Feeding a horse that cant eat!

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BlueberryPocket

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My friends horse recently went through an operation to remove a back tooth with an abscess.

Now the horse cant eat, she tries to eat her haylage/grass but spits it back out and is drastically loosing weight. I'm not sure what feed my friend has her on at the moment (she has told me but cant remember) but needless to say it's mush plus she has to spoon feed her. It's a shame as the horse is bloody starving!! Shouts and balls when she sees you coming.

Some horse dentists are just idiots! Not all of them - thankfullly!

All ideas welcome.

Thanks
 
Try high fibre cubes completly soaked to a mush and possibly beet pulp added. Minimal chewing needed,could try adding molasses to tempt the appetite. Hand feed if needed untill she gains confidence to eat again.
Good luck.
 
I agree with fuffy, make the feed up to the consistancy of soup so that it can be slurped! With my oldies I use grass nuts, sugar beet and vegatable oil with a good broad spectrum suppliment (I use Equivite Orig) in as many feeds as possible along with access to good grass. She should also speak to her vet about giving bute to help with the pain and inflamation.
 
Definitely agree with the others. My friend had an oldie with practically no teeth so couldn't eat hay or haylage but was in fabulous condition due to having a massive trug of soup/porridge consistency feed available morning, noon and night.

Used to crack us up with her slurping it all down but as it had everything she needed in terms of vits, mins, supplements etc she thrived on it.
 
An old shettie that I look after has Lucie Cobs,from Simple systems which is a grass mix i n little balls which you soak, she manages this quite well have kept her on it through winter as she cant eat hay and does have difficulty with grass. Or a firm claled Target Feeds does a Mash feed.
 
my oldie has all of his teeth but they are smooth and pretty inefectual. I use spillars hi fibre cubes with water to make a mash, so he gets a bucket of that and the same of happy hoof dampened down. He still can nibble on hay but quids a bit. He is looking brilliant just now,
I hope your friends horse picks up soon.
why can't she eat., is it due to pain. If so i think she needs to get the vet to give her danilon or something. It might take enough of the edge off it so she can at least eat a mash.
 
A lady at my yard feeds Allen and Page Old Faithful. Also try Fast Fibre. Both are soaked, mash type consistency. Dolly (the pony) has Fast Fibre as a replacement to hay as she cant eat it either.
 
havent had chance to read the replies but...
i had a friend whos mare had a broken jaw as a foal, owners did nothing about it.... friend bought horse, had regular dentist visits, x-rays, a few ops etc and she continued for quite a few years, anyway, she deterioated and ended up having to have 4 feeds of 'soup daily'.... mare was on full livery and couldnt basically be arsed with her feeding so talked the owner into having her PTS, owner called vet to arranged, obviously very upset this was going to have to happen. Vet said, if you can get her on grass.......... well i have all year grazing so as a last ditch attempt, she came up to my yard. And guess what - it worked!
she survived on the grass - even in winter and picked at her haylage etc. In the end the owner stopped the 'soup' feeds.
sadly the mare moved to another yard when the ladies other horse went to be broken/schooled (made sense for them to be together) and she got bad lami and had to be PTS
frown.gif

but she had a couple of years extra from being on 24/7 turnout on grass all year round. Maybe worth a try if you can find somewhere??
 
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