“I have a horse with possible Cushings.”
She has not had any tests to confirm this diagnosis just the symptoms – long wavy coat, loss of muscle along the topline. I got her in May 2004 – diet as told to me is beet pulp, 2 cups of pelleted feed and as much local hay as she can eat. She also gets 1 tsp of Magnesium oxide (am) and Biochrome (pm). Is this enough of the supplements? As well she gets about 8 – 10 cups of beet pulp am and pm. I have been told that beet pulp is the worst thing for her but it was recommended by her original vet, okayed by my vet and also by a researcher in to equine metabolic disorders. My question is what is the best type of diet for my 23-year-old 15.1 hh Arab mare in light working conditions to get more muscle on her and keep her weight up. Can she have a 3 – 4 lb flake of alfalfa? Or is this harmful? Should she be on pellets or not. Getting thoroughly confused and would like to hear other opinions so that I can form one of my own.
Thank you for your time in the matter
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
Hi Krys,
With the information you have given me about your aged horse that is showing symptoms of Cushings I will try to answer your question without confusing you any more about the best diet she should be on. The basics are as follows, you have an older horse with a chronic disease therefore it is important that the diet that she receives is of good quality and high in needed nutritional value. First of all, beet pulp is basically used as roughage in a horse’s diet, and is normally not harmful or tremendously helpful to any horse’s diet. It is used in areas where beet pulp is readily available, and the amount that you are feeding should not be harmful to your mare, and if she were used to this feed, I would continue it unless it becomes difficult or too expensive to get. The local hay is her main nutrient, and if it is good quality hay it should be adequate as the base for her feed program. Is it grass hay or legume hay? Grass hays are usually lower in protein than legume (alfalfa or lespedeza) hay. An older horse with Cushings should not have a high protein hay as the basic feed for her diet (Protein levels over 16%) but it is important that a good quality protein be available to an older horse with a chronic disease. That is why the flake of alfalfa to supplement the local hay, in my opinion, would be a good idea. Good quality alfalfa hay is very high in important nutrients and protein, and small amounts would be helpful for a horse suffering from Cushings. Pellets can be made of just about anything, but if you are using a concentrate type of pellet (made from a mixture of grains) then the pellets should be helpful to the horses diet because it adds needed calories that may keep your mare from losing condition. Too much in the way of concentrates (grains) would not be helpful, since laminitis is always something you try to avoid in a Cushings horse. Good quality pellets usually also have added vitamin and minerals in a balanced way that are helpful to the Mare’s diet. A good quality multivitamin supplement and mineral supplement would be helpful if the pellets are not supplemented with vitamins and minerals. The Magnesium oxide is something that is not necessary unless it was recommended specifically for your Mare’s condition. I am not familiar with biochrome. I hope this is helpful and not going to confuse you any more.
Dr. Jack Sales
