old laminitic pony lost condition

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Cassy

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I clippped my old pony recently and was horrified to see what poor condition he is in. He is fed soaked hay and happy hoof in his stable and is on poor grazing. Is there anything I can do to put weight back on him without setting off the laminitis?
 
Has he had his teeth checked recently? That would be my first point of call for an oldie losing condition. If his hay is not ad lib, then I would increase it. Then start introducing some Speedibeet (or other unmollassed beet) to his feeds - this is high in calories from easily digested fibre, but low in starch and sugar, so suitable for laminitics.
 
Agree with the above about his teeth and the Un molassed beet and feed as much hay as he will eat, or you could try some fast fibre by allen and page as that has all the added vitamins and minerals they need and with him being old and with cushings he may be lacking in something, it's also soaked so easy for them to eat if the teeth are not great I would also change the chaff happy hoof has molasses in it which is no good for horses prone to laminitis, you could try the hi Fi molasses free or even just a chopped grass option like ready grass or graze on.
 
Thanks for the replies. We had his teeth done last week and his front ones are worn to nothing and he has also lost 2 back ones. We have only just started him on Happy Hoof as my local supplier recommended it, so a bit confused now. I have just started giving him a bit of haylage as our hay is not very good quality.
 
I know where your coming from. I have a 30+ year old Welsh Sec C cushings pony who last month dropped some weight that caused me concern. I have introduced fast fibre as a hay substitute and am very pleased with the results. I would still like a little more weight on her but my vet is always pleased that she's slightly on the light side due to the cushings so I grit my teeth and accept that is how she should be. Good luck, these old ones like to keep us on our toes!
 
I used Baileys no 14 lo cal with mine. He had gone very bony on his hips and the condition came back once I started feeding the balancer.
 
Contact GWF nutrition and ask them how to get hold of their as yet unlaunched Fibregest no starch. It is a small pellet feed based on copra & hemp oil that can be fed soaked or dry. Very palatable, combined sugar/starch is 2.5% yet energy level is 13.5. I've had my old cushings TB on it all winter and am very impressed
 
Agree with the suggestion about micronised linseed. Good for safe weight gain. I've found Fibrebeet (in the green bag- Speedibeet and alfalfa mix) good too. Apparently, the inclusion of alfalfa helps the beet to add condition.
 
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