Traci's question about Laminitis/ulcer/thinning mare…

TheNaturalVet

Hi Dr. Dan,

I have a 15 yo.Puruvian mare. Have had her for 3 years. when I brought her home she was severly foundered and had already been laminitic for yearts. Who knows how many.

Severly obese….I have had her on a dry lot in the summer and very limited grazing about a foot a day I move her fence. I have never had my hay tested, but am going to send some off ( any ideas where?) But we cut a different hay field this year (we have 3 different ones) and she immediately started to show symptoms of tenderness in the front.

My husband didn’t believe it could be the hay, so it took me awhile to get him to understand…So, I started her on a gram of bute am and pm with 1/2 lb of oats.

She has free choice red cal. But really eats it up faster than I think she should…so I do limit her to 2 oz a day and sometimes one. She gobbles it up.

Well, she started with really loose stool and I quit everythiing but the red cal and got the diahrea under control. But she has continued to loose weight and is really finacky about her foods. Loves grass…but I’m afraid.

We are in north wisconsin, so winter is approaching. I had our local vet out yesterday and he thinks ulcer and ulcer meds for 1 month and a high fat grain with corn oil and pasture again. I’m scared of the highs and lows of the sugar content of the grasses from am to pm and what times of the day are the safest if I put her out?

She isn’t even my horse. We took 3 in for a 70 year old lady who just  loved them to death with food…finanially a huge burden for me…Help!

I know you’ll want her on your weight oil and your emergency product critical care and what else?

Thanks

Traci

Yes our Weight Check Oil, Critical Care Laminitis formula, as well as the Just Add Oats.

Above should be standard care daily for this horse. You can probably back off eventually on the Critical Care – which is good because it is pricey but awesome. Do let this horse have all the Red Cal he wants- don’t limit it or just top dress. He will level out  eventually and eat only what he needs. I would probably give more of the weight check oil than normal to help him gain a little weight — up to 8 oz even perhaps.

 
I would not so much worry about the sugars in the hay. I have just not found this to be near the issue as the fertilizers in the grass and hay are. Hence the need for the free choice red cal (which is probably why he is eating so much of it to try to balance these excesses from such out)  of course it could be another issue entirely going on but I see so many issues from excess potassium that it amazes me (from fertilizer etc.).
 
I would also add Joint Check to his daily diet. it will help support not only the joints, but also the liver and help get rid of whatever "junk" is in the system.
 
Hang in there Traci

P.S
do not give the corn oil etc.
 
 

TheNaturalVet

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