Sudden Weight Loss - Help Needed Please

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jess_asterix

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Any help on this would be greatly appreciated :)

Our old boy who is 16/17 has been diagnosed with arthritis so for the past 2/3 months has been in no work/walk work only on the flat, now he has lost muscle quite a lot but the vet has commented throughour that he is looking in great condition weight wise.

He is out 24/7 well rugged, with hay in the field 2x a day (plenty of it!) and Hi-fi with Sugar beet in the evening.

He had his steroid injections 2 and a 1/2 weeks ago now and since then he has lost HUGE amounts of weight not just muscle. He is really bony, you can see his ribs, his withers are pointy, hip bones sticking out. It makes me sad to see him look like this as he has never, ever looked so poor, infact we struggle to get the weight off him even in winter!

Now we are keeping him in at night from today onwards until he gets some weight back on and have introduced vegetable oil and Saracen Equi-Jewel into his feed and he is having 4 feeds a day and a mix of ad lib hay/hayledge.

We cannot pump too much feed into him as he gets terrible protein lumps and has to have injections for them so have to be careful.

If anybody has any suggestions as to what may have caused it or steroids having caused the same reaction before. And any ideas to what we can do to increase the weight ASAP!

He had his teeth done 2 1/2 months ago and was wormed at the same time with a worm count being done coming back at 0. So don't think it could be either of these.

Thank you :)
 
May be Gastric Ulcers..I suspect my horse has them so have been looking into it. He's being scoped soon.

Weight loss is a symptom, if he's been on steroids as well this may have an effect. Would recommend phoning your vet. Phone advice is free. Good luck :)
 
is there any chance he may be in pain with his arthritis? The weather has got colder and this effects it. This would cause weight loss. My old lad has very mild artritis in one hock and I have been recommended to put him on NoBute. I have noticed a huge difference in him since he's been one it for the last month or so.
 
I would change the Hi Fi Lite for AlfaOil and drop the veg oil.

Something like Baileys No4 Conditioning cubes will help him. Also make sure there is no problems with his bloods. Throughout the winter I give my lot Propell to boost the Iron levels.
 
i'd be speaking to the vet as it sounds like a sudden weight loss and it may be due to the medication. if it is you'll know not to get the injections again type thing. Could have been a reaction if he's already injected for something else?
It could be a virus and rather than changing the feed and waiting to see a difference worth getting it checked out as its sudden. Obviously you will need conditioning feed to get the weight back on but need to know what you're dealing with
 
Speak to your vet about the possible side affects. After steriod injections the risk of laminitis, ulcers and infection is a lot greater.

Hope he gets better soon!!
 
One of the lesser known effects of Cushings is weight loss and loss of muscle tone. Because of his age, it's worth having the ACTH blood test done on your boy. You can log onto talkaboutcushings.com and print off a voucher for £15 off the lab cost (which should only be about £25).
 
Vet was quite concerned so he has had a blood test today which is being sent off as we speak. Fingers crossed its nothing to serious, I think we are keeping the vets in business ATM!

Thank you for your replies!
 
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