can periods of starvation cause metabolic syndrome?

[tangosmum]

A horse on my yard was rescued. Background of coming from a place where periods of starvation was a regular occurance.

Horse is only a youngster but has had symptoms of laminitis, (being treated correctly) and I have watched as this horse goes mad for any kind of food. Soaked Hay is eaten super fast (large small holed net in an hour and a half) horse has been overweight, and is now at a good weight. But the periodic foot soreness (barefoot) seems to continue, despite the careful management of the diet and exercise.

My question is....could this be metabolic syndrome and could it be linked to the fact the horse spent its first year being half starved?

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Yes starvation can cause metabolic syndrome. When a horse is starved it goes into a state called hipolipaemia (apologies if spelt wrong!), where body fat is broken down and released into the blood stream, which can cause bad side-effects such as laminitis, EMS etc. Hope this boy is ok. My advice would be to speak to a vet to see if there is any further management that could be tried to help him.

 

[cptrayes]

The key to mine was to calm the superfast eating down. For several days I fed him six times a day, from a rack wired up to stop him getting more than a few strands at a time. After three days, he was eating normally and could be given three feeds a day of hay on the floor. You need to break the cycle of binge eat/overproduce insulin/blood sugar crash/starving hungry/binge eat and he might return to normal eating behaviour like mine did.

To give you hope, this horse had feet so soft I could bend them with my fingers in March and is now hacking out with bare feet on terrible "road" surfaces covered in stones and potholes.

 

[DuckToller]

I am very interested in this subject, as have a pony that was half starved over a period of about 6 months, several years ago, and he is hugely prone to laminitis now.

Because he was so hungry he has a huge issue with food - he just can't get enough of the stuff! He eats for England, Scotland and Wales, he grazes with the ferocity of a herd of sheep, all the time head down, bite, bite, bite. Hay goes down at the same rate, despite a small holed haynet (tried one inside the other and he was so distraught he couldn't get out more than one stalk at a time, I had to take the second net off as couldn't bear the look on his face!).

He is very prone to laminitis, having had a very unexpected severe bout in mid winter last year (he is only 9 so not cushings). I have to keep him much slimmer than I would expect for a cob type, I weight tape him weekly now and feel for a digital pulse regularly, even in the winter.

It is partly his compulsion to eat, but also I feel he is predisposed to it, as you suggest perhaps starvatoin-induced metabolic syndrome, so I would be interested to hear from anyone else who has come across this - maybe one of the welfare people on here can back this theory up with evidence?

 

[cptrayes]

They can get cushings earlier than nine, my vet tested my seven year old for it

Your pony's manic eating may not be just remembering having been starving. If he has developed IR then he will actually feel starving just because he has already eaten. The only thing to do is to put up with those faces for 3 or 4 days and see if drip feeding calms down his manic behaviour. I know what it's like - mine was swallowing one mouthful, chewing the next and picking a third up off the pile at the same time! But it only took four days or so to turn him into a "normal" horse.