malabsorption syndrome and glucose test

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racebuddy

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My vet has been discussing poss malabsorption syndrome and thinking to so a glucose test , as not putting any weight on despite good appetite and eating well , difficult horse as suffers with colic and seizures , just wanderd if anybody has a horse with this ? And had the glucose test done ? Thanks
 
I have had experience of he his although to begin with we weren't certain what it was. Malabsorption syndrome is very serious, the causes numerous but outcomes are pretty much the same from everything I've read, and I've read a lot. This is my experience. You may or may not want to read it, it's pretty should destroying although there are some helpful bits in there.

My main advice would be, do not worm, you must do all you can to not further aggravate the gut. Use a good blood tonic, I used haemavite b plus, it gave me valuable time with my girl, put your horse on protexin to help gut function. Split feeds, feed little and often, soak feeds so they are easier to digest, add oil, consider leaving a big bucket of hay replacer with the horse at night. Add extra rugs to conserve energy. Feed from the stable door, it's easier than the floor, use a high calorie feed (think racehorse nuts or stud nuts) feed more than is reccomended because it's not being absorbed as it should. Discuss with vet the possibility of steroids, in most cases these are the best chance, there is a possibility of laminitis with them, but the thinner the horse gets the higher the risk of laminitis anyway. If I were to go through it again, I'd certainly be looking at steroids sooner rather than later. Get your vet to send everything via email to either Newmarket or Liverpool for them to look at, get your vet to do that now, not later.

Ebony started to look a bit thin in the last week of April, I wormed her, no change so got the vet out. She was PTS on 16th of June.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?542416-Can-I-cry-pls

I found a number of hard to read (because the outcomes are not good) research papers, hard as they were to read, they really helped get my head around what I was dealing with. I don't have them saved but will have a google and see if I can find them for you. One recommendation in the papers re worming, was that as worms can cause as much damage as not worming was to administer a very small amount of wormer daily to create an environment that worms would not settle in but that would not harm the gut balance.
 
Just re read your post, have you checked for ulcers? Also, there are different forms of malabsorption, a glucose test may come back ok but your horse may still have malabsorption syndrome and be losing protein. Is your horse just not putting weight on, or is it continuing to look worse? Is there muscle wastage? Whilst if I knew that my horse had MS earlier (knowing what I know now) I would have used steroids on her, I can also say, that I'd also want to eliminate all other possible causes before concluding with this diagnosis.

Out of interest what food is she on?
 
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Yes my horse had glucose absorption test earlier this year because he could not gain weight despite loads of food. He was starved 12 hours then vet took blood sample then stomach tubed him with glucose, then vet went and came back two hours later and took second sample. His came back as partial malabsorption. But a second vet who saw him at a later date said the test was no good as he fought the stomach tube going in which could have caused a false positive type result because he was stressed. I didn't really need the test to tell me he has partial malabsorption, i can get weight on anything and i can't get it on him. He doesn't really lose weight just won't gain it. He has cushings and that can cause partial malabsorption which is what the second vet said, so he started prascend. Still hasn't gained any weight. How old is your horse? Have you tested for cushings?
 
hi thank your for your replies , he has been scooped and scanned at Liverpool Uni and was all clear of ulcers just can't rule out hind gut ulcers , he is on a gastric supplement and feeds little and often throughout the day, he is clinically a lot better
In himself than 6months ago as went through a star of not wanting to eat and very dePressed , had four days of not eating and gave steroids which picked him up , clinically is a lot better
In himself brighter appetite increased and working well but has got muscle
Loss and not gaining weight x
 
There is a supplement called equishure, sold by Saracen feeds. Essentially it is a hind gut buffer - I have had phenomenal success with my horse using this that suffers from HGA, and after recommending it to others, they have too.

Almost all supplements for gastric health do not help the hind gut - the difference with this is it has a time released buffer, so it gets to where it needs to (everything else gets used up in the stomach and has no effect on the hind gut). It's expensive but maybe worth a trial if only to rule out HGA.
 
racebuddy said:
hi thank your for your replies , he has been scooped and scanned at Liverpool Uni and was all clear of ulcers just can't rule out hind gut ulcers , he is on a gastric supplement and feeds little and often throughout the day, he is clinically a lot better
In himself than 6months ago as went through a star of not wanting to eat and very dePressed , had four days of not eating and gave steroids which picked him up , clinically is a lot better
In himself brighter appetite increased and working well but has got muscle
Loss and not gaining weight x
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What is his feed at the moment?
 
morning sorry late reply , he is on allen and page calm and conditon , oil , baileys outshine and fibre beet and veteren chop plus electrolytes , gastric supllement aswell and ad lib haylage also , did u have the blood glucose test done ? how did it work and how much did u have to pay for that ? thanks very much
 
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