebook, if you could do a post to push not just how to identify laminitis, but specifically what the horse/pony needs when they get laminitis?
Many thanks for your time.
Yours,
Suzanne Smith Inspector & Equine Officer
THE ANSWER IS YES!
Of course we will help. We’ve already been in contact with a number of experts (vets, scientists, professionals, farriers) and they have all agreed to start putting information together, we will build a guide to help owners understand their responsibilities and what they can do to make their horses more comfortable, and less prone to suffering from laminitis.
We hope to start bringing this information to you very soon – in the meantime we have a selection of articles and webinars here on the website or you could go to the charity page for the Laminitis Trust.
Here is a link to all the information we have on laminitis on the DrDavidMarlin.com website.
