Page 57 - December 2016

euthanasia
When you own on older horse, you should have a plan for the end of his life. At some point you will have to decide when his life becomes more pain than pleasure. This may occur when you realize he’ll have trouble being comfortable in the coming winter, or when arthritis and lameness can no longer be reasonably managed with medication.
You also must decide where and how his life will end, and who will be responsible for
the task, either you or your veterinarian, and what to do with the remains. Most horse- men choose to have a veterinarian euthanize the horse, but sometimes you have to deal immediately with a decision you are not pre- pared for if your healthy old horse is suddenly injured or down one morning and can’t get up and is obviously in serious pain.
Generally, however, you have a bit of time and many owners prefer to have a veterinarian
give the horse an injection, such as an over- dose of anesthetic intravenously, to induce a deep sleep and stop the heart and other vital functions.
As caretakers of horses, we are responsible for their lives, their care and well-being, and when the time comes, we are responsible for their deaths, as well. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give your old friend is a merciful end - a release from the pain that binds him.
fat,” says Pratt Phillips. “Horses can go either way. Whatever seems to be their optimum body condition score, you probably want to maintain it. But in many cases, I prefer to
see an older horse in BCS 5 to 6 with a little reserve fat. Then if they do get sick or some- thing happens and they lose weight, it’s much easier to go back to a 6 from a 5 than it is to get back to a 5 from a 4. You don’t want them to get caught being too thin,” she explains. “On the other hand, if the horse has had previous laminitis or has a lot of arthritis, you don’t want him carrying a lot of extra weight. So, the ideal body condition would be an individual thing for each horse.” The owner should figure out what would be the best BCS for that horse and monitor to see if the horse is losing, gain- ing, or maintaining.
“Even just using a weight tape can be help- ful. There are a couple different places you can measure. One is the typical weight tape for measuring heart girth circumference. If it’s the same person doing it once a month with the same tension on the tape, it doesn’t matter so much numerically what the tape reads. What
Nutritionist Kathleen Crandell, PhD with Kentucky Equine Research says there are benefits to using alternative forages, such as chopped hay or hay cubes that still have some length in the material in order to help keep the digestive tract functioning more normally than with finely ground forage. This helps older horses since the breakdown process has already begun reducing particle size so their teeth don’t have to do all the work.
you want is for it to always be the same. If the tape says the horse weighs about 1000 pounds, that’s fine. Maybe the horse is actually 1100 pounds or less than 1000, but what you want to see is the tape showing the same number each month,” she says. Then you know the horse is not gaining or losing weight.
“Another method is to measure a different circumference a little farther back from the heart girth. Measuring the belly circumference can be done at a certain spot (past a certain rib). Either one of these methods can give you an objective number to track and monitor rather than trying to just rely on your eyes and an impression about whether the horse is gain- ing or losing,” she says.
There are also places on the body you can feel with your fingers to estimate fat covering, such as over the ribs—especially if the horse has a long hair coat and you can’t determine the rib covering just by looking at the horse. “If you have a horse with Cushing’s, the hair can be especially thick,” she says.
The ImporTance of a VeTerInary examInaTIon
The wild card that horse owners might not expect is disease that may occur in older horses. “If the older horse is losing weight and it’s not just a dental issue, it may be metabolic or a kid- ney or liver problem,” says Crandell. Have your vet check the horse for proper diagnosis.
Sometimes, cumulative damage from worms may make the digestive tract less efficient at absorbing nutrients. “After a certain point, there may not be as much functional tis- sue. The horse may be able to keep his weight if you simply offer more feed,” she says. But if it’s a metabolic problem, the horse needs a dif- ferent type of diet. We can now diagnose most of the disease problems in older horses and help them live longer by feeding special diets.
Gill says you need to make sure you know what you are dealing with so you can feed the horse properly and not make his condition worse. “Cushing’s is a pituitary disorder, whereas the insulin resistant horse just can’t handle starch and sugar. A normal horse can handle limited amounts of starch and sugar and you don’t have
Your vet should make a proper diagnosis if it’s not a dental issue since there are a multitude of reasons why an older horse is losing weight. Damage from worms can make the digestive tract less efficient at absorbing nutrients; a horse with liver problems should not be fed a high fat diet; Cushing’s disease is a pituitary disorder and the horse becomes prone to laminitis so starch, sugars, and lush grass should be reduced; and an insulin resistant horse can’t handle starch and sugar.
to be quite as careful. But with many older horses, you may be sitting on a time bomb. So, it doesn’t make sense to feed a lot of starch and sugars and then later have a problem,” says Gill.
“If it’s a weight issue, a high fat/high fiber feed can help supply needed calories. But if a horse has liver problems, you can’t feed a high fat diet,” explains Crandell. A thorough exam and a blood panel is wise if a horse starts losing weight, rather than just adding fat to the grain or more grain to the diet. Horses with Cushing’s become prone to laminitis, and you need to reduce the amount of starch and sugars (or lush green grass). If the horse is at pasture for exer- cise, you may have to use a grazing muzzle.
Gill recommends having your vet draw a blood sample once a year to see if the horse is deviating from normal, or from his original, baseline regarding liver and kidney function. If he has impairment, you’ll need to work closely with your vet and a nutritionist to monitor the horse’s condition and work out the best kind of diet.
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equine health