Greedy elderly horse leaving feed

[JillA]

It's an odd one - he has always loved his food but now at 23 he only really tucks in if it is pretty wet (beet pulp, Ready Fibre Mash and grass pellets as a supplement carrier more than anything else). He will eat it over a day or a night but normally he would have licked the bucket clean within 15 minutes. Teeth done in October and he eats all his hay with gusto so doubt it is a dental issue. Any experiences/ideas? PPID controlled with Prascend, unlikely to be related because he has been on that for over a year and this only presented a couple of months ago TIA

 

[Goldenstar]

First thing I would do is get a gag on him and let the vet have a good look in his mouth and check his TMJ and hyoid .

 

[ImmyS]

My normally lick the bowl clean cob is completely off any hard feed. Eating hay and pooing plenty so can only assume the grass is really coming through and he’s just not needing any hard feed. Fine by me! 😀

But certainly as yours is an older chap I’d just get teeth checked to be sure.

 

[meleeka]

Don’t automatically assume it can’t be Prascand, mine was fine for ages and still periodically goes off feed.

 

[Remi'sMum]

One of ours - extremely food orientated Connie - went off his bucket feed recently although was still eating his hay. Turned out he had a piece of garden wire wrapped round a back tooth that was digging into his cheek. Very ouch. Strange that he was still eating hay as it must have been very uncomfortable for him. So a dental issue isn’t always the actual teeth...

 

[splashgirl45]

my cushings mare had been on prascend for a couple of years and then suddenly went off all food and i thought i was going to lose her. i tried lots of different hay and feed and finally managed to get her to eat some haylage mixed with hay and after getting lots of samples from feed companies found a feed she would eat and i kept her for on the same for the next 3 years till i lost her. might be worth contacting feed companies and get a load of samples to try. i would also make sure teeth are ok first. good luck

 

[JillA]

Thanks - have asked the very keen equine dentist who does him to come and check for mouth ulcers, foreign bodies etc, for elimination if nothing else

 

[ihatework]

My one on prascend went extremely fussy on feed, would change his mind on what he would/wouldn’t eat on a daily basis

 

[catembi]

My oldie was on Prascend & went from ravenous to picky depending on my success at getting the Prascend into her... More Prascend = less appetite usually.

 

[JJS]

I admin a Cushing's group on Facebook that has 12,000+ members, and have a PPID boy of my own. In my (pretty extensive) experience, I wouldn't rule out Prascend as being behind it. One thing that can help to effectively re-boot their system and get their appetite going again is to stop medicating for a few days and then gradually titrate back up to the original dose.

Of course, getting a dentist out to begin with is also a good idea!

 

[Gloi]

Prascend made mine really fussy too. Ate hay but would only eat feed which was sweetened which he wasn't meant to have.

 

[JillA]

Prascend made mine really fussy too. Ate hay but would only eat feed which was sweetened which he wasn't meant to have.

Thanks - was he previously a "lick the bucket" sort? I'm reluctant to stop the Prascend just now because of the laminitis risk - would halving the dose for up to a week reveal much do you think (from 1/day which isn't a huge dose for a 16.1 wb)

 

[Gloi]

Thanks - was he previously a "lick the bucket" sort? I'm reluctant to stop the Prascend just now because of the laminitis risk - would halving the dose for up to a week reveal much do you think (from 1/day which isn't a huge dose for a 16.1 wb)

Yes, very much so. It might be worth halving the dose for a while and then increasing it again. Mine , though smaller, was kept for several years on 1/2 a day and looked well on it and his levels were stable. He had always eaten everything but once medicated went very fussy. The things he would eat that weren't high sugar were hay and alfa A and he still loved grass. He did still like mollassed mix and if I really needed him to eat something would put it in a bit of that. The first thing is to make sure he gets all the good hay he needs if he's eating that. I always had his teeth very well looked after as well because he had diastemers.

 

[paddy555]

I admin a Cushing's group on Facebook that has 12,000+ members, and have a PPID boy of my own. In my (pretty extensive) experience, I wouldn't rule out Prascend as being behind it. One thing that can help to effectively re-boot their system and get their appetite going again is to stop medicating for a few days and then gradually titrate back up to the original dose.

Of course, getting a dentist out to begin with is also a good idea!

I too would stop prascend completely just for a few days. At least that way you will have an definite answer pretty quickly. Then I would start at a quarter if prascend is the answer and work up to a full dose over a month. It may be a case of having to find a feed he enjoys more.

 

[Velcrobum]

Perhaps talking to your vet might be a good idea........

 

[JillA]

Thanks. Update = dentist has found ulceration on his tongue which is part of the problem - he thinks he may have bitten it but I am wondering if there is a Prascend link. He also said his mouth was dry but that would be because he isn't chewing, and chewing is what produces saliva. His molars are fine and there is no other soft tissue damage. My vet doesn't work on Mondays so it will have to wait until Tuesday to discuss his Prascend dose, meanwhile condition is good and in fact he can well afford to lose some at this time of year.

 

[poiuytrewq]

It sounds like your probably sorted but I had similar issues, resulting in ulcers because the horse wasn’t eating enough.
Mine was also having regular dentals and had been checked by my vets.
Does your horse get feed stuck round his teeth? In between them and at the gumline?

 

[Goldenstar]

Have you tried giving some bran ?

 

[JillA]

It sounds like your probably sorted but I had similar issues, resulting in ulcers because the horse wasn’t eating enough.
Mine was also having regular dentals and had been checked by my vets.
Does your horse get feed stuck round his teeth? In between them and at the gumline?

Doesn't seem to and the dentist did smell his breath for food deposits. Horse had just come in from the field so would have had grass at least, and he does eat some food and some hay, although not as much as usual so I don't think gastric ulcers would be a risk.

Goldenstar thanks but he has had bran in his feeds every day since he stated being picky, because of its palatability

 

[poiuytrewq]

Doesn't seem to and the dentist did smell his breath for food deposits. Horse had just come in from the field so would have had grass at least, and he does eat some food and some hay, although not as much as usual so I don't think gastric ulcers would be a risk.

Goldenstar thanks but he has had bran in his feeds every day since he stated being picky, because of its palatability

That’s good! I didn’t mean yours had ulcers, just pointing out that’s how bad mine got at not eating!
Mine has a dental condition apparently fairly newly, umm, named?! Discovered? Obviously it’s been around years but just recognised as a disease more recently 😳

 

[paddy555]

are you giving your 1 tablet of prascend in a single dose each day or splitting it into am and pm?