Not eating morning grain

[peedin]

I will consult the the vet Monday.

My 22 year old mare is on daytime turnout. During the summer she also goes out at night and comes in around 6 am for hay and grain before going out again. Last night and one night this week she did not go out at night due to storms. The next morning she did not eat her grain or hay.

BM called this morning. She didn’t eat grain and passed manure but he gave her 10cc oral Banamine and paste electrolytes. She went outside. I will leave soon to check on her.

I rode her yesterday for 15 minutes at the walk. She had a bath afterwards, ate hay and grass. I watched her eat her grain and hay.

I will talk to the vet tomorrow. In the meantime, any thoughts or ideas? Of course she is UTD oh shots, worming, teeth. Salt block in her stall and access to clean water always.

[LCDR]

Did BM check vital signs? Ausultate bowel sounds?

[peedin]

Yep. Gut sounds, normal temp. Gums normal.

[2DogsFarm]

ETA: Posted before I saw your update

Same ask as @LCDR
Besides listening to both sides, I check gums for capillary refill. Checking temp also good.

My 9yo mini - 34" of feed vacuum - came in one morning last week not wanting his grain. RED ALERT!
Mild interest in hay, but my 3 are out 24/7, so I didn’t know if he’d been grazing.
He had decent gut sound & refill, temp was near 102, but I had no baseline
Banamine put him right by late afternoon feed, temp 101 (so that’s his baseline).
I blame weird weather we’ve had.

[sara78]

Maybe the fact that thé routine changed? Everytime i had a horse not eating grain it was for thé following reasons.
Horse was ill with température
A change in thé routine, for example hauling to show or New barn
Ulcèrs
Teeth problems.
Lately i had one that stopper eating grain but it was because i did not réalisé that thé bag was too old and critters went inside🙄.

[NaturallyHappy]

If mine are stuck in, the next morning, some of them are too excited to go out to bother with breakfast. Some…not all.

[peedin]

She is usually excited to go out, even if she’s been out the night before. But today and the other day she didn’t eat, she was quiet. That is not like her. I went out this morning. She was eating grass and ate the handful of grain I offered. This sounds odd, but I think it’s something psychological……

[sara78]

Maybe ulcèrs?

[4horses]

Please tell the barn owner not to give Banamine unless it’s an actual colic and if you need to use banamine to use a low dose. I am not a fan of using Banamine on a horse with colic and having them relapse when the drug wears off. In this case, you don’t know what is wrong and you don’t want to mask symptoms of whatever it might be.

I always use banamine at a low dose, wait to see effect, and adjust the dose accordingly. Definitely need to get eyes on the horse and see what is going on.

[erinmeri]

When my horse goes off grain, I know something is really wrong. Last year, she went off grain and then went off hay. She looked dull and listless, and I assumed mild colic. Her temp was technically WNL, but at the high end of the range of “normal”. Combined with symptoms, my vet deemed it a low-grade fever and treated immediately for Potomac… which she turned out to have.

[Sdel]

@erinmeri

When my horse goes off grain, I know something is really wrong.

Agreed. If my horse misses a meal it’s a trip to the vet. The last three times she’s missed a meal she was impacted. With at least one of them the only other symptom was a heavier than normal respiratory rate. One of them was caught so early all of her vitals and lab values were normal and she wasn’t even dehydrated.

[Argo]

This situation reminded me of this article:

Keeping the Horse’s Hindgut Happy – The Horse

Some of the symptoms match up.

[kt]

Echoing what a few have said about the change in routine potentially being the cause, especially if she’s a sensitive mare who thrives on routine. Also consider that at the same time she was being kept in overnight, the barometric pressure was probably dropping due to storms, which could possibly have affected her.

My super sensitive older TB mare can only take so much time in her stall with free choice hay, especially when she knows her schedule is off and she should be turned out lol. I think it is a combination of underlying anxiety about routine and just being already full from eating hay. At that point, she really doesn’t want anymore hay, and there have been a few times she will refuse her grain, which is always worrisome. She is also an internalizer, and she will go even more inside her head and very quiet— but never any colic signs. We do what we can to reassure her and help her, but it’s often a matter of giving her time and space to feel like eating again.

This has just been my experience with my mare. Hoping your mare is all good.

[peedin]

I talked to the vet’s office this morning. He is coming to see others Wednesday so I put Ariel on the list. I’m leaning towards ulcers, but change in her routine plus up and downs with weather could be a factor. She can be rather dramatic, after all, she is a red headed OTTB mare.

[peedin]

Update. Vet came Wednesday. All vitals normal. Gut sounds normal. SAA test 0. He pulled blood for other labs. He said it probably was a mild impaction. I think that is true, but not the full cause. She had body work Tuesday and has passed a lot of gas and manure. But her eyes still don’t look 100%. Waiting for the labs. My gelding had this twice. Just a general funk. I believe antiobiotics were involved but I’m not willing to give her those if not indicated. He just had a funk so I gave him time off. It also may be the heat. Ariel, like me, isn’t a fan of summer. I ordered dandelion root supplement to help her gut and kidneys.

[peedin]

Replying to myself. All labs normal. She’s getting the next week off because temps are going to be 90. We’ll hang out but no riding.

[rubygirl1968]

I’m glad all her labs are normal and I hope she’s feeling better.

Jingles!!