Quick loss of weight in veteran

[MagicMelon]

My 25yo Luso x TB has lost a lot of weight recently, he's always been slim due to his build and its always been a struggle to keep weight on him over winters but he's really looking too skinny for this time of year. His teeth were done about 6 months ago, Ive worm counted him (saliva one too - both fine), increased his conditioning feed, added veg oil to feed, I fence him off from his field mate on his own big bale of hay through the day as she had been ruling the hay a bit before, Im very careful to keep him warm enough rugging wise. I cant increase grass sadly as I just dont have anymore and farmer unwilling to rent me any extra. Vet I guess is the next step, but Im guessing they'll just do a blood test - what really can that show? He's perfectly well in himself otherwise, eating normally, sound etc. Worried this is just him going downhill as old horses do

 

[Gloi]

In my opinion first thing would be a teeth check under sedation and cleaning and filling of any diastemas or anything else found. This helped mine greatly.
Secondly has he had a recent Cushing's test.

 

[Annagain]

Teeth would be my first port of call. My 29yr old was eating a bit slowly for my liking last autumn and had dropped a little weight. My dentist (also a vet but only does teeth) came and had a look and he had a broken tooth. He'd only had them done a few months before but obviously they can break one at any time. The rest were all perfect but that one tooth was the culprit. She removed it and he's been great ever since. My other horse needed doing a couple of months ago so she checked Archie then (4 months after the issue) and he was grand.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My 25yo Luso x TB has lost a lot of weight recently, he's always been slim due to his build and its always been a struggle to keep weight on him over winters but he's really looking too skinny for this time of year. His teeth were done about 6 months ago, Ive worm counted him (saliva one too - both fine), increased his conditioning feed, added veg oil to feed, I fence him off from his field mate on his own big bale of hay through the day as she had been ruling the hay a bit before, Im very careful to keep him warm enough rugging wise. I cant increase grass sadly as I just dont have anymore and farmer unwilling to rent me any extra. Vet I guess is the next step, but Im guessing they'll just do a blood test - what really can that show? He's perfectly well in himself otherwise, eating normally, sound etc. Worried this is just him going downhill as old horses do

I would check his teeth again and definitely have a Cushings test. I would go straight for the TRH--Stim test, rather than ACTH, as the result is more reliable.

 

[Highmileagecob]

My oldie did just the same. A dental check revealed that the grinding surfaces on the molars was deteriorating, and even though he looked as if he was eating well, the food wasn't reaching the foregut in a chopped, chewed and ground up state to allow hindgut fermentation to take place. This winter I added chopped forage, Fast Fibre and Graze On to his diet of haylage and he has held weight and condition much better. He is now on six monthly dental checks.

 

[MagicMelon]

Thanks, ok will look into those two things. Hes not showing any signs of cushings otherwise though but his last test was probably 3 years ago.

 

[Abacus]

Has he lost it very recently, or back in winter? My old boy (25) tends to drop off these days in about December and it's hard to keep the weight on, but he looks good again now. I get a tooth check late in the year for this reason but I think it's just age - he has been like this for a few years and it's a bit more pronounced each year.

 

[Tiddlypom]

In my opinion first thing would be a teeth check under sedation and cleaning and filling of any diastemas or anything else found. This helped mine greatly.
Secondly has he had a recent Cushing's test.

Both of these.

Despite having my 3 regularly (once or twice yearly) floated without sedation by an EDT, it was rather horrifying recently to see all the dental issues found with all 3 when a specialist dental vet rasped them under sedation .

Defo another Cushing's test, too.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Definitely look at his teeth. My 15 year old Connie had his done last year as usual and within 6 months he was dropping weight. I noticed one of his incisors was starting to look odd and both dentist who came out to have a look prior to me having the vet look at him both confirmed EORTH.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Two of mine have previously undiagnosed EOTRH .

One of mine had 2 undiagnosed dead and infected incisors, which must have been causing significant pain. Now extracted.

 

[exracehorse]

Def check teeth again. My 28 year old lost weight and I noticed quidding. He had a tooth that had to be removed. Immediately started to gain weight. Even if you give lots of hay .. you cant beat the green stuff. Can he go anywhere for a bit of summer grazing ? Not to stuff his face obviously, but it can make a big difference. And they get fed up of eating mainly hay.

 

[Britestar]

Grass.
My 4 oldies - 31,27,26 abd 26 all looked awful at the end of the winter.
Two weeks of new Grass and they are all looking so much better. One of the 26yr olds was making me think I'd need to stop riding him, but he's full of beans again, jiggy jogging and bouncing at the thought of cantering.

 

[Palindrome]

I have very little grass and I find adding some brewer yeast really helps.

 

[Jambarissa]

His teeth have been done but did the dentist tell you about them? Plenty of older horses don't have efficient teeth, the dentist will rasp but that won't make them eat better. Worth another look.

I'd worm him. Testing is great but I sent samples from the same horse 2 days apart to different places and they came back as 50 and 350 I'm sure you wouldn't get a low count if it was sky high but worth doing if you're seeing problems.

Vet could test for cushings and liver function.

Then feeding. Nice big sloppy feeds that don't need chewing and easier to digest. Allen and page fast fibre with extra linseed would be my starting point, you can feed quite large portions.

Hope he comes good. My oldie had her first poor winter but she's looking much better now.

 

[Ouch05]

When my TB randomly dropped weight it was his liver now through out winter and when getting hay he gets Vit E total game changer this winter

 

[cold_feet]

My boy (23) is a poor doer, but a while back he dropped more weight much quicker than I had ever seen despite eating more than ever. He was tested for Cushing, bloods and liver function. All clear so scoped and scanned. That was clear for ulcers, but the scan showed thickening of the hind gut and he was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. This apparently meant his food is passing through without being absorbed properly. He was treated with steroids and recovered over a couple of months. 3 years on there has been no recurrence .

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

Definitely get blood tests done for liver, my horse dropped weight quite dramatically, he looked worse every day, turned out to be liver damage. He recovered but it took 9 months on steroids.

The grass, is there anywhere nearby to take him out to graze in hand?