Unpalatable supplement help

[RegentLion]

One of our ponies is having some allergy/breathing issues. Our vet, who rarely suggests supplements, told me about Aleira and that she’d had patients that had great success with it. I had previously researched it, so I ordered a tub of it.

Boy does it have an odor. Enough that the pony WILL NOT EAT IT. I must have got some on my hands because it’s all I can smell right now.

How do I get this into him? I tried a little watered down corn syrup (because I had it on hand and it was one of the suggestions on the tub), but that didn’t help much either.

Pony doesn’t have any known metabolic issues, but he IS a pony and I want to be mindful of that. His 1/3 cup of TC lite isn’t enough to mask the flavor of this stuff.

HELP.

[NaturallyHappy]

I use Sure Grip Dose Syringes from Big Dee’s. I cut the tip off, and dip the rubber piece in grape seed oil so it slides more easily. Good luck!

[RegentLion]

I’ve considered mixing with applesauce and syringing, but I hate syringing on a daily basis and I’m reasonably sure they hate it too. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

[scislandsprite]

SmartPak sells this Equi-Sweet and I used it for my picky horse when I had to give her oodles of very bitter pills. I mixed it in with some apple sauce in her balancer pellets

Edited to add: I did try syringing but I could not for the life of me get the meds in her with a syringe so had to go the food route

[Weezer]

I’ve had the best luck mixing supplements into a handful of beet pulp. Add the supplement when you add the water and let it soak. Start with a very small amount of the supplement and gradually increase over a couple of weeks. I use this for my laminitis mini and a handful of beet pulp with molasses has not caused her any problems.

[blob99]

Seconding the suggestion is beer pulp! It’s forage so safe for the pony and also disguises a lot!

[trubandloki]

@blob99

Seconding the suggestion is beer pulp!

I love some typing errors.

Or maybe it is not a typing error. Maybe we are talking about beer pulp. I bet the horse would like that.

On topic - If your horse can have it, there is nothing wrong with getting them to eat it with something they are not normally allowed to have. Once you have them eating the evil pony killing poison supplement then you gradually lower the amount of added yummies until you reach a safe long term level of yummies and they are still eating the thing they thought would kill them.

Crushed peppermints works well.
The dust at the bottom of the bag of treats works well.
Molasses works well.

[jherold]

Yep. Molasses. It’s hard to find right now, but you can buy the deer feed grade for about $10 a gallon. It’s norr available in the fall.

[RegentLion]

@blob99

Seconding the suggestion is beer pulp! It’s forage so safe for the pony and also disguises a lot!

I ordered some beet pulp for him and need some beer for me. They’re delivering the beet pulp today but I don’t think I can get beer delivery.

Found tons of mucous on the ground by where he eats his hay net… only change is the Aleira he managed to eat (maybe half dose?).

Horses are so anxiety inducing.

[blob99]

lol @trubandloki that was def a typo, ha. BUT I too have given a horses beer before.

But in this case I did mean beeT pulp!

[RegentLion]

I have some freeze dried strawberry powder on hand that I’ll try… and I’m digging in the cabinet for molasses. Beet pulp scheduled for delivery.

[trubandloki]

Beer might be another thing the OP can try adding…

[cnd8]

All of the Arenus supplements have that smell to some degree. Thankfully, my guy loves it. At the barn we have some picky horses who wont take meds/supplements, and when that happens, we soak a handful of alfalfa pellets between meals and dump that mash on top of the feed and supplement. It masks the smell and they like the wet alfalfa mixture, so they eat it all up. May work for you.

[candyappy]

There must be another brand of supplement that you can try ? I know no-one wants to waste money but if it is that unpalatable I would find something else.

[RegentLion]

Possibly, but this one has a double blind study to back it up, and my vet has seen it work well, so I would like to try and see.

[Weezer]

It has taken me a month or more to get my picky eater to a full dose of supplements but I have success if I increase the amount of supplement added to their food about every 3 to 5 days. It gives them a chance to get used to the current flavour before you change it again. Patience is the name of this game

[RegentLion]

So after all his DRAMA and all my fretting, I got beet pulp and Purina Equine Sr.

Some soaked beet pulp and a sprinkle of Senior seemed to do the trick, and he ate his food and licked his dish. He seemed a little reluctant and did the “I’m not super happy about this” head flip the whole time, but he ingested it. Thankfully it’s a once a day supplement.

Now to increase the dose…

[sophie]

It’s good you managed to find something that might work for your pony!
My horse was such a picky eater when I first got her, for the longest time, any meds I wanted to get into her, I had to syringe in, otherwise she’d turn her nose up at the feed bucket and would not eat.
She also hated beet pulp or any “mushy” feed.
The syringe thing got much easier after I discovered that dissolving any meds in apple JUICE worked much better than anything thick (like applesauce etc, which she would invariably spit out all over me
I also only gave her pelleted supplements. No powder (unless syringed in!).

[Old_Mac_Donald]

My horses all consider beetpulp to be the equivalent to broccoli. If you can get it, try copra or lucerne pellets or even a little pollard - watered down and sloppy.

I’ve switched mine off beet pulp and suddenly everyone is eating their meal again.

[leesa1]

Try feeding him in a wide shallow dish/surface as opposed to a feed bucket.

When I was feeding my last horse green lipped mussel powder he refused to eat it but I discovered that regular feed buckets (with the high sides) kind of trap the feed smells inside so when horsey sticks his face in the bucket, he gets a face full of fish smell.

I swapped to a very shallow dish where the breeze would blow away the smell of the feed and voila, he was happy to eat it.