Hive mind - the fussy git is driving me bonkers!

[Auslander]

Alf is the king of love it, love it, love it, hate it, when it comes to feed. He has a bute in the morning, so he needs to eat something! It's not the bute, as he is exactly the same with his evening feed. Very enthusiastic about anything new, but within a week or two, he can't be bothered to eat it.
Recently, hes had Ease and Excel, Releve, Redmills Cool and Cooked, Ulsakind cubes, cheap pony nuts, stud cubes, local feedshops own brand coarse mix, local feed shops comp mix -all with and without speedibeet. Currently on Redmils performacare balancer, which he always eats, but it's not enough volume to secret the bute in.
Anything else that your fussy horses love? I don;t even think its that he doesn't like any of the above - he just gets bored of the same old!
I have added molasses tea, peppermint cordial and apple cider vinegar to see if I can tempt him, but he is the only creature in the world who is more stubborn than me!

 

[Barton Bounty]

Apple juice ?

 

[ycbm]

Really sorry I can't help at all, Aus, but just in case anyone with a mare is reading this for suggestions, I once had a mare who did this when she wasn't coming in season and the answer was to give her oestradiol in winter.
.

 

[Auslander]

Apple juice ?

Tried that - plus apple sauce, grated carrot, v8 juice...

 

[AmyMay]

Good old fashioned sugar beet?

 

[Barton Bounty]

Squirt some golden syrup in it or treacle

 

[meleeka]

I’ve had success with apple sauce. I mix the bute into a spoonful, then mix that into feed.

Have you tried Allen & Page feeds?

 

[J&S]

Thinking like BB....... molasses? Stout, Guiness??

 

[Auslander]

Good old fashioned sugar beet?

He has a bit to stick the bute to the rest. Admittedly it's the unmolassed stuff.

 

[Auslander]

I’ve had success with apple sauce. I mix the bute into a spoonful, then mix that into feed.

Have you tried Allen & Page feeds?

He won't touch any of the A&P feeds - even the new Muscle and Focus, which I thought might be of interest!

 

[Nasicus]

Can you cycle back around to one you've used before? Or is he a one and done kind of chap withhis feed?

 

[Auslander]

Today was a good day, as he's only been eating this particular mix for a few days, but you can see how he is when he's done! Just walks away, and doesn't look back

 

[Auslander]

Can you cycle back around to one you've used before? Or is he a one and done kind of chap withhis feed?

That's what I do - with varying degrees of success! Ease and Excel used to be the most reliable choice, but he's done with it now!

 

[cauda equina]

A sandwich?

 

[Barton Bounty]

Today was a good day, as he's only been eating this particular mix for a few days, but you can see how he is when he's done! Just walks away, and doesn't look back

What a boy

 

[Auslander]

Squirt some golden syrup in it or treacle

He doesn't like anything too sweet! If I add anything sugary, he turns his nose up, although molassed mix appears to be acceptable - sometimes!

 

[Auslander]

A sandwich?

He always used to have a slice of toast and honey every evening, but i laced one with bute once, and now he won't touch it!

 

[Barton Bounty]

They are so funny with their fussiness , BB wont eat a wet carrot

 

[SEL]

Sticky veteran mix worked with M when he was on 2x Bute. A decent amount so the powders weren't obvious.

My littlest cob can sniff out Bute & sulk at 1000 paces. The other two have inhaled feed before their taste buds have time to kick in. When little one needed Bute and those huge powdery antibiotic powders I begged samples of competition mix!

 

[hobo]

Keep the bute in the fridge is what I was once told if it is cold it dulls the smell and taste. It worked for my mare when she was fussy.

 

[stangs]

Adding some fennel seed (admittedly, my boy, who is not a picky eater with anything else, refuses to eat it though every other horse I’ve known loved it) or banana?

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Coolstance Copra - seems to be a love or hate but you can get a sample to try. My boy went mad for it. It's essentially coconut husk but soaks in a couple minutes to a nice mix.

Albeit I tried to put bute in his feed once and he didn't touch a bucket feed for 8 days.

 

[Abacus]

Wow, he's complex! I had success with food processed veg - a mix of carrot, apple and whatever else (swede, parsnip, and some apple juice), added to feed. But mine aren't generally as picky. He might be furious but could you mix with something liquidy and syringe it in like a wormer, in desperation?

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Do you know if Alf have demanded a new flavour for his breakfast, and evening feed, with a few weeks intervals his whole life, or is this something that have slowly changed, until you've begun to get get used to that this is just how he is?

If it is the later, could it be possible that he have low B12? I've had 2 old cats who when they developed low B12 levels started acting exactly as you describe Alf, if they liked a new type of food they ate it with enthusiasm for from a week to a few weeks, and then they went off it, and I had to either mix it in different proportions with the food I gave 1 or 2 months before, which might be accepted as a new flavour, or buy another new type of food for them to try, which they ate with enthusiasm for x time...

ETA: Sometimes things coincide, maybe it's possible he started developing low levels of B12 around the same time when you started to hide Bute in his breakfast, and evening meals. My cats with low B12 didn't at first have trouble with their appetite the whole day, it started with them being picky with their food only sometimes during the day.

 

[Tarragon]

I would just resign yourself to never buying the same bag of feed twice in a row, or having 2 or 3 makes of feed available at any one time and go with the flow.
Is there a tablet form of bute? My cushings pony will not take his prascend tablet in any food - ever! But he lets me pop it directly into his mouth with no fuss.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I used to make a treacle sandwich and hide the bute in there.

 

[rabatsa]

I got a syringe of apple flavoured bute paste for a donkey that was not eating.

 

[pinkfluffy]

I used to make a treacle sandwich and hide the bute in there.

We did this with my gelding with steroid tablets - he loved his treacle!

 

[tda]

Take it you've tried Danilon?

Someone once told me (no idea if its true ) to try Bute dry mixed with a sticky chop rather than water.

 

[Merrymoles]

My go-to is soaked grass pellets, particularly if they are not keen on sweet stuff. They smell strongly like cooked spinach to me but the horses seem to like them and they always disappear. They are also cheap and suitable for virtually any horse so there's little financial loss if you buy a bag and he says "nah"!

Also had success with Readigrass in the past for a horse that was on box rest.

A friend's old horse used to adore pink mash so that's maybe worth a try too?