One Saturday noticed that Andy wasnt eating and wasn't moving. It was obvious that he was lamintic as he was reluctant to move back to his yard. He had been in a paddock with a fair bit of green grass - usually i would made sure he only had limited access to this but I have daughter with a broken leg from a horse fall and have been a little preoccupied (so feeling very guilty!).
We gave him bute for a few days and that seemed to help but by the following Wednesday he was no better. Thursday we had a vet out who took blood however we did not get results until Monday.
The vet suspected Cushings, Equine Metabolic Disease and definitely Laminitis. On Monday the blood results came back 'off the charts' with the blood-level markers for both conditions over 650?!! The vet stated she has never seen levels this high.
We commenced on the medication below. We have tried feeding him Prydes easi-fibre after researching some alternative feeds for him. I am unable to source the recommended teff hay so I am soaking small amounts of grassy hay as that is all he will eat. He doesnt really like the easi-fibre. I would like to NOT have him on expensive medication but would like him comfortable in his old age.
I am not giving up on him we have had him since he was 3, broke him in myself and all my girls have learnt to ride on him. The vet stated it could 3 months before we see a change. I am getting farrier to see him this weekend but as he is no longer being ridden am not sure how to 'exercise' him to help with weight loss. He has always been a cresty pony but vet stated that he should not be like that at all.
Story Update
I just wanted to give you a little update on our pony, Andy. He is doing so much better! We slowly weaned him off the Bute while he started on the Alleviate. He has now been off Bute for several weeks and is back to normal with his walking (he ran away from me the other day, little brat!).
He has gotten used to his new feed regime which took a little while but again, he is back to his old self and nickers when you go down to feed up and if you are not fast enough he drools like a dog! He has started to pick at the grassy hay we give him as well but that is only recently – it was like he had no appetite at all at first and struggled to eat the chaff/rice bran/speedy beet mixture to begin with.
The farrier has been and while there was the beginning of some signs of change in his hooves, he thinks we caught it in time. He isn’t being ridden now anyway so we just want him comfortable. At the end of next month I will get the vet out to check his blood levels (I think it has been around 8 weeks since the initial vet visit so he has been on his new herb/feed regime for six weeks).
On weekends we let him out around lunch time to socialise with the others for a couple of hours as there is not much pick in our paddocks at the moment, so I hope that is ok!?
We have put Eddie (the warmblood with Cushings) on Alleviate and Metabolic-S as well – he is going great too! Sarah thinks he has never felt so good riding and the vet who comes to acupuncture him regularly said he is improving every time she sees him!
All five of our horses are now on rose hip and the magnesium as well.
Thank you so much – I am so appreciative of your help and the fact that I can maintain my horses in their old age without medication is such a plus!!!
Cheers Maria
