What to watch for in Horse Chronic Weight Loss. Chronic weight loss is a common complaint from horse owners,especially when dealing with an older animal. The clinicalproblem suggests that a horse has lost weight over a known periodof time and can be broken down into. The common physiological causes of weight loss include: 1) early stages of lactation. Physiologic causes: Many breeding stallions lose weight during the breeding seasonand gain it back again in the fall and winter. Weight loss is dueto increased metabolic rate and calorie consumption and reducedintake.
To keep your weight loss from becoming detrimental. What to watch for in Horse Chronic Weight Loss. Chronic weight loss is a common complaint from horse owners, especially when dealing with an older animal. Unhealthy Horse Weight Loss: Help a Skinny Horse Maintain & Gain Proper Nutrition.
Many stallions fret throughout the breeding season and donot eat as well as the normally would during the off- season. Late pregnancy and lactation also increase demand for nutrients,and weight loss results if dietary adjustments are not make. Apregnant mare needs about 2. Other than these physiologically induced states of increaseddemand, some rare metabolic diseases result in weight loss. Included are hyperthyroidism (not documented in horses) and. Cushing's syndrome. Nuff said. Late pregnancy can be associated with a loss of condition ratherthan a loss of weight.
Weight loss is most commonly associated with one or more of thefollowing conditions: 1) anorexia. Anorexia is usually secondary to a primary disease. Increasednutrient demands maybe associated with physiologic conditions(winter weather, exercise, pregnancy and lactation) or withpathologic processes (sepsis, trauma, parasitism, thermal injury,neoplasia, organ failure). Inadequate feed quality and/orquantity commonly results in protein calorie malnutrition ofvarying degrees. Weight loss can also occur with deficiency ofessential micronutrients such as copper, cobalt (Vit B- 1.
How much weight dose a horse lose during the derby race?
A. Mechanisms of Weight Loss: Anorexia by definition is the loss of appetite or lack of desirefor food, it may be partial or complete. I don't recall too manyhorses I've ever known who turned away from the feed troughunless it was associated with a primary disease condition. It maybe differentiated from dysphagia by observation. Many diseasesthat cause anorexia have in common dehydration, electrolyteimbalances, and/or acid- base disorders. Acute, complete anorexiaresults in a dramatic weight loss whereas partial anorexia over along period of time may exhibit only subtle weight loss. Therefore anorexia will result in a secondary or conditionalstate of PCM.
Causes of Poor Appetite in Horses By Kentucky Equine Research. The time to dig your heels in is not just prior to a race.
Increases in nutrient requirements have been established inhumans with the following conditions: Condition % change above normal. Elective surgery 1. Fractures 2. 0%Severe infection/sepsis 3. Peritonitis 4. 0%Major thermal injury 5. Though we cannot directly extrapolate from this data to thehorse, these guidelines may give you an idea of the degree ofchange as a result of disease or injury. Protein calorie malnutrition continues to be a persistent problemin all domestic animals. The lack of the major nutrientsobviously results in weight loss.
Several mechanisms areassociated: 1) Inadequate availability of feed to meet dietary requirements,ie frank underfeeding otherwise known as agroceriosis, miss- mealcolic, or hollow belly. Inadequate feeding facilities, ie mixing agegroups- competition. Quality of the diet. Prehension, Chewing, and Swallowing. These functions are integrated, and abnormalities in one or morecan lead to reduced food intake and loss of weight.
Review yournotes on dysphagia. Don't forget to look at those teeth. Abnormaldental wear leading to the development of sharp points on thecheek teeth can cause abrasions to buccal mucosa and the tongue,making chewing painful. Nuff said. Chronic painful conditions: Severe arthritis, chronic laminitis, deep nonhealing wounds, andinvasive tumors are considerations. Pain in these conditionsleads to depression, which results in partial anorexia. Conditions such as severe arthritis and chronic laminitis alsoreduce the horse's mobility, reducing the amount of grazing inpasture raised animals. Analgesics or other more specifictreatments, in certain conditions, might lead to increased foodconsumption and reversal of any weight loss.
Horse racing's dirty little secret. The more weight the Jockey has, the more weight the horse has to move and thus the slower the. After a race one of the most important aspects that the jockey. Carbohydrates in the Performance Horse.
Chronic infections: Such as EIA, internal abscesses, or pleuritis may lead torecurrent fevers, depression, and partial anorexia. Clinicalsigns vary and clin path data is usually nonspecific. Theerythron usually shows some degree of anemia. Time to get Duncanand Prasse out and look up the details of the . Serum fibrinogen isusually elevated. Abdominocentesis, rectal examination,thoracocentesis, thoracic percussion, and radiographs will beuseful in diagnosis.
Chronic EIA, no treatment, diagnose with. AGID test (Coggins test). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the later stages isassociated with weight loss. These animals are usually severelydyspneic and reluctant to move. The work of breathing may be sostrenuous that the animal does not take sufficient time to eatand maintain body weight. Neoplasia: Neoplastic disease, especially that of the GI tract, is commonlyassociated with weight loss.
Some of the weight loss isattributed to reduced intake (systemic effects of TNF), from paincaused by the tumor, or from physical obstruction (pharynx). Maldigestion or malabsorption may be caused by the tumor. Largetumors have significant metabolic demands that consume nutrients. Gastric neoplasia is not common in horses. Squamous cellcarcinomas usually arise at the margo plicatus and can becomelarge enough to obliterate almost the entire lumen of thestomach. Gastric granulomas 2- 3 cm in diameter are fairly common in horsesand are usually associated with infestations with Habronemalarvae. Lymphosarcoma, though uncommon, is theleading cause of GI neoplasia.
Lymphosarcoma fun facts: 1) One of the few disorders associated with low or absent serum. Ig. M in an adult horse. Rarely exfoliates into the peritoneal cavity- usually confinedto the bowel wall and draining lymph nodes. White blood cell line is usually normal. Serum Ca++ can be elevated in some cases. Other non- neoplastic diseases which would need to be ruled outwith similar clinical signs include eosinophilic infiltration,plasmacytic/lymphocytic infiltration, granulomatous enteritis,and reduced blood flow secondary to parasitic damage to thearterial blood supply. The causes of conditions other thanparasitic lesions are unknown.
Large- Bowel Maldigestion and Malabsorption: Large bowel malassimilation could lead to chronic weight loss. Iflymphosarcoma or granulomatous enteritis involves the cecum andcolon, expect to find significant large- bowel dysfunction andreduced absorption of volatile fatty acids. Large- bowelassociated weight loss is usually associated with chronicdiarrhea. Chronic diarrhea isn't always indicative of total largebowel malabsorption and many horses with chronic diarrheamaintain adequate body weight with normal food intake.
You willfind chronic diarrhea to be one of the most frustratingconditions to work up. Near 4. 0% of the time you will be unable todiagnose a cause or correct the condition. The malabsorption andweight loss is most likely due to parasitism of the largeintestine, particularly with cyathostomes (small strongyles),both adults and larvae. Protein- losing enteropathy can beassociated with parasitism, and parasites can directly consumethe host's protein.
The mechanisms by which parasite infestation can result in weightloss include: 1) Loss of body fluids and tissues resulting in increasednutrient requirements. Competition for nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract. Malassimilation, malabsorption. Inflammation causing increased nutrient requirements. Anorexia, advanced stage of the disease.
Micronutrient deficiencies. Organ or vascular damage from migrating parasite larvae. Protein- losing enteropathies: These conditions affect both the small and large intestine. Maldigestion and malabsorption contribute to the weight loss. Included in these diseases are granulomatous enteritis, severeparasitism, and chronic ulcerative lesions (phenylbutazonetoxicity). These usually carry a poor prognosis unless accountedfor by bute toxicity or parasitism. Chronic salmonellosis hasbeen isolated from horses with large chronic ulcerative lesionsof the large colon, but their role in the cause of the ulcer isnot clear.
Weight loss results from loss of large amounts ofprotein from these large, open, ulcerated areas. All of these situations are marked by continued loss of plasmaproteins, and in many cases by abnormal absorption as well. Laboratory data is not specific. Mild anemia may be present, andchronic inflammation can be reflected by a moderate leukocytosis.
Serum chemistries are unremarkable except for a low serumprotein, especially albumin. Chronic renal disease, which may be immune mediated, can lead tosignificant protein loss, and this proteinuria accounts for someof the weight loss encountered. In addition, affected horses areusually azotemic, depressed, and anorectic. Thus, they have anaccelerated loss of nutrients in the urine and a markedly reducedintake. The clinical signs associated with chronic renal diseaseinclude depression, anorexia, and P/U and P/D with weight loss. Peripheral limb and ventral edema can develop secondary to themarked hypoalbuminemia in advanced cases.
These animals may also. Urinalysis is often helpful with massive proteinuria and littleor no evidence of urinary tract inflammation. Oh yes, let us not forget our old friend chronic liver disease. Just some fun facts: 1) Not all horses with chronic liver disease are icteric. The weight loss is not only due to severe metabolicderangements, but also to reduced intake resulting from markeddepression in these animals.
Note, they are variably depressed, occasionally icteric, mayhave ventral edema, and photosensitive over their white ornonpigmented skin. Hepatoencephalopathic?