Sudden "fat pads" above eyes

[Sossigpoker]

Help please!
My cob is I good weight , not particularly fat , goes out during the day with a muzzle on. He's been out today and whdn I got to the yard , he has very noticeable pads in the hollows of his eyes - they pop in and out as he eats his hay.
They weren't there or certainly not that big yesterday! Surely fat doesn't develop in a matter of 6-12 hours? Or can these pop up like "grass glands "? He's got some grass in the paddock but is muzzled.

Any thoughts?

 

[Jambarissa]

How old is he? Isn't that a sign of cushings?

 

[canteron]

With my laminitic prone cob, I always used this as my red warning sign I was getting his food wrong - has the grass suddenly become lush with the rain?

 

[Hackback]

My farrier always says it's the first thing he looks for with a suspect lami case. Hope it isn't that, but well done for being a vigilant owner and spotting it straight away anyway

 

[Sossigpoker]

Ye

With my laminitic prone cob, I always used this as my red warning sign I was getting his food wrong - has the grass suddenly become lush with the rain?

Yes we've had loads of rain but it's warm. So grass is growing like mad. I'll reduce his hay over night and will go and make his paddock smaller.
He's got some fat on his tail head and behind shoulder but no crest and ribs easily felt.
He's come in feeling a bit bloaty too so I think grass is going mental again.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would test for ems and cushings depending on age and watch him like a hawk for the moment check his pulses several times a day and if the pulses get strong get him off the grass, I would put him on magnesium oxide if his not already.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

It's been like April showers here today so typical spring like weather.

 

[Sossigpoker]

It's been like April showers here today so typical spring like weather.

He's on magnesium year round.
Yes the grass seems to be growing like spring time again. I not long ago opened up his paddock too soo will need to go and reduce it again.
This weather is crazy !
He's only 9 and the bulges above his eyes seem to have developed over night!

 

[SantaVera]

a sign of equine metabolic syndrome i would remove from grass immediately to avoid laminitis

 

[Hormonal Filly]

At my yard a 13yo mare had this happen and other laminitis signs, she’s an ideal weight and her test just came back positive for Cushings.

 

[JackFrost]

I had one with this, and when tested it was positive for cushings. It also had other more complex disorders so hard to say what the trigger for the eye fat pad was.
The pattern of fat at tail and shoulder is often present when there is an underlying metabolic issue and these types tend to stay ribby and the fat goes on elsewhere.
Like others say, test for ems and cushings.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I had one with this, and when tested it was positive for cushings. It also had other more complex disorders so hard to say what the trigger for the fat pad was.
The pattern of fat at tail and shoulder is often present when there is an underlying metabolic issue and these types tend to stay ribby and the fat goes on elsewhere.
Like others say, test for ems and cushings.

Can they really become so prominent over night though? That's what threw me.

We've got our stables in a courtyard shape with a about 20 x 10 metre square of grass in the middle. That's been looking pretty bare until all of a sudden it's lush as anything. Never known grass to grow like this in the middle of July- last year it was all burnt away by now !

 

[misst]

My old girl had never had lami and a few years ago at this time of year with similar weather developed lami overnight. She went from careering around the field the night before to rocked back on her heels and refusing to move (but still shouting for her bucket with her vits and a handful of chaff to be brought to her). She had it in all 4 feet with no a sign of it the night before. Please be super vigilant I had to lean the hard way.

 

[Goldenstar]

You need to get him off the grass and a cushings test done asap .
Yes they appear out of the blue that’s what happened with my horse if a lifetime .

 

[KJ94]

My mare gets this but it’s a pollen/hayfeaver thing in her case and it’s worse when the pollen count is high

 

[Nasicus]

Swollen/bulging supraorbital fossa (the hollows) to me always screams 'get it off grass and get it tested for Cushings/EMS asap'.
The Laminitis site has an article which has some comparison photos of normal and bulging hollows:

Equine Metabolic Syndrome and insulin dysregulation

Articles Laminitis, EMS or PPID - start here Who said "stop the carrots"? Pituitary stress hormones Should pergolide be increased for the seasonal ris e? Are you using...

www.thelaminitissite.org

 

[BBP]

You say they pop in and out when he eats, are they present at all times when he isn’t eating? I wasn’t quite sure?

 

[Nasicus]

You say they pop in and out when he eats, are they present at all times when he isn’t eating? I wasn’t quite sure?

Yeah that's a good point, it's normal to see them move in and out as they chew, that's the muscles at work. The issue is when they bulge out even when at rest.