Cushings diet?!

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Alicerosee

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I'm looking for some advice in what to feed my 14.2 20 year old Welsh d, he's currently on top chop lite with senior lite balancer, he looks in good condition, but he doesn't seem interested in the chaff anymore, I've looked at happy hoof, safe and sound and healthy hooves, as he's also lami, but they all seem to be complete feeds, so I'm slightly concerned that he would lose his good condition coming off the balancer... He also has garlic and Brewers yeast, and lami guard and prascend!

Any advice is appreciated!
 
I'm not sure if you've only just started medication or not, but it is normal for them to have a decreased appetite for a couple of weeks whilst they adjust.

In general though you want low starch and low sugar, high oil is generally ok for putting condition on. I feed my Cushings horse:
- Alpha A Molasses free (alpha is also good for ulcer prone horses as well if they can tolerate it, which mine is)
- Grass nuts
- Micronised Linseed (This is amazing stuff for condition and coat health, full of good oils and in this form it's cheaper than the pure oil)
- Rolled Oats (they don't tend to be heating and are easily digested so a safe feed)
- Progressive Earth Pro Laminae
- Prascend

Though I will cut down on things depending on her condition, so currently she is on nothing but her Prascend (given with a slice of carrot she will eat anything :o), but last winter she was on three feeds a day of the above.
 
Hi, I have a 14hh mare who is on prascend for cushings. I have the same problem she gets fed top chop lite and lo-cal balancer. I now literally just put a handful of chaff in with the balancer as she normally leaves her chaff.

I leave her feed bowl in her stable overnight (in a tyre) so that she can pick at it. I think the prascend puts her off and she definitely prefers it dry.

I alternate her feeding occasionally at the moment I have just switched her to Spillers Happy Hoof Molasses free and I add half a cup of balancer to it and at the moment she seems happy to eat this.

I think she finds the top spec lite a bit coarse as that is predominately what she doesn't eat. Have also tried the top chop zero but she didn't like it.
 
i think my mare's taste buds changed when she had been on prascend for a few years and she wouldnt eat any of her normal feed. i used to feed happy hoof and speedibeet and supplements and one winter she just wouldnt touch any of it. i contacted various feed companies and got samples to try and found she liked baileys light chaff(its really minty smelling)and replaced the speedibeet with fast fibre. this worked for me and in the summer i just feed the chaff slightly damped with her supplements. i feed her prascend in a carrot separately as she wont eat them otherwise. may be worth trying to get some samples to try..
 
Thanks guys, think I've sorted it now 😊 Going to keep him on the balancer but just slightly less, with safe and sound and some kwikbeet 😊😊
 
I have a 19 year old mare that is on Prascend, and I don't feed her anything other than 1.5kgs of soaked hay at night (out on strip grazing by day). She gets the Prascend in a hollowed out carrot. Can I ask a question? All these horses that won't eat various things and supplements; are they in any way thin or poor?
 
Cortez said:
I have a 19 year old mare that is on Prascend, and I don't feed her anything other than 1.5kgs of soaked hay at night (out on strip grazing by day). She gets the Prascend in a hollowed out carrot. Can I ask a question? All these horses that won't eat various things and supplements; are they in any way thin or poor?
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mine was so thin during the winter when she wouldnt eat i thought i was going to lose her,if i hadnt have changed her feed i dont think she would still be here as she wouldnt eat much hay either....... as it is now summer she is slightly overweight but not by too much. she gets literally a small handfull of chaff with her supplements in the summer and no hay ...
 
Have a look at the laminitis site, on the forum, it tells you the best feeds, supplements, for thin or over weight horses, plus hay amounts etc...also check your horse is on the correct dose of prascend, as too much or too little can affect their appetites...another blood test can tell you...you treat by the symptoms you see though...
 
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