All Bets On Veterinary Services

01/13/2025

So we talked about feeding our old horses but what about our metabolic/laminitic/PSSM horses?!

Read below for more of Dr. Laura's thoughts and go to strategies for some of her very favorite, and often difficult to manage, horses and ponies (Another long one, sorry)

1) Take a look at your hay. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be common practice here in the northeast that hay suppliers take the initiative and test their own hay (shoutout to the midwest suppliers), but knowing your sugar and starch content is pretty important so test if you can. This is a deep, dark worm hole, but lets hit the basics for the situations where you can't test your hay. Try and get a mature first cutting hay. Here's the kicker, if we're talking about Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), which in simple terms is your starch and sugar combined, the cutting number doesn't guarantee a low NSC. Meaning a 1st cutting hay can absolutely have higher NSC than a second cutting. NOW, what first cutting is usually guaranteed to have is lower calories, which is why it is usually still recommended to those metabolic and laminitic horses/ponies because they are usually overweight. Getting their calories down can help them lose weight and regulate their insulin better. If you have older horses with not great teeth, you can either supplement their 1st cut hay with some soaked hay pellets (Standlee does actually have an NSC on their bags) if they need the extra fiber/calories or you can buy a softer 2nd cut with the knowledge that you may have to soak the hay.

2) Soaking. What does it do? Even though it is popularly done for long periods of time, soaking hay is not a great long term solution. Soaking will FOR SURE remove potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, and 30-40% of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) when soaked for the standard 30-60 mins. There are some research studies out there that do say some starch and protein is removed, but there have been others that say they are not, so for now we will go with what's for sure removed. So whats the big deal? Soaking long term can lead to dietary imbalances especially in vitamins and minerals, so we often have to replace them in the diet in other ways.

3) Ration balancers and grains. These horses and ponies need to stay at 10% NSC or under and preferably 4% or less starch and often do not need extra calories aka complete/concentrate grains are out. Now what about a ration balancer? Unfortunately most true ration balancers do not meet the criteria needed for these types of horses, as their NSC and/or starch content are way too high (I'm talking about you Purina Enrich). So instead I recommend feeding a vitamin/mineral supplement with no additional iron and often these are pelleted so you can get away with feeding just that if you need no other calories. (Madbarn Amino trace is a favorite).

4) Other supplements. If weight is needed, I will increase hay before anything else especially if I know the NSC. If I need additional supplementation beyond that, then I will reach for a fat supplement and often an easy one is any omega 3 rich oil. Be careful with supplements that are pelleted as they often have hidden sugars/starches you wouldn't think to check for. For the very few skinny insulin dysregulated/laminitic horses, this is one of the only times a complete feed with an appropriate NSC can be recommended strictly for the caloric content. Lastly, often these horses do not get fresh grass, so I do like additional vitamin E in their diet to maintain normal neuromuscular function and to scavenge free radicals. Remember, Vitamin's A, D, E, and K are fat soluble so you can overdose them if you feed them excessively since they are stored in the fat and not expelled with the urine.

Each horse or pony is different, if you have any questions on what you're feeding yours feel free to reach out. Know a laminitic/ metabolic/PSSM horse owner feel free to share the post with them!

Disclaimer: We are not endorsed by any products mentioned in this post but this post is sponsored by another one of Dr. Laura's unsatisfied rule followers pictured below.

01/03/2025

The grass is gone and your geriatric horse is losing weight. Sound familiar? Then read on! (sorry this is a long one)

Feeding the geriatric/hard keeper in the winter time can be a difficult task. We're here to remind you of some tips/facts to help keep the weight on.

1) Have their teeth checked. This is where having a veterinarian or dentist that uses a speculum and does a full oral exam is EXTREMELY important. The grinding surface can be observed and determine if diet changes must be made and checking for loose, fractured, or infected teeth that may need to be removed can only be done by using a speculum, which is often accompanied by sedation. The more comfortable the horse is eating, the easier it is for them to keep weight. As a gentle and friendly reminder, only a licensed veterinarian should be removing teeth or administering sedation to a horse that is not their own)

2) Know your horses cushings/PPID status. ACTH rises in the winter time which can exacerbate cushings clinical signs and make the typical muscle loss along the topline/shoulders more pronounced. Horses over the age of 15 should be considered for yearly screening bloodwork.

3) Are they eating enough calories? Geriatric horses often lose their grinding surface and ability to chew. If you're noticing "cigar-like" hay bunches or your horse isnt eating much of its hay anymore, then the ability to chew hay has probably diminished. Even if they are consuming the hay, without the ability to chew it completely the amount of nutrients that can be gained from it declines. This hay loss (and loss of easy to chew grass) needs to replaced with a complete, not concentrate, horse feed and/or soaked hay/alfalfa pellets or cubes to make up the missing fiber/forage/energy. Additional supplements can be added to a good base diet if necessary for especially hard keepers. As a general rule, a horse needs 1.5-2% of its body weight in forage per day and even more once the temperatures drop to 40 degrees and below SO DON’T SKIMP ON THE HAY.

4) To blanket or not to blanket? According to us, the short answer is if your horse is skinny, clipped, old, has no access to shelter while outside (no run ins in the field), or doesn't grow a great winter coat then the answer is yes (probably our most controversial opinion yet). Blanketing will help keep those old and skinny horses from using all their energy to keep themselves warm and help keep those pounds on. Blanketing appropriately is just as important as the choice to blanket or not as blanketing too heavily and causing the horse to sweat is just as stressful as blanketing too lightly. Remember, when you blanket you do take away the horses ability to regulate their own heat by taking away the piloerection reflex. In simple terms, horses use their hair to stand on end and trap air to create an insulating layer (Piloerection). When we put on a blanket it takes away the ability of the hair to stand on end, therefore insulation provided by the blanket needs to be greater than or equal to the insulation that would be provided by piloerection. AKA putting a thin sheet on when it reaches 5 degrees maybe doing that furry horse of yours more harm than good. Now before we get any slack, wind and rain can negate the piloerection effect so in those cases the sheet would likely be very beneficial.

Having trouble keeping the pounds on your old guy/girl, then let us help. Feel free to give us a call, email, or text to guide you feeding your hard keepers the best diet for them

Picture of Dr. Laura's hardest of hard keepers at 29 years young one month apart after coming home from being kept at a boarding barn. BCS of 3 to BCS of 4.5/5

11/28/2024

Happy thanksgiving from us to you and yours! In the giving spirit, we’d love to share our beans with you 🫘 (yes they came from only one horse)

Luckily these aren’t the ones you eat as they’re an accumulation of dirt, debris, and dead skin that reside in a small pocket that surrounds the urethra. Contrary to popular belief they WILL NOT block the urethra and cause your horse to be unable to urinate but your horses sheath should be cleaned once or twice a year and beans removed.

If that’s not your thing or it’s not your horses thing, look for our spring specials to have your horses sheath cleaned

11/20/2024

We've decided to start an instagram! Please follow us @ allbetsonveterinary to enjoy Dr. Laura trying to work social media AND see her post all the farm animals she lives with. (Spoiler one of the goats wears a coat in the winter and he's very cute). There might be some cool cases as well

Send a message to learn more

11/04/2024

It's that time of year again so lets talk about laminitis. Below is a case example of how important a vet/farrier relationship is to the prognosis of your laminitic horse/pony.

History: This is one of Dr. Laura's personal ponies which came to her as a classic Equine Metabolic Syndrome(EMS) phenotype and a sub-clinical laminitic, which presented as slowly walking on concrete or hard surfaces, increased heat in the feet, and increased but not bounding digital pulses which quickly turned to a full blown laminitic episode. ACTH and insulin were both sky high and pergolide and diet changes were instituted. Her sport horse farrier (who is a great farrier btw) stabilized her until about 7 months in when Dr. Laura's pony became refractory to diet changes and had a second severe flare that put euthanasia on the table. At this time, Dr. Laura started working with a farrier very knowledgeable in laminitis and progressive laminitic shoeing and additionally modified her diet, added in a medication to help her refractory insulin, and closely monitored her ACTH levels in spring AND fall and adjusted her pergolide accordingly (and of course provided her appropriate pain medication). The photo's below detail the changes which occurred in her feet due to the symbiotic relationship of Dr. Laura and her farrier, Denys Antonenko. Dr. Laura's pony still has progress to be made, but due to two brains working together she is on the road to recovery.

If you like these kind of posts, let us know! We would love to provide you with case studies and/or informative posts.

10/18/2024

We may be a little late to the party, but its National Vet Tech week and we'd love to celebrate our tech Sam! We appreciate her kindness, knowledge, calm demeanor, and horse handling skills as it makes Dr. Laura's job and your appointment run much smoother. Don't be afraid to thank her the next time you see her as the techs are often who keep your vet's smile on their face and keeps them on time (mostly) and organized! ( Pictured below is Sam with her horse Lucky To Be Redeemed aka Beans)

10/11/2024

🍁 Fall specials are here! 🍁 Dr. Laura is offering reduced pricing on dental services and select labwork this month. Contact us today with any questions or to schedule your appointment.

09/04/2024

Dr. Laura doesn’t usually see many cows, but when she does, she makes sure they’re only the absolute cutest mini cows!

08/22/2024

All Bets On Veterinary Services is based in Kingwood, New Jersey. Dr. Laura Bylina provides personalized and compassionate care for equine and small ruminant patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Now accepting new clients and patients- please call, text or email for more information.
(908) 291-7046
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