Owners horses liver problems*****

Ponies1234

Active Member
Joined
18 April 2016
Messages
43
Visit site
Hi all those of you with horse that have liver problems what do you feed? Do you feed milk thistle? Soaked or dry hay? My youngster was dignoised last month he had dropped a lot of weight whilst we were finding out what was wrong we have since been struggling to get it back on slowly I've contacted all the feed companies but now completely baffled! I no low oil/ protein I think low fibre but the best of? D&h said need high starch Bailey's say low ?? D&h i read somewhere worked closely with someone with liver issues,Having no idea with feeds I wouldn't no which one to feed with here's below what each said

Dodson & horrell

Pasture mix
Speedi beet
Milk thistle
Dry hay
Restrict grass as shots in spring are HGH in protein

Bailey's

No 14 Lo Cal balencer (this is quite expensive compared to others)
No 1 cooked cereal
Sugarbeet

Allen & page

Fast fibre
Mollichaff original
Dry hay

Spillers

High fibre pencils
Hi fi original
Speedi best

Reading somewhere & d&h saying milk thistle had been proven to help liver he's currently having pink powder vet said 4 scoops a day! He told me the vits he needed vit a,b,c,e And complex I took that to local tack shop they gave me pink powder vet said yes

I'm thinking feeding

Fast fibre
Molli chaff oringal
Speedi beet
UN sure of the milk thistle? Or to stick with expensive pink powder ?
Dry hay (I uselly have hay as well as grass I. Fields over summer as grass is limited but will be un able if has to be soaked)

My vet said to soak hjs hay so have been however he's not at all keen he has 4 nets put in a night however may eat 1 if dry again 4 go in he'll eat 1-1 1/2 he loves his feeds gets 2 per day but at moment I'm worried what's right wrong to feed is still having pink powder
TIA
 
Last edited:

be positive

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 July 2011
Messages
19,396
Visit site
I am not a nutritionist but would never feed high starch or sugar to any horse if I could avoid it so would go along with your thought of giving fast fibre and speedibeet but would not use mollichaff original due to the very high sugar content, I would probably not even bother with chaff in any form unless he will not eat the feed without as it is just a filler which will make the feeds rather large he would be better off having less in the bucket and eating more hay, if he will not eat soaked hay then try soaking it for the bare minimum of 10 mins and don't forget to rinse it.
Milk thistle is definitely good for the liver but you would still need to add a supplement or balancer to get the vits and mins he requires, pink powder is fairly popular but I think there are better products you could use that will give a fully balanced supplement without the fillers that are in PP, it is based on brewers yeast that you can buy far cheaper so I would look for something better when this tub runs out.
Progressive Earth is regularly recommended as a very good company that will supply supplements to suit individual requirements.
 

Micropony

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 May 2015
Messages
1,360
Location
NW London
Visit site
My old horse had a liver problem that I only found out about when he had a blood test, which was a requirement before moving to a new yard, to check for infections etc. Only advice I remember being given was to feed milk thistle, which I did, and small amounts of high quality protein. Don't think his problem can have been very serious though, as when I repeated bloods several months later to see how things were progressing, his liver enzymes were back in normal range.
 

Suelin

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 January 2008
Messages
1,406
Visit site
My youngster had liver problems last year. Milk thistle made no difference whatsoever to him. I had him on a sugar free diet. Thunderbrook, oat straw chop, soaked grass nuts and a few oats as well as good hay and pasture. Gradually the problem resolved itself. Why, is an eternal mystery to me and my vet.
 

Auslander

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2010
Messages
12,622
Location
Berkshire
Visit site
Ask auslander on here.

She looked after my old boy brilliantly, who had chronic liver failure, and who we eventually pts a few weeks ago.

I found that the biggest problem I faced with Spacefaer's boy was keeping weight on him, whilst observing liver-friendly diet rules. Ended up feeding him mostly soaked grassnuts top dressed with micronised linseed. Although it's recommended that you don't feed a high oil diet - linseed is a "good" fat, and it worked very well for Jim in moderate quantities. He was on good quality hay - as much as I cold get down him - he was a very big horse, and easily ate 3 or 4 large bale sections in a 24 hour period.
He also had a liquid supplement from Audevard - Ekyrenal, which made a big difference. http://www.audevard.com/en/produits/ekyrenal--.html
 
Last edited:

hypopit

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 July 2015
Messages
67
Visit site
I nearly lost my boy to this years ago...Farnam Red Cell is FANTASTIC. It saved his life, the vet was amazed at his recovery as we both thought he was a goner at the time. ****** sell it, as do others.
 

Ceriann

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 June 2012
Messages
2,491
Visit site
When my mare had raised enzyme levels (I'd already lost her companion - she went down v quickly and was initially misdiagnosed by my vet) we used milk thistle, yea sac and hepatosyl. Luckily she came good and on her second blood test results all back to normal and we didn't have a problem again.
 
Top