Rapid Weight Loss - any ideas why??

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SonnysHumanSlave

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Well my horses have been fine all over winter, but Teddi has started dropping weight rapidly in this past week, you can nearly see all his ribs.

He is over due a wormer - which has been ordered and they are all getting as soon as they turn up - hoping thats tomorrow.
Im thinking about giving him a double dose.
The other 2 ponies are out 24/7 with him and are fine.

I've even upped his feed from handful of chaff and mix once a day (to get his vit), and now he's having - 1 scoop chaff, 3/4 scoop mix and 1/2 barley TWICE a day.

Going to give him a wormer and if in a weeks time hes still losing weight it'll be a vet call.

He's grazing, hasnt eaten anything odd, as have checked field. Hes still acting ok, even a little fresh when my friend rode him last week.

Im just totally miffed, and getting stressed about it, dont want people thinking im mis treating my horse when im really not. And im so worried about him, just hoping this is worms.

Oh and the field has grass i move the fence everyday for my 2!!

Any ideas???
 
Definatley worm him. I wouldnt advise a double dose without speaking to the vet first, especially as it may be something else that is wrong. Get a duo wormer, the one that treats all worms inc tapeworm, Equimax is good.
The other possible problem may be that the horse has something stuck in his throat, this happened to me, my horse got a twig stuck in his throat, so couldnt eat properly, keep a close eye on him, and call the vet if you dont think he is improving after you have wormed him.
 
i wouldnt advise double dosing if he is overdue and underweight, you will do more harm than good! make sure you do him for tapeworm. the best thing you can do is ring your vet for advise, its free and youl get a much better answer, they wont come out unless they think its nesecary. keep a close eye on him, rapid weight loss can be a sign of grass sickness so watch for deteriation. but honestly i would just ring the vet and see what they say, im always on the blower to my vet for info!!

ets- oh and teeth, are the upto date, if they are sharp ulcerated he may not be eating properley. and gastric ulcars. but like i said, have a chat with you vet :D hope he improves!
 
Could well be encysted small redworm; they hibernate in the gut wall in the winter and then emerge in the spring causing rapid weight loss.

I would really get the vet out- my friend's horse died of this, and in any case rapid unexplained weight loss is serious and needs looking in to.
 
The wormer is for Tapeworm, and so should be here tomorrow.

I shall also call the vet, we have alot of monk jacks (sp?) and things like that go through the field which is why i thought worms.

He just doesnt seem to be ill, hes actually more lively then usual. Just very odd, he is eating fine, doesnt drop food, or have a problem grazing, so teeth are fine.

I will call my vet in the morning though to see what they say about it....

and wont double dose (was actually a friends suggestion - and i was going to check first)
 
Is he healthy in other ways eg.coat, etc?

I would definitely worm for tapeworm.

Very sadly I had a three year old who suddenly lost a lot of weight and it turned out she had an inoperable lymphoma so she had to be euthanised.

Get the vet out to run some blood tests.
 
Worm for tapeworm as this can only be detected from a blood test.
Then take a poo sample and get a worm count done. This will tell you a) If there is a worm burden, b) what the burden is and c) what to worm with.
Find out if your vet will o the worm count. If so, you usually get the result 24-48 hrs later.
 
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