Feed & EPSM

[Nari]

Also in vet but I thought it would get seen more here.

My ID has a lot of the signs of epsm & a blood test has shown muscle enzymes that are higher than the normal range even though he's in almost no work. He won't be having a muscle biopsy to get a definate diagnosis but I want to try him on the high oil/fat diet that's recommended for epsm. Interestingly he's been worse since I've took him off a diet that had a reasonable amount of oil in it so I think this may help him.

However there's a problem (you never saw that coming, did you :lol. He's a big horse & so the recommended amount of oil is high & he won't eat feeds with even a little bit of oil in. Really won't. I've put him back on his Top Spec Cool Condition cubes which contain a lot of soya & linseed & I've bought a sack of Baileys Outshine which he'll eat but isn't keen on. I need to check the oil content of the cubes, the Outshine is 26% but I'll be bankrupt if I rely on that to get the oil into him!

In the past he's happily eaten cooked linseed meal so I'm going to check the oil content of that & order some if it's high enough to be useful (now checked, depending on the supplier it seems to be between 35% & 43%). Does anyone know of any other feeds that could be useful? It needs to be cereal free (another problem with Outshine) as he reacts badly to most cereals & has had ulcers.

 

[moses06]

I think that given his aversion to cereals you'd be best to stick with the linseed meal 35 -40% oil is pretty high and it's palatable. Topspec cool condtion cubes are a good bet too, and you can always add some pure grass chaff to bulk things out a bit.

 

[Daisy2]

Hi I have a horse diagnosed with PSSM similar thing in terms of symptoms and management - check out this PDF I hope it opens - Rice bran seems to be the cheapest and highest in oil content. I know it sounds sick but you could syringe it in, long term not ideal though. I am on grass livery so its really difficult limiting the amount of grass and spring is here and all that sugar - out come the muzzles!
http://www.erabc.com/PSSMDIET.pdf

 

[kezimac]

try micronised linseed - its milled so easier for them to eat - look up charnwood milling

 

[dianeholmes]

I agree with the suggestion of Charnwood Milling - much cheaper than other sources of micronised linseed. I feed this to a very fussy large horse with PSSM in a laminitic feed like Happy Hoof or Safe and Sound. HH does contain molasses but not much and he eats it!! He will definitely not have actual oil in his feed.

Good luck with his management it is not always easy. I did have the biopsy done and it showed very small amounts of the abnormal polysaccharide so I emailed Beth Valentine the American Vet who has done all the research she replied in an hour and was very helpful. She has also written some very good fact sheets for owners, if you google her they usually come up.

 

[Oliver12]

My ID also has EPSM. Had the biopsy done which showed abnormal polysaccharide.

I must admit I've spent sleepless nights worrying about the amount of oil you're supposed to get into them as he is a very good doer and already overweight.

He gets two mugfuls of Charnwood Milling micronised linseed and soya oil mixed into soaked sugar beet and alfalfa. I've joined the Yahoo EPSM helpgroup and have found out lots of information as my own vet was pretty much useless. A lot of people on there have had success feeding their horse Acetyl l carnitine (ALCAR) in which case you don't need the additional oil. I'm going to try this regime as I really don't want to feed him too much oil.

Other important things are 2-10,000iu Vitamin E and selenium (if it's deficient) and magnesium.

I was looking into Power Stance made by the people who produce Copra Meal. This is powdered coconut oil which is palatable to horses but I had such a job trying to find a retailer that I gave up.

 

[Nari]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I got some cooked linseed meal today & he was perfectly happy to eat that so I'll go with that for now. Interestingly he's perked up quite dramatically over the last couple of days & is looking far less stiff so hopefully I'm on the right lines.

Management I can live with, he's never been one you can just chuck in a field anyway. If it gets to the root of some of his other problems it will be worth it!

Thanks for the links for more information, I'll go & look them up.