# low protein diet



## frazzled (6 April 2012)

Just had results from some bloods and they say  our horse's liver enzymes are raised. He had a photosensitive reaction and that is why the bloods were taken. He is showing no other symptoms and looks incredibly well. He is eventing fit. He is currently fed Winergy equilibrium high energy.
We have been advised to put him on a low protein diet without oil. also to supplement with milk thistle. Any suggestions welcomed. We would like to maintain energy as he is a very laid back character.


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## threeponies (6 April 2012)

My pony is on a low protein diet due to liver damage, he has high fibre cubes and Badminton high fibre complete.  My vet told me not to give him any alfalfa products and he is on Silvermoor bagged haylage, the high fibre,low protein one.  Along with the milk thistle he was having yea-sacc but he's now decided he won't eat if either of these are in the bucket.  Speedibeet is also ok to feed, mine ate this for a couple of months with Mollichaff Veteran chop but then went off it.  He currently only eats if his feed is in a treat ball!


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## iconique (6 April 2012)

When we went thru this with one of our older mares, we contacted spillers who recommend Happy hoof and micronized Flaked maize (not something that they sell!) our vet was impressed as although the maize is protein, its high quality and helped her put weight on and provide energy, if your horse doesn't need the weight or energy then drop the maize. 

Milk thistle is usually recommended in liver cases and can be effective. 

Hope your horse shows some improvement. Do a search on here for liver problems, there are lots of posting and Box of Frogs is particularly clued up on liver problems.


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## Erin (6 April 2012)

My mare has had high liver enzymes with no apparent reason. Turned out our hay was very high in iron, which isn't good for the liver, so I would look at having your hay tested.


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## Box_Of_Frogs (7 April 2012)

The problem with serious liver damage is that you only see the symptoms when about 70% of the liver is damaged. At 76% damage/failure, it's fatal (Prof Knottenbelt, world expert on liver damage in horses). So your boy is walking a fine line. Any idea what has casued the damage? The liver can regenerate its function from most forms of damage except ragwort poisoning. Livers damaged by ragwort stay damaged for ever so feeding and management regimes need to be forever too. Ragwort poisoning is terrible as it's cumulative so small amounts eaten years ago can suddenly become a problem. Sadly the funding for the Prof's research dried up so, currently, the only test for ragwort poisoning is by liver biopsy which can be dangerous if it IS ragwort damage as one of the symptoms is poor blood clotting (so be careful with even minor wounds). 

Acute photosensitivity is a sure sign of serious liver damage. The liver can't break down the chlorophyl in the green plants the horse eats so it circulates through the blood and he becomes like a giant leaf and actually attracts the sunshine. You'll need to keep him out of the summer sun - sun block on his pink parts won't fully protect. Re diet, the liver has to work hard to break down oils and protein so no oils or conditioning feeds ever and keep his proteins low. All animals need some protein but what he does eat needs to be of the highest quality you can afford. Aim for sugars and starches for energy, not oils. Yea Sac will help with hind gut digestion, often compromised in liver damaged horses, plus it acts as a very mild appetite stimulant, often another problem for liver damaged horses. Feed in as many small feeds as you can as this helps the liver too.

Prof Knottenbelt gave me personal help in saving the life of Angel, my rescued gypsy cob mare. He advised me to contact D&H (they have worked closely with him on ragwort poisoning and feed research) and ask them to help me with a tailored diet for Angel. They were wonderful. I'd recommend ringing their feed helpline and asking for specialist advice. I'm not sure about Happy Hoof as my understanding is that it's very low calorie, suitable for laminitics. Could be wrong. Keep a very close eye on your lad to watch for other tell tale symptoms that will tell you if you aren't on top of it yet. If it's NOT caused by ragwort then your boy may be able to make a full recovery but keep the feeding and management regime up until liver function tests show the all clear. Fingers crossed. PM me if I can help at all x


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## BethH (7 April 2012)

I believe Allan and Page Fast fibre is only 8% protein, my horse lost a little weight at the start of the year and a friend recommended it, it helped him back to normal without any fizziness, I say this because my horse becomes a lunatic with any form of sugars so has no mix, haylage etc, so this seems to have worked well and can apparently be fed as a partial hay replacement.  Please double check what I have said, but I had a good experience with it which is rare as my horse doesn't cope well with any change to his food.


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## frazzled (7 April 2012)

We don't know what has caused the photosensitive reaction but two ponies had it on the same day. Both coloureds. It was the very hot day , both turned out fully clipped and rugless. Vet only took the blood sample as a precaution and was very suprised by the result as both ponies look in peak of health otherwise. We are treating it as if liver damage until we know otherwise.


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## Box_Of_Frogs (8 April 2012)

Frazzled, would have been nice to have had the whole story in the beginning! Obviously, if 3 horses all experienced SUNBURN at the same time on a hot day, then advanced liver damage in all 3 is highly unlikely! You don't say how old your horse is. Those liver function results could be "normal" for him. Or if he is over about 15 or so, then it could be the start of Cushings, which sometimes gives odd liver enzyme results, dunno why.


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## frazzled (8 April 2012)

Sorry,box of frogs if there has been some misunderstanding. All i was asking for was sugggestions of low protein feeding regimes. I am contacting feed companies but thought it would be helpful to find out what other people have used.


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## oscarwild (8 April 2012)

My horse tested with high liver enzymes in July last year and they have been up and down since.  They have never been the same twice and has had a biopsy done in November which said things were ok.  
She was put on speeditbeet and micronised barley for feed as she has lots of allergies and chokes when fed chaff and other things. she is currently on LEGAPHYTON to see if it helps her raised enzymes.  
We have no idea what is causing it but she definitely better just now than when her enzymes were at there highest.


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## Rocky01 (8 April 2012)

Hi, one of my horses has an intolerance to soya in any form and the other does better without. They were not well on the winergy at all but are now on Gwf equilibria 500, plain mollases chaff and a small amount of Gwf fibregest (about 200g a day) and are doing amazingly. I would say that they look and mostly act fantastically, have a gleam to their coats and are building muscle like there's no tomorrow. Hope this helps. Been in a similar position and hope you're gets better soon.


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## Erin (8 April 2012)

Erin said:



			My mare has had high liver enzymes with no apparent reason. Turned out our hay was very high in iron, which isn't good for the liver, so I would look at having your hay tested.
		
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oscarwild said:



			We have no idea what is causing it but she definitely better just now than when her enzymes were at there highest.
		
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Honestly, get your hay tested, dengie do it for £30 http://www.dengie.com/pages/feed-advice/forage-analysis.php

We did low protein, Legapyhton, steroids, cutting stuff out her diet and nothing made a difference to her liver enzymes.
Got the hay tested, came back high in iron.
We did 4 weeks on half hay, half horsehage high fibre (which is much lower iron than my hay) and the liver enzymes came down.


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