# Feeding a horse with liver damage



## Dinkeydoo (9 February 2015)

I have a 2y.o colt that was diagnosed with liver damage last year. We have been struggling to keep weight on him but he is looking better now but still has a long way to go. The vet wants him looking better before he'll castrate him in the spring. At present he is on calm and condition, conditioning cubes, alfa a oil, milk thistle, yea sacc and soya oil. I have been advised to put him on a feed balancer, so what I wanted to know was do I still give the yea sacc with the feed balancer and what is the best balancer to give. He's an Anglo Arab and stands about 15.1. Thanks in advance.


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## be positive (9 February 2015)

Has the vet agreed to the alfa a and soya oil? I thought oil should not be fed to horses with liver damage

They need high quality protein which a balancer should provide, I would contact one or two of the feed companies for proper advice as to me that diet seems unsuitable in many ways, he may be looking better but it may be detrimental to the liver recovering, just adding a balancer to the current diet would be unbalancing the vits and mins that are already provided, I would look into changing it totally based on a good balancer and fibre, possibly something like simple systems or pure feeds so you know exactly what he is getting.


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## Dinkeydoo (9 February 2015)

Yes this is what the vet suggested. Ok thanks, my next step was to ring a nutritionist


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## paulineh (9 February 2015)

The first thing I would do is give him a good Liver Tonic. Linseed is a very good thing to help put weight on him.

I would give Roger Hatch a call on 01243551766.  He is very good and will help you


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## albertpetersson6 (9 February 2015)

A horse with liver disease requires energy and protein in a form that does not rely heavily on liver metabolism in order to reduce the work of the liver. Just make sure that you do not feed him excess protein diet. But also keep in mind that too little protein can reduce healing of the liver so see that the diet you feed is a balanced diet. It will be good if it contains  high levels of soluble carbohydrates and low levels of high biological protein. Alfalfa, clover, soya and oats should be avoided in such cases.


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## curio (11 February 2015)

albertpetersson6 said:



			A horse with liver disease requires energy and protein in a form that does not rely heavily on liver metabolism in order to reduce the work of the liver. Just make sure that you do not feed him excess protein diet. But also keep in mind that too little protein can reduce healing of the liver so see that the diet you feed is a balanced diet. It will be good if it contains  high levels of soluble carbohydrates and low levels of high biological protein. Alfalfa, clover, soya and oats should be avoided in such cases.
		
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this is correct my lad has liver damage and I was advised by dodson and horrell and my own vet to feed less than 10% protein and 5% oil so the liver is not working to hard ., and feed a small amount of carbohydrates ie cereals to help the liver with glucose production again to stop it working too hard, 
also feed as many times a day small amounts so the liver can work consistently even if you are feeding 4 times a day

The diet you have op doesn't sound quite right I would change it to a good mix, or a balancer with a good basic chaff, add unmolassed beet pulp to provide fermentable fiber to help gain condition, feed milk thistle and global herbs restore

you should avoid all conditioning feeds as they are far too high in oil and protein for a damaged liver to process, and i was advised not to feed haylage due to protein levels

my boy at the moment is on ad lib wet hay, half scoop of dodson & horrell pasture mix, 1 scoop hi fi lite, 1 scoop milk thistle and 2 scoops restore twice a day, and his liver enzymes are reducing and he has regained some weight. 
If he needed more weight i would add beet pulp as advised by my vet


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## Exploding Chestnuts (11 February 2015)

Phone up Saracen feeds, they may have the feed for you!


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## millmo (11 February 2015)

Hi
  my mare was diagnosed 8 years ago with liver damage and liver disease. The vet gave us a feed recipe for a special diet for her to help with it. We have never used  but if you would like me to hunt it out and message you it please get in touch. The first thing you need to do is stop feeding alfalfa. Alfalfa along with cereals, should not be feed to horses with liver problems as they can't process them. That's where the fun then begins to find feed suitable. Having said that we don't stick totally to that now but did in the beginning. We did use to feed milk thistle but stopped as it didn't really seem to be helping her. You have to feed quite basic feed stuff so as not to overload the liver.


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## smokeyjo (11 February 2015)

be positive said:



			Has the vet agreed to the alfa a and soya oil? I thought oil should not be fed to horses with liver damage

They need high quality protein which a balancer should provide, I would contact one or two of the feed companies for proper advice as to me that diet seems unsuitable in many ways, he may be looking better but it may be detrimental to the liver recovering, just adding a balancer to the current diet would be unbalancing the vits and mins that are already provided, I would look into changing it totally based on a good balancer and fibre, possibly something like simple systems or pure feeds so you know exactly what he is getting.
		
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I am really interested in this post as I currently have a horse with liver damage.  I posted quite a bit on a recent thread, but my problem is that my boy will be 28 this year and also has Cushings (well under control on 1/2 prascend tablet daily).  He has lost lots of weight, specially his top line.

Last week I phoned Dodson & Horrell as they seem to be the feed experts of choice for liver damaged horses and they have recommended a diet which includes 200 - 250ml of Soya Oil daily (this was from their vet).  The rest of the diet is very simple - high fibre Nuggets, plenty of Speedibeet and as much hay as he can eat (he lives out 24/7 on plenty of pasture).  He has the usual supplements too, e.g. Milk Thistle Seed.

Apparently thinking is changing a bit as regards oil for these horses, but I must admit that I feel really uncomfortable adding the oil.  I seem to have nothing to lose though as his previous (no added oil) diet just wasn't keeping the weight on (just to add that all the usual vet checks have been done, e.g. blood test for tapeworm etc and also he is very well in himself).  I'm watching this post with great interest now.  Good luck with your colt Dinkeydoo


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## Dinkeydoo (7 March 2015)

smokeyjo I too have a horse with liver damage and cushions and had excellent advice from D and H so try giving them a ring. I have now been advised to feed my colt speedi beet, pasture mix and alfalfa, along with his normal milk thistle and tea sacc. Thanks to everyone for their advice, I'm going to try this and see how I get on


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## BBP (8 March 2015)

My vets advised low oil, high quality fibre with as little iron as possible. I just fed happy hoof and a balancer. Over two years his levels went up and down but never hit normal. (Mine had raised enzymes but bile was normal so liver function not thought to be impaired). Made slightly trickier now with the diagnosis of EPSM which requires a high oil low carbohydrate diet to manage it, so exactly the opposite of what his liver needs! It's a minefield! Let us know how you get on.


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## sport horse (8 March 2015)

Had one many years ago and we fed him a lot of Glucose - used to buy it in large boxes.


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## ILuvCowparsely (8 March 2015)

Dinkeydoo said:



			I have a 2y.o colt that was diagnosed with liver damage last year. We have been struggling to keep weight on him but he is looking better now but still has a long way to go. The vet wants him looking better before he'll castrate him in the spring. At present he is on calm and condition, conditioning cubes, alfa a oil, milk thistle, yea sacc and soya oil. I have been advised to put him on a feed balancer, so what I wanted to know was do I still give the yea sacc with the feed balancer and what is the best balancer to give. He's an Anglo Arab and stands about 15.1. Thanks in advance.
		
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 I went through this with my mare and Box of Frogs was really helpful poster, I was advised not to use soya oil.  Contact D&H Prof Derek Knottenbelt - an absolute saint and the one whose input truly saved her mare, and lastly D&H Head Nutritionist Dr Theresa Holland. 

they are leaders in liver disease in horses

also...........   http://www.horsenutrition.co.za/ind...ent&view=category&layout=blog&id=54&Itemid=88


I also was told to use   http://www.equistro.co.uk/ProductPage/LEGAPHYTON.html   for the liver a more concentrated form and more effective than just milk thistle alone.



Things to help the liver

Legaphyton   (with milk thistle)    http://www.equistro.co.uk/ProductPage/LEGAPHYTON.html
Gold Label    -  Rescue
Licorice Root
Dandilion
Tumaric
real lemon juice
Immuplus
nettles


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