Ah the post I didn’t really want to write and the post that is…lacking information?
The short story is Nay Nay just isn’t… quite right. Something is off and I just can’t quite pinpoint what’s going on.
A few weeks ago, he started leaving behind his grain…sometimes. This isn’t exactly weird. He’s not the best eater and hasn’t ever been, but it’s something I keep an eye on. Typically he eats some breakfast and then finishes his breakfast at dinner. But some mornings he just eats his treats and doesn’t even touch anything else. Most of the time he eats everything overnight, but once every 5/6 days, he doesn’t clean everything up.
Then he started leaving behind his alfalfa. Like not even touching his hay bag of alfalfa. Before this he’d always eat his prized alfalfa. He has a feeder that I ended up taking the lid off of because his hay eating habits were…bad. But then they got worse. So we switched from one bag (standard slow feed bag to a general bag with a huge opening) to another and he ate alfalfa again. Part of me wrote this off as it coincided with a new bale, but then again, nothing is that simple. Then last week, he stopped his alfalfa again. I started tossing it on the rest of his hay. Some days he’d eat it, sometime not.
Outside he just appears… off. He’s been spooking and not himself. Keep in mind, throughout all of this, I’ve also been trying to get healthy again as I was really, really sick. So, diagnostics have been delayed. I plan to get blood pulled soon just to see. But he’s also the same sweet horse?
I’ve added lunch any day I’m home. Lunch is a fibre beet mash with treats (yes, we just add carrots, cookies, and candy to everything) and grain. I thought I’d see if he’d eat it even though fibre beet is $$$$$$. Nay HATES soaked feed. Interestingly enough, he LOVES this stuff. I don’t want to add it to his breakfast/dinner as I’m pretty sure he’ll refuse to eat it in his feed bucket because my luck, but as a supplement, it’s been great. He definitely marches to fence when he sees me walk outside during the day looking for his mash. So, that’s one positive.
That also made me wonder if he had a tooth bothering him. So I scheduled the dentist as Subi was due anyway and she came out yesterday. She did a quick check of Jiminy (he’s good) and a thorough exam for Nay (so thankful for an awesome dentist who will check my horses! And did a super thorough exam when she heard my concerns). That said, she said his teeth were fine AND no evidence of foxtail either (so I have nice hay) so his issues aren’t teeth related. But, while we were waiting for Subi to get sleepy (his dorm gel was taking a touch longer than I thought), we all observed him.
He spent a lot of time snacking on his chopped TC baled alfalfa and definitely preferred that over anything else (he’s also been picking at ultra pricey timothy). Anyway, everyone agreed it’s likely gut related. I ordered him 40 days of omeprazole/ulcergard, but I’m waiting for it to come in since online pricing was cheaper than local, but I need to wait. I could scope, but he gets so stressed with the scoping/food pulling that I’d rather wait if I can…
If I treat plus pull blood, maybe I’ll have a better idea what’s going on? I’m not sure what brought all of this on either. Nay hates winter and he’s been out of work… Stressing plus change of routine? I have no idea.
Three Chestnuts 
ugh nothing bugs me more than a horse with a bad appetite…. sounds like you’re doing all the right things tho, so hopefully you can get some answers, or at least see some results (since gut answers can be so hard to come by bleh).
Thanks ❤️❤️❤️ I’ll keep you updated!
Oh no, that stinks! We’re on a very similar journey with fussy eating NQR horses – currently she’s decided the $$$$ timothy is the only thing she likes, so it’s an ongoing struggle to get the calories and vit/min she’s lacking in to her. I got bloodwork done first and that did give me a starting point, but we’re scheduled for scoping for ulcers in spring as well. I hope he’s feeling better soon!
Thanks!! Scoping stressed him out so much (the fasting the night before) that I hate to do it again unless the meds don’t help. We’ll see. My vet does scoping clinics in the spring so if I need to, I’ll sign up.
As for everything else, yeah, it’s sucks! Good luck on your end!
I hope that the ulcer treatment help. I would add some sucralfate to his diet as well. It helps to coat the ulcers and let them heal. (https://abler.com/absucralfate). I hope that sorts it.
Thank! I actually have some on order and am just waiting for it to show up from Abler. They’re great but not the fastest even with expedited shipping. At least I can mix the sucralfate with water/applesauce and squirt it down his throat. I’m sticking with paste for everything else.
Poor NAY! And this back and forth weather has not been helping IM SURE!! Sending good thoughts to both of you!
Thank you!!
I immediately thought ulcers as I was reading this, so hopefully the omeprazole will help. Fingers crossed anyway. I imagine you have had the crazy temp swings we’ve been having and that could definitely do it. I hope you’re all feeling back to normal soon!
Thank you!
Really hope the omeprazole helps. My OTTB has rampant gut issues. She’s been on the powder for a little under a year now and it’s really helped
I hope so too. Nexium doesn’t help him like it does Subi, but generally paste does. He’s at day 7 now and I saw initial improvements (he’s eating way more outside), but I wish he’d eat better inside. Oh well. He’s definitely happier if that makes sense? Less reactive for the most part.