Any ideas for a horse that won't eat HELP!

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glinda

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I have a 26 year old TB x Holstein mare that until a couple of weeks ago was totally fine and well…. she always was a nutter to put out in the mornings galloping off up the field despite her arthritis but in last 2-3 weeks she has become very quiet indeed- not really interested in anything.

The vet came and did a full check up and blood tests- all her blood tests were totally normal and they have no idea whats wrong. Her teeth are pretty good for her age also.

Monday she had a bout of spasmodic colic (she has had this last year and the year before during the summer which lasted a day and then she was fine) which the vet treated with pain killers/anti spasmodics but we are not sure if this is related to her quietness or a separate issue.

Now she won't eat…. when she is out during the day she does graze a little but she is not interested in her feeds (evening or morning) and only eats a few mouthfuls of hay or horsehage. Normally she would eat all her dinner, 80-100% of her hay/haylage and mostly all her breakfast unless she was in a tizzy to get out.

Her normal diet was simple systems- purabeet, lucie nuts, top nosh, total eclipse and lucie stalks which she has been on for ages with no problems- normally clears her bowl.
I have tried her on a weight gain mix with baileys outshine and added mint and apples but she is not interested in this either

She is dropping weight rapidly.

Does anybody have any ideas on how I can tempt her to eat ??? or what I could tempt her with…. she just sniffs the food then walks away though she will still eat horse treats from my hand but not food/apples etc if i try to hand feed.

any HELP much appreciated x
 
I'd get 2nd opinion from a different vet pronto! There is, obviously something seriously wrong and just cos she has been checked out once it doesn't mean there is nothing to find. I hope it nothing too serious but think you've gone past the point of tempting nibbles now.
 
2 vets have checked her so far and found nothing…. i've got another coming tomorrow morning
She did eat a little of her dinner over night and about 1/2 section of hay and is half heartedly grazing at the moment.

Temperature, pulse and resp rates are all normal, rectal exam was normal, blood tests inc cushings all normal, gut sounds normal, teeth OK, colour good, mucous membranes all normal, faeces look normal consistency etc……… a bit stiff from her arthritis but no more so than she has been for last couple of years and is not lame.

i'm at a loss
 
Yes… she has been on Danillon for ages now….. as I say her arthritis doesn't seem to be any worse- she is not lame, just a little stiff in the mornings as per normal.
The vet did talk about using some stronger pain relief short term but is worried about using it if she is not eating !! Vicious circle!
 
I'd up the pain relief immediately to see if that makes any difference to her - because it could quite simply be pain related.

But bottom line is - I expect her age is catching up with her and you may need to think carefully about her future quite quickly.
 
glinda said:
I have a 26 year old TB x Holstein mare that until a couple of weeks ago was totally fine and well…. she always was a nutter to put out in the mornings galloping off up the field despite her arthritis but in last 2-3 weeks she has become very quiet indeed- not really interested in anything.

The vet came and did a full check up and blood tests- all her blood tests were totally normal and they have no idea whats wrong. Her teeth are pretty good for her age also.

Monday she had a bout of spasmodic colic (she has had this last year and the year before during the summer which lasted a day and then she was fine) which the vet treated with pain killers/anti spasmodics but we are not sure if this is related to her quietness or a separate issue.

Now she won't eat…. when she is out during the day she does graze a little but she is not interested in her feeds (evening or morning) and only eats a few mouthfuls of hay or horsehage. Normally she would eat all her dinner, 80-100% of her hay/haylage and mostly all her breakfast unless she was in a tizzy to get out.

Her normal diet was simple systems- purabeet, lucie nuts, top nosh, total eclipse and lucie stalks which she has been on for ages with no problems- normally clears her bowl.
I have tried her on a weight gain mix with baileys outshine and added mint and apples but she is not interested in this either

She is dropping weight rapidly.

Does anybody have any ideas on how I can tempt her to eat ??? or what I could tempt her with…. she just sniffs the food then walks away though she will still eat horse treats from my hand but not food/apples etc if i try to hand feed.

any HELP much appreciated x
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Give her a blood tonic, I reccomend haemavite b plus, feed at the maximum dose. Get some food that's high in calories, use something that you can soak into a mush to make it easier to eat and digest, Allen and page or Rowan and Barbary do some good soak able high calorie feeds. I personally would feed a balancer by hand as a treat so that at least you know she's had that. Split feeds into three or four smaller meals. Most importantly, if she is struggling with appetite and feeding, feed from an elevated position, a good old fashioned door manger really does make a difference... It may be that her glands are swollen and that eating from the floor is painful so use a door manger. When my mare was like this, she went off every type of food apart from mollichaff, mollichaff do a really good conditioning chaff, buy some of that and feed as much as she will eat. With regards to hay, give her the option of hay loose on the ground or in a large holed haynet. Again, when my mare was ill I hand picked long grass and stuffed it into a haynet, she ate this.

Ensure she is rugged to the hilt, I had my mare in a Mark Todd medium weight full neck and a light weight stable rug in the middle of summer, you do not want her wasting calories trying to keep warm. If she isn't eating in the field, don't put her out there, walk her in hand a couple of times a day... I used to take mine along the hedgerows so she could graze them, and give her a good groom... It helps to keep her spirits up.
 
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Thanks guys….. she already has a door manger, she always has choice of a hay net or loose on the floor, is wearing a heavy weight rug with a duvet under rug as well, she won't eat out your hand and she is already being offered a high calorie/energy dense diet and is on the maximum dose she can have of Danilon. Can't keep her in- she gets very stressed and is much happier if she goes out with the others.

I have managed to get her to eat something tonight- she had Baileys Outshine, Weight gain mix, purabeet, micronised linseed, little bit of alpha a oil, top nosh all mixed with chopped carrots and soaked in apple juice !! I gave her 1 small lot which she ate so i then gave her the same again which she has eaten some of…. I will check her later and if she has eaten that then will give her more at about midnight and again for breakfast. She also took a few mouthfuls of water (with electrolytes in it) and some hay out her net.

Vet coming tomorrow…. I will make a decision then…. I am well aware that the end might be high and the last thing I want is for her to suffer but I just need to be sure that its not something simple as she really was in fine form a couple of weeks ago- even the vet that came initially was astounded at her age and how good she looked!

Whats not helping is my other horse has just been diagnosed with severe ligament injury to his pastern and hock and is out of work for months, if not forever….. never rains but it pours does it! xx
 
It sounds like you are doing everything you can, all I would add to that is a blood tonic. I agree with AM that it could sadly just be old age catching up with her.

Let us know how it goes with the vet x
 
Please get a vet and get an over all check up done!!! teeth ect and make sure she is pain free!!! they may wnt to take loods make sure organs all ok and she just may have a virous, my 23 year old stopped eating this time last year and went down hill very quick, she had a virous and needed an injection, liquid vit supplement,and anti biotics. she is doing very well this year!!! fingers crossedxxxx
 
Vet been again today- another full check up can find nothing wrong- her teeth are AOK, worm egg count totally negative, cushings negative etc etc. No sign of any virus etc as all her blood tests were totally normal.

I have managed to get her to eat some more dinner tonight and she did eat most of her hay last night and doesn't look so tucked up today.... my vet today said she actually looks bloomin good for her age!!!! and he wasn't concerned about her arthritis as he says its no worse than when he last saw her.... she is not lame.

Hopefully she will continue to pick up little by little- she now has so Haemovet to have twice daily and i am soaking her diner in apple juice- she seems to like that. xx
 
glinda said:
Vet been again today- another full check up can find nothing wrong- her teeth are AOK, worm egg count totally negative, cushings negative etc etc. No sign of any virus etc as all her blood tests were totally normal.

I have managed to get her to eat some more dinner tonight and she did eat most of her hay last night and doesn't look so tucked up today.... my vet today said she actually looks bloomin good for her age!!!! and he wasn't concerned about her arthritis as he says its no worse than when he last saw her.... she is not lame.

Hopefully she will continue to pick up little by little- she now has so Haemovet to have twice daily and i am soaking her diner in apple juice- she seems to like that. xx
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Have you tried antibiotics in case she has a localised infection thats not in her blood? If shes on danilon then it could be keeping her temp down? I have a horse who stopped eating once, nothing in her bloods, she was 17 months old, it was 3 months before could get her eating properley (by which time there were slight changes in her blood) and that was with Doxycycline antibiotic. I also have a 20yr old horse who was off his feeds but not hay, bloods all normal, scoped with some ulceration.
 
Agree with the very good post of silverfire!!!! i would defo give her anti biotics or inject with penacillen, but give her some pro biotics after the course!!! my horse had a virous the vet didnt think that anti biotics would help but she wasn t picking up, gave her the anti biotics and after 3 days she was eating and lots happier!!!! good luck hun xxx
 
Just an update- she is eating much better now, has put some weight back on and is much happier..... I just needed to get her eating to make her feel better. She galloped off up the field over the weekend when turned out which is much more normal behaviour for her.
I am giving her little and often with a high calorie diet and am going to try and change it slowly back to normal now and see what happens.
She has been on anti ulcer medication for a while so its not ulcers and I really don't like giving antibiotics unless there is a need for them as antibiotic resistance is becoming a real problem due to indiscriminate use..... there is no indication she has any bacterial infection at all (there would be changes to her WBC's noted if there were even in a localised infection) and they frankly don't work for viral infections.
Now just got to get the lame one sound !!!! but thats another story
Thanks for all your advice xx
 
glinda said:
Just an update- she is eating much better now, has put some weight back on and is much happier..... I just needed to get her eating to make her feel better. She galloped off up the field over the weekend when turned out which is much more normal behaviour for her.
I am giving her little and often with a high calorie diet and am going to try and change it slowly back to normal now and see what happens.
She has been on anti ulcer medication for a while so its not ulcers and I really don't like giving antibiotics unless there is a need for them as antibiotic resistance is becoming a real problem due to indiscriminate use..... there is no indication she has any bacterial infection at all (there would be changes to her WBC's noted if there were even in a localised infection) and they frankly don't work for viral infections.
Now just got to get the lame one sound !!!! but thats another story
Thanks for all your advice xx
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Thats good news, glad she is feeling better.

I copied this off the web after googling localised infection:

Systemic means it's in the blood stream and is spreading/has spread through the body. Septicaemia is an example of a systemic infection.

Localised means the infection is restricted to one small area only. An infected cut, ulcer or abscess is an example of this.

A localised infection can spread and become systemic
 
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