Horse not Eating; any suggestions?
I have a 30-35 year old Arabian mare.
For the last week, she has not been eating her grain. I've offered different kinds, but she's just not interested.
I've been monitoring her closely; her vitals and gut sounds are all good; she's been pooping regularly (diminishing amounts, as her intake has gone down); she pees normally and is drinking water. Up until today she was eating a good bit of grass.
I had the vet out today, and she said the same thing. Normal vitals, normal gut sounds. She palpated her; no indications of any issues. She examined her teeth and mouth thorougly. I had a fecal done; no problems with worms.
The vet had a few suggestions, but didn't really know what was going on. We've put her on bute for 3 days in case it's due to pain from arthritis (major weather systems going through). If that doesn't work, we'll try banamine.
Anyways, I was wondering if any of you had had similar problems, and if so, what happened?
The mare's only known health problems are old age, arthritis, and Cushings.
Any suggestions are welcome.
She's on Pergolide. Blood work is not back yet. No on the ACTH; she's been on Pergolide at least 5 years and has done well on it. She's pretty classic in her symptoms. But she's shedding well, not laminitic, and not showing signs while she's on the Pergolide.
She still has teeth; that's one of the things I had the vet to check for. Last floated late fall.
She's been on soaked senior pellets all winter, supplemented with soaked hay even though they are a "complete" feed. When she stopped eating the soaked pellets, I tried them unsoaked, then another pellet, then a sweet feed (which she ate for two days, then stopped). She picks at her hay, but had been eating spring grass until today.
I soak her pellets because she had 3 impaction colics last spring, not because of teeth issues.
My old girl died this morning, due to liver failure. She went down sharply after the first vet visit, then continued her down hill slide and I had her euthanized as she was neurologic, toxic, and beyond help. She was seen by three different vets, had blood work, had sonograms, and received all the help and care I could give her.
Thank you to those who cared enough to answer seriously.
Those of you who felt it appropriate to make jokes have revealed who you really are.