EMS syndrome. Any experience?

Fii said:
What does EMS stand for? i keep seeing this and have even googled it with no luck.
I am cr*p at abreviations. :(
Click to expand...

Equine metabolic syndrome


EMS horses tend to become obese very easily and, even when starved down, may have abnormal fat deposits in the neck, shoulders, loin, above the eyes and around the tail head, even when the rest of the body appears to be in normal condition. The primary disorder in EMS is insulin resistance. The role of insulin within the body is to enhance the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream into cells, and in conjunction with glucagon plays the major part in regulating blood sugar levels. Ponies with EMS do not respond to insulin as they should, so glucose remains within the bloodstream. This is very similar to type II diabetes in humans.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sour...lic+syndrome&aq=0&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=equine+meta

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/search.php?searchid=3096873
 
What applecart14 has put is correct. The high levels of glucose in the blood vastly increases the risk of the horse/ pony developing laminitis which may in fact be chronic and not just one acute insult, this may be the main problem. This is caused by the natural corticosteriods in the horses hoof being increase which inhibits repair and weakens the lamellae (what holds the pedal bone in place).

Your vet can test for it by looking at glucose levels in the blood after no food as well as insulin levels. An IV glucose tolerance test can also be performed.

To control this problem firstly the horse must lose weight, be exercised more and be on a diet made up of more fibre and less concentrate. But don't try and make your horse lose weight dangerously fast as this can result in hepatic lipidosis...a liver/ fat condition. Hope this helps.
 
The Equine Cushings Yahoo group also deals with Insulin Resistance/EMS - lots of useful information there and it is lead by a vet experienced in these things.
 
i have a pony with this, along with lami and cushings, has your pony been tested for it? i would also have it tested for cushings at the same time, so it can help you in treatment, i thought mine only had ems, but she also had cushings, on a higher level than the ems, it helps vets to treat effectively.
 
My old mare had EMS.

She was a laminitic and kept getting sub clinical laminitis for no reason so we tested her for EMS and cushings. The EMS came back positive, but not the cushings.

She was the classic, fat pony, despite being fed very very little, she was started on metformin and did well on it, and it did help to stop the sub- clinical laminitis episodes. Sdaly, I lost the mare to something un-related before I had had a chance to find out how much improvement she made on the metformin.
 
My pony has this, hes on daily medication (metaformin) and touch wood seems to be ok, he had a touch of lami in the spring but caught it very early before it got bad. Hes now on a starvation paddock and I work hard to keep him a little 'underweight'.
 
Jodies9154 said:
But don't try and make your horse lose weight dangerously fast as this can result in hepatic lipidosis...a liver/ fat condition. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Can you show me any published evidence that supports this? What do you think to the following study?

DUGDALE, A. H. A., CURTIS, G. C., CRIPPS, P., HARRIS, P. A. and ARGO, C. M. (2010), Effect of dietary restriction on body condition, composition and welfare of overweight and obese pony mares. Equine Veterinary Journal, 42: 600–610. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2010.00110.x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top