Dr John Kohnke, well of up-to-date scientific knowledge

Clarissa · Dr John Kohnke, well of up-to-date scientific knowledge

I have just come home from a free 3hr seminar with Dr John Kohnke (JK) during which he spoke the whole time quite fast to impart as much info as he could possibly relate to us. He is retired as a vet working in Australia but still does scientific research & advises the racing industry in places like Hong Kong & Malaysia also the endurance industry in places like Egypt & adjacent countries.

Here are my notes.

Regarding laminitis, cushings, founder.

Latest research in conjunction with SCIRO & other scientific people just completed in the previous few weeks after many questions arose as to why horses in certain areas of Australia were still having high blood sugar even when removed off grass at the usual times of day. Grass sugars develop over several days rising to a peak every few days. In general best grazing times are 4am to 10am & 4pm to 6pm. But there are days (usually second day)after the stress event that caused the sugars to move through the plant when the sugars are too high all day. Events include rain on crisp dry grass or hot sun on frosted grass or frost on green grass or rain, hot sun, rain in waves which stresses the grass. In general any stressing event will cause a peak 2 days later when grass may not be safe to graze at all for a susceptible horse. However lots of rain will wash sugars from the grass making it safe to graze. Also 10 days after rain on crisp or droughted grass will cause another spike when the new grass sprouts appear. If it grows during overcast days that grass will be fine to graze all day but if it is stressed by hot or cold it will have high sugar again.

The best paddock to graze a horse in is one with lots of tree cover where the grass is thin. JK suggests running an electric tape around a group of trees & using it for the holding paddock so there is at least something for the horse to eat while removed from the main paddock. It stops bad habits from forming.

Lucerne contains medium to high protein but not much sugar & soaking it removes almost all sugar (soaking involves double the volume of water to lucerne & held underwater for minimum 2hrs by a brick) therefore making it safe for susceptible horses. Grass hay can be high in sugars although very low in protein. Wheaten chaff is safer than oaten chaff.

Feeds low in GI are beet, copra, lucerne, soya, sunflower seed. Medium GI includes bran & pollard, rice bran, micronized or steam rolled cereal grains, soaked grass hay, barley hay. High GI includes whole cereal grains, fresh grass hay, corn, (I didn’t write anymore down).

Bi-carb is good to mop up acidosis from the hind gut to help prevent founder. JK & others in Australia developed Founder Guard (containing bi-carb) which is in world wide use these days under various names.

JK also has worked at length with Dr Chris Pollitt on hoof problems stemming from nutritional problems.

Easy home remedies:-

JK is a world renowned expert in nutritional requirements for endurance & racing horses. This is another scientifically proven recipe tested the world over to be better than all the commercially available electrolyte formulations.

50gr(2 tbsp) fine table salt + 50gr glucose (not fructose which can’t be digested) powder in 5lt warm water will rehydrate a horse in 10mins that has worked very hard. Main use is to rehydrate endurance or racing horses after a race or each leg of an event before vet check & at end of ride.

2 teaspoons of salt in bucket of warm water is excellent for a horse to drink right after exercise or hard work.(NO MOLASSES!)

A good bug repellant is made from 1 tbsp Rapid Gel rub (containing camphor) & 1 tbsp aloe vera gel mixed into 250mls warm water & kept in a well sealed jar to stop the camphor from evaporating. Use a cotton ball to dab it onto the horse in several places around under the belly mostly where insects gather. After a few days the insects will stop pestering the horse because the camphor gets absorbed into the skin.

Greasy heal is mostly caused by the sun rays coming in at a low angle & hitting the backs of the horse’s legs & burning the skin. Use sun block as a preventative but if it is already bad make a lotion from 80% Manuka or Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey( better than Manuka apparently) & 20% 10% vol Betadine. Apply & bandage overnight. The honey sucks the moisture from the skin & the betadine kills the bacterial infection allowing the burn to heal.

Cow poo contains an enzyme that neutralizes acid soil caused by over grazing by horses. The places where they have grazed the pasture down to lawn becomes very acid & needs PH adjustment wither by addition of lime but cow poo works really well.

One early sign of cushings in a horse is bulges in the sockets above the eyes.

Calcium & hooves:-

Best calcium supplement for oxalate pastures is 2.5:1 ratio DCP(Dicalciumphosfate) to calcium carbonate (lime). 150gr 2-3 times a week. It can be fed with a bit of molasses to make it more palatable. Horse needs to be removed from pasture & given supplement along with high cal hay like lucerne & held off pasture more than an hour for it to digest. Twice this much for a youngster or mare in foal or nursing. DON’T USE DOLAMITE BECAUSE THE MODERN DOLAMITE IS MADE FROM A SILICA (SAND) PRODUCT & CAN’T BE DIGESTED & CAUSES SAND COLIC!!

Horses subjected to decalcification of the long leg bones of both front & hind legs during formative years can develop pelvic soreness in mid life due to the subcondrial bone plates being deprived of sufficient calcium at growth time. (I think I got the name of those plates right. They’re the ones that feed the bones as they grow & are located under the cartilage.)

The first action upon realizing your horse is having a laminitic episode or developing an abscess is to soak the affected hoof/s in ice for up to an hour at a time several times a day. It doesn’t hurt the horse at all apparently. Cold causes the shunts to open (located at the top of the hoof inside the coronet band) which join the arteries to the veins short circuiting the blood away from damaged & over heated laminae. Normally the shunts are closed making the blood feed right down into the laminae but when inflammation or death occurs the blood has to be locked out for a while until swelling has subsided. The heat of laminitis swells the laminae so when those shunts are open, too much blood gets to the torn or dying laminae & much blood is trapped & dies. Short circuiting the blood back up the leg through the opened shunts, helps the hoof begin the repair process. This one action will save you $ & perhaps your horse too & helps prevent abscesses.

He showed us cadaver photos of hooves in various states of illness & injury. He also showed fresh cadaver photos of hooves where the P3 had penetrated the sole. He didn’t have time to go into what measures he has been developing to deal with this problem. He did talk a little about the nutritional aspect of it relating to causes & treatments mostly to do with sugary processed feeds.

I spoke at length about Sonny to JK & he suggested magnetic bell boots to be warn 12hrs daily for 3mths until a full cycle of hoof has grown right to the ground. He assures me it is the only thing that will cause stronger horn to develop again. He said there is now a laminitic cycle preventing strong horn growing & he is not surprised that after all I have done or tried, nothing has worked. He said the magnets will bring greater blood flow to the coronet band & cause the shunts to open a lot more, forcing the blood down into the laminae causing stronger horn to develop. This must be a treatment he is currently working on.

The sole on one photo of a cut in half hoof looked remarkably like Sonny’s do now. It was really good to see what the xrays don’t show about what is going on inside his feet. He said my current trim method will work as a stop gap measure to stop the toe running forward but will never produce stronger horn, nor will all the supplementation.

It has been a really educational evening. I have been to his seminars before I also learned a lot then too.

Chablis

Thanks for all the info, Clarissa.

Did he think that the magnets/improving circulation will go a long way to helping Sonny? Did he suggest any diet changes, etc for the laminitis?

I have Magic on his 'Cell Grow' ration balancer and it's been great so far.

Clarissa

Chablis apparently the magnets will draw the blood into the hoof & hold the shunts closed longer forcing the new blood down into the laminae.

I have today found another article that has just been published in The Horse online E-zine which may explain other aspects of Cryotherapy in particular but will shed light on how the blood works in the hoof.

I have seen ads for magnets on rugs, shin boots but nver heard of them on bell boots. There are 2 manufacturers in Australia but only 1 JK will recommend due to quality of boot & magnet. He is sending me the website address today.

Clarissa

Here’s a new article in The Horse online magazine on cryotherapy.

Cryotherapy was pioneered by JK in conjunction with Dr Chris Pollitt as long as 40years ago.

Cryotherapy, or cold therapy, has been shown to prevent laminitis in the at-risk equine patient and is often recommended for relieving pain and inflammation in the acutely laminitic horse. In a workshop at the 6th International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, held Oct. 28-31 in West Palm Beach, Fla., three laminitis researchers discussed commonly used cryotherapy methods.

Presenters included Christopher Pollitt, BVSc, PhD, director of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit and honorary professor of equine medicine at the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science; Andrew van Eps, BVSc, PhD, MACVSc, and Dipl. ACVIM, senior lecturer in equine medicine at the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science; and James Orsini, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, all of whom have studied and practiced cryotherapy.

Cryotherapy is known to have anti-inflammatory effects, along with analgesia (pain relief), vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels), and hypometabolism (which reduces the metabolic demands of the foot or, as Orsini explained it, "puts the foot into a temporary state of hibernation"). The therapy's key mechanism is that it reduces enzymatic activity in the lamellar tissue by about 50% for every 10°C drop in tissue temperature. Benefits of this include:
• Decreased pain and muscle spasm (a local anesthetic effect);
• Reduced edema (fluid swelling) due to increased blood viscosity and enhanced coagulation; and
• Reduced metabolic needs of the lamellar tissue and enzymatic action.
Some cryotherapy methods are more labor-intensive or cost-prohibitive than others. Basic methods include icing and bandaging; applying an ice sleeve, ice pack wrap, or ice boot; or even tethering a horse in a pool of cold water for an extended period of time. More elaborate approaches include the Game Ready cooling and compression system--which the presenters considered a superior method to standard icing and ice boots; the Australian ice tub, which circulates ice water around horses' limbs; and the Equine Spa, which has a built-in refrigerator unit and pump for circulating chilled water.

Ideally, van Eps said he would like to see product manufacturers develop a swivel apparatus attached to ice boots that allows a horse to move around his stall while undergoing therapy.
Van Eps also noted that he prefers most horses to remain with their legs immersed in ice water for five to seven days. Interestingly, none of the researchers had documented any negative effects to the horses' hoof integrity due to prolonged submersion in water. However, potential adverse effects of this approach include:
• Coagulation (more prone to blood clotting with certain diseases);
• Enhanced edema, possibly due to standing in one place for days;
• Immunosuppression (reduced disease-fighting ability) believed to be associated with a decrease in white blood cells reaching the tissues of the foot; and
• Altered mechanical properties of the tissue thought to be due to the temperature changes (and, thus, reduced flexibility) of the tissues.
The researchers noted that the range of suitable cryotherapy methods is limited only by one's imagination, but that veterinarians and owners should remember cryotherapy's positive effects stem from the circulating action of the ice water. Such benefits cannot be achieved by simply standing a horse in a cold environment or material such as snow.

Clarissa

When I typed up that first post last night it was really late & I made some mistakes which I have gone back & corrected.

Also I forgot to add in this little gem.

Seedy Toe treatment:-

Thoroughly clean the dry sole & wall cracks & use the looped knife to trim out the rotted horn. Don’t remove the outer hoof shell. Use some 10% betadine applied neat & soaped (frothed) up by working it with a clean nail brush or similar so it penetrates right up into the cracks of the sole & delaminated walls. It kills the bacteria that causes seedy toe.

Hold the hoof up so froth doesn’t run off for a few minutes until the froth subsides. Rest the horse a minute or 2 standing on a clean surface like a feed bag then repeat process. The hoof can then be bandaged with remaining betadine still on it to keep dirt out as long as possible.

Even better is to cleanse the sole & in & around the cracked parts with metho & apply fast curing silicone. Press it well up into the cracks. Properly applied silicone will not come away or allow moisture in & grows out with the hoof. Hoof fillers can be used instead but silicone is cheap & basically the same product.

A similar practise can be used to fill the delaminations caused by abscesses because those take a long time to grow out & dirt getting in can cause other problems. I will do this with Sonny because he has several old abscess cracks around his feet now.

misstux

Just skimmed the write-up and want to correct one thing. The bulging eye sockets is a symptom of Insulin Resistance, not Cushings, and will disappear if the IR is controlled.

Clarissa