feeding a 'poor' laminitic

[madhector]

really need some thoughts on this please, as not sure what is best really

I have a 17yr old TB gelding who had laminitus last year, I am very concerned about him at the moment due to the time of year etc.. and he was moved onto his summer grazing a week ago, and put in a grazing muzzle as there was so much grass. He is out there at night and in his stable during the day, but he is not looking great, he has always been hard to keep wieght on, and I think have the grazing muzzle on all night hasnt helped,

I thought maybe I could leave it off every other night but worried this might do more harm than good, he has as much hay as he can eat during the day, and two feeds consisting of a scoop of hifi, scoop of suger beet and 1/4 nuts.

He cant have much hard food as he gets lymphangitis, really not sure what is best to do, cant keep wieght on without worrying about him getting laminitus

some suggestions appreciated!

 

[spaniel]

He has only been out on the new grazing a week and wearing the grazing muzzle will, sensibly, cut down the amount of grass he is going to get. This is obviously the priority. Give him a month and then assess him again, its just going to take longer than normal for the Dr G to trickle into him. Far better that than laminitis.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I think you need expert help with this problem because if you get the wrong advice it could have dire consequencies.

Contact Dodson & Horrell, Spillers or Baileys etc by email. They have dedicated teams that can give you the answers you need. You'll find their websites & you can email from there. I've used them in the past & they've been really great....they don't try & rubbish other companies products either they just give good sound advice. Good Luck

 

[AmyMay]

Can he be out 24/7 with the grazing muzzle on in the day and off at night? That's what I did with Amy which seemed to work. However, she hasn't had laminitis.

 

[TGM]

Has he been tested for Cushings? Often laminitics who don't carry a lot of weight turn out to have this condition, and these days the medication to control it is more affordable than it used to be.

If the laminitis was grass triggered last year, then personally, I would continue with the muzzle but up the bucket feed when he is in the stable - using high fibre feeds such as HiFi Lite, Happy Hoof, Speedibeet, High Fibre Cubes etc. These are less likely to trigger laminitis or lymphangitis than cereal based feeds.

 

[Wooleysmum]

I would keep the muzzle on and stuff him with masses of hay during the day in the stable. I do that,3 nets, and feed Hi Fi Lite and a wee bit Happy Hoof. I also give lamigard and Yea sacc. I have to have the muzzle on to keep me sane! I would worry all the time if he had no muzzle. They can get lami in a few hours if exposed to rich grazing.Good luck!

 

[Doublethyme]

My mare who has shown definite signs of low grade lami since going barefoot seems OK (ie no pulses) if out overnight when the fructans are lower without a muzzle and then she is muzzled or kept in during the day.

I have problems keeping her weight up too and have had success using Top Spec Cool and Condition Cubes which are low starch/sugar (ie under 10%) so should be OK for laminitics - although obviously care should be taken when introducing. Spillers Hi Fibre Cubes are excellent too.

Both these feeds are recommended on the Metabolic Horse Yahoo Group, which is a first rate resource for laminitic/cushings/metabolic horse issues.

 

[madhector]

Thankyou everyone, that has helped alot

Think will carry on with the muzzle and he already gets ad lib hay during the day, so will maybe get something like happy hoof for him to have along side it

I agree that would rather have him poor than him get laminitus again

We think it was grass triggered, but will speak to my vet about a cushings test

 

[Thistle]

Try adding oil to his feeds, that won't affect lami.

 

[madhector]

he is having BOSS as well, but will add some oil too

 

[custard]

I used to have exact same prob with Will. He has blossomed with ad lib hay, alfa a, Spillers hi fibre cubes, speedi beet and a mug of Baileys outshine. He has very limited grazing controlled with muzzle/strip grazing

 

[bubbledreamer]

Hello,
I battled with laminitis for years with my boy, and have just recently lost him to cushings. If it was me i would feed happy hoof or something really low sugar and high fibre, or Lmix. At peak times i aslo soaked his hay to get rid of any excess sugars. My vet told me that i had to keep my boy thin to stop him getting laminitis.
Good luck!