Sudden weight loss in a veteran?

dwi

dwi

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My friend is really concerned about her 23yo Anglo Arab as she has suddenly lost alot of weight despite being on large amounts of high energy feed, ad lib hay and good grazing. We're on diff yards so I haven't seen her recently but apparently its noticeable by the day.

The vet is coming to see her but just wondered what other people thought?
 
Assuming there is nothing underlying I would say she needs more fibre. The old boy here (37!) looked like a hat rack last spring and even though he was on long grass he was struggling to get enough bulk/fibre inside him. We tweaked his diet - Mollichaff Veteran is excellent and he had a trug of it with him 24/7 and also has A&P Fast Fibre and Equijewel. He piled the weight back on and has kept it on all through this winter.

The answer for weight gain in oldies is fibre they can manage.:)
 
dwi said:
My friend is really concerned about her 23yo Anglo Arab as she has suddenly lost alot of weight despite being on large amounts of high energy feed, ad lib hay and good grazing. We're on diff yards so I haven't seen her recently but apparently its noticeable by the day.

The vet is coming to see her but just wondered what other people thought?
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As long as the teeth are fuuly operational, swap high energy feed for top quality forage.
 
i have several golden oldies! they have adlib hay and haylage, 2 buckets of feed a day incl alpha a, barley, nuts ,fast fibre, sugar beet, and boomerang,blue chip and oil! they are all looking a bit trim!!! awaiting dr green!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes they have all had their teeth done and well wormed! BUT it is like old age pensioners they just do not metabolise so well and their appetite does decrease and they suffer muscle wastage! but the goldens will have a nice summer with grass then decision will be made! they are 29 30 and 32! sometimes you have to make the decicision! yes its hard but you owe them!
 
hi it might just be coat change, mine is a young 31 yr old and every coat change he will drop weight and looks his age, give him a couple of weeks and then he is back to normal, i agree i think it is a metabolism thing and the extra energy it takes to grow hair takes it out of him
 
Worth getting blood tests done, just to exclude underlying problems, and also get teeth checked, worm for small redworm and tapeworm.
This may sound mad, but my old Tb mare drops weight dramatically when the first spring grass comes through, especially if its been raining, if I don't restrict it. She'll eat it in preference to her hay/haylage, you see, and yet the grass seems to be quite watery and lacking nutrients until a bit later in the year - hence weight loss.
So, although it may sound counter-intuitive, it may be worth restricting grass and feeding hay for a bit longer, especially if you are in a northern/high rainfall area.
S :D
 
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