Severe weight loss :(

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Blackthornmagic

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My ex racer started to drop weight starting November we called the vet out, they took blood test, worm count and also took a water sample off her we had to chase up the results as they still haven't come bk after Christmas. They informed us that the tests where all negative I didn't understand there was something wrong somewhere, I was advised to try her on a different feed which she now gets Alfa a original and a scoop of Dodson and horrell build up mix 3 times a day as well as her hayledge twice a day, she gets walked down the lane everyday for about 20 mins I don't feel riding her is good as she is very under weight she has been wormed in November then again today as she was due, her teeth where done in September. She is not showing any signs of being ill she is still bright eyed and a cheeky madam but her coat is very dull she has lost muscle tone and the weight has just dropped off her it's as if she isn't absorbing any of the nutrients from her food :(
I hope I have given enough information I am pulling my hair out trying to find what is causing her to keep loosing weight, I am having the vet out again on Monday and am just wondering if anyone has come across this before???
 
How has she been previous years for keeping weight on? Is the haylage ad-lib? How much turnout does she get? And how old? Has the vet suggested a bute trial? Sorry for all the questions!
 
My horse drops a massive amount of weight every time her ulcers flare up, no matter how much food she's getting. Might be worth running it through the vet...
 
My Tb lost weight dramatically last Summer. Blood tests, worm counts teeth etc all ok.
Didn't matter how much I fed etc ( incl myoplast) he just kept on losing weight. He was on an unbelievable amount of feeds and forage, just not absorbing anything . His coat was awful too. He became grumpy and very tender everywhere past the girth area.

He turned out to have hind gut problems which did improve with a special diet. With think antibiotics started it, but I think it was worsened by strong wormers once he had the problem.
Someone with a similar problem said their Tb put the weight on with steroids but this was a last resort for them.

Such a worrying time, I do hope you get to the bottom of it.
 
Does D&H Build up contain cereals? If so I would take her off it and replace it with forage-based feed such as grassnuts with micronised linseed/rice bran and oil. make sure that she has ad-lib haylage and a trug of alternative forage such s dried grass, so that she can choose what she eats. Our cob had a prolonged attack of colic few years ago and dropped weight massively. This is how we put her weight back on and how we maintain it now. I've never fed copra but understand that it is excellent for weight-gain.
 
I think I would be investigating a bit more. Ulcers are a distinct possibility.
Any changes to her diet need to be made VERY gradually but I would be looking to get her off the concentrates & try a forage/oil diet.
Some ulcer horses do better on hay rather than haylage so may be worth trying? But whatever, make sure it is absolutely adlib & she is never without.
There is loads of info on fibre feeding on here but Un-mollassed sugarbeet, Alfa-Oil & Micronised Linseed (Charnwood) with a good balancer designed for gut health would be a good place to start.
My T.B had a sugar allergy & was always thin until I removed mollases from his diet. Unmollassed sugar beet is fine tho as its the fibre left over after the sugar is removed.
No lickits or the like tho!
 
The fact that she is `a cheeky little madam` may also suggest she is reacting to the sugars.
Alfa A original sent my T.B doolally as despite what they say about low sugar mollases, he obviously didnt agree! AlfaOil he was fine with.
The other feed you could look at is Healthy Tummy. Its a complete, mollasses free forage feed designed for gut health.
Combined with Speedibeet & a couple of mugs of Linseed mine finds it irresistable!
Your T.B would need around 2.5kgs a day (a stubbs scoops is 0.5 kg so 5 stubbs scoops) Say 0.5kg beet soaked & upto about 400gms of the micronised linseed.
 
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