I read and article today describing the benefits of feed whey protein. Has anyone tried it to supplement amino acids?
What makes it better for horses than alfalfa or soy given horses don’t need nearly as much protein as cats dogs and humans?
If you just want animo acids, use amino acids. If you need an overall protein boost, say for a PSSM Type 2 horse, then this is great.
Because whey isolate has become a fairly recently “discovered” benefit to Type 2 PSSM horses, it’s getting a lot of attention. Don’t think it’s any better than just upping the quality of the typical equine diet. It just offers a boost for special metabolic needs that can be difficult to obtain elsewhere.
And yes, whey isolate protein specifically, not just more alfalfa or higher protein grass hay, has been found to be beneficial to Type 2 PSSM horses.
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Ok good to know! I don’t think OPs mare was PSSM? I know she had some set of health issues …
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Yup I was researching brands of amino acid supplements online and came across the whey article.
My mare has a bunch of subtle health issues including recent diarrhea which we contributed to a sudden switch by the barn owner to shitty hay. From that episode she lost pretty much her entire topline. I’ve increased her feed (30 lbs of high fat bagged food/week) plus 90 lbs of alfalfa hay a week on top of the barn fed timothy hay. Vet suggested the huge increase in feed. She’s been on the revised diet a few months and is starting to look better but she is not putting the muscle on as fast as I would like.
Yes I use the progressive nutrition whey protein on a PSSM2 suspect. He is so lean & muscley on that, he’s got a neck that makes head turns. I didn’t get that kind of muscle on him with any other protein sups. I was using tri-amino, also tried purina amino sport, but the PN whey made all the difference relatively quick.
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I believe that cow’s milk is intended for baby cows. Horses are herbivores.
Well whey protein is a processed supplement a long ways from actual milk
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey_protein
I was initially questioning this too but if it’s shown use in PSSM2 that is useful. And in the whole picture it would seem more "natural’ to feed milk to a mammal that nursed for up to the first year of its life, than to feed fish oil to a herbivore. But we get away with that too.
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