Weight loss despite good appetite

[KEK]

Hi all,
We recently got a 20yo 16hh solid standardbred gelding on lease, for my husband to ride. He was in good condition when we picked him up and was on ad lib oaten hay only, no hard feed, no rug.
Since we have had him he has lost a very concerning about of weight and now all his ribs are palpable and some are visible. He is getting 2 scoops of high fat conditioning pellets (hygain), 1 scoop of copra and 4 scoops of oaten chaff 2-3 times /day. He has ad lib access to hay but its meadow, and has a net on it due to the pony (very good doer). He gets 1/2 a bale of oaten hay at night (probably about 10kg) when the pony is locked up elsewhere. Is rugged and out 24/7.
We have just done his teeth (properly by a vet under sedation), and he has been drenched and wormed. He has a vet appointment scheduled for tomorrow. I have sectioned him off into his own paddock to give him ad lib oaten hay again, does anyone have any thoughts? My other 2 are good doers and this one is eating LOT and still looking terrible.
Thanks

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

Blood test to see if anything is going on , I would also do a ?worm count and a saliva tapeworm test to make sure your wormer got everything. My hungry but skinny Irish cob has been wormed twice and we have just had a massive tapeworm saliva test result of 10.6 ?
Also don’t rule out ulcers from the stress of moving yards

 

[KEK]

Blood test to see if anything is going on , I would also do a ?worm count and a saliva tapeworm test to make sure your wormer got everything. My hungry but skinny Irish cob has been wormed twice and we have just had a massive tapeworm saliva test result of 10.6 ?
Also don’t rule out ulcers from the stress of moving yards

Thanks for your reply. I think we will do bloods tomorrow and good idea re the worm count. We have the horses at home but I was wondering about ulcers. Hes only been ridden twice since we got him.

 

[tallyho!]

Could I please ask what is oaten hay?

Agree with worming and blood test for him though.

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

I believe OP is in Australia so the feed will be less familiar to us - I believe oaten hay is a high fibre grass hay

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

Quick google found this - which could be a factor too on an older horse

 

[Gloi]

Make sure you get a Cushing's test in with the bloods.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Was gonna suggest cushings and a teeth check.

 

[KEK]

Thanks for all replies. Oaten hay is high in sugar, yep not great for teeth, its what he came from (they love it). Meadow is grass hay that is often low in sugar (it gets tested).
Teeth have just been done. Did not think of Cushings so thanks for that suggestion, in dogs it causes weight gain so will look up horse symptoms

 

[KEK]

Here are some pics of him today. I sent them to his owner and she thinks he looks OK for 20. But I'm worried so still taking him in.

 

[meleeka]

Are you sure you aren’t mistaking muscle loss for weight loss? He doesn’t look poor to me.

 

[KEK]

Are you sure you aren’t mistaking muscle loss for weight loss? He doesn’t look poor to me.

Yeah the pics are a bit misleading I think. I can feel and see every rib when he turns his head, that's not normal is it? He hadn't been ridden for ages when we got him and has been ridden only twice since we have had him (for about 2m) so muscle mass should be about the same, I'd think?

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

He has a good bloom to his coat - shiny and doesn’t look hairy / fluffy like a cushings horse but def worth checking out, my 30 year old cob suddenly dropped about a third of his body weight,muscle just melted off & every test inconclusive , his managed cushings was still under control so we took a gamble on the potential for laminitis (as I was looking to PTS if he continued losing so much) and gave him a decent shot of steroids which was a bit of a magic bullet , he piled the weight back on but has never recovered the top line although at his age I’m not completely surprised by this

 

[twiggy2]

He looks spot in weight wise, yes you should be able to feel every rib and see them too when his head is turned and it stretches out his side

 

[ycbm]

He doesn't look poor but the loss of weight is concerning. In my young standardbred cross earlier this year weight loss was was caused by a lack of vitamin E. Is the forage you are feeding an old crop, or if it's a newer one could it have been made in poor weather, it needs sunshine for vitamin E. I made the mistake of feeding 2 year old forage, which is fine to feed, but the vitamins degrade and need supplementing.
.

 

[KEK]

He doesn't look poor but the loss of weight is concerning. In my young standardbred cross earlier this year weight loss was was caused by a lack of vitamin E. Is the forage you are feeding an old crop, or if it's a newer one could it have been made in poor weather, it needs sunshine for vitamin E. I made the mistake of feeding 2 year old forage, which is fine to feed, but the vitamins degrade and need supplementing.
.

Yes, definitely agree. He has lost a marked amount, and after questioning his owner he has previously been a good doer on hay only.
Good point, I will check the vit E level in the pellets, since he is getting a lot of them I doubt I need to feed a balancer but will check. Thanks.

 

[KEK]

Vet also thought he wasn't underweight. He was xrayed for sand and had a small amount, so is going on a pysillium course.