liver disease

[thundersprite]

just wondered if anyone had experiance of a horse with liver disease as my 5 year old welsh d has some sort of liver problem
shes had a liver biopsy but we are waiting the results
but any info on management or other peoples experiances would be great as my mare is so young im hoping she will be ok.

 

[Shipley]

Mine had a liver problem I fed him milk thistle (cheap and very effective). My vet was brilliant and I also feed their version of red cell and it worked really well within 6 months he was back to himself. I did have to change his diet so that he did not have to break down the feel. I fed alpha oil chaff and nuts and baileys no 1.

ets my spelling again sorry

 

[orin]

my 5yo welsh c x has liver disease. pm me if you want all details

 

[iconique]

We went through this last year and are pleased to say that although we are still baffled as to why, she's still with us and doing really well.

Low protein diet (we used Spillers Happy Hoof, with Micronised flaked maize for energy and vitamin supp) The milk thistle is also very proven to help with this, our vet perscibed hepatacil which is the milk thistle.

Hope yours is ok, but the good news is that the liver is the one organ in the body which can re-generate!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Most (but not all) liver disease in horses is linked to ragwort poisoning. Ragwort poisoning is cumulative and I guess your ned is too young to have this. So has the vet said it's an infection or flukes? While you wait for the liver biopsy results, you can support the liver as follows (and this is straight from Prof Knottenbelt, a world authority on liver disease in horses):

- feed a very low protein diet
- what protein you DO feed should be of the highest quality
- no oils or conditioning mixes EVER
- feed Yea Sac (or similar) to aid hind gut digestion
- feed Milk Thistle to support the liver function
- daily ration broken into as many small feeds as possible
- tlc and top quality nursing

Good luck and let's hope the results come back as something that time will cure x

 

[psychick82]

what are the symtoms of liver disease in horses?

 

[hellybelly6]

Weight loss, lethargy, muscle wasting, yellowish mucus membranes and eye whites, at the end stage blindness and hitting head against hard objects and walking into things.

 

[hellybelly6]

PS sensitivity to sunlight too and increased risk of sun burn

 

[kellyeaton]

i had a horse with ragwort poisioning if you want any help to how you can surport the liver please pm me!

 

[thundersprite]

thanks its great to know some horses can recover and lead normal lives

 

[thundersprite]

her biopsy results came back but wernt totally conclusive although did show and infection in her liver and shes now on a 30 day course of atntboitics and will be tested again after the 30 day to see if theres any improvement