Low protein - experiences?

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Embob1

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Morning :)

Slightly long post to give a bit of background...

I've posted a few times over the last six months about my share horse becoming increasingly lazy - first thought to be related to an extremely poor fitting saddle, once I had purchased a new saddle he improved for a while then went back to lazy so got back checked to ensure no damage from ill fitting saddle. Flex tests and trot ups perfect but turns out he was a little wonky in his pelvis, likely caused by rolling/getting up funny or being silly in the field, muscle then built up wonky when saddle was slipping and weight was sat very unevenly. He improved for a short while after being treated. We changed his feed (he is a good doer and was getting just a 'courtesy' dinner of basically just chaff as all other horses around him get dinner) and he was put onto a balancer. Improvement for a short period.

Towards the end of May, he started to plant his feet when schooling/jumping and would basically stand and say he'd had enough. Sometimes 10 minutes into the ride, sometimes 30 minutes etc etc - no trend as to when. I was going on holiday for 2 weeks in June so decided to give him time off schooling. He had around 6 weeks off schooling and during that time hacked round fields/roads, did a little jumping in the field and if ridden in the school, was ridden on the buckle of the rein and kept very relaxed. Quite a bit of improvement from this - really believed he was bored of schooling - a lot of the year our fields are closed off so hacking is limited and I do not have transport to get out.

His owner changed his feed a few weeks ago (wanted to try both her horses on same feed to save cost) and he got diarrhoea, it didn't seem to agree with him. Persevered for a few days and put back on old food when no improvement, diarrhoea subsided. About a week later I got the chance to take him on a 10 mile fun ride and he was absolutely amazing. Still doggy trotting by the end of it and flew all of the jumps he was pointed at. Think it did him the world of good to get out and have a blast.

I then went away with work for the week the day after the ride and was told he came out of the stable shaking like a leaf in the morning. He was kept an eye on - could just be excitement or thought that he lost a lot of goodness from the diarrhoea, then the ride just wiped him out. Put him on salts, supplements etc to help build back up and showed improvement over a few days.

The following week, his sheath was swollen. Kept an eye, they'd recently moved fields and could have been a reaction from something out there or a bite. He was happy in himself etc. Few days later the whole underside of his belly swelled up.

Vet straight out and bloods taken, bloods show low protein count. Vet has said he is about half way between where the count should be and being a real cause for concern. As he is eating and still happy in himself, she isn't too worried at this stage. She also said the swelling is not something that happens overnight and it's likely it's been underlying for a while and the upset tummy and then the ride, have just brought the symptoms out.

He was given a steroid injection and then given steroid powder in his feed and will be monitored - vet is out today to retake bloods and see if there has been any improvement (since injection first given Friday). If steroids make no improvements, she has advised a scan will be the next step and if inconclusive, a trip to the vets for further tests.

This is not something I've come across before and do believe that this could be the reason he's been lazy over recent months (and also explain good days and bad days?). I'm going to give him some time off - vet has said we will monitor his count and if there is improvement he can be ridden but I don't think a few weeks off will do any harm.

Has anyone been through similar? What treatment did you go through and how was it managed long term?
Just curious to hear of any other experiences.

Please no comments on when the vet should have/did come out. Although I am a very hands on sharer, that decision is unfortunately out of my hands, I've taken all the steps I could.

Thank you :)
 
I've known 2 with low protein levels - one of them also presented with a swollen sheath. Worm damage was thought to be the underlying problem, causing damage to the gut wall. I can't tell you how it was managed long term as the youngster was too far gone to save and the older horse was managed on steroids for a while until his owner called time. I don't want to scare you - both of these horses were very, very poorly and yours doesn't sound that bad. It also came down to finances with the older horse, they vets wanted to scan, scope etc to see his stomach lining and the owner wasn't insured.
 
SEL said:
I've known 2 with low protein levels - one of them also presented with a swollen sheath. Worm damage was thought to be the underlying problem, causing damage to the gut wall. I can't tell you how it was managed long term as the youngster was too far gone to save and the older horse was managed on steroids for a while until his owner called time. I don't want to scare you - both of these horses were very, very poorly and yours doesn't sound that bad. It also came down to finances with the older horse, they vets wanted to scan, scope etc to see his stomach lining and the owner wasn't insured.
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Thank you for your response. The vet was more concerned about the swollen belly than the sheath (which surprised me as his sheath became like a balloon!) with it being such a big build up of fluid. He is wormed regularly and always up to date.
Vet has said that his count could be showing as that bit lower due to what he's lost from diarrhoea and the ride so I am hopeful his count will raise with steroids.
He is completely normal in himself on the ground and eating as normal etc. I do hope there is not serious long term damage :(
 
my friend had a 28 year old pony that was eating normally and had dropped weight they ran bloods and he had low protein he also had the swellings either side of his belly, vet said these are a symptom of the low protein so he was put on steroids which did perk him up a bit but appetite still not great, the vet wanted to scope and scan but because of his age the owner didn't want that for him so she decided to pts, the day before the pts was booked she found him in the field unable to move and he had passed some very watery droppings hence to say the vet was called and he was pts that day.

The vet did say he could have had some kind of tumour but apart from that they really had no idea which is why the scans and scope were needed, sorry to not have a better story to tell and I hope you manage to get to the bottom of his problems and hope they are not to serious.
 
I have a rescued ex chaser who almost starved to death 10 years ago when he was abandoned. He struggles to get sufficient protein, not sure whether it is an absorption problem, but if I don't supplement he loses weight, and even good grass and hay just don't work to keep him looking well. He gets linseed which is high in protein, spirulina (ditto) and amino acids which are the building blocks of protein. He also has whey powder if he really needs a boost, and it works for him. His ribs are covered for the first time in 5 years and he is relaxed and happy. Forageplus are a good source of information
 
Is he wormed for encysted small redworm? Lots of people miss doing this, worming routinely is not enough, you need to use the right chemicals.
Is his temperature normal? Infection could be a cause if not.
Unfortunately intestinal tumours are also a possibility, I sadly lost my yearling to this and her first major symptom was ventral oedema.
 
Embob1 said:
Morning :)

Slightly long post to give a bit of background...

I've posted a few times over the last six months about my share horse becoming increasingly lazy - first thought to be related to an extremely poor fitting saddle, once I had purchased a new saddle he improved for a while then went back to lazy so got back checked to ensure no damage from ill fitting saddle. Flex tests and trot ups perfect but turns out he was a little wonky in his pelvis, likely caused by rolling/getting up funny or being silly in the field, muscle then built up wonky when saddle was slipping and weight was sat very unevenly. He improved for a short while after being treated. We changed his feed (he is a good doer and was getting just a 'courtesy' dinner of basically just chaff as all other horses around him get dinner) and he was put onto a balancer. Improvement for a short period.

Towards the end of May, he started to plant his feet when schooling/jumping and would basically stand and say he'd had enough. Sometimes 10 minutes into the ride, sometimes 30 minutes etc etc - no trend as to when. I was going on holiday for 2 weeks in June so decided to give him time off schooling. He had around 6 weeks off schooling and during that time hacked round fields/roads, did a little jumping in the field and if ridden in the school, was ridden on the buckle of the rein and kept very relaxed. Quite a bit of improvement from this - really believed he was bored of schooling - a lot of the year our fields are closed off so hacking is limited and I do not have transport to get out.

His owner changed his feed a few weeks ago (wanted to try both her horses on same feed to save cost) and he got diarrhoea, it didn't seem to agree with him. Persevered for a few days and put back on old food when no improvement, diarrhoea subsided. About a week later I got the chance to take him on a 10 mile fun ride and he was absolutely amazing. Still doggy trotting by the end of it and flew all of the jumps he was pointed at. Think it did him the world of good to get out and have a blast.

I then went away with work for the week the day after the ride and was told he came out of the stable shaking like a leaf in the morning. He was kept an eye on - could just be excitement or thought that he lost a lot of goodness from the diarrhoea, then the ride just wiped him out. Put him on salts, supplements etc to help build back up and showed improvement over a few days.

The following week, his sheath was swollen. Kept an eye, they'd recently moved fields and could have been a reaction from something out there or a bite. He was happy in himself etc. Few days later the whole underside of his belly swelled up.

Vet straight out and bloods taken, bloods show low protein count. Vet has said he is about half way between where the count should be and being a real cause for concern. As he is eating and still happy in himself, she isn't too worried at this stage. She also said the swelling is not something that happens overnight and it's likely it's been underlying for a while and the upset tummy and then the ride, have just brought the symptoms out.

He was given a steroid injection and then given steroid powder in his feed and will be monitored - vet is out today to retake bloods and see if there has been any improvement (since injection first given Friday). If steroids make no improvements, she has advised a scan will be the next step and if inconclusive, a trip to the vets for further tests.

This is not something I've come across before and do believe that this could be the reason he's been lazy over recent months (and also explain good days and bad days?). I'm going to give him some time off - vet has said we will monitor his count and if there is improvement he can be ridden but I don't think a few weeks off will do any harm.

Has anyone been through similar? What treatment did you go through and how was it managed long term?
Just curious to hear of any other experiences.

Please no comments on when the vet should have/did come out. Although I am a very hands on sharer, that decision is unfortunately out of my hands, I've taken all the steps I could.

Thank you :)
Click to expand...


I feel for you and this is what i am going through, my small one is leaking protein into her undercarriage. I do strongly advise you get the horse into vets to find out why. My small has been diagnosed with IBD
(Inflammatory bowel disease) which can be life threatening. the liver is another concern, diarrhoea goes hand in hand with IBD amongst other things. Not trying to scare you but get a prognoses as something is not right and the quicker you get onto treatment the better. My little one had two ultrasound and gastroscope which both showed thickening of the small intestine and the biopsy showed liver was ok.

Please for the horses sake tell the vet you want it investigated. My wee one is on an elimination diet to try reduce the thickening in the intestine but it will take a long .time. We can't give steroids yet due to lami risk and will do that in the winter if no improvement on this diet. Vets are concerned her droppings stay good as runny poos is a grave concern

My little ones appetite is healthy at the moment so we caught it early due to a random blood test to see how the liver was and we found this out. ( thank god )

20170814_174853_zpshaiebyqo.jpg
 
Last edited:
Protein losing enteropathy?
Have experiences of this in dogs, not seen it in horses but have heard it can occur.
Treatment will depend on the cause, to find out the cause may require anything from bloods and scans to exploratory surgery and biopsies.
And the causes can range from parasites, IBD to tumours such as lymphosarcoma. Usually the dogs I have seen with this usually come in a bit too late and are quite ill, so they have not had a positive outcome :(

If you can I would advise the owner to investigate sooner rather than later.
 
Thank you for the honest (yet slightly worrying!) responses. I couldn't really find a great deal searching online so it's good to hear some experiences.

Vet is more than happy to go with steroids to begin with as she feels we've caught it at a good time and with him being so perky and eager to eat, he seems okay in himself. His swelling has gone down massively and belly/sheath are virtually back to normal today. More bloods taken this afternoon and the results will come back tomorrow, hopefully with an increase in protein count (fingers crossed).

In regards to worming, I've just checked online for the wormer we use and it appears it does cover the small red worm (Equest version).
Temperature is normal too which is good.

I'm sorry to hear you're going through that ILuvCowparsely :( sounds awful. I have my fingers crossed for a good turnaround.
Also concerned about the lami risk that comes with steroids but vet has assured the dose he is on at the moment is fairly low and we will all be keeping an eye out, as soon as he shows any signs we will stop. Although touch wood, never shown any signs before.

Vet will be calling the owner tomorrow and I guess next steps will be discussed once we know what the bloods say. Poor little man!
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
I feel for you and this is what i am going through, my small one is leaking protein into her undercarriage. I do strongly advise you get the horse into vets to find out why. My small has been diagnosed with IBD
(Inflammatory bowel disease) which can be life threatening. the liver is another concern, diarrhoea goes hand in hand with IBD amongst other things. Not trying to scare you but get a prognoses as something is not right and the quicker you get onto treatment the better. My little one had two ultrasound and gastroscope which both showed thickening of the small intestine and the biopsy showed liver was ok.

Please for the horses sake tell the vet you want it investigated. My wee one is on an elimination diet to try reduce the thickening in the intestine but it will take a long .time. We can't give steroids yet due to lami risk and will do that in the winter if no improvement on this diet. Vets are concerned her droppings stay good as runny poos is a grave concern

My little ones appetite is healthy at the moment so we caught it early due to a random blood test to see how the liver was and we found this out. ( thank god )

20170814_174853_zpshaiebyqo.jpg
Click to expand...

this. Mine was in horse hospital when low protein levels were found and was already being scanned and blood tested daily. It was resolved and all was fine however with low protein levels I would want an experienced vet or hospital to find out quickly what is going on. I wouldn't leave it.
 
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