a weight/ pregnant mare question

[laceyfreckle]

I heard something once. Just running it past you as I really dont have the expertise to know if this is true or not...

I was once told that the "Typical Laminitic" pony looked, cresty, fat on the arse yet ribby....

Is this what Lacey looks like?? Maybe it could be a case that the weight is going onto her crest and arse first and then will go onto covering her ribs last...

yes i hadn't heard of that but could well be. I mean she doesn't suffer from laminitis at all nut about 6 years ago she did damage her pedal bone and subsequently got an infection which she was given antibiotics for, unfortunately the antibiotics caused her to have medically induced laminitis. (apparently isn't true laminitis and doesn't make them more prone to it) she has had a big crest since she was young due i think to the way she was kept then which was stabled most of the time with 2hrs turnout a day and hard feed (she was a competition driving pony at the time).

See her bum from behind i;d say looks about right now, not too fat, not too thin, no valley/dip but no poverty lines. and her head and neck the same (excusing the crest that never goes) not too thin, needs muscle but not fat. however i can see and feel nearly all of her ribs and her hip bone is prominent. from the side you can also see her croup a bit too clearly. (lack of muscle not helping) but her belly is low and slack (although admittedly she is very deep girthed anyway)

I would like more weight over her ribs and spine and hips but don't want her looking/being obese on the bum! do you think then she needs to gain a bit more weight and then tone up to lose the 'excess fat look' she may have on her bum then? In the bareback pic of her she weighed about 345kg on the weightape. when she first came back off loan she weighed 304kg. she currently weighs 284kg (same weightape) (manage my horse is great!) I'm hoping to get her back up to about 325 but am a little worried that is too much weight for her?

 

[laceyfreckle]

She sounds like a classic Cushings' shape. Which will be the 'laminitic look' NN mentioned above - cushing ponies are very very prone to lamintis.

It may well be the start of cushings for her - they don't always have all the symptoms in the right order. It would be well worth having her blood tested.

As for being pregnant - whats the max length of time? If she could only be a max of 3months along then I would be suprised if she was showing yet - foal's tennis ball sized! If however she could be as much as 6months then, yes, she could be showing to that extent now.

as she's come into season she can't be pregnant but it has been 3 months since her last season before this one which was why i was worried about this but yes i did wonder if it would be too early to tell in which case my worried could have been dismissed

can you have cushings on a pony that isn't prone to laminitis though? her last and only laminitis attack was about 6 years ago and was medically induced. (i was told by a vet that she is no more prone to laminitis then a normal pony as it was medically induced?) she hasn't been lame in over a year either. (and the only time she was lame since i've had her was when she had her feet trimmed a bit too much by a new farrier and was barefoot)

she isn't thirsty, hasn't got increased appetite although i am feeding her more, her coat is fine and casting well, no fat deposits above the eyes, no laminitis.
The other reason i;m not sure it would be cushings is because she only dropped weight and condition when she was on loan (loan was 2.5 weeks) and when she came back i think she dropped more weight mainly because she was cold due to her clip. (she was clipped two day's before we took her back). I don't think she would have lost weight or condition if she hadn't gone on loan?

I will run the cushings theory past my vet when he comes to do her jabs in two weeks though as well, as i'm aware i could be wrong

 

[Soot]

Cushings originates in the pituitary gland -- its the Cushings that makes them prone to lam not the lam that makes them prone to Cushings! So as I said in your other thread, they all get different symptoms in different orders. Billy has had Cushings for years now, but has had no trouble with lam (TOUCH WOOD!)

 

[laceyfreckle]

Cushings originates in the pituitary gland -- its the Cushings that makes them prone to lam not the lam that makes them prone to Cushings! So as I said in your other thread, they all get different symptoms in different orders. Billy has had Cushings for years now, but has had no trouble with lam (TOUCH WOOD!)

oh right i didn't realise that i thought it was the other way round.......that laminitics were more prone to getting cushings as they aged

I will ask my vet then as, as i said he's got to come out anyway in two weeks. Although she looks odd she doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. how is cushings treated? i take it it's diagnosed by a blood test? Is it something insurance would cover?

 

[Pink's lady]

It would def be worth looking into.

It's diagnosed with blood tests and is controlled with tablets, which can be expensive, though less so for a small pony like her.