Reasonably price IRON supplement that isn't Red Cell? Non-liquid preferred

[vxf111]

Horse was feeling a little dull and I had a full blood panel done (plus lyme and EPM which results are pending). Normal on all fronts but low in red blood cell count. Vet suggested an oral iron supplement for a month. BM has had negative experiences with Red Cell so I am trying to avoid that. Easiest would be powder/pellet that I can put in the horse’s existing supplement containers. They will feed liquid if that’s the only option.

Darned if I can find any iron supplement other than Red Cell? All the other “energy” supplements on Smartpak are non-iron supplements as best as I can tell (Smartpak’s own supplement makes a bid deal of touting that it’s not an iron supplement). Looking for ideas of other brands that folks have had success with. THX.

[JB]

How low?

Was the horse exercised for a bit prior to pulling blood?

[vxf111]

Normal RBC count is 7-12. He came in at 6.7. So only a little low, but still low. Horse has been a little dull/low energy/not himself (which is why bloodwork was done). He was in his stall hanging out before the blood was drawn, not exercised.

[JB]

I wouldn’t consider him anemic then, not with it only a little low, and not with having been rested before the draw.

Fever?

What’s his diet?

Deworming history for the last 12 months?

[vxf111]

No fever. I’ve been checking every few days. Diet has not changed substantially at all in the past 4 years. Barn does a rotational deworming schedule.

Vet suggested an oral iron supplement and she’s been my vet for over a decade so I trust her and I want to do it. I just can’t seem to find an oral supplement other than Red Cell.

I did finally find Finish Line Iron Power Powder… which was available almost nowhere but I ordered it from Big Dee.

[LetItBe]

I’m curious as to why no Red Cell, my warmblood has been on it for years for the same reason, low Iron.

LetItBe

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=LetItBe;8260963]
I’m curious as to why no Red Cell, my warmblood has been on it for years for the same reason, low Iron.

LetItBe[/QUOTE]

She just had a bad experience with it and I don’t care to rock the boat if there’s another supplement with iron that I could use instead.

[JB]

It does make some horses “edgy”.

I know you trust her, BUT, 6.7 compared to 7 is really not that low, and especially not when the blood was taken from a resting horse.

Something else is going on, I’m nearly certain of it. True anemia is so rare in horses.

[vxf111]

I suspect lyme, actually, but I figure it can’t hurt to supplement with iron. I should have the lyme results back Friday or Monday. His behavior is a lot like when he had lyme about 4 years ago.

[JB]

But, it CAN hurt to supplement with iron if the horse isn’t deficient Adding too much iron can actually CAUSE anemia. It can also cause a deficiency in copper and zinc.

AND, a deficiency in copper and zinc can cause low iron.

[vxf111]

I appreciate the help but I really do trust my vet. She was in favor of adding an iron supplement. She actually recommended Red Cell but was fine with the Finish Line in light of the BM’s preference.

[Tiffani_B]

My horse was low in iron. I just bought human iron pills and put them in his grain. The RDA of iron for horses is around 500-800mg/day depending on who you ask. The grain he is getting has no iron, the hay has no iron, and none of his supplements have iron. So I bought 65mg pills and have been giving him 10/day. He eats them without fuss. A bottle of 180 pills is only $3 on Amazon.

[Simkie]

I am happy to ship you the pink water that comes out of my spigot

It really may be worth having the conversation with your vet about the storage capacity of the spleen and the possibility of retesting the horse after a workout. Just below the normal range at rest is often normal for horses…

[JB]

Horses get the majority of their iron from their forage - grass, hay. I am very perplexed that a hay has “no iron” in it.

[Tiffani_B]

[QUOTE=JB;8261226]
Horses get the majority of their iron from their forage - grass, hay. I am very perplexed that a hay has “no iron” in it.[/QUOTE]

It was tested. I’m not a hay expert, but it has a dash on the sheet for iron while many of the other nutrients have numbers. From what I understand, hay grown around here is very low in iron. This was from a load a few years ago; maybe it was just that load. I should probably do another test. But in my area (WI/IL), it’s recommended we supplement with iron.

[JB]

Wow. That’s pretty…awful LOL

[IPEsq]

Red Cell does have copper and zinc and a bunch of other stuff in it. I dunno…I always had a fine experience with it. Had a lazy horse I WISH it had put more on edge, but nope. I also only ever fed the liquid for relatively short periods of time–don’t have experience with the pellets.

[beowulf]

I have an idea.

Buy the RED CELL pellets. Find an old biotin pellet container or the like (you know, those yellow plastic tubs that are just bepopulate in all barns everywhere) and fill it with Red Cell. Voila! Problem fixed!

Never had an issue with Red Cell. Have had my horse[s] on it and also put boarder horses on it (with their permission, of course) with nary a change. Perhaps what the BM and others were seeing (re: edge) was the horse’s natural attitude sans nutritional deficits.

[vxf111]

I mean, yes, clearly I could lie to the BM. But luckily I found a substitute (post #5) which will not require me to do so. I try generally not to lie if I can find a way around it. It’s just not my general MO.

Hence my point in posting this thread. Not so much to get input as to why an iron supplement might be a bad idea (notwithstanding the opinion of my vet who actually examined the horse and has known me/my horses for decades) or analysis of his feed regiment or to get suggestions on ways to trick the BM. I was really just looking for suggestions of other iron supplements people had used besides Red Cell. I really was just trying to ask that question

I do appreciate that all of this was offered in the spirit of being helpful.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8261520]
I mean, yes, clearly I could lie to the BM. But luckily I found a substitute (post #5) which will not require me to do so. I try generally not to lie if I can find a way around it. It’s just not my general MO.

Hence my point in posting this thread. Not so much to get input as to why an iron supplement might be a bad idea (notwithstanding the opinion of my vet who actually examined the horse and has known me/my horses for decades) or analysis of his feed regiment or to get suggestions on ways to trick the BM. I was really just looking for suggestions of other iron supplements people had used besides Red Cell. I really was just trying to ask that question

I do appreciate that all of this was offered in the spirit of being helpful.[/QUOTE]

WELLLLLLLLL personally I don’t agree with lying either but as a barn manager I realized that not everything works for every horse and I always try to have the welfare of the horse in mind… meaning I will not tell an owner NOT to use a supplement I personally have an agenda with just because for that one horse I had a bad experience.

But I get you… you’re doing the right thing, even if your BM isn’t. :yes: