Mini with Anemia

[Boogie Woogie]

OK so I have a 2.5 yr old mini.

For 2 yrs he has had a snotty nose.

He was on Anti-biotics two different times for it, but it never went away.

He just has a begger nose.

Over the last 30-45 days he has dropped about 50-70 lbs.

He was wormed 23 days ago.

Nothing has changed.

Feed/hay/water/turn out everything has remained the same.

Moose has always been what I call Peeked health wise for most of his life.

He's the skinny like geek kid, not the football star, if that makes sense.

In April he was measured at 28 inches. He is now 30 inches.

He currently weighs 81 lbs.

On Sept 12 I had the vet out to do an over all exam and take blood samples.

The vet had been out 1 month before to do a heath cert on another horse and actaully gasped when she saw Moose, commenting he was "melting" away.

We floated as well. Just a few kind of sharp edges, no caps, no misalignments nothing.

He actually has really good teeth for a mini. Nice Bite. But we float anyway just in case.

Blood work came back showing he is anemic.

He is leaking Elbumin protiens.

Globuins are high. (spelling)

Fecal was good just 1 egg found.

Anti plasma for Lyme came back normal.

White cells were a litle high but not enough to indicate infection or anything.

Vet suggested a to do Quest plus gel or a powerpak??? Not sure how I feel about either of those.

She also wants to put him on the following meal plan which I am also concerned about:

1/2 lb Purina Jr

1/4 cup ground Flax

Mini serving of Red Cell

Mini Serving of Cool Calories 100.

6 lbs of hay a day.

Ideas?? What do you think of worming him? What about the diet?

 

[disneyhorse]

What a puzzle.

For worming... Power pack yes, quest no.

The feed looks okay... I'd probably offer all the hay he wants as well as more than just half a pound of the purina junior. Personally I like Lixotinic better than red cell and horses seem to eat it better too (though ewww).

 

[JAX]

I think Lixotinic is much better for them from what I have read, and my guys also love it and seems to up their appetite and also helps immune system. I also agree with the worming, Power Pack Yes, Quest No. I would also consider putting him on a treatment dose of omeprazole for a mininum of a month and see if that doesnt start to make a difference in how he looks. I had an unthrifty colt, only problem we could find was slightly anemic, started ulcergard (now use a much cheaper brand) and lixotinic and WOW he looked like a regular healthy horse in no time!! He had no other signs of ulcers but it sure made a good difference for him.

 

[stormy]

I would recommend putting him on carafate...to me it sounds like ulcers, certainly worth a try!

 

[Boogie Woogie]

I should have added he has been scoped no ulcers.

 

[albahurst]

I would consider giving him the two shot round of Excede for his respiratory issues. Sounds to me like he has been fighting off

a low grade infection. Excede is the drug of choice for respiratory problems --- VERY effective and will get what many other

antibiotics just can't quite clear up.

Has his thyroid been checked?

 

[Boogie Woogie]

Not yet but it is on the list for the second round.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Blood work came back showing he is anemic.

He is leaking Elbumin protiens.

Globuins are high. (spelling)

Fecal was good just 1 egg found.

Anti plasma for Lyme came back normal.

White cells were a litle high but not enough to indicate infection or anything.

Albumin doesn't leak, instead it is not made fast enough. In this case likely because of 'starvation syndrome', I'm sure you're feeding him, the problem is he's not getting the food from the table into his body to be used in an efficient enough manner.

Globulins are infection fighting proteins (antibodies etc.) and tend to go up in the face of stress and infection.

White cells increase from stress and infection.

Red cells can drop from blood loss and you could still have an ulcer (not in the stomach but elsewhere in the GI tract), but the most likely explanation is 'anemia of chronic disease' which is a condition wherein the body is having troubles just keeping up.

In the end you have 4 pieces of data that point to a chronic failure to thrive. Some improvement needs to come from nutrition and I think your Vet has recommended a reasonable diet. Some improvement needs to come from his environment, I have no idea how he's currently housed so I can't give recommendations, but supplying warm, dry, and stress reduced housing is vital.

Good Luck.

Dr. Taylor

 

[chandab]

In this case likely because of 'starvation syndrome', I'm sure you're feeding him, the problem is he's not getting the food from the table into his body to be used in an efficient enough manner.

Dr. Taylor

What sort of things can be done to improve the efficiency of getting food from table into the body?

I have a mare with similar sounding issues, she eats, but doesn't gain. I did have the vet out, and she had a bladder infection, and just finished her round of antibiotics last week. Since the vet was here about a month ago, she's gained a whole 5#, maybe (depends on the accuracy of the scale, older livestock scale, and the only one she's been weighed on). She is getting a probiotic. Was on an OTC ulcer preventative while on antibiotics (U-Gard pellets), but not since going off the anti-biotics; might need a better ulcer product. Thanks

 

[2minis4us]

Don't use Quest !!!!

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

What sort of things can be done to improve the efficiency of getting food from table into the body?

1) Feed must palatable. Unfortunately that's different for each individual.

2) Feed must be fresh. Any feed offered (excluding hay) should be offered for just 10-15 minutes. What isn't eaten should be thrown out.

3) Feed must be offered frequently. Twice daily is a bare minimum, 5-7+ times is better.

4) Feed must be high quality and high calorie. If only a few bites are going to be taken today then each bite needs to be packed with nutrition/calories.

5) Feed must be easily digested. Oats and high lignin hay are not well digested by a GI tract that is failing to capture a high percentage of nutrients.

6)For every day of doing poorly, it will take 5 days of doing well to recover.

Dr. Taylor

 

[chandab]

1) Feed must palatable. Unfortunately that's different for each individual.

2) Feed must be fresh. Any feed offered (excluding hay) should be offered for just 10-15 minutes. What isn't eaten should be thrown out.

3) Feed must be offered frequently. Twice daily is a bare minimum, 5-7+ times is better.

4) Feed must be high quality and high calorie. If only a few bites are going to be taken today then each bite needs to be packed with nutrition/calories.

5) Feed must be easily digested. Oats and high lignin hay are not well digested by a GI tract that is failing to capture a high percentage of nutrients.

6)For every day of doing poorly, it will take 5 days of doing well to recover.

Dr. Taylor

Thank you so much for this list, it gives me some things to try. She gets fed 3x daily, and has chance to graze all day. [Whatever she doesn't eat, goes to the bum calf, he thinks its candy. She doesn't get anything that would be hazardous to him.]