How to help my overweight mini horse lose weight and improve lameness?

Hello. You always feed for the ideal body weight, not the current weight. I would start out with the 2%, but if your horse cleans this up too quickly, then I would bump up the hay a little more. It is also important to know the carbohydrate content of your hay so contact you Cooperative Extension office in your county & see who can do a hay analysis for you. A higher carb content would mean feeding less hay. Lower carbs., more hay can be fed. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. Your horse is severely underweight. It is important to go slow trying to put weight back on her. She should have access to pasture & a good prairie grass hay all day. If you did not worm her using ivermectin, that is what I would recommend ( Ivermectin Gold so you also get tapeworms ). I would normally recommend the Panacur Power Pack, but she may be too debilitated to use this now. Maybe in a couple of months come back with this. There is no one way to prevent colic or laminitis. Access to hay, controlling parasites, controlled access to concentrates ( grain, especially the sweet feeds ), and limited access to high energy feeds like corn & alfalfa should keep her healthy, but horses are horses & you cannot control everything. And do have a veterinarian come out & check her vitals, teeth, pull blood for a Coggins & update all necessary vaccinations. Thanks for rescuing her & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center with your question about Snowball and for providing pictures, they are very helpful. Yes he is a bit overweight. He should be weighing around 2.5lbs and he does look overweight in the pictures. You need to adjust his diet. Around 80% of his diet should be high quality grass hay. He also needs vitamin c. In order to get a variety of nutrients and vitamin C, give your guinea pig up to 1 cup (128 g) of fresh vegetables and about 1/4 cup (30 g) of fresh fruit a day. Stick to this diet, nothing extra, and that should help him lose weight. Limit the amount of pellets he gets, as that can be a cause of weight gain. The Humane Society recommends that guinea pigs eat about 1/8 cup (30 g) of pellets a day. Also avoid high starch foods and commercial treats. Finally, get him to exercise. Let him run around the house supervised, and set up obstacles and toys in his cage to get him moving. I hope this helps!

With all four feet involved at some point laminitis is likely. Quarter horses tend to get heavy and are prone to laminitis. I would reduce or eliminate grain from Harley's diet and you can feed soaked plain beet pulp with a small amount of low carbohydrate pellets if you need to supplement him. Keeping him off lush pasture or only having him turned out for a short time will help also. Many horses get mild laminitis without long term problems. Weight loss is crucial as well as changing from rich feeds. Your farrier will be able to give you an opinion about the lameness also particularly about the feet. If the lameness persists I recommend a veterinary exam and X-rays if indicated. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to get answers to your veterinary questions.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Weight loss is something I discuss multiple times a day. While excercise is helpful, I find diet to be by far the most effective tool. First, if he is free-fed, you’ll want to switch to two measured meals per day. And I do mean use an actual measuring cup every time. For a 100lb dog, start with about 3 cups twice daily. If he is already getting a set amount, decrease that amount by about 25% (ie, go from 6 cups a day to about 4.5 cups per day). Try that for a month. If no weight loss, it’s time to look into a medical reason like hypothyroid or Cushings disease so see your vet for that. Finally, I try a prescription diet like Hills Metabolic diet which actually upregulates genes responsible for metabolism. It is very effective when other diets have failed. Of course, watch out for people food and treats of course. Choose green beans, carrots, or celery. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Dudley!

Hello, I would completely stop the pellets for Flopsy, hay & water only. Increasing exercise is very important, too. This may mean feeding the 2 rabbits separately, but there can be so many health problems associated with an obese rabbit, that it is important to try & get some weight off of him. Make sure that you are very careful with the treats he gets. He should only receive good greens, no fruit or high-calorie rabbit treats. Get a good food scale where you can weigh Flopsy weekly & monitor his progress. As he reaches a more normal weight, you can begin to add a few pellets back into his diet. Good luck & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! My first worry with older horses is their dentition (teeth). If you have never had your horse's teeth floated, it may be time for that. Lost teeth, impactions of feed, uneven wear, etc can all affect how much and how comfortably your mare eats. Your vet can perform this, after an initial exam. Best pulp can be good to put some weight on them, if it's a simple caloric factor. Last but not least, if you haven't dewormed in a while-consider taking in a fecal sample to your veterinarian to be checked. These simple things I try to take care of first, I hope this helps you!