| Archive for It's About The Horse The Free Forum for those Doing Parelli - and a whole lot More! "Anything forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful." Xenophon (430-355 B.C.), |
| merle |
BloatFor has long as I can remember my mule has had a HUGE belly, minus before she was weaned. She is 5 years old and has lived on grass, grass hay and small amounts of alfalfa pellets some times.When she was weaned she was living on a pasture - it was a mix some fescue, some crabgrass, some weeds....She was given hay - from the same farm/same mix during the winter. At 1 year old we moved to Florida - she was on a small paddock area eating timothy hay, alfalfa pellets and BOSS. At 2 years old we moved back to NC at which time she at the same as above - pasture of fescue, crabgrass, weeds and hay. At 4 years old she moved out to my new place. She eats pasture - crabgrass in summer and rye in winter. She gets hay fescue/orchard grass mix. 1 pound of alfafla pellets a day. Throughout that entire time she has had a huge belly - it looks bloated and asymmetrical. It seems worse after eating on the pasture all day (I usually put her up in a dry lot at night), very bloated. She also has awful diarrhea and then completely normal stool - really in one day she will have a runny mess, then later in the day it will be perfect normal stool. I've spoke to the vets about this, they do not think it is any thing. I've tried her on probiotics, they do not fix the problem - they seem to help but not fix it. Recently I started adding Pennfields All Phase Ration Balancer, it is a vitamin/mineral supplement meant for those not eating grain. Any ideas? |
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| Mandy'sMarty |
If she were mine, I would be concerned about her ability to absorb and assimilate the nutrients in her diet. First thing to consider would be her teeth.
Is she able to properly chew/grind her forage into small enough pieces to readily digest? Next consideration would be the state of probiotics in her gut. Physical and/or emotional stress--from her environment, workload, antibiotics--can upset the natural balance of good microbes in the horse's GI tract. All probiotics products are not created equal. And prebiotics may be needed to feed and support the probiotics. It is my understanding that the minimum daily dose of probiotics for horses is 10 billion CFU ( cultures or 'colony forming units' ). A daily dose less than this may not have any effect on a horse. http://desertequinebalance.blogsp...2/probiotics-do-we-need-them.html http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/probiotics.shtml |
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| merle |
She has been floated periodically since she was two years old, with the most recent being three weeks ago. I've not noticed any difference associated with floating. [/quote]All probiotics products are not created equal. And prebiotics may be needed to feed and support the probiotics. It is my understanding that the minimum daily dose of probiotics for horses is 10 billion CFU ( cultures or 'colony forming units' ). A daily dose less than this may not have any effect on a horse.[/quote] The probiotics is what I keep thinking would resolve the issue. But I've tried three different, nope four different brands over an extended time period (up to three months) without a fix. At times she would be better, as in I would find a lot fewer runny poo piles, but not 100% normal poo. I'll look into the websites you listed. Thanks for the help. |
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| bit |
Ms. Eclipse was pretty hay bellied, too. I have her on smart pacs ir supplement, and that has made a big difference for her. Now I'm not saying that the ir would be the thang for your mule to be on. You can call smart pac and they will hook you up with an equine nutritionist to speak with. I knew Eclipse was getting too many calories, but it was more than that. Kelsey helped me get things figured out and she is doing a lot better. She isn't such an angry grump, either. That's been the best part of helping her find balance within herself. A much happier horse!
Your mule sounds like the equine version of the show "mystery diagnosis". You know in your gut that something is amiss. If that vet is unhelpful, I'd ask another vet, and keep asking until you get some answers. You are the only one that can fight for those answers for your mule. So get on the phone, get on the internet, ask those hard questions and never accept complacency! There is something amiss, so don't give up until you have a plan, it's in place and you are seeing positive results! |
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| merle |
I needed that, as in the push to be her advocate. And, I do need a new equine vet as the last time mine came it he changed almost $100 JUST FOR THE FARM CALL!!!! Recently I found out about a vet that does Eastern and Western medicine. I need to call her. P.S. Glad to her that Eclipse is feeling well. The behavior is actually another part of the puzzle. According to the Horsenality chart my mule has a number of LBE traits, but she is very lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy. I wonder if any of that is physical as much of her chart indicates she should have more of a go button. |