Here is a dire warning for everyone, a message to be constantly viligant on your horses. Not, for the most commonly held notion of neglect - starvation... but for a just as common problem yet not as well known - over feeding.
Over feeding and having your animals (any animal, not just horses!) obese can make them seriously ill and yes, it can also be the death of them. Don't overfeed because they call to you or you feel bad for putting them in the diet paddock on rations. Don't kill with kindness. Please be careful.
Currently one of the SC rescues is fighting for her life. Right now she has a 50/50 chance of survival and getting through to live another good few years before her time comes. All because of being over fed and fed junk that I wouldn't even feed to chickens unless they were due to be eaten soon!
Second Chance's Beauty came to us from Gingin along with several others including her constant companion Velvet. Both ponies were dangerously obese, showed signs of foundering in the past and at great risk of foundering again. They had been fed some sort of pellet/pollard/bran mix which has overloaded their systems with fat.
For a while, they were doing exceptionally well. A strict diet was enforced to bring them back from the brink of founder and both were starting to be able to get around much more comfortably. And then ever so slowly Beauty began to be a little off-colour, a little listless which we put down to her drench a couple of weeks ago. When she really began to go downhill the vet was summoned immediately and she was rushed down to Serpentine Veterinary Hospital for care.
She wasn't eating nor drinking and was dehydrated and feeling very off. Blood tests and liver function tests were done and we got our diagnosis.
The scientific name is 'hepatic lipidosis' or hyperlipidemia syndrome (also called 'fatty liver'). It is quite a common problem in miniature horses and ponies and also in donkeys. It was not caused by Beauty's weight loss (which was necessary to control her laminitis) but was most likely set off when Beauty was drenched, wormed and vaccinated, which caused mild diarrhoea and she went off her feed a little, this caused a negative energy balance in her body and started the whole process.
The fat deposits in the liver and causes liver damage and impaired liver function. Beauty's liver function is still adequate for survival as long as we can prevent any further damage and control her energy balance by increasing her appetite. If she has another episode and recurrence of hyperlipidemia, she is unlikely to survive without very intense treatment (such as tube feeding her 4-6 times each day).
Fingers crossed she continues to improve and we can stabilise her current liver function.
Velvet too began to come down with the same symptoms and had the same diagnosis however she was not nearly as bad as Beauty. Another liver enzym test done today revealed that she is improving a little since she has begun supportive care with our hard working Vet so there is some hope.
But it all hinges on the next blood test at the end of next week. If Beauty is continuing to improve, she'll be allowed to come home and will have to be carefully cared for and monitored for the rest of her days. If there is no improvement, we may well have to put her to sleep.
So please, if you love your pets, go and ensure that the diet they are on is not detrimental to their health. If in doubt, ask your vet or better yet a qualified Equine Nutritionist. They are out there and getting a diet prescribed does NOT COST MUCH. It will most likely save you an awful lot of heartache and your pony a heck of a lot of pain and discomfort.
Here are photos the day we met the ponies back in December 07. Waaaaaay too fat.
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