Lack of appetite from prascend... advice wanted please

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equestriangal

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My boy has been on prascend for around 2 years now (only half)
Some days he will eat his food no problem, other days he will walk away from it.
I generally manage to get the tablet in everyday by hand feeding it to him with a bit of food.
I’m looking for advice on appetisers? Something to encourage him to eat it. His food is very bland (blanancer and molasses free chaff) I’m hoping there’s something I could add to make it taste nice that isn’t high in sugar?
Thanks
 
My horse over time got worse and worse about taking his tablet.

Initially he’d take it in a small amount of molassed course mix. But we got to a point where he wouldn’t take it from a bucket feed, saw carrots and apples as poisonous tricks etc.

Eventually I got to the point I had to syringe it in every day - it dissolves in water easily, or you can use baby apple purée
 
Like ihw mine got worse taking it and ended up having it syringed in although it did dissolve well in speedibeet water and would eat a feed with that in some days, luckily he was not laminitic so could have tasty feeds to keep his interest.
We decided that as he was not a good doer, at 30+ maintaining weight and quality of life was worth the minor risk of laminitis so he was fed various feeds to keep him happy, he went off most by the second bag which was frustrating as it was trial and error as to what he would eat.
 
Try Hedgerow Herbs or mint herbs. Not very expensive but make feed smell nice. I’ve also used warm water before, again to make it smell delicious. Mike loves Sixteen Plus mix and would eat a feed with a teeny bit of it in. I’m sure a few nuts and grains didn’t affect her sugar intake enough to worry about.

I’m another who gave up on trying to hide it and syringed it in. My pony has got used to it and I can do it with her loose in the field now.
 
My horse won't eat his in his feeds (thunderbrooks) I'd just find the licked clean half a tablet left in the bowl.
I've been putting it in a date and hand feed but he will refuse that often as will sniff it first. The thing that's never failed is a snapped in half ginger nut or other small biscuit with the tablet in the middle held in place with a spot of that biscotti (not sure if that's how it's spelt) spread, to make a sandwich. Not ideal I know but he's well into his twenties and retired so on balance it's worth the sugar to get the tablet into him.
 
I always gave my old boy his tabs by hand as I wanted to be sure he'd had them, it worked well in a seedless grape, apple or a plum. I got fairly inventive and mixed it around a bit. He never had lami fortunately, although I was very careful with what he got as a bucket feed, it wasn't the tastiest and he wouldnt eat it if I put the tabs in. I found micronised linseed was great for keeping his weight on.
 
we give us in a small piece of brown bread as she stopped eating carrot etc but its certainly not stopped her appetite if only!
 
i gave mine hers in a scooped out carrot, she ate it every day like that and she was on 4 tablets.....she wouldnt go near her feed if i put even 1 tablet in. i used to give her the carrot over the door of the stable before she got any hay or feed, and as it was over the door i could see if she spat any out as it would be on the concrete. i also found that after a few years mine stopped eating her feed and i had to experiment with lots of different ones. i got samples from the feed suppliers and found that she would eat baileys low chaff and fast fibre. the chaff smells minty and she had that until her last day with no problems...
 
Thanks for your replies. Very hard getting used to the fact he’s now not got much appetite.... he’s always been one to literally eat anything!
 
I like Winergy Equilibrium. It is expensive tho not for the handfuls you'll be feeding. My horses love it, and years ago when the kids were in Pony Club I used to take a bowl of it to get the odd one or two who wouldn't load into the trailers.
 
I spread the tablet over two feeds. Bruce has only a handful of feed. If he struggles I use a soaked palm full of Figs slobbermash which he loves and gets his appetite back.

I agreed with myself long ago I would rather keep him happy on a small dose than keep him miserable on a higher dose, whatever the outcome. He's owed happy days.
 
not prascend but my last horse had to have a fair number of tablets crushed up daily for melanoma treatment-he got them in a marmite sandwich (brown bread!) which he loved. might be worth a try.
 
nikkimariet said:
I spread the tablet over two feeds. Bruce has only a handful of feed. If he struggles I use a soaked palm full of Figs slobbermash which he loves and gets his appetite back.

I agreed with myself long ago I would rather keep him happy on a small dose than keep him miserable on a higher dose, whatever the outcome. He's owed happy days.
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This is how I feel! The originally put him on 1 tablet per day and it was awful! He went from a little cheeky fat pony full of energy and big appetite with a shiny coat, to a depressed skin and bone old looking pony with a dull coat! I called the vet straight back out, they said put him down to half tablet, he didn’t need one tablet. Wow what a difference, 2 weeks later he was so much better! I’ve made a promise to myself that if half a tablet per day becomes not enough to control the ems I definitely will not ever put him on a whole one again! Just want him to be as happy as possible...
 
equestriangal said:
This is how I feel! The originally put him on 1 tablet per day and it was awful! He went from a little cheeky fat pony full of energy and big appetite with a shiny coat, to a depressed skin and bone old looking pony with a dull coat! I called the vet straight back out, they said put him down to half tablet, he didn’t need one tablet. Wow what a difference, 2 weeks later he was so much better! I’ve made a promise to myself that if half a tablet per day becomes not enough to control the ems I definitely will not ever put him on a whole one again! Just want him to be as happy as possible...
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Mine is on 1 1/2 but when I the dose was upped to 2 she didn’t cope at all well so I put it down again. I was pleased and surprised when her next blood test came back well within normal levels, so she obviously didn’t need the increased dose after all and is a happy pony again.
 
equestriangal said:
This is how I feel! The originally put him on 1 tablet per day and it was awful! He went from a little cheeky fat pony full of energy and big appetite with a shiny coat, to a depressed skin and bone old looking pony with a dull coat! I called the vet straight back out, they said put him down to half tablet, he didn’t need one tablet. Wow what a difference, 2 weeks later he was so much better! I’ve made a promise to myself that if half a tablet per day becomes not enough to control the ems I definitely will not ever put him on a whole one again! Just want him to be as happy as possible...
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Have you thought about trying homeopathy? Theres a lady on FB who does remedies for cushings amongst other things. Several people have used them with success. Very small pills. I've used her remedy for sarcoids and its also made a big difference.
 
MoC has typed what I was about to. Mine was also on drugs for melanoma (they didn't work so we stopped) and a marmite sandwich was the best for him as we couldn't crush them and he'd spot them in feed or even in an apple/carrot. I used 1/3 a piece of bread folded in two with a decent amount of marmite so it would go in one mouthful with minimal chewing and before he noticed there was anything else in it. We'd give him a 'clean' sandwich (to lull him into a false sense of security) followed by one with the tablet and then a' clean' one again. We'd wave the clean one in front of his nose while he had the 'contaminated' one so his attention was on the next piece rather than anything that might be in the one already in his mouth!
 
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