Metabolic syndrome how do you manage yours and has it got any better

[ticobay831]

as in title, im struggling with my old lad at the moment, hes on next to nothing i bring him in during the day for a few hours to keep him off the grass, but he dosnt like being on his own so have to bring other horse in as well which isnt fair on him.
Dont know what to do anymore, got vet coming out tomorow.. :-/

 

[millimoo]

Might be worth posting in Veterinary forum....
Has your horse already been diagnosed, I.e have you ruled out Cushings - I'm not an expert, but the management is similar.... My pony has just been diagnosed with Cushings this week and started on Prascend which I hope may stop him being footy (laminitis) so easily.
Also to you muzzle when your horse is turned out?

 

[lara b]

funnily enough I was talking to a dressage rider last night who has had a lot of success managing a lipizzaner stallion with this.

Think he has been box rested most of the time and she was doing a little bit of in hand work with him yesterday. She was talking about the special diet she has devised for him (think she was talking about magnesium oxide or something but can't really remember).

I know she said she had to order some stuff direct from a manufacturer as it wasn't on the open market. If you want me to ask for further info let me know and I will try and find out for you.

Best of luck

 

[tallyho!]

It will be a learning curve for you I'm sure. There's lots of new evidence coming into light with researchers looking at what equine nutrition SHOULD look like.

As a very learned friend of mine said, we have been asking the wrong questions and now some right ones are being asked.

Do you know why he has metabolic syndrome? From there you could begin to look at what is lacking rather than what you are restricting. He obviously has a weak metabolic system but what is weak about it. It may start with a simple blood test to see what he has too much of/too little of. From then on, you could help cleanse his system from the stuff that has built up or adding stuff he needs. Grass limitation, surprisingly, may not be what you need to do to help.

 

[touchstone]

My mare is a typical IR case, she gets restricted grazing using a muzzle and starvation pen, is fed soaked hay and Hi Fi Lite/ Fast Fibre supplemented with a good vit/min supplement (I use Benevit Advance) along with magnesium oxide, cinnamon and yea sacc. Mineral balancing is supposed to be very useful, but as I get my hay from different sources it's probably not worth doing.

The vet can also prescribe metformin which I believe has been successful for some horses.

Exercise is also very important and helps to minimise insulin resistance.

Basically it is a case of feeding low sugar/starch feeds and increasing exercise where possible.