Really worried about youngster. Any ideas??

It still could be the pramox it knocks some of them for 6 my big warmblood mare was awful for weeks after it, my friend nearly lost her yearling he was in the RVC for 2 weeks.

I won't use I think it should be taken off the market it's so strong any horse that is a bit compromised it seems to really affect them.

I hope you get to the bottom of it.
 
Fingers crossed for good outcome! One thing that was really apparent in hindsight is that my girls poo ended up much drier and far less frequent when she had grass sickness. (Apart from the tucked up and rapid weight loss). She also wasn't particularly hungry so it's a good sign if he is stuffing his face. It wasn't acute - it was only obvious after a few days. :(

Sycamore seedlings are apparently terrible this year. So maybe worth a check in your field just in case.
 
For testing: AM will show in bloods.
Grass sickness wont.
If it is chronic grass sickness then diagnosis is a process of elimination of other things (if it was acute he'd be dead by now). Predominately - the following symptoms once all tests have run clear- reduced gut sounds, tucked up appearance and standing with all 4 feet close together, abnormal sweating/tremors, change of ability to eat/reflux/ reduced bowel movements, which will be hard to track if he is living out with others.
If he is loosing weight I'd up his feed to 3x daily and increase calorie content as that will help regardless of cause. And definitely get to a vet hospital. I wouldn't want to wait a week for bloods.
 
Thanks all.

He’s ok today. No further weight loss, still very very tucked up. Still cantering about and field hopping though 🙄

His gut sounds were good yesterday and still good today.
No signs of illness whatsoever have surfaced. With the dramatic weight loss in the last 5 days I keep expecting him to look ill but he’s just not. It is so strange.
Stance normal.
Behaviour normal.
Droppings normal - bit skittered/green due to the grass coming through but all his mates are the same. Normal spring grass poo.
No colic signs.
No lethargy.

I really was worried about grass sickness and expected him to be ill by now, but there’s really no point taking him to hospital as he is. He doesn’t need fluids, painkillers or appear to have any kind of infection.
Blood results would be all they would do at the mo I think. Vet doesn’t see need to hospitalise either.

It is a really strange one, however I do feel a bit better seeing him today.

Wish I could post pics but I don’t here for outing reasons. The vet thought he was a TB. He’s full Connemara 🙈 that’s his lean he is. However if anyone is on the Connemara group on Facebook, there was a post not long ago about not feeding youngsters loads of hard feed. That was my flock and this pony is the dark dun.
I am very anti hard feed for native babies but I’ve actually been out and bought him food ten days ago. Linseed mash and yearling cubes which should put some hairs on his chest if nothing else!

I will definitely keep the thread updated, and thank you so much for all the advice!
 
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I'm not very experienced with youngsters so feel free to shoot me down but could it be something as simple as he's having a growth spurt? The yearling on my yard seems to have periods where he grows a hand over night and looks a bit poor and lanky for a bit.

Keeping all fingers and toes crossed for a quick turnaround results wise and them flagging nothing too nasty or at least something easily treatable!

I'm on that group but don't think I saw the post - will go take a look!
 
If he looks tucked up but no other symptoms, could it be possible that he’s pulled thoracic muscles messing about in the field?
 
Glad to hear that he's not deteriorated. It's a bit of the wrong time of year but given it started a few weeks ago was it very wet then? I've known a couple of horses with dramatic weight loss that turned out to be caused by liver fluke. Friend's vet said it us something that is often over looked but they see cases every year. Bloods should show it, or point to it.
 
It could be he’s had a massive moult and looks worse than he did because there is less fur. Just one thought.

You say he’s field hopping, is he being pushed out or chased by the others at all? Could they be running weight off him?
 
And if he's losing his winter coat, could he be feeling a bit chilly overnight, hence looking a bit tucked up?

We've had a couple of very wet nights and even my hardy Fell pony looked a bit tucked up in the morning, probably due to not having his winter woolies.

It felt more like February again here yesterday.
 
southerncomfort said:
And if he's losing his winter coat, could he be feeling a bit chilly overnight, hence looking a bit tucked up?

We've had a couple of very wet nights and even my hardy Fell pony looked a bit tucked up in the morning, probably due to not having his winter woolies.

It felt more like February again here yesterday.
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It's been freezing at night here was 4 last night and windy so I put 100g turnout on Arabi his so fine coated.
 
Sorry if I’ve missed anything. Has he had bloods taken, liver profile ran? After my experience (and my entire yards) I’d definitely check his liver/full bloods.
 
Pinkvboots said:
It still could be the pramox it knocks some of them for 6 my big warmblood mare was awful for weeks after it, my friend nearly lost her yearling he was in the RVC for 2 weeks.

I won't use I think it should be taken off the market it's so strong any horse that is a bit compromised it seems to really affect them.

I hope you get to the bottom of it.
Click to expand...

Agree with this, I wont use it.
 
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