Alcar success stories have me wishing I would have tried it before the 3 cups of oil we are now on per day… but
It sure would be easier to use the Alcar!! Plus I worry about insulin resistance in the future.
Has anyone made the switch? how would you do it ? gradually or cold-turkey?
Cold turkey from oil to ALCAR. Going the other way you can drop the ALCAR and build up oil gradually.
You can also feed oil + l-carnitine together. Same dose as ALCAR - 1g per 100# body weight.
Thank you, Xanthoria! There isn’t much out there about this yet to research
[QUOTE=1bigPercheron;8688242]
Has anyone made the switch? how would you do it ? gradually or cold-turkey?[/QUOTE]
I started my mare on ALCAR shortly after she presented with PSSM symptoms. I also adjusted her diet (low sugar, higher but not super high fat). This is year two on ALCAR and a modified diet. In general, she is pretty well managed and keeps in steady work. She does have fairly minor PSSM symptoms compared to some horses.
If the ALCAR works, you should see improvement fairly quickly (week or two at most). Not a problem dropping the fat quickly (unless it is a calorie issue and then you can address with other ingredients/more hay/etc.).
thank you for your reply, piedmont… I am glad the ALCAR helps your mare! I am going to try it.
My only reservation is if it does not work, I hope I don’t lose any ground on muscle health, if it does not work, with the oil protocol that we have been on for about 6 weeks.
The only info on ALCAR as a supplement (after a very cursory search) was directed to human usage. Could one of you direct me to a horse-oriented discussion/explantion? Thanks.
http://equine.uckele.com/Resources-Articles/cat/drkellon/post/EPSM/
there is also an active discussion on the yahoo EPSM group, as well as Smartpak
On this forum as well, mainly in discussions about EPSM
Where do you buy ALCAR? Use the the human version? 1 gm/ 100#/day? Do the horses eat it pretty readily or is it like bite and tastes horrible?
In one of the EPSM links that was posted (equine.uckele.com), it stated ALCAR and high fat diet should NOT be fed together
[QUOTE=mountainbells;8692603]
Where do you buy ALCAR? Use the the human version? 1 gm/ 100#/day? Do the horses eat it pretty readily or is it like bite and tastes horrible?[/QUOTE]
I buy it on eBay. It doesn’t taste like much.
I get my ALCAR here: http://www.amazon.com/BulkSupplements-Acetyl-L-Carnitine-ALCAR-Powder/dp/B00E7H96BQ?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00
I’ve been using ALCAR for nearly a year now and my PSSM mare has done very well on it. She gets 3/4TBSP twice a day. In addition to ALCAR, she gets vitamin E, MagOX, and Cool Calories. I wet her feed down to get her to eat it all. I haven’t noticed her not liking the ALCAR, I just wet the feed since she eats a pelleted feed and its easy for the supplements to fall through the pellets.
another success story ! thanks SCS - so glad your mare is doing well. I would be hesitant to use it with the Cool Calories (?) , but it must be working for you!!
My horse did not respond to ALCAR. If anything he was worse. I wouldn’t discourage giving it a try though, it helps lots of horses.
I tried it twice to see if my guy back-tracked symptomatically equally each time which he did. Wish someone would do a better study on it.
my mare is on 1 cup of senior feed a day to get her to eat her supplements. Could I add alcar to that?
Piedmont, What symptoms did your mare have? I’m just learning about PSSM as I’ve spent the last year trying to figure out what is going on with my mare.
[QUOTE=Kati7095;8922611]
Piedmont, What symptoms did your mare have? I’m just learning about PSSM as I’ve spent the last year trying to figure out what is going on with my mare.[/QUOTE]
Symptoms first showed up when I was away on business and my mare had 5 days off in a row during the late autumn (starting to get cold). Normally, she was in 5+ day a week work.
She was not exactly lame, but she was a little hitchy in one hip on the worst day and just generally acted depressed and not herself (this is a very sweet, interactive mare). She was reluctant to go forward and seemed to struggle to move freely. The barn staff thought she might be getting an abscess, as she had had a number of hoof abscesses in the past—but it really didn’t look like that. She improved with gentle exercise over a period of a few weeks (along with ALCAR and diet changes). It took a couple of months until she felt more normal.
Since changes in management, she has not had an episode like this again (2+ years ago). However, when it is cold or her turn out is less due to weather, she can have more symptoms and feel “sludgy”. Regular exercise (even very gentle exercise) plus the right diet keeps her well. When I go out of town now, I arrange for her to be ridden, lunged or hand-walked–especially in cold weather.
[QUOTE=piedmontfields;8924603]
Symptoms first showed up when I was away on business and my mare had 5 days off in a row during the late autumn (starting to get cold). Normally, she was in 5+ day a week work.
She was not exactly lame, but she was a little hitchy in one hip on the worst day and just generally acted depressed and not herself (this is a very sweet, interactive mare). She was reluctant to go forward and seemed to struggle to move freely. The barn staff thought she might be getting an abscess, as she had had a number of hoof abscesses in the past—but it really didn’t look like that. She improved with gentle exercise over a period of a few weeks (along with ALCAR and diet changes). It took a couple of months until she felt more normal.
Since changes in management, she has not had an episode like this again (2+ years ago). However, when it is cold or her turn out is less due to weather, she can have more symptoms and feel “sludgy”. Regular exercise (even very gentle exercise) plus the right diet keeps her well. When I go out of town now, I arrange for her to be ridden, lunged or hand-walked–especially in cold weather.[/QUOTE]
Did you have her tested for PSSM?
[QUOTE=pezk;8924740]
Did you have her tested for PSSM?[/QUOTE]
I never did. I would have to do a muscle biopsy and didn’t think it was worth it since:
-She improved with the changes I made
-We are not having recurring issues
I realize that some folks would insist on a test but to me the proof is in the horse! If I were considering breeding her, I would absolutely test.
The test for PSSM1 is really not a big deal, and not that expensive. It’s not a muscle biopsy, it’s blood or hair sample. The test for PSSM2 is the muscle biopsy.
If she’s improved with the changes you made, then there is no need to test.
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