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 Veteran
Posts: 231
 
Location: On My Horse! | My retired gelding was diagnosed with Cushing's. However, he is a very, very picky eater. He will not touch any type of pellets. What other options do I have? Help! Thanks y'all |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| Plain oats if you think he has to have grain. Some type of grassier hay, not straight alfalfa. |
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Veteran
Posts: 231
Location: On My Horse! | Ok. He just refuses to touch the pellets. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bump |
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Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| What about feeding a free choice mineral with 5 to 6 lbs or so of alfalfa hay on top of your other hay/forage? I have a Cushings horse that has to be off of hay due to heaves and I feed him 15 lbs of alfalfa cubes as his only forage. Horses don't necessarily need grain. They need a source of vitamins and minerals and a source of calories and protein. So what I mean is supplement with more alfalfa hay if you aren't already feeding it with the free choice vitamins and minerals. You can also syringe soy oil or something for fat. A 60 cc syringe is 2 ounces.. I've done that with a horse I couldn't get to eat grain and needed weight. I syringed two to three syringes of oil which was 4 to 6 ounces. Then he'd eat hay and free choice minerals. |
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Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| Nateracer - 2017-10-20 12:14 PM
Plain oats if you think he has to have grain. Some type of grassier hay, not straight alfalfa.
Actually my Cushings horse is on straight alfalfa advised by my vet.. He said it's actually better for Cushings and insulin resistant horses compared to some grass hays. It's actually not high in sugars. |
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Go Get Em!
Posts: 13503
Location: OH. IO | WetSaddleBlankets - 2017-10-21 6:13 PM
Nateracer - 2017-10-20 12:14 PM
Plain oats if you think he has to have grain. Some type of grassier hay, not straight alfalfa.
Actually my Cushings horse is on straight alfalfa advised by my vet.. He said it's actually better for Cushings and insulin resistant horses compared to some grass hays. It's actually not high in sugars.
My vet says NO to alfalfa .hmmmm,I feed Timothy but not much of it.mine is a pony:( |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Triple Crown Senior is a beet pulp-based, textured feed recommended for Cushing’s horses that have a hard time maintaining weight and need a little extra fat, without the extra carbohydrates. It has a high nutrient and fat content, is soft, and easily digestible, and has a low NSC level of 11.7%. Because most horses that get Cushing’s are middle-aged or older, this Senior feed can replace hay and be fed as the sole feed or with hay |
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Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| jake16 - 2017-10-21 7:58 PM WetSaddleBlankets - 2017-10-21 6:13 PM Nateracer - 2017-10-20 12:14 PMPlain oats if you think he has to have grain. Some type of grassier hay, not straight alfalfa. Actually my Cushings horse is on straight alfalfa advised by my vet.. He said it's actually better for Cushings and insulin resistant horses compared to some grass hays. It's actually not high in sugars. My vet says NO to alfalfa .hmmmm,I feed Timothy but not much of it.mine is a pony: (
Edited by WetSaddleBlankets 2017-10-21 9:44 PM
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 Expert
Posts: 1520
Location: Illinois | Mine is on straight alfalfa hay, and for "grain" he gets Progressive Advantage Grass Diet Balancer and I add timothy pellets, and soak it together. I won't feed hay pellets not soaked, I've had to deal with too many choke incidents with feeding dry hay pellets. So I just mix the two together and soak it. My nutrition expert chose this formula as the grass has more protein than the alfalfa formula, which helps his sunken topline. So we added grass pellets as I board, so I can't pick the forage type he's fed. Maybe try soaking a pelleted feed for him. Mine can't handle much starch, so I'm limited on some feeds but thats worked really well for him. He eats 4 flakes of hay per day, 1.5lbs of the ProAd Grass, and 3 cups (when dry) of the timothy pellets in a day. I pay for my own grain and it has been about $40 a month to feed him. He's 24 and looks better than he has in years. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 410
Location: Comanche, TX | Seniorglo has worked well on Cushings horses. It is technically a pellet but is very palatable and a bigger, softer pellet. |
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