Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition

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Dr. Getty

Jul 9, 2011 - 1:03PM

Re: feeding old mare

Hello Erin,

Thank you for writing. I can certainly understand your concern about your mare. She is definitely protein deficient and anemic which, as your vet indicated, could be cancer, a protein loss within her intestinal tract, kidney malfunction, or a combination of things. Frankly, the best way I can assist you would be to spend an hour going over all of the details and her blood work results. So please consider setting up an appointment for a consultation.

In the meantime, I would boost her overall digestive health by giving her AmiQuell to help with any mucosal ulceration. And to keep her hindgut microbial population (and assist with the diarrhea), Equine Gold is worth considering.

I hope to speak with you soon so we can develop a diet that will address her anemia, protein needs, diarrhea, and arthritis, as well as overall aging.

All the best,

Dr. Getty
Author of Feed Your Horse Like A Horse

Erin

I have a 21 year old Haflinger mare who's been having minor health issues for the past couple of years which worsened coming out of this past winter. She has arthritis from year's of giving lessons and trail rides and would have occasional mild bouts of diarrhea. This past winter and spring, her diarrhea worsened to the point where she was having watery or cowpie like diarrhea every day. She's negative for Lyme and doesn't have Cushings or IR. She's dewormed regularly and has her teeth floated twice a year. Her most recent bloodwork showed low hemoglobin, hematocrit, white blood cells, albumin, BUN, and total protein. Have switched her from Sentinel LS to Sentinel Senior. She gets 6qts of the Senior feed, divided into 2 feedings, with 1.5oz Red Cell added on top, and she has access to hay 24/7. She is acting more like herself, but she does have some edema along her belly and while she has gained some weight back I can still see and clearly feel all her ribs. My vet thinks she could have PLE or cancer, and definitely has malabsorption issues.

We just got some new hay, which has caused her to go back to having very watery diarrhea, and giving her access to pasture has caused the same. This is leading me to think that maybe she has gotten to the point where trying to digest hay is too much for her system to handle, which has led me to begin researching hayless diets. Wondering if going this route is the right thing to do, especially with the diarrhea she's having with the new hay.

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO

Jul 9th, 2011 - 1:03 PM

Erin

Jul 11, 2011 - 12:04PM

Re: feeding old mare

Thank you, Dr Getty. I was thinking about setting up a time for a phone consultation, but I have some more testing to do on my other, probably IR, mare so I wanted to wait until I got those results back.

The good news is, my Haflinger is starting to put on weight and her last total protein was 5.8, up from 5.2!

Where are you from? Maine

How did you locate this forum? websearch

Jul 11th, 2011 - 12:04 PM

Dr. Juliet Getty

Jul 25, 2011 - 5:15PM

Re: feeding old mare

Hello Erin,

Bood work results, hay analysis reports, etc. help me give you a more accurate analysis. So, I think that would be a good idea.

I'm so pleased the blood protein levels are improving.

All the best,

Dr. Getty
Author of Feed Your Horse Like A Horse

Erin

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO

Jul 25th, 2011 - 5:15 PM