Weight gain feeds for Cushing's pony

[Chinchilla]

What is everyone's go-to low starch and low sugar feeds for an elderly pony with Cushing's please? Preferably suitably for the dentally challenged equine as well!
Thank you ?

 

[ester]

linseed
copra
rice bran?

 

[meleeka]

Micronised linseed

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Soaked grassnuts/speedibeet/linseed is my go to for everything. Except that we are currently using Agrobs Haycobs for 2 x 8 yr olds

 

[Chinchilla]

linseed
copra
rice bran?

Not sure what other brands are like but I do know the keyflow keyplus rice bran is really high in starch

 

[ester]

they are all really high in starch (hence it being 3rd on the list if they won't eat the other two) but anecdotally at least they don't seem to be particularly problematic so I would probably feed it if I needed to (clearly don't atm even with the compromised dentitiion!)
Whereas I wouldn't feed soaked grass nuts unless they were the low sugar starch version (meadow magic etc)

 

[onemoretime]

I feed my old companion pony who is 30 next year Baileys Keep Calm it goes into a mash when you soak it and linseed meal. She looks very well on it. I also make sure her teeth are checked regular by my Equine dentist who is also a vet.

 

[P.forpony]

Dodson and Horrel cushcare worked wonders on an elderly pony who looked about a week away from being pts when he came into my care.

3 months later he was loving life and doing lead rein and first ridden lessons part time in the riding school.

 

[Boulty]

Copra if will eat it plus micronised linseed. Low sugar meadow grass nuts / hay cobs soaked may also work as can unmolassed sugar beet. Depends on what you're needing the feed to do tbh. If you're wanting high oil / high calorie then would go for copra plus linseed, if not & just looking for a supplement carrier then soaked meadow nuts. I used to feed mine alfalfa pellets also because he liked them & they encouraged him to eat everything else & he didn't seem intolerant to them

 

[Bonnie Allie]

Are lupins a thing in the UK? I had previously been feeding a low starch high calorie feed which had a large % of Copra in it. I upset the pony‘s hindgut by doing so and equine nutritionalist I engaged had a fit at what I done. Feed company assured me this was just the thing.

She swapped pony onto extruded lupins kept the roughage the same and just swapped the Copra pellets out for the extruded lupins. Pony changed almost overnight. Gained weight, coat looks amazing and is very spritely.

My learning - engage a qualified educated nutritionalist not the marketing dude from the feed company.

 

[Lurfy]

speedibeet

 

[HorsesRule2009]

I fed my old {30} underweight laminitic micronised linseed by the mug full (2mug fulls twice a day) along with Alfa A oil and high fibre cubes.
Start with small amounts of linseed and build it up.
When she started loosing her teeth and finding the Alfa hard to chew I switched to Fibrebeet (by British horse feeds).
She had always struggled to keep weight on and looked fantastic with this.
If weight is not needed don't feed as much linseed and swap Fibrebeet for speedibeet.
Fairly basic but worked fantasticly

 

[ester]

Are lupins a thing in the UK? I had previously been feeding a low starch high calorie feed which had a large % of Copra in it. I upset the pony‘s hindgut by doing so and equine nutritionalist I engaged had a fit at what I done. Feed company assured me this was just the thing.

She swapped pony onto extruded lupins kept the roughage the same and just swapped the Copra pellets out for the extruded lupins. Pony changed almost overnight. Gained weight, coat looks amazing and is very spritely.

My learning - engage a qualified educated nutritionalist not the marketing dude from the feed company.

Not come across them outside of a garden.

 

[splashgirl45]

i used fast fibre for mine and baileys light chaff, worked well for me..

 

[ester]

both fast fibre and speedibeet are pretty low DE for adding weight though.

 

[Chinchilla]

he's currently on speedibeet and micronised linseed with a bit of alfa a oil (not much of this as he struggles to chew it).

I need like the alfa a oil but in the same format as speedibeet lol and I don't think this exists He won't eat grass nuts or fast fibre.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

he's currently on speedibeet and micronised linseed with a bit of alfa a oil (not much of this as he struggles to chew it).

I need like the alfa a oil but in the same format as speedibeet lol and I don't think this exists He won't eat grass nuts or fast fibre.

Take a look at Fibre-beet would be the closest thing to what you are looking for worked fantasticly well for my old laminitic when she could no longer eat the Alfa a oil

https://www.britishhorsefeeds.com/fibre_beet.php

 

[windand rain]

fibrebeet or alfa beet are pretty much the same as you want

 

[HuskyFluff]

Allen & Page Soothe and Gain - worked well for mine until he started prascend and stopped eating most things he'd been quite happily hoovering up. Plus micronised linseed

 

[ester]

ditto alfa/fibre beet if you want to keep the alfalfa.

Frank cannot eat chaff very well anymore and quids a lot, he's much better with hay.
If he eats the linseed can you start by increasing that instead?

 

[Tiddlypom]

Following with interest.

Need to get more weight on the senior PPID mare. Her teeth are good, though. Am upping the micronised linseed, but need more than that. Have lots of lovely grass available but she gets footie on that...

Copra’s worth a try.

 

[meleeka]

A friend feeds Alfabeet and micronised linseed and it’s made a big difference.

 

[Chinchilla]

ditto alfa/fibre beet if you want to keep the alfalfa.

Frank cannot eat chaff very well anymore and quids a lot, he's much better with hay.
If he eats the linseed can you start by increasing that instead?

He's on a fairly substantial amount already (two cups evening, one in the morning). Going to try fibre beet I think.

Tiddlypom - your mare sounds identical to ours, his teeth are good he's just missing a few, but doesn't quid and eats hay fine (although slowly).

 

[SpizWiz]

both fast fibre and speedibeet are pretty low DE for adding weight though.

Speedibeet is one of the few high calorie feeds available that isn't full of crap at 11 mj/kg.