Lymphangytis! Bad decision on the feeding

carthorse

carthorse

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SORRY LONG>
Earlier in the year we fed a ready mixed feed , we liked the feed and it was delivered but the delivery always went wrong so we stopped using it.
We came across the feed again at Your Horse Live and they were bulk supplying in lovely feed bins that were delivered and then changed when you ran out.It was 20% cheaper this way and the bins held about 7-8 feed sacks worth.As we had problems with delivery before they offered us a bag of sugar beet free and said the delivery had improved.
I ordered a bin full and 3 bags of SB and some lite mix for the pony and said could it be delivered in the morning as we don't live there and would need to be there.
I clipped that morning but no feed arrived , I phoned at 1 o'clock but they said it would be another hour. It arrived in a very large lorry and had to be unloaded on the road and the bin pushed to the feed shed but the driver was very nice and as he was blocking the single track road he was quite quick and nothing came along the road anyway.The bin actually held 10 bags full so quite a lot of moneys worth
Started feeding that night mixing 1 scoop into their feeds and reducing their usual feed. Next morning Rafi who had been on oats/alfa A/ sugar beet and balancer wasn't too keen on his feed and messed about with it.He was turned out and ridden in the evening but was not his normal happy self, but he can be grumpy if exercised at night when he thinks he should be in and fed.
Yesterday he was happier to eat his feed and he had a bit more of the new feed and less his normal, it was his day off and he was turned out for the day.
This morning he has lymphangitis ,which he has never had before.His legs reduced on exercise and then he was given sugar beet /chaff and epsom salts and he is now turned out and he has the same in his feed tonight.
Penfold who is prone to lymphangitis and resting at the moment has had no problem and is on 2 scoops twice a day with sugar beet because we are trying to put some weight on him.
Do you think it is a coincidence and I should reintroduce the feed after a few days or should I put him back on his old feed .
I have a lot of this feed in the bin but as the delivery still can't guarantee morning delivery and I can't just leave the place open for them to deliver by themselves and one horse seems upset by it anyway shall I just use this up slowly and send back the bin and learn from my mistake, or phone them and tell them the problem and see what they say/
 
what's in the new feed? it should come with a 'bag label' even if its not in bags. this should tell you ingredients and vit/min spec and things like energy/oil/fibre/ash/protein content.

if it doen't ring them, complain, stamp and shout and threaten them with your vet bill as its illegal to sell animal feed without this information.

otherwise, i would suggest that if the feed has any hi-pro soya (or oil extracted soya meal), large quantities of barley (it would be 1st or 2nd on the list of ingredients) or anything that sounds dodgy then you cut it out and ring the company.
if its not too dis-similar to what you were feeding, i'd put it down to co-incidence and introduce it really really slowly - like a handful or less at a time.

p.s is this chestnut feeds? from your description of the feed containers it sounds like them, but i've never had anything to do with them so i don't know what they're like.
 
My mare has an awful history of severe, recurrant, chronic Lymphangitis. The first episode she had with me, it was looking like I could lose her. Subsequent episodes haven't been quite as bad, but she has sometimes got pretty ill. I was advised to keep her on a low protein, low starch diet and keep her moving as much as possible.

I've done this. I never feed a mix based diet. She has Badminton Herbal Chaff and their High Fibre Nuggets. I am also planning to add some Baileys Outshine which I don't expect to cause a problem. She also lives out from April to November and comes into a barn rather than a stable at night in the winter. She hasn't had an episode of Lymphangitis now for 18 months and she is in great condition on the diet
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I hope that helps in some way.
 
Sorry guys, lymphangitis is NOT caused by feed. Lymphangitis is (as far as Im aware) a bacterial infection of the lymphatic system nearest to the source of infection. It is very painful and reoccuring and must be treated by a vet. What you probably have is 'filled legs' which may or may not be a reaction to the feed. Try taking away the hard feed for a couple of days to see if the swelling goes down then feed it again to see if the swelling returns. M. PS, lymphangitis doesnt go down on exercise so it sounds more like a circulatory thing
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Having had 2 years of recurrant Lymphangitis with my mare, I have become a bit of an expert on it! I concede that I don't know what the evidence is to recommend a low protein, low starch diet - or if that really makes a difference, but I can state with certaintly that exercise plays a very important role.

After several episodes of Lymphagitis the tissue in the effected limb is perminantly damaged. According to my Vet who has done several post mortums on such legs, it can be pulled apart and stuck together like velcro! As a consequence, fluid does not drain from the leg as it would from a normal leg. Because the tissue, including the lymphatic system, is damaged it doesn't take much for the fluid filled leg to become infected as any bacteria cannot be dealt with very well in that limb. For this reason exercise plays a crucial role in maintaining the limb as well as possible - to prevent fluid from building and to help (through the contraction of muscles etc) disipate any that does buid. When infection is established and at its worse, as you indicate the horse will be in pain, probably have high temperature and resperation and couldn't be exercised, but after this most painful period, whilst there is still infection, the horse will need repeated in-hand walking, followed a matter of days later by being ridden in walk. Also in their general care to help prevent further episodes, the horse should not stand for long periods.
 
Yes he has filled legs like lymphangitis ,sorry should have stated it clearly but I believe it easily turns into full lymphangitis if not controlled, as Stella says.I think it must be the feed change ,he was on oats but this feed is oat free and so I suppose quite a change
 
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