This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Forages for Horses, an Overview »
  Discussion on Alfalfa Only Diet 2?
Author Message
Member:
Cowgrl

Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2004 - 5:36 pm:

My husband and I used to feed alfalfa exclusively but have switched to good quality timothy. The reason being for the amount of riding we do - mainly weekends) they do not need all of that protein and it's reported to be hard on their kidneys. However, my appaloosa mare almost died from eating alfalfa. She had a habit of colicking during or after every ride. It became the rule rather than the exception. Usually they were pretty mild and went away with some walking around and eating grass. Then there was the year when we took a trip to a horse camp 4 hours from home and way up in the mountains. Annie colicked after a long ride and did not come out of it as usual. In addition, she tied up as well. I have never seen a scarier site and hope never to see it again. After the tie up episode passed, we loaded her in the trailer and down the mountain we went in search of a vet. The closest one was over 50 miles further but by then she started feeling a little better and drank some water but hadn't passed any manure. We took her back up to the camp, dosed her with banamine, and I proceeded to stay up with her all night. The colic came and went all night long and we pulled out first thing in the morning to come home. I monitored her every hour and she didn't seem any worse but no better. She still hadn't pooped so I called the vet when we were close to home to tell them we're coming in and have someone available. When we pulled into the clinic we had to wait for the vet to arrive so Annie was tied to the wall inside where we could keep an eye on her while we waited. We offered her water which she was happy to have but you could still see her sides clenching from pain.

When the vet arrived, he immediately put her in the stocks and did an ultrasound, a full rectal, and a belly tap. Her body chemistry was all upside down and she may have suffered some kidney damage from too much banamine. Also, she was severely dehydrated from the sweating from colic and tying up.

Well, she ended up in their intensive care unit for two days and luckily responded to the fluids they pumped into her and the kidney damage corrected itself.

The vet said she can never have alfalfa again because her body type (short and stocky) can't process it correctly and she needs to get her energy from carbs and not proteins. Also, pasture is the best thing for her and add salt and corn oil to her diet. Since then she hasn't colicked once but I continue to watch her.

I know this is a long post but I wanted to relate my experience and hopefully help somebody out of a similar situation.

Holly
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 22, 2004 - 6:53 pm:

It is true you probably should not feed "stocky" horses alfalfa because it contains more calories per lb therefore will make them even fatter. But it is not true that feeding this level of protein is harmful to the kidneys or that there is some known danger that will turn the blood chemistries upside down in a otherwise healthy horse. Alfalfa is a good feed for adult horses if the horses do not grow too fat on it.

Another point I would like to address is that recent work on Equine Metabolic Disease suggests that easy keeping horses may commonly have problems with the proper metabolism of digestible carbohydrates and lower carb diets may be more appropriate.
DrO
Member:
Goolsby

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004 - 10:24 am:

Holly
that is interesting as I have just gone throug my first sickness with one of my colts. He had lost appetite and became listless and had a fever for several days. He never quite coliced, and began improving. although I talked to the vet over the phone several time we decided it did not warrent a visit as he was improving each day and had no other symptoms (he is fine today). Anyway the only thing that changed was that I had been giving him some soaked alfalfa cubes at night feeding and the night before he was sick, I believed he ate his and the other colts too. He is not stocky tho., but my other colt is who had been eating the alfalfa since I got him in Nov. I have not given him anymore alfalfa.
Member:
Cowgrl

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004 - 11:27 am:

Dr. O,
It wasn't the alfalfa that caused her blood chemistry to go haywire, it was too much banamine. I guess my post sounded a little misleading. Everyone seems to have their own idea of how much banamine and bute to give. Fortunately I didn't listen to them and inject her with any more than I did.

There was a situation where I was on a ride and a lady's horse had a mild bout of colic after a ride. The horse was not in shape and although the ride was fairly easy, he had problems. Well, another person told her to dose the horse with 10 bute tablets because "10 bute equal 1 banamine." I'm no vet but I don't think there's a way to turn bute into banamine.

The owner ended up packing up that night and taking the horse to the vet where they found he had suffered so much kidney damage from the overdose of bute, he had to be put down.

What do you think Dr. O? Would bute cause that much kidney damage?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 5, 2004 - 9:26 am:

Holly do you remember what were the abnormal blood results in your horse that the vet said were due to Banamine?

Assuming the bute is standard 1 gram tablets, 10 tablets in a thousand lb horse is entirely too much and yes may have damaged the kidneys irreversibly, for more see Equine Medications and Nutriceuticals » Anti-inflammatories: NSAID's, Steroids, and Arthritis Treatment » Phenylbutazone (Bute).
DrO
Member:
Cowgrl

Posted on Monday, Apr 5, 2004 - 4:38 pm:

Unfortunately Doc, I don't remember. I may have the paperwork at home and will look tonight.

It was such a shame that this horse died needlessly and probably would have recovered on his own as he didn't seem to be in severe pain. Not trying to get down and roll or sweating. He did kick at his belly a little but mostly seemed depressed and had no appetite.
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC