UPDATE #21 : abruptly stopped eating as much hay

[HoofHeartSoul]

27 yr old Horse just stopped eating as much hay as he usually does seemingly overnight ( was cleaning it up and then one night decided to leave a lot and has been leaving a lot ever since)

~It is the same hay that he was cleaning up pretty well overnight. so no changes in the type of hay, etc.

~Temp Normal

~He is eating his grain fine, no dropping it or taking overly long time.

~It is cold here still and grass is dormant, so grass is not coming in yet to make him ignore the hay for something better .

~my first thought was TEETH and had a very good specialist out and other than having numerous end stage molars and some deep periodontal pockets that were filled, nothing too bad to do this.

~tried softer hay and still is leaving most of it.

~Not acting colicy. maybe slightly more lethargic but not really.

~next step is blood work.

~ He is on daily Equioxx pills for several years now, do you think it could be ulcer\ gastro related?

**Does anyone have any other ideas of what this might be a sign of? **

I would think if it were he would rather eat the hay and leave grain.

[candyappy]

How is the manure output?

Not eating as much hay was the first symptom when my mare had a mild impaction a few years back. After 2 days of that I found her walking in the pasture with her head down but not eating the new grass. I called my vet immediately.

When my vet came out all her vitals were normal and he said she looked fine ( she didn’t to me).

When doing a rectal exam he found it

I don’t recall noticing less manure, but she shares a dry lot and water with my other horse so it is hard to gauge from that.

[trubandloki]

Is the only time he is not eating his hay well during the overnight?
(I am not sure if I am reading the question right.)

My old horse, with dentition issues, stopped eating his overnight hay well when we switched to big bales outside for the winter. He seems to like the hay in the big bales more than he likes the stall hay. He is eating plenty, just not his overnight hay.

[keysfins]

Will he eat hay pellets?

Did your dental specialist indicate that there was any issue that could be causing pain?

Is he laying down to sleep?

Agree with monitoring manure output, especially overnight, if possible.

Is he in overnight, or out? With or without buddies?

Just a few random questions for more info.

[HoofHeartSoul]

good questions sorry for the confusion. It IS his overnight hay that he is leaving a lot of but also he just stopped eating as much seemingly overnight/quickly within a day.

I am unsure of how much he is eating outside because we put the hay out in a feeder and he has another horse with him.

I do notice he will spend most of his time in the pasture trying to find grass.

He does go by the feeder and I see him eat/chewing some hay but usually does not stay there long and seems to be chewing much slower and taking much smaller bites than normal.

He is holding his weight but just because I have upped his grain to 4-5lbs once I saw him eating less. he was only getting 1-2 lbs .

he will eat chopped forage,hay cubes( soaked), beet pulp (soaked) ,etc.

His manure has seemed smaller ( has been going on awhile though even when he was eating his hay well!)

I think I even made a post on here about it and thought it was from not drinking enough so made his grain soupy and mixed some of the senior feed in a 5 gallon bucket which he usually will drink.

not sure if he is laying down to sleep, but doesn’t seem sleep deprived.

He is in overnight currently because it is cold but when the temps rise to above 35 at night I leave his door open to go in and out as he pleases.

The dentist did not say why there would be a reason for his reduction in eating hay. He looked pretty good for his age.

He did not need floated. the only thing was he does have numerous end stage teeth.

I had him xray his mouth bc i was concerned also about EOTRH and he said he does have a very mild case in his canines (3’s) and “4s” but didn’t think that would have made him reduce hay intake so suddenly.

he said if that is the case it is usually a gradual decline.

he does have trouble biting into a carrot ( which is why I also had them xray for EOTRH ) but has no trouble chewing on the wood stall when he gets impatient for grain…

[fanfayre]

Is his drinking water heated? It may be that because it’s so cold he’s not drinking enough water and he has a slight impaction (which could quickly worsen) Try offering some warmish water and if he drinks it you may need to keep offering him warmed water. Also you could try adding psyllium to his mashes so it might flush some of the impaction out. Otherwise you may need a vet visit to tube him or worst case, put him on an IV.
'Tis the time of year, and weather, for impactions

Wood chewing is also a sign of ulcers, which lowers their appetite…

[HoofHeartSoul]

@fanfayre

Is his drinking water heated? It may be that because it’s so cold he’s not drinking enough water and he has a slight impaction (which could quickly worsen) Try offering some warmish water and if he drinks it you may need to keep offering him warmed water. Also you could try adding psyllium to his mashes so it might flush some of the impaction out. Otherwise you may need a vet visit to tube him or worst case, put him on an IV.
'Tis the time of year, and weather, for impactions

Wood chewing is also a sign of ulcers, which lowers their appetite…

Thanks, Fanfayre

The dehydration was definitely on my concerns list.

Yes, He has a heated bucket in his stall and I have been giving him a heated 5 gallon bucket with a little bit of his senior feed mixed in to flavor it and he has been drinking that.

I have been doing this even before he reduced his hay intake ( when noticing the smaller fecal balls and smaller quanity of manure passed)

~ skin pinch test is normal

~ is bright and alert tonight

~ tonight his fecal ball size is still small and still only a small amount overall passed. but since he hasn’t been eating much hay maybe this is all he had in there. and like I said the small amount of manure has been going on for awhile and when I last mentioned to vet they acted like it was no big deal and common in older horses…??? maybe time for a 2nd opinion. This is why I was glad I came onto COTH and asked about the small amount of manure in another post awhile ago because those who answered are what gave me the wisdom that it could be dehydration.

~ he only seems to be chewing the wood when he is waiting for his grain out of impatience, i’ve never seen him do it any other time like out in the field.

~ OH!!! I am so forgetful lately! I just remembered. He HAS been eating the sawdust when it is added fresh to his stall, even with all types of hay infront of him. That has also been going on for quite awhile too ( maybe before the small fecal balls and the reduced hay eating).

when I asked about his sawdust Pica the general consensus was that happens when they lack access to forage which he most certainly has at all times… so wasn’t sure what else it could have been but ulcers could be probable. he isn’t in work but he IS on equioxx daily.

I feel careless that I did not put these two things together.

[HoofHeartSoul]

here is my post from 2015 about him eating sawdust. https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/291505-why-is-my-horse-eating-sawdust

also my post about his having smaller fecal balls and smaller quantity of manure overall : https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/321933-manure-has-become-smaller-ball-size-and-amount-during-winter

seems to be a pattern during winter that I did not realise and also seems to be getting more obvious as his age progresses.

[Obsidian_Fire]

I would still be suspicious that his teeth hurt. End stage molars? Hmm… Any chance you can switch him to a completely wet diet? Take the regular hay away at night, and give him as much soaked hay cubes, pellets, whatever you feed him - and soak it good. I would also treat for ulcers, since he’s been on an NSAID for so long.

[trubandloki]

I am in the teeth crowd too.
Gradual might be typical but that does not mean it is the only way.
Sore teeth/gums are a good reason to not eat hay.

[Fharoah]

bloodwork makes since. Equinox can still cause ulcers.

[INoMrEd]

I’ll join the others in the teeth crowd.

[HoofHeartSoul]

For those saying teeth: you think this is the EOTRH related or end stage molars? ( I know end s he age molars are not painful)

I agree that not every horse show signs of pain in the same way or how stoic they are until they can’t hide it any longer

Called the dental specialist who xrayed/examined his teeth, he said that usually when their incisors/canines are painful from EOTRH they will pull the hay into their mouth back to their molars with their lips and tongue and would still be able to grind the hay with the molars which usually doesn’t slow hay intake down much in his experience.

but like other said all horses are NOT the same and ot would be just like mine to go against common symptoms.

for now I will call a vet for blood work and to go over his symptoms with them again and mention what has been suggested here: ulcers,tooth pain, slight impactions, etc.

also will be getting him hay cubes,chopped hay and will soak those and see how he does.

[punchy]

He may have developed some tumors. They often grow in spurts - long time this size, then all of a sudden much bigger.

[Scribbler]

27 is a good long age for a horse. It might be getting to be too much work to chew? But also is he losing weight? Maybe if he is blanketed and indoors he doesn’t need the calories? I’d agree though with switching over to soaked cubes. If he eats those all up he needs the forage.

But weigh your hay first, then weigh your cubes dry to establish equivalency. Soaked 5 lbs of hay cubes will be a very big mash!

You could also give him soaked beet pulp.

Also if you aren’t already weighing your hay everyday, the problem could be as simple as running into a few bales with extra big flakes so you have inadvertently really increased his daily hay amount.

[mlb722]

Have you tried different hay? Maybe something is not appetizing about it that you can’t see or smell? Or he’s grown tired of it? My mare will starve herself rather than eat certain types of hay. Sometimes she gets bored with it too.

[findthedistance]

It sounds like you’ve done your due diligence here. I’m also on Team Soaked Cubes. If he eats those, he’s probably just tired of the amount of effort it is to deal with hay on crappy teeth. I’ve had a couple elders go from eating hay to just…not, with no visible change to their already poor teeth. I think they just get tired.

[Fharoah]

I would definitely get the vet to take a good look in his mouth. Try a very fine hay. I buy my horse the expensive alfalfa Timotimothy blend but he far prefers the cheep fine sweet grass hay my mom has for her horse.

[zakkandtoto]

@candyappy

How is the manure output?

Not eating as much hay was the first symptom when my mare had a mild impaction a few years back. After 2 days of that I found her walking in the pasture with her head down but not eating the new grass. I called my vet immediately.

When my vet came out all her vitals were normal and he said she looked fine ( she didn’t to me).

When doing a rectal exam he found it

I don’t recall noticing less manure, but she shares a dry lot and water with my other horse so it is hard to gauge from that.

I just lost my old gelding to a massive impaction. I found him in the field behaving exactly as your mare was. He was absolutely fine the day before and gone the day after.

OP, I would absolutely second a rectal exam.

[candyappy]

@zakkandtoto

I just lost my old gelding to a massive impaction. I found him in the field behaving exactly as your mare was. He was absolutely fine the day before and gone the day after.

OP, I would absolutely second a rectal exam.

I am so sorry for your loss :sadsmile:

Things can progress so quickly.