Date
1 - 6 of 6
Advice Sought for Introducing the Emergency Diet and Adding Supplements
|
rainbowfarm140
We are a bit overwhelmed by both the amount of information and our needed learning curve for dealing with our newly diagnosed IR Morgan mare.
We began the emergency diet and she was receiving 1cup of timothy pellets, 2000 iu of Vitamin E, 1/2 cup ground flax, 3000mg mag oxide each night along with her hay. She readily ate this. Last weekend we began adding, a drop of iodine, a part dose of Cu/Zn, an ounce of jiaogalin at the evening feeding and she started leaving part of it each morning. Question: we want her to receive the supplements she needs to prevent laminitis and enhance health, with her eating the emer. diet of Timothy, Vit E, mag oxide and flax, what would your recommendations be on the introduction of the other supplements? What order of importance do you place on adding these other things? Thank you for your feedback. Belinda and Kari Vermont |
|
|
|
Mandy Woods
Hi Belinda,
Welcome to the list. We do give you a ton of information in the beginning so we understand you're overwhelmed. We can help you digest it all. The list philosophy is DDT/E. Its important that you do all 4 of these to see successful results. The first D is for DIAGNOSIS. This is by bloodwork. You want your vet to pull blood to confirm PPID aka Cushings. This test is the eACTH test scheduled early in the week in a quiet barn. Its a simple blood pull but it requires special handling. To confirm IR, you want your vet to pull blood on a NON fasting horse ~ get Insulin/Glucose/Leptin. Send these to Cornell. A thryoid panel would be a good baseline if you can swing it. DIET is low sugar/starch/fat. We recommend under 10% total s/s/f a day. The Temporary Emergency Diet is to ''wipe the slate clean'' as safely and quickly as possible. IF you've never had your hay analyzed it could be too high in sugar/starch. Stop all grains, no pasture, no supplements other than the ones in the ER Diet, no apples, no carrots, cookies etc. Soak your hay for one hour in cold water, pouring the water where your mare cant get to it. This can reduce sugar in the hay up to 30%! That could be the difference in safe hay vs founder hay. You did not mention if she is fed one TBS of loose iodized table salt.Do this twice a day. I would add this and hold off on the iodide drops for now. Have you cored your hay yet? Sent it to www.equia-analytical.com to be tested? Trainer/#603/$49. Let us know when you get your results back. Then, one of the hay gurus can help you balance your minerals to the hay analysis. Your goal is a balanced diet! But first we see whats in the hay. TRIM is a balanced foot with heels lowered and toes backed. EXERCISE is excellent for the horse if she's able. Never force a laminitic horse to move. Handwalking is a great start. If you have any doubts about stiffness, arthritis or reluctance to move forward then dont force her. The order of importance of the ER minerals is equal. They can all be purchased at Walmart or any drugstore in one day. This is a safe way to slowly introduce new minerals. The salt is two fold ~ it encourges the horse to drink more and get iodine in them. Always add new products slowly but remove quickly any that would make them ill. You will be adding more minerals depending on your hay analysis. I hope this answers some of your questions! Let us know if you have more. Mandy in VA EC Primary Response OCT 2003 |
|
|
|
jennifer
I think the most important thing to remember is to add very little of everything and work up from that. So I would start out with the little amount she tolerates, and probably mask that already with for example powdered anis seed (smells incredibly good).
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Although it might not seem much to you, you very probably added too much at once already. :) Jennifer in Germany Laramie July 2011 --- In EquineCushings@..., "rainbowfarm140" <brownlovely1@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
--- In EquineCushings@..., "Mandy Woods" <bittersweetfarm@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Sorry about that last one. Need to put my glasses on.
Just wanted to point Belinda to the Picky Eaters checklist. <http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/files/8%20Pulling%20it%20Together/> You may have found it already, Belinda, but just in case. Go to the file above and scroll down to Picky Eaters. Welcome to the list! Keep breathing and take it a step at a time. It gets easier And thanks for letting us know where you are in your signature! Nancy C in NH ECIR Moderator 2003 NewEnglandEquineBalance@... |
|
|
|
capnmrgn2000 <capnmrgn2000@...>
HI Belinda, A few thoughts regarding Kari and the emergency diet as I think you might have misunderstood some of the recommendations. We don't usually recommend timothy pellets as there is no way to guarantee that they are low sugar and starch without testing every batch. On the other hand - ODTB cubes (Ontario dehy timothy balance cubes) ARE tested to be low S/S and are also mineral balanced. Since you are in VT, you can also get Poulin feeds. Both the Equi-pro carb safe and the Forage extender pellets (which are mostly soy hulls) are low sugar/starch so either of those will work. Also wondering why you're adding Cu and Zn? Are you working off of a hay test? How much are you adding? We generally only recommend those to balance your hay following a hay test(only the Mg is a part of the emergency diet, and salt). FYI - they are not very tasty so that's probably why she's backed off of her ration :-) ! Are you adding the jiaogulan for feet issues? An oz. is WAY too much so please stop that right away! The recommended starting dose is 1/2tsp. 2x/day fed at least 20 mins. prior to a meal. You then watch the gums for change of color. Most of us end up at ~ 1 tsp. 2x/day. There is info. on this in the files section. Have you had a chance to put up your case history? We can be much more helpful when we have more details! Cheryl and Ollie Newbury, MA Jan.2004 EC list support |
|
|