By Patty Wilber
Whelp, the old man (Cometa) has been off and on lame for a bit, and I kept thinking it was another abscess, but it would not clear up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an abscess. Nope. He spent the day at the vet on Monday and was diagnosed with an Equine Metabolic Syndrome flare.
Equine Metabolic Syndrome is dysregulation of the insulin system. Too much insulin is produced, and this can damage the lamina of the hoof, causing laminitis.
Laminitis can cause rotation of the coffin bone and can be life-threatening. In Cometa’s case, he only has mild rotation in the left front and very mild in the right front, so his overall prognosis is officially “good”.
Equine Metabolic Syndrome is more common in “thrifty” horses. When Cometa had a full set of teeth, and could effectively chew his food, he grew fat on very little feed. He has always had a half alfalfa and half grass diet, but with a lack of teeth, he can no longer chew long stems –they just ball up, and he spits out wads.
Cometa can’t grind up the stems anymore, so he ends up gumming them into a gob and letting them drop out.
Cometa had been getting dry and flaky alfalfa, plus soaked alfalfa pellets and Safe Choice Senior pellets. His weight was good. But, the increase in alfalfa and I suspect (even though the vet didn’t think so) grazing the green (high sugar) foxtail (even for only an hour on only some days) tipped him into an EMS flare.
Alfalfa is a pretty good feed, in general, for older horses, as it is low in easily digestible simple sugars, and high in protein, calcium, and calories. But for horses with EMS, the high calories and protein exacerbate the insulin problem. This insulin dysregulation can contribute to a cresty neck, and regional fat deposits. Cometa has a cresty neck and has become “lumpy” over time, and lumpier lately, I think. Those lumps are the regional fat deposits! They might go away on the new diet…we shall see!
Cometa in October. Fat lumps on his butt and a cresty neck, circled in blue. I really do think he is lumpier now, but I didn’t get a photo.
So, the boy had to have a complete diet overhaul, and he lost his pen-mate Penny, as she does not need the special diet. He gets shoes on his front feet for the first time EVER in his 29 years of life. They will be backward regular shoes to relieve pressure on his toes. I am a bit depressed about the shoes for some reason.
The new diet: The vet wanted him to have grass hay ad lib plus timothy pellets and Nutrena Safe Choice Special Care for lunch, but since he cannot chew grass, I went on a Dr. Google research mission, followed by a shopping spree…I got timothy pellets, Safe Choice Special Care, Triple Crown Naturals Timothy Balance Cubes, and Triple Crown Safe Starch Forage.
I got the Balance Cubes because that is a complete feed and could be his full diet. But the cubes need to be soaked (due to the lack of teeth), and he didn’t like the mush very well, though I may keep trying. The Safe Starch Forage seemed like it might provide him with something akin to the crumbly alfalfa he was enjoying, but the stems (at maybe four inches) are still too long to chew, and he doesn’t seem to like the taste anyway. I keep putting it out there, and I read I could put the forage in a garbage can, and using a weed whacker, chop it into smaller pieces! I don’t have a free can right now since I bought all this new feed and already had Safe Choice Senior and alfalfa pellets, too, but that sounds kind of fun…
He eats the timothy pellets and the Special Care, so long as I do not soak them. If I soak the timothy, it turns to dust almost immediately. The timothy pellets are quite small and seem to fall apart as soon as they get damp, so hopefully not soaking them will go ok. He is currently getting five pounds of timothy pellets and two pounds of Special Care, twice a day. This should provide a “complete” diet. He has free choice of the Safe Starch forage product, in case he decides that he might like it, and I’ll re-try soaked cubes for the same reason.
He is also on medication to help blood flow in his feet, isoxsuprine HCL, and bute.
In the meantime, Penny sliced her left front leg between her “knee” and “ankle” and is spending the night at the vet’s, because it was 5 pm when Jim noticed (thankfully), and then we got her in. She did not damage the tendon at all! Just ripped back a deep hunk. She will be on two weeks of rest, and should heal well. LT was running a fever on Monday, and has a slight snotty nose and cough. She is on antibiotics. We have four horses, and only one is good to go! Gette will be on the Back Country ride this weekend while the rest stay home! Jim will hike.
They are all getting better, and should be back to work eventually! Never a dull moment!
