Royal ... Worry Time, Again

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Royal With Lots to Think About

If there were a "worry photo" of me right now, it would show someone in the advance stages of "frantic". 

Forgive me if I play out the details of this saga, again, but it has been almost 7 months of walking a tight rope and I'm afraid I'm facing another walk ... on the same rope!

As you know, Royal is still in recovery from serious founder caused by incorrectly administered steroids that he never should have had. My vet was afraid we were going to lose Royal and was making barn calls three times a day.

I told him if we lose Royal ... that would be the end of me, too. He said, he knew that.

The last time I wrote about Royal was last February. Things were looking good. He was calmly cruising the aisles of the barn and barn turnout. His attitude was wonderful, but he was still in confinement.

Now, almost four months later, the situation is the same. The improvement is that his sauntering about is faster and more secure.

The farrier is here every five weeks to adjust his angles and put on new therapy shoes. We are still taking things one inch at a time.

Here is the worry:
Royal is past due for the West Nile vaccine. Much of my research has shown that a compromised horse will likely be thrown into laminitis following this vaccine.

Last April, my vet said not to worry, to go ahead and give him the vaccine.
But this is the same vet that said Royal was Insulin Resistance and that was why he was overweight and had laminitis. (humm ... it was his young associate that gave the steroids). No connection between steroids and laminitis was discussed by anyone, except by me.

I read through various lectures given at veterinary conferences on the subject, as well reading through numerous dissertations written by research veterinarians. The conclusion was, yes, steroids can cause laminitis ... and do.

I printed out my findings and had a discussion with my vet on his next visit.
He said ... "you read too much".
I was shocked.
This is the same vet that has worked with me for over 15 years, that has weathered through many serious situations and always rushed to our barn the minute I called. We've always had both a professional and personal friendship. We were both serious about whatever issues there were. We always ... worked together.

The only difference in the current Royal situation seemed to be ... it was his young vet that gave the steroids. I think he felt a responsibility ... but cannot "go there".

Time proved that Royal's weight was bloating caused by the overdose of steroids, which also caused laminitis. The steroids also threw him into an artificially induced state of insulin resistance.
As the bloating reduced, his blood work returned to normal, as did his body weight. However, we are still living with founder.

Now we have the issue of giving the West Nile vaccine ... while Royal is still in recovery.
The other issue is I'm not trusting my vet. He says ... go ahead, give the vaccine, don't worry.

Well, worry, I do. So, I started doing what I always do ... micro-detailed research.

1. I talked with the Director for Laminitis Research. = Yes, there was high risk of laminitis.
2. Talked to a major breeder and discovered several horses had been given live virus West Nile vaccines and within hours .... had laminitis.
3. Talked with three Equine Pharmacuitical research vets = possible risk.

Finally, on the fourth call to a research vet at a major pharmacuitical company, I got somewhere besides possible and maybe. He wanted all the details about Royal, the how and when and current status.

The bottom line was ... yes, "live" West Nile vaccines have caused laminitis in some situations.
He strongly advised that I wait two more months and give only "killed virus" West Nile vaccine to Royal for the rest of his life. The other choice was ... not giving him any vaccine at all and face the risk of West Nile.

So, that is where we are.
The West Nile "killed virus" vaccine is in the refrigerator waiting.
The time for a decision is here ... and I'm a nervous wreck.

Has anyone been in this situation? I'd be grateful to know your experiences.