Thank you all for your concerns, advice, and thoughts! It is very helpful. My vet (x3) and I have had many conversations and visits and it has taken a long time to get straight how we can pick him up to better health once again.
to answer all of your questions :
@enjoytheride He may not be quite a 2, maybe a 3 but not higher. He is 27 y/o standardbred. He just doesnt seem to thrive on pasture and hay alone anymore. A catabolic state caused from the stress of aging (not feeling like yourself, aches and pains) plus weight loss from the cortisol produced from aging (which sets off the catabolic state) plays into that.This state burns fat fast then takes muscle with it quickly unfotunately. The metabolism gets kicked into high drive and it is a tough cycle to break once it starts… Read below for further details.
His teeth are not too bad, none missing, no waves, a couple have ground down to their final stage but most some still in use. I cant really figure what his disinterest is in hay, ive tried many different farms.
Yes, he does also have some physical health decline playing into his weight loss over the past 2 years (and this chronic cortisol as i have been informed) most of which occured right when his friend left and then again over our last winter when he needed ulcer treatment.
- chronic advanced arthritis (being managed since diagnoses now)
- a grade 4 out of 6 heart murmur
- recent severe ulcer history
- moderate chronic inflamation of the small intestine discovered during a stomach scope for ulcers. We took a biopsy and found generalized inflamation only which ruled out cancer there or IBD.
- depression, refusal to eat or drink or engage with other horses for 2 weeks when his very best pasture mate of many years moved away 2 yeara ago (This was the first to occur of all of the above and within 2 weeks it catapuled our downward decline from there)
After speaking with our local mill - Otter Co Op - we spoke for nearly 1 hour. They do sell a forage senior feed, however we agreed their Equical pellet will be a better choice in this case to pair with his timothy pellets and hay intake. Fibre is 20%, fat is 12%, protein 12%, no added sugars or grain products so it is a great choice for sensitive digestion, and one of the main fibre ingredients is alfalfa - good for ulcer prone ponies. My boy goes off his feed if anything more than basic ingredients are put in it annoyingly so this works great for us. Also, my local feed store can carry this product to me so that means no travel time needed! : )
We presume his weight should come back up to fully correct in minimum 6 but more likely up to 10 months time with this addition. 🤞🤞🤞
