Got some bad news this week. My show stallion was in KY to prepare for show season and had symtoms of a stroke. Is in a clinic right now but diagnosis is EPM. As soon as he can travel I will bring him home to recuperate. My question is regarding his nutritional needs when he comes home. I feed beet pulp,ground flax and vitamins at home. Is there anything I can do (or add)to his feed to help him along. I will be giving him Marquis for the balance of the 28 days. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thank you very much for this forum!!

Where are you from? Michigan

Hello Dar,

EPM is devastating and I'm sorry to hear about your stallion. Nutritional intervention, along with medical treatment, can often times bring the disease under control and prevent future attacks. There are three approaches that I recommend:

1. Feed a concentrated source of antioxidants along with other necessary vitamins and minerals. You mentioned that you are giving vitamins, but you ought to consider something like PreOx, which will provide concentrated dosages to boost the immune function. I recommend 2 scoops (2 ounces)per day.

2. Vitamin E is very important. PreOx provides a large amount, but more is needed. You want to provide 10,000 IU of vitamin E per day. PreOx, at the suggested dosage of 2 ounces per day, will provide 5000 IU of vitamin E. So, to get the additional amount needed, consider getting E5000. Avoid vitamin E/Selenium supplements because he will already be getting adequate selenium in the PreOx and you don't want to overdose selenium.

3. Pyrantel Tartrate -- this is a wormer that is given as a daily wormer (brand names such as Strongid C 2X or Continuous Wormer). There is evidence to suggest that using a daily wormer, at normal dosages, helps reduce the incidence of the contaminating protozoa. You can likely find this product at your local feed store.

I'll look forward to hearing how he is doing. I wish you the best.

Dr. Getty

Thanks for the advice. I will be sure to start on your recommendations soon as I get him home. I use beet pulp and ground flax, should I not use my flax since the PreOx has flax in it? Is beet pulp, PreOx and the E5000 all I will need? Thank you so much!
Dar

Hi Dar,

Depending on his weight, you can still give more flaxseed meal. If you don't want him to gain any weight, cut the amount of flax that you are currently feeding down by half.

So, yes -- beet pulp, flaxseed meal (take a look at Nutra Flax), PreOx and Vitamin E -- and you're all set.

Hope all goes well. Please keep me updated on his progress.

All the best,

Dr. Getty