Buddy not picking up
- Thread starter diplomaticandtactful
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Definitely going the right way, will check him again later in week and photograph but definitely hard to find a rib now.
I'm so pleased for you. Outlook isn't so good for my friend's mare, bloods came back showing liver problems
I am so sorry, but the liver can recover better than many organs. Rose cob was diagnosed with 7 days to live due to poisoning and liver failure, she managed another 10 years. Milk thistle helped her a lot.
We really hope she'll get over it, she's such a sweet mare and has had a hard life in the past. The vet also said to put her on milk thistle so she got some straight away, and she's being monitored by the vet. Unfortunately she has other problems too, and we don't know what has caused this which is worrying because apparently if it's from ragwort then it contains another chemical which prevents the liver from regenerating.
Rose had a liver biopsy in hospital and it ruled out ragwort. In the end the only thing we could find that might have caused it, having had a botanist walk the pasture and find nothing, was some stray alsike clover which birds had dropped on the tracks, or deliberate poisoning by our next door neighbour.
Put Rose in stocks with sedation, then long needle in didn't take long. Rose was middle aged at the time but she had lost weight and looked like a toast rack and we were trying to find out what the heck was wrong with her.
From memory it wasn't a huge deal for Rose though she was in hospital pretty unwell. I think they would have had her pretty sedated and used a scanner to pinpoint where to go in but I think she only had a tiny stitch.I'll pass that on to her, I think she was a bit shell shocked by the results and didn't really take everything in or know what to ask. Thanks
What do you think? Ribs not as prominent but still quite clearly visible just not as pronounced. He is eating up, and now on some half decent grass, perky enough. With his coat colour, it doesn't show the ribs as well as you see them in real life.
I'm generally happy to be able to see ribs at this time of year, he doesn't look otherwise poor, I'd just keep doing what you're doing as it's obviously working for him
he lost quite a bit hips/haunches was a bit hollow there, I don't mind seeing ribs when he flexes and being able to feel them but they sort of jump out at you and he isn't that sort of build i.e. tb type. Even in his pictures of him when he was eventing and really fit and doing common riding, he never showed a ribI'm generally happy to be able to see ribs at this time of year, he doesn't look otherwise poor, I'd just keep doing what you're doing as it's obviously working for him
The sheen on his coat says he's not doing too badly. Ribs or no, he's still a handsome lad.
I'd be happy with that. How ribby does he feel? Sometimes loose winter coat will lie funny and make them look far worse than they actually are.
Yes he's not worryingly bad, he is quite shiny and bright in himself but given how much food he is getting doing nothing, I would be hugely concerned if there was no improvement. He's cheerful enough
How old is he. I was just comparing with mine on age.
I think hes looking ok. Id like more weight on. If you carry on with the extra feeding he'll be ok in no time. Its what happens when you reduce the food. I wouldnt do it yet.
On a slightly different note.
I was looking at a before and after picture someone posted up the other day on a site. It was of a tb. I was actually horrified by the comments. The before picture looked ok in my eyes. The after picture showed his ribs (10 × worse than your buddy). Yet people were saying how much better the horse looked for loosing the weight. Honestly i thought the horse looked dreadfully under weight. I must see things differently coming from a farming background.
I think hes looking ok. Id like more weight on. If you carry on with the extra feeding he'll be ok in no time. Its what happens when you reduce the food. I wouldnt do it yet.
On a slightly different note.
I was looking at a before and after picture someone posted up the other day on a site. It was of a tb. I was actually horrified by the comments. The before picture looked ok in my eyes. The after picture showed his ribs (10 × worse than your buddy). Yet people were saying how much better the horse looked for loosing the weight. Honestly i thought the horse looked dreadfully under weight. I must see things differently coming from a farming background.
He is 24 years young. I intend to keep him off work for another 10 days as he has had less than a week on decent grass. At the moment during the day he has access to a field that was grazed a bit during the winter then rested, so it has nice eating but not as lush as those which are ungrazed. At night he is on the yard with hay and straw ad lib and access to a small paddock that is pretty bare but they are spending time in there so they are getting something off it.
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