Feeding a Laminitic?

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Jinxxe

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Hello,

I have a 16.2 ID who always used to be a fairly good doer, He had a Laminitic attack a few years ago after being fed just baled hay (have since moved from that livery yard :mad:!)

He since been on restricted grazing, however hes now too thin...So I'm really after some advice as to what he can be fed without causing another attack.

Hes currently on Alfa A Oil and Allen & Page Hacking Mix, He also comes in everyday for 3-4 hours for ad lib hay, its last years though so really is just making sure hes full rather than having a great deal of nutritional value! He will be switched to haylage as soon as thats ready- yard owner is saying end of this month.

I can't move him to a new field, we tried that and even with strip grazing he gorged himself and ended up quite footy within 48hrs.


Any ideas:confused:
 
Hi, firstly I'd avoid haylage at all costs - just stick to old hay, or soaked if new.

I have a laminitic poor doer & I feed her Speedi Beet which is unmollassed quick soak sugar beet, along with Alfa Oil. Both Dengie & Simple Systems recommend this diet. At the moment she's receiving 3 meals a day of this & add lib late cut hay. I'm presently investigating Coolstance Copra which is worth considering & is safe for laminitics.

When she needs a little less weight I feed Alphabeet which is just 50/50 sugar beet & alfalfa in a cube which you soak in the same way as sugar beet.

Avoid feeds containing mollasses, as it's surprising how many contain it.
 
Scroll down on this page - http://www.laminitis.org/approval.html to see the list of 'approved' feeds.

Get him off the hacking mix, its ridiculously high in starch so no good for a laminitic.

Alphabeet/fibrebeet/speedibeet are all good for weight gain and probably worth looking into Top Spec Anti-lam :)

I would stick with hay if you can.
 
I agree about avoiding Haylage if you can, as regardless of the 'calorie' content, fermented hay just doesn't seem to agree with a lot of horses and can lead to a build up of toxins which can be a contributory factor to Lami

Firstly if he is too thin, up the hay! Good quality old meadow hay should be fine and soak it if you are concerned... but the best way to put on weight is through fibre!

I'd also steer clear of Alfa A Oil and the Hacking Mix! Switch to a non-mollassed chaff - Dengie do a Mollasses Free Alfa A and Hi Fi. You can add Speedi Beet to this, which horses love and will add condition

You could also add a yeast (brewers is good and quite cheap) and micronised linseed, which will help with condition as well
 
Absolutely NO to haylage for a laminitic and NO to any hard feed! Ad lib hay, soaked if necessary and fibre feeds such as Happy Hoof, Simple Systems etc. Speedibeet is good as it is unmollased, but ordinary sugar beet is a no-no. Plenty of turnout on the restricted grazing to keep his circulation going (essential for laminitics), the poorer the grazing the better and you can put hay in the field for him to make up for the lack of grass if you're worried he's losing weight. Weigh his hay to make sure he is getting enough and if you mix in good clean barley straw you get "more" for him to eat as it weighs less than hay, takes longer to eat but will keep him feeling nice and full.

The laminitis clinic can be very helpful if you ring them and ask for advice - the website is mentioned in Erin's post.
 
Alpha A Oil is molasses free, so stick with that, I've fed it to a poor laminitic no problem and as others have said Speedi-beet, Fast Fibre any fibre based feed that has less than 10% starch/sugar combined. Cut out the hacking mix its 27% starch :(
 
Why is everyone obsessed with Happy Hoof-IT CONTAINS MOLASES!!!! Yes it is aproved by laminitis trust but they are not always right.

oil is ok for laminitics and alfafa oil is fine to feed to your horse. Hacking mix isnt
 
I agree with others; haylage and Happy Hoof have not been good for the lamis I have worked with.

Copra meal is not the saint it might appear either; it depends if the lami is also IR. Ditto anything with alfalfa in it.

If the lami was/is purely from obesity you have greater choice of what to feed. If it is IR related then be ruthless in driving down the sugar and starch content.

For IR horses this means every mouthful, not just the overall content.

Read the diet files in the ECIR Yahoo group they are very helpful - and there is a lot of background information to help you make wise choices.

I'd also soak the hay - I know that may be contrary to expectation as it removes sugar. But by taking the sugar out you can feed more fibre and this will help.
 
I have a laminitc pony that is thin and has been for many years and has had laminits on and off for many years, and before July of this year I was struggling to get her sound and keep her sound. Her feet were in a terrible state, laminitic wedges on all four feet. She was only ever given hay, no lucerne (of which alfalfa is one !) and a vitamin supplement. Anyway to cut a long story short as her case is an interesting but long one. I was even contemplating having her PTS but then spent many nights searching and searching for an answer. I came across the article below;

http://www.gotcha.com.au/articles/laminitis_obesity.php

I switched to the minerals suggested in this article and also included chromium. She had nothing to lose and I really didn't hold out much hope. To my surprise and delight she started to improve within days. I couldn't believe it, nor could the farrier and other folk who know if her history. I still have to keep an eye on her but she has been able to graze with the others wearing a muzzle. She is a changed pony. He feet are looking good now, the wedges had been removed gradually. She has a little thrush but that is a minor issue compared to how she was before.

Read the article it is very interesting and there are other useful articles on that site.

Our pony certainly had mineral deficiencies which the other two in the field do not.

all the best
 
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speedibeet and Baileys Outshine worked well for my underweight laminitic shortly after his last attack and the soaked hay caused a lot of weight loss.
Definitely remove the hacking mix from his diet (due to starch content)
Good luck xxx
 
ive got a windsucking vetran poor laminitic doer! he gets speedibeet/unmolassed chaff 2 xs per day and 4 medium haynets of this years hay unsoaked/no bute in his evening feed and turnout on bare pasture 3-4 hours per day.will be getting 16 plus in his feed soon.he is slowly putting weight on and is rugged now but ribs still showing a bit.we have winter turnout but no grass.
 
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