Is abscess often mistaken for laminitis?

Last year, vet diagnosed one of my four geldings had laminitis. Within a week, an abscess popped out. Vet ruled laminitis out and said my horse was just a big baby.

Haaaa... my vet once thought my old gelding had navicular. I spent over $1100 on diagnostic tests, like nerve blocks, x-rays, corrective shoeing etc...

2 weeks later the abscess presented itself.

You can see abcess with laminitis, but it's also possible to incorrectly diagnosis laminitis when it's an abcess. With the initial onset of laminitis there may be no changes on x-rays etc and abcesses don't show up on x-rays as well though occasionally a vet may see something that looks suspicious for an abcess. So, you see it's rather a "best guess" game based upon symptoms, history and examination finding for either laminitis or abcess. And while laminitis generally presents in both front feet, it can also present as both hind feet, or only 1 foot.