Malabsorption - Any advice appreciated

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Sarahxromeo

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I am looking for some advice regarding Malabsorption. My Irish sports horse was diagnosed with grade 3 stomach ulcers which were successfully treated however during treatment he dropped 65kg of weight in 4 weeks. After all other tests coming back negative a glucose test then diagnosed Malabsorption. He is currently on 90 steroids a day after being on 130 per day for first few weeks. I see no major difference apart from slight weight gain in first few weeks which I am sure is now beginning to drop back off. I have read on this forum and on other sites about prognosis and it's not pretty, I am wondering if any users have any advice on where to go from here (if anywhere). It goes without saying I love my horse dearly but it's heartbreaking to see a big strong horse now resemble a welfare case. I have not owned him long (around 7 months) and got him from a dealers after he was transported from Ireland, he is passported at 12 but vet reckons at least 16+ any help/advice greatly appreciated!
 
You need to try to find out why the guts aren't functioning properly- what has he been tested for so far? Are there any ther symptoms? Has he had any biopsies taken?
 
He has had every test going to date and no cause can be found. Vet has suggested it could of been long term and caused by poor feeding etc in past and only come to a head when I have bought him and put him in more work. Another option suggested was explorative surgery but myself and vet agreed it wasn't fair due to his current state
 
All I can suggest is a referral to one f the big vet hospitals- mine went to Langford who were excellent and they gave her the best possible chance. If you can afford it, it sounds like you have few alternative options to explore
 
I believe Queenbee on here had a mare with this condition; very sadly, the outcome was not good for her. It might be worth sending her a PM, I think her username is currently "Prancer and Vixen". She may have some tips or tricks that can help you. Another little horse on my yard had it too, sadly she too was lost to it, but there were various other issues going on.
Fingers very, very tightly crossed for a positive outcome for you.
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I have the vet visiting tomorrow so will ask for a referral I was just curious to people's experiences as have not heard one person say it is "curable" as such more a case of management. It's a hard call to make between more suffering for him or calling it a day and most people who I have to advise me have advised me the kindest option is to put him to sleep.
 
Sadly by the time you see symptoms the damage is usually significant. I lost my baby, they opened her up in the end and found intestinal tumours. It cost me a lot of money but did give me peace of mind that I did the right thing
 
My boy had malabsorption issues along with inflamation of the gut. He'd scanned clear for ulcers which was a surprise. He was very thin and had low grade laminitis. Steroids did nothing sadly other than make him difficult to handle. His other symptoms matched hind gut acidosis so we tried treating him for that and saw improvements. The treatment for ulcers, omazeprole, can actually cause issues with the hind gut so it might be worth looking there. The vet who treated mine said that hind gut issues are like an epidemic at the moment and can cause all sorts of problems. Good luck.
 
Oh dear, so sorry for you & your boy.

Nothing helpful to add...one of mine had an intestinal issue (not the same thing as yours), so I truly understand how awful it is when you're up against something like this.

T x
 
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