Supplements for Laminitis prone

laz

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Oct 9, 2004
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What do people use to give a shetland type good doers in the winter to eat. Mine has just been getting hay the now but am looking at giving him a supplement or balancer for extra. He is probably classed as lami prone so it has to be low value in sugars etc. We have 2 ft of snow that aint shifting in a hurry so am looking at giving him something extra.
 
I would never personally feed a lami supp I think, I would be looking at diet and environment first as all horses with spot on diet and environment could go barefoot. A supplement isn't going to fix that altogether.

I do however supplement for general vit mins and then add what might assist them.

My two, one chronic lami, are on mollichaff high fibre alfa which is low sugar starch content and molasses free. Dengie hifi molasses free are the same idea though not tried it yet.... Mollichaff is really nice.

As a supplement I feed slimline by naf, it's an all round general supplement purpose made for ones likely to have restricted diets due to weight issues. It works out cheaper than say pink powder to feed but that's another good supp.

Feeds should contain less than 10% total starch+sugar, mollichaff is 4.3%. Speedybeet another alternative. Would personally stay away from likes of happy hoof as you have to feed a lot to give rec daily amounts so works out expensive.
 
To be honest I wouldn't feed anything other than hay. If you are concerned about vitamins/minerals then a general supplement mixed in a bit of hi-fi lite. Or if he won't eat that, mixed in a tiny bit of speedibeet.
 
I agree with the above.I have a Shetland that has been laminitic for nearly 20 years. Diet is the answer. The only supplement proven to work as a laminitis preventitive is Founderguard. Because of Eurozone restrictions it is prohibitively expensive in the UK.
 
I tried NAF Slimline after PFB recommending it and it suits my lami prone well. Lami supps made her footy.
Bfroad specctrum and smells yummy. My boy is on the D & H one and alweays leaves his bucket to steal from the 2 ponies who are on it so think I'll change him over when his supply runs out.
 
My Shetland has had lammi the last 2 winters with no change in diet, hes fine on restricted grazing during summer with no muzzle and has unsoaked hay and has Happy hoof at the same rate all year round, his lammi appears to be triggered by mobility issues, stress/concussion (not totally discounted frost but hes out on it now and so far so good so hopefully will be able to), after his first attack I put him on a liquid supplement, then took him off it, last winter he had another attack and I put him on lami prone, he has been fine upto now on it - schools of thought as to wether it actually does anything suppose the only way I am going to know is to either a. take him off it and see if gets another episode or b. leave him on it and hope he doesn't, so going with the latter this year.

I feed happy hoof at maintenance dose all year round which for my little man 150kg is 1/4 scoop morning and night - so not exactly bulk feeding. we put our other two natives on HH, our Sec A gets a third of a scoop morning and night and our 13.2 PB gets 1 scoop morning and night, and they have all maintained a consistant weight on this, PB at 19 does get Alfa A oil in winter as she has a tendancy to drop weight over winter as she is getting older.Other than that even at -17 they get a flap of hay each morning and night and dig for the rest if snow/ice on the ground- otherwise they will get no hay as we have plenty of grass on the fields.

Lammi is not always to do with diet in so far as what is being fed ,there are so many triggers but generally even then it is the imblances resulting in the gut which seems to be the key, I would rather feed the supplement in the hope that it will prevent than do nothing ..
in our case if stress related then this will be due to related imbalance in the gut which hopefully the suppliment will help counteract -

Unless he has had a lammi episode in the past there is nothing to say that because he is a Shetland Type rather than another breed he is lammi-prone, they all are if allowed to be obese, but if you have their weight managed then hay and a balancer over winter should be enough, if obese then a balancer and if out 24/7 even on minimum grazing unless hard frost on ground let him work for it and give token hay only if necessary, if part stabled then the only thing I would say is make sure get as much turn out as possible - exercise and keeping moving is certainly a big part of our lammi experiences.
 
My friend always struggled with her lami prone sec a. He is now on thunderbrook feeds and is doing great. She decided a whole diet review was needed. Its fed for nutrients and what the body needs rather than bulk for weight.

He has the base mix, gut restore and was on the gut balancer for lami but now the herbs that horses seek.

Here is a link to the thread:
http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212948&highlight=base
Might be a bit of bedtime reading. Hope you find something that works and suits your little one
 
Sorry lemme, didn't phrase well - it's diet and environment that play the biggest part in preventing most cases of lami -like you muzzling in summer etc.

I had meant that no lami supplement will make up for poorly looked after feet - yours is a bit different, he has well managed feet and diet and environment - mine too love happy hoof though I prefer to feed the mollichaff because it has no garlic in and is simple in it's ingredients to reduce for us any inpact on allergies.
 
Sorry lemme, didn't phrase well - it's diet and environment that play the biggest part in preventing most cases of lami -like you muzzling in summer etc.

I had meant that no lami supplement will make up for poorly looked after feet - yours is a bit different, he has well managed feet and diet and environment - mine too love happy hoof though I prefer to feed the mollichaff because it has no garlic in and is simple in it's ingredients to reduce for us any inpact on allergies.

No need for a sorry PFB knew where you where coming from, we have all been there and worn the T Shirt, the garlic was the only issue when I started on the HH as you know Tess had an allergic reaction to the Garlic suppliment she was on, but they assured me that the ammount of Garlic in the HH should not be sufficient to spark of a reaction espicially as she has been off it for some time and touch wood she has been fine, you I know have large issues with Allergy and as we always say - what works for one! Treat as per individual case - btbh unless you have a known lammi risk then nothing can beat treating a pony/horse as just that and give minimum additives unless there is a medical reason to do so, as you say diet/environment and day to day management and above all look after that weight, feet and overall wellbeing, - how you doing BTW -all well I hope.

Lx
 
I'd look at formula4feet. Has everything in it he would need :) we fed it with great success to our laminitic mare. Friends of ours feed their shetland founderguard and have been impressed, they definately think it's worth the hassle and the money :)
 
TopSpec light is fab stuff, both my native type mares live on this - the youngster lives on this only mixed in with chaff all year round and the older mare has some high fibre cubes mixed in for maintenace. It's made by people who have natives so it's specifically designed for them to easily digest and obtain all nutrients without weight gain
 
Thanks for the replies, i didnt actually mean a lammi specific supplement just an allround one to give him due to their being hardly any food around. All my other ones get high fibre cubes and hi fi lite so i might just stick to the hi fi lite or happy hoof for him if it has all he needs as there is no grass at all the now. He had an episode of lammi this year but i managed to turn it around in a week with a very strict routine with the vet before it developed into anything worse he then remained on a very strict diet. He now also has a maze type fencing to walk around to get to different areas. I think his was triggered with too rich grass growing and not enough excercise to burn it off and i never fenced him off in time plus he escaped into the big field one day which didnt help him.

I like formula 4 feet as well had good sucess with my id/tb on this as he had really crap feet but havent fed it in a while due to cost for the size of horse i was feeding. Spillers are also doing a light balancer that i will need to look into.
 
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since lami starts in the gut, Pink Powder is a good 'allround' supplement aimed at keeping the gut in good condition :) if you don't feel you need to aim for the formula4feet or founderguard just yet that is.

my laminitic is getting pink powder and seems to do well on it.
 
I feed Ultimate feed balancer Dobson and horrell mixed with a scoop of happy hoof all year round. Dexter is a 25 year old hardworking driving shetland through spring and summer. He has winter off. I find it easier to feed a balancer I know he is geting everything he needs in a small amount of feed and he is doing great on it. :smile:
 
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