Wits end with anorexic horse, ideas please.

[Boulty]

Ah ok have now read the whole thing and see that half of what I've written doesn't apply, oops!

Also another really random thought but APF (forageplus sell it but it's not the cheapest) can allegedly improve appetite in PPID horses on Prascend. Unsure if it is believed to have this effect in "normal" horses but if nothing else works may potentially be worth a go. It's an adaptogen / supposed to help combat the effects of stress so shouldn't cause harm even if it doesn't work. I bought some randomly to have in if mine went on hunger strike again and did then end up using it in a paranoid way when he had a footy episode the other month. The taste appears not too unpleasant as he let me syringe it directly into his mouth (although it appears to taste a bit worse than Prascend)

 

[GirlFriday]

He's two and a half or three out of five, the standard way of scoring by my physio, not ten.

Horse will die without supplements. He is unable to carry his own body through muscle weakness.

Sorry, very confusing typo on my part. I meant 3/5, ie good as opposed to 3/9 or 10 which isn't.

Surely in an extreme case like this they are effectively meds not supplements and normal rules do not apply. Ie syringe and worry abt worming later? Or is there not an option for injectibles?

 

[cundlegreen]

I forgot these:

Alfalfa nuts - he thinks it's evil
Grass nuts - just as evil
Timothy chop - meh.
Straw and alfalfa chop - if you must.
Molasses - pah!



Thanks for all the suggestions. Has anyone got any copra they could let me buy a kilo of? Buxton/Macclesfield way to save postage, or meet at Chatsworth Saturday?

I can't syringe the alcar, he will get wise to that in a couple of days and I'll never be able to worm him again. He's not interested in any kind of titbits. The others always end up with his share.

I can, if necessary, stick the vitamin e to his lips/teeth/gums and that will be my last resort if he hasn't eaten by the time I go to bed.

I'll probably try what I did with my mini when she wouldn't eat bute, and mix both the alcar and the vitE in Golden syrup and stick it to his mouth. Now I'm annoyed that I didn't by Golden syrup when I was out earlier : (

Another who really rates releve, despite the price! What about malt extract if you can still get it?

 

[fairyclare]

Not the cheapest option but the turning point for my fussy one was Agrobs Musli

This!!
Agrobs mash made with warm water was the only thing I could tempt my poorly horse to eat when she was being anorexic

ycmb, I have a bin full which is no longer needed, happy to send a sample to try?

 

[ycbm]

Thank you fairyclare. I'll PM you my address if the copra and the re-leve fail.

He ate yesterday after seven hours locked up with nothing else to eat but pink mash, bran and all the supplements. That's actually an improvement!

Pink mash is supposed to be irresistible to fussy eaters as well. Someone forgot to tell him. Good job the others like it!

PS, yes I know about the ulcer risk! Rock v. hard place.

 

[ycbm]

Another who really rates releve, despite the price! What about malt extract if you can still get it?

He has brewer's yeast, similar to marmite and malt extract.

 

[texas]

How about Rowan & Barbary mashes? Ready mash smells amazing but has molasses. Solution mash is the version without but it takes some a while to get used to it. For syringing in I'd recommend a fruit baby puree to mix it with. The vet recommended that post dental surgery for my pony. Despite not wanting anything near his mouth post surgery or particularly liking worming usually he was quite accepting of this.

 

[ycbm]

Another who really rates releve, despite the price! What about malt extract if you can still get it?

He gets brewer's yeast, pretty much the same as marmite and malt extract.

 

[Asha]

what a nightmare for you.

the two things mine always eat - mollichop bloom. They love the stuff. I always use it when I need to get meds into any of them. The other thing mine go crazy for is stud balancer ? I know I know, I shouldn't let them have it, and my broodmare and foal look at me with disgust, but they only get a little tit bit every now and then when they have been goo.

I have some of both if you need any

 

[ycbm]

I'll do whatever it takes to find something he'll eat his whole range of supplements in. They're necessary to balance a serious overload of iron and manganese in my grazing that has previously caused laminitis in my horses. Meanwhile, I could possibly start forcing the life threatening ones down his throat somehow. But we're talking about 10ml of an extremely thick oil that I can't just shoot down his throat because it won't leave the syringe fast enough. So he would be able to spit it out. And a15ml scoop full of alcar powder, which will dissolve in water, but obviously quite a lot of it. The two won't mix, obviously, and I can't see him tolerating that twice a morning for more than a day or two! Likewise, if he will take a tidbit at all, which he usually won't, he wouldn't be fooled into that more than once.

You'll see why I'm so keen to find a food he'll take it in!

 

[ycbm]

Thank you Asha, you're on my list

 

[AmyMay]

Nothing wrong with his teeth?

 

[ycbm]

Nothing wrong with his teeth?

Not unless he gets the same problem with his teeth every spring and it stops him eating mash but not haylage

 

[quizzie]

I have recently started using Simple systems top nosh, a small pellet made of alfalfa leaf (no stem) and linseed....I can call mine in from a lush field with it, and they will follow with noses glued to your hand/pocket. Worth a try?

 

[chaps89]

I had an ex racer do very well on the simple systems top nosh and it was apparently very tastey.
I'm wondering if you could do a fruit smoothy for him with the meds in as an alternative as well? An old share horse used to love pears and bananas, the 2 would probably mash into a nice mush and have quite strong flavours which would perhaps hide the meds?
Out of interest, will he eat the bucket feed if there are no meds in it?

 

[ihatework]

If he is tolerant enough of worming, try one of those large syringes and rubber tubes used for feeding lambs

 

[Suncat]

Sorry if someone's already suggested this but.. Baby food? I used to have to get a large amount of bitter drugs into one of mine. I mixed them into mostly vegetable or fruit based ones and then slowly syringed it into his mouth (mostly because it was less messy or feed it out of a small bowl.
I was also wondering if there's anyway of solving this using training..? Turn it into a puzzle or positive challenge for him..? I don't have a clear idea, but if you could find something that motivates him as a reward and associate it? So (if this was cartoon world!) if what he wants is to go out then his food is the weight keeping the door shut. Eat the food = open door. I know that's not immediately helpful, it was just me musing! But maybe turning the situation on its head might produce an unexpected solution?
I worked too late last night

 

[mini-eventer]

Completely random but Baileys Stud Balancer...

My native is the same just not interested in feed in summer, he doesn't like fast fiber, any thing soaked, turns his nose up at molasses I've always struggled to get meds/supplements into him. I have never been able to get him to eat bute bar leaving him in over night with barely anything but his hard feed.


Then one day i gave him a sachet of bute in a mug full of my other horses balancer... dry.. thinking what is the point but i will give it ago. and he wolfed it down

Now he is a bit older I like to supplement him to help his creaky joints. I give him a mug of balancer handful of chaff and dampen it with minimal beet for his feed and i can get him to eat anything in it!

 

[Casey76]

I can send you some Agrobs Mash if you'd like to try that?

The only way I can get T to eat her supplements is to make her dinners with lots and lots (and lots) of spearmint. It's pretty soul destroying watching your horse NOT eat the dinner you are paying a fortune for, knowing that it will make them feel better. I fluctuate between wanting to wail with tears and lose my temper with her every time I find a half full feed bowl on a morning, especially if she is in a stiff and sore phase.

 

[Annagain]

Then one day i gave him a sachet of bute in a mug full of my other horses balancer... dry.. thinking what is the point but i will give it ago. and he wolfed it down

My vet always recommends giving bute dry- he says it has a coating to make it more palatable that dissolves once wet and they can then taste the bute more. It works with one of mine, not the other. Not sure if it would work here as one of the supplements is an oil.

 

[SpottyMare]

Probably not ideal for PSSM, but baileys fibre nuggets seem to have an almost addictive quality to every horse I've known have them. They're known as crack nuggets on the yard...

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Probably not ideal for PSSM, but baileys fibre nuggets seem to have an almost addictive quality to every horse I've known have them. They're known as crack nuggets on the yard...

I always have a pocket full and I'm very popular

 

[SEL]

My big lad is rather taken by Dodson & Horrell ERS pellets. Lovely picture of a racehorse on the front of the packet - which he most certainly is not.

They do make him eat his stinky amino acid supplement though. He's another PSSM'er who would rather pig out on grass and hay and avoid his hard feed with necessary supplements in.

Whether its the ERS pellets or the extra amino acids he's looking particularly stunning right now. Such a pity he only has 1 working leg!

More than happy to pop some in an envelope if you want to see if they work.

 

[ycbm]

Sorry if someone's already suggested this but.. Baby food? I used to have to get a large amount of bitter drugs into one of mine. I mixed them into mostly vegetable or fruit based ones and then slowly syringed it into his mouth (mostly because it was less messy or feed it out of a small bowl.
I was also wondering if there's anyway of solving this using training..? Turn it into a puzzle or positive challenge for him..? I don't have a clear idea, but if you could find something that motivates him as a reward and associate it? So (if this was cartoon world!) if what he wants is to go out then his food is the weight keeping the door shut. Eat the food = open door. I know that's not immediately helpful, it was just me musing! But maybe turning the situation on its head might produce an unexpected solution?
I worked too late last night

Great lateral thinking

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

He will eat food without meds in but is still picky.

Anyone want fourteen kilos of pink mash pellets for a tenner? They are, apparently, the work of the devil. I don't have high hopes of re-leve because it's mostly the same fast fibre, but we will see!

Today he ate, but only after adding a ton of bran (plus calcium to balance the phosphorous!), which is just about ok on a cool drizzly day. But since he's an easy keeper prone to develop a crest, that isn't a solution for the rest of the summer.

Would it be wrong of me to wish everyone in the north west a cold wet summer?

 

[SEL]

Great lateral thinking


Would it be wrong of me to wish everyone in the north west a cold wet summer?

Well I've pretty much told everyone in the south east that I don't care if it never rains again and my horse's paddock turns to dust....... No sugar in dust.

 

[Leo Walker]

Well I've pretty much told everyone in the south east that I don't care if it never rains again and my horse's paddock turns to dust....... No sugar in dust.

This is how I feel. Its rained today and I'm gutted! Means the grass is going to go mad and my lovely trim cob is going to need restricting

 

[Leo Walker]

Saracens Shape up might work. Its a balancer designed for laminitics etc. I tried it once, its a sticky gooey mix that smells a bit like christmas cake! I think its mainly cinnamon. The horses were going mad for it, and while I wouldnt feed it too a laminitic, its not too bad

 

[skint1]

This is how I feel. Its rained today and I'm gutted! Means the grass is going to go mad and my lovely trim cob is going to need restricting

Yup, same here

 

[kernal grain 6]

Hi my tb loves spillers lay off cubes, they are basically high fibre cubes with extra vitamin E, I also soak to feed his equishure and he eats it and it is not pleasant!

 

[Chumsmum]

Mine have always eaten meds better in a balancer rather than a mix or mash type product - don't know why but it works..? I have used Baileys Lo Cal and Top Spec Comprehensive. Can post a sample of the Top Spec if needed. Good luck xx