Cushings/EMS horse very skinny

[moria]

24 yr-old Welsh 14hh section D mare, has had Cushings for a few years and is on Prascend for that, was also diagnosed with EMS last autumn after a bout of laminitis. She is now on 2 Invokana (canagliflozin) tablets per day as well as the Prascend. She lost a lot of weight over the winter. The last time the vet saw her (about a month ago), she said she "wasn't happy" with her condition - ie. she's very bony - but told me to see how she did once the spring grass came through. The horse is now getting about 3 hours of good grazing per day plus ad lib hay but is not gaining any weight. The vet has advised me to see how she goes through May and June and "it's better to have a skinny horse than a lame one" - which I agree with, but I don't think her bones should be sticking out!
Does anyone have any experience with a horse with these conditions? My feeling is the dose of Invokana is too high. The vet did an insulin test about a month ago and said her levels were fine but she seemed to expect the horse to pick up in the spring, which hasn't happened. Otherwise, horse seems fine - quite happy and relaxed.

cc​

 

[meleeka]

Is she on any hard feed at all? I’ve had great success with Cushcare and have also fed micronised linseed for weight gain.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Might need hard feed to get her up to weight so micronised linseed or Equijewel is my go to fed it to a few old under weight horses with success in the past.

 

[Tiddlypom]

My two PPID ladies hold their topline much better with the extra protein from a mugful of micronised linseed plus 100 ml of Forageplus Topline Plus (mix of pea and potato protein) per day.

 

[splashgirl45]

I used to give my cushings mare fast fibre to keep her weight on in the winter

 

[My equine life]

A low sugar/ starch but high fibre/ fat bucket feed should help.

Something like …
a low sugar chaff such as topchop zero

a lite balancer so she’s getting all her vits and mins

A fibrous mash of some sort like Speedi beet or pink mash

And then something for the weight gain such as micronised linseed or equine eel like some others have mentioned

If she’s older she may be struggling to chew her hay so you could also look as some lami friendly low sugar hay replacers like thunderbrooks hay cobbs that you can soak.

Obviously introduce all slowly but you should see good results.

 

[Boulty]

Are you giving any hard feed? If not then I would add it in. You want low sugar, low starch but would be very tempted to get something oil based added as well for extra calories and also something with a decent amount of protein. Something like speedibeet, meadow grass nuts or hay cobs would probably be a good starting point as a base. Alfalfa pellets or similar may be worth considering if she tolerates it ok (my PPID gelding always got on well with them and wouldn’t eat his feed without them but I know a lot of horses are sensitive). Micronised linseed can be good for weight gain also. Coolstance copra also worked very well for mine. Would start off small and basic and build from there & smaller, more frequent hard feed meals are better than 1 or 2 big ones. Definitely agree that the last thing you want with those conditions is a fat horse and I would want to see ribs at this time of year really on that kind of horse but equally don’t want to go too far the other way as PPID horses can be a nightmare to get and keep muscle on

 

[holeymoley]

A low sugar/ starch but high fibre/ fat bucket feed should help.

Something like …
a low sugar chaff such as topchop zero

a lite balancer so she’s getting all her vits and mins

A fibrous mash of some sort like Speedi beet or pink mash

And then something for the weight gain such as micronised linseed or equine eel like some others have mentioned

If she’s older she may be struggling to chew her hay so you could also look as some lami friendly low sugar hay replacers like thunderbrooks hay cobbs that you can soak.

Obviously introduce all slowly but you should see good results.

This!

 

[moria]

Thanks, everyone: she's not on hard feed at the moment. I will look into the various suggestions. She doesn't have any trouble chewing hay - when she's in the stable overnight, there isn't so much as a blade of hay left from her haynet in the morning.

 

[Tiddlypom]

If there's no hay left in the morning, then that isn't ad lib hay. I suggest upping the hay until there is at least some left in the morning.

 

[Gloi]

Mine got on with Soft and Soak plus micronised linseed. However if she's finishing her hay,up that first.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Thanks, everyone: she's not on hard feed at the moment. I will look into the various suggestions. She doesn't have any trouble chewing hay - when she's in the stable overnight, there isn't so much as a blade of hay left from her haynet in the morning.

If there is no hay left by morning your not feeding ad lib, I would up what you are feeding so she always has some left in the morning then you know she is having her fill.