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  Discussion on Physitis at 19 months and adjusting feed?
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New Member:
Galatea

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004 - 6:42 pm:

Hello, I've been a long time reader of this forum but just subscribed so I can get in on the action.

My 19 month old TB gelding was seen by the vet yesterday for spring shots, and it seems he has signs of physitis in his knees. Upon palption and flexing and squeezing, the vet found it was neither warm, nor ouchy at all, and she squeezed pretty darn hard. The horse is not lame at all. I will attach pictures taken yesterday, but as a warning he's standing with one foot in front of the other making knees look uneven, and seems I was closer to one leg as well.

The background on this problem is that in January he'd been pulled out of pasture for a cough, and has stayed in a stall/paddock with limited exercise/turnout and suddenly got all the feed to himself as opposed to fighting for it in pasture. He was fed a flake (sometimes 2) of Alfalfa AM, and Oat hay PM. Supplemental pellets (I should have cut back, thinking now...) were also fed with vitamin supplements etc. He went through a growth spurt all right!

So I don't want a lame arthritic horse on my hands in a couple of years, and want to do the right thing about feed, but I'm finding soo much information it's confusing! I have switched the horse to a grass hay am, oat hay pm diet with supplemental pellets cut back to only 4 cups (9% protein), 1oz dicalcium phosphate and a hoof supplement with copper, zinc, magnesium in it. The vet had seen him 3 and 6 months prior to this and never found a sign of this before. I know before I got him he was kept lean and on a very well balanced diet with mostly grass hay with a tiny bit of alfalfa in the mix and the same pellets I'm feeding now. The breeder raises warmbloods and avoids OCD like the plague. So before I got him as a yearling he was supplemented correctly. I have tried to do the right thing but the place I board feeds alfalfa am if you're in pasture...

Have I adjusted his diet to nip the problem in the bud? How bad do the knees look? (I'm a bad judge of that) I read that sometimes right before their knees close it looks like they have physitis but they don't have it? Any validity to that?

I have talked the other owner in the pasture and she agreed to put her horse on grass hay if mine lives out there. There is some pretty lush grass at this time of year, but if I eliminate the alfalfa and watch the ca:phos ratio of his ration, is the sugar in the grass worse for him or the confinement in a stall paddock? Seems to me moving around would be better for him, but I also know OCD cases are usually on stall rest... Help! Too much information! I'm confused!!Knees
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 - 6:35 am:

For a description of physitis and your condition see, Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of Joints » Epiphysitis, Physitis, and Physeal Dysplasia. Your current diet is somewhat protein deficient and it is not good to limit exercise on young horses so, with the approval of your vet, we suggest you return to the former diet and exercise regimen, you do not have any evidence of OCD that I have seen.
DrO
Member:
Galatea

Posted on Friday, Mar 19, 2004 - 12:49 am:

Thanks DrO for the reply and suggestion. I have moved the horse back into 3 acre pasture with another horse who has agreed to be on grass hay. What do you think of 'ration balancers' ? After hearing the diet I'd switched to was protein deficient, I purchased one formulated to compliment the grass hay diet called LMF Super Supplement G-- it has a protein content of 24% which seems very high to me-- but taking into consideration the protein content of the total diet (grass being a low protein forage?) does this somehow balance out to an acceptable range? You don't feed very much of this stuff, only like a pound a day.

One further question because I don't want to throw too many supplements and screw up the mineral vitamin balance/ratio..... Can you add additional vitamin/minerals to the 'ration balancer'? Vet had suggested I add Dicalcium Phosphate to the horse's diet, but ration balancer states that it's already fortified with minerals....

Thanks very much for your help!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 19, 2004 - 7:35 am:

The reason you are confused appears to be you are making this all too complicated. I like using alfalfa to make up the protein needed and since it is high in calcium you do not have to add a calcium supplement. We talk about balancing the diet using alfalfa in our article on feeding growing horses at Care for Horses » Nutrition » Feeding the Growing Foal, Nutrition for Young Horses.
DrO
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