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Sugar, Starch, and Horse Diets

Sugar, Starch, and Horse Diets

Mar 5, 2018 | Diet, Feed

Tuesdays with Tony

Two weeks ago we talked about grass and laminitis. Boy, were you guys excited about that topic. I’m going to be super-generous (we cats can be generous, you know) and give you more information on sugar. Come with me on a journey through the weird, wacky world of sugar and starch.

Sugar is sugar, isn’t it?

Nope. There’s sugar and there’s starch. These two things combined are the important number for your horse’s diet. That number is called NSC, or Non-Structural Carbohydrates, by feed companies. NSCs are things that don’t need to be broken down by fermentation in the hind gut, and are rapidly absorbed by the small intestine. Know how you get a kid to run around like a maniac by giving them a lollipop? That’s NSC. In general, you horse people are not looking for your horses to run around like maniacs.

The other problem with NSCs is they turn into fat deposits really quickly. Same thing happens in humans and cats. The body says, oh hey, I have excess food right now, I should store that away in case something bad happens and I need food later. In horses (and humans and cats) some individuals and breeds are better at storing than others. In general, the working breeds (like ponies) and the desert breeds (like Arabians) are really, really good at storage. If you apply some thinking to this, it will make a whole lot of sense. Deserts are not noted for a large amount of food laying around. Working breeds shared food with their owners. The more food either of these types needed, the less desirable they were. As a result, they have been bred for many, many, many generations to be “easy keepers.” On the other hand, think about Thoroughbreds. Historically, no one has cared how much their Thoroughbred ate. They were sports cars. And no one buys a Lamborghini for the gas mileage.

Sugar is bad, then?

It depends. It’s the ultimate answer, really. Appropriate in every circumstance.

NSC’s over 18-20% are less than ideal for the insulin-resistant horse. However, if that insulin-resistant horse is performing, they will need some sugar to perform at their best. You see, sugar is the best readily available energy source. Ever known a crazy human who runs marathons? That carb-loading they do the night before is to make sure they have plenty of quick energy on hand the next morning when they need it. Now, I’m not saying go carb-load your horses, but getting sugar levels too low in a horse who needs to do some serious work can cause them to fizzle when you need them to sizzle. Jumping, bursts of speed, quick starts and stops, all of these require carbs. This means a carefully controlled diet may be needed to get the best performance out of your horse. I will once again mention: Call my minions for help with this. Diet balancing is hard!

What the heck am I supposed to feed then?!?

A lot of factors go into the right choice of feeds for these horses. In general, look for a feed that is pretty low NSC. Triple Crown Senior and ration balancers like Nutrena Topline Balance are good places to start. Forages can be tricky. Alfalfa and peanut are lower in sugar, but lots higher in calories. My minions often work hardest to help you humans come up with a good forage plan for these horses. Luckily they have loads of experience. For extra calories, if they are needed, add fats like vegetable oils. I know, seems weird, but fat doesn’t cause insulin to be released so it’s very, very safe for these horses.

Weather obsession

During the craziness that is Florida Spring and Fall, be very aware of the weather. As I type this, it’s 39 degrees. Last week it was 89 degrees. That beautiful green grass that was high in sugar last week is SUPER high in sugar this morning. This little cold snap has all the grass freaking out. To be sure the plant saves all it’s hard earned sugar, it’s sending it down to the roots. When your horse grabs that grass down close to the ground, he’s getting a delicious bite of grass-flavored lollipop. The schizophrenic weather makes grazing muzzles an absolute must this time of year.

What’s a human to do?

Luckily, we have options! Start by controlling what you can control. Hay analysis will let you know how much sugar is in your hay. Check with your feed manufacturer to find out what the sugar levels are in your horse’s grain. Now you know where you stand on the things you give your horse. By keeping these sugar levels in check, you can allow your horse to graze as much as possible. Diet analysis is not easy. There’s lots of acronyms like EDF and NDF, and starch, and sugar, and fructans, and, on and on. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do any of this alone. I’ve got a minion to help! Call, text, or, live chat from our website and they’ll get you the answers you seek.

Once again, I’m going to tell you to be a good human. Scroll down a wee tiny bit further and click subscribe, right under those two horses in the purple box. Then you’ll see my blog every week no matter where Facebook decides to put it in your news feed. If you’ve already subscribed, then thank you! You get a treat next time you come see me, which should be Thursday at our Parasites and Deworming Seminar.

Until next week ~

Tony

sugar and starch

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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The Inside Scoop on Vaccines

The Inside Scoop on Vaccines

Feb 26, 2018 | Vaccines

Tuesdays with Tony

The Inside Scoop on Vaccines

Ahh, spring is in the air! I hope all you humans are taking advantage of the beautiful weather and getting some saddle time in. I personally have extended the duration of my naps in the parking lot, interrupted only by the occasional horse trailer or UPS truck. Hopefully that lovely scent of spring blooming (mixed with a little pollen of course) also reminds you that it’s time for your horse’s spring shots! Let me take this opportunity to refresh your memory on why the best person to administer those vaccines is your veterinarian.

Handling

I love Tractor Supply as much as the next cat. I mean, who can make it down those aisles at the checkout counter without grabbing one of their irresistible impulse-buy gifts, snacks, or nick-nacks? But one thing I wouldn’t trust Tractor Supply for is handling the vaccines I plan to give my beloved horse. Did you know that vaccines must be maintained within a very narrow temperature range from manufacture all the way up until they are administered?

At Springhill, we will not accept a shipment of vaccines if the ice has melted during transport; we unpack all cold boxes immediately upon receipt; the docs carry the vaccines in coolers in their trucks; the techs don’t draw up vaccines into syringes until they arrive at your farm; and the docs keep the vaccines on ice until immediately before administering them to your horse. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust the high school kid working at your local feed store to be this careful.

Knowledge

Do you know which vaccines your horse needs? Do you know how often your horse needs a booster for each vaccine to maintain immunity? Do you know what’s really in a 5-way? If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, you should probably have a veterinarian vaccinate your horses. Vaccines are not one-size-fits-all. A horse’s disease risk varies by geographic location, age, and lifestyle. Depending on your horse’s prior vaccination history, what you are vaccinating against, and which brand of vaccine you are using, your horse may need a booster anywhere from 6 weeks to 1 year later.

I didn’t go to vet school, but I know 2 kinda awesome women who did. I highly recommend you take advantage of their education when it comes to vaccinating your horses! Not to mention, they literally vaccinate horses every day, so they have the system pretty down pat. Young horse? Needle-shy horse? Sensitive horse? No worries. Our docs can handle it, and will probably turn it into a positive experience that they look forward to next time.

Quality

Everybody thinks the pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines are “in the pocket” of veterinarians, or that there are “kick-backs” for using their vaccine versus another brand. Here’s the inside baseball: I get visits from the representatives of the major companies we buy medications from (including vaccines) about once or twice a year. They always scratch me behind the ears and comment on how handsome I am. Sometimes they bring lunch and I may get a pepperoni off a slice of pizza or a bit of tuna from someone’s sandwich. They talk about their vaccines, the extensive research behind them, the newest changes they have made to decrease the incidence of vaccine reactions from 0.02 to 0.01 percent. They may leave us with some pens, hats, notepads, or keychains. One time a pharmaceutical rep gave us drawstring bags, which I found amusing to play with for about 5 minutes.

However, if you think our docs are choosing which vaccines to carry based on who gave out the coolest pens this year, you are sadly mistaken! They look at the research. They choose the vaccine that has the best combination of disease prevention and lowest reaction rate. That sometimes means carrying a Flu vaccine from one company and a West Nile vaccine from another. Our doctors don’t have their own interests or the interests of some major pharmaceutical company in mind- they only care about what is best for your horse!

I’ll leave you with 2 reminders: 1) Schedule your horse’s spring shots. 2) Make sure you have my next See Tony event, the Deworming Seminar, marked on your calendar for Thursday, March 8th at 6:30pm.

Happy Tuesday! -Tony

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Green Grass and Laminitis

Green Grass and Laminitis

Feb 19, 2018 | Laminitis

Tuesdays with Tony

Teanie and I have been watching the Winter Olympics nightly. I have even been inspired to try my hand at luge down the hallway at the Clinic. It looks like napping because there’s no slope, but I’m hard at work practicing proper technique. In the morning when my trusty staff arrives, I go outside to enjoy Florida Winter. While enjoying the sun and 60’s the other morning I noticed something: green grass. Oh boy, I thought, here comes the fun. And by fun, I mean not fun (because I’m a cat), and by not fun I mean the laminitis cases that come with the first green grass. I really should have written this blog a month ago so you humans could be better prepared, but it’s hard to believe green grass is around the corner when there’s ice falling from the sky (that was a HORRIBLE day). Here we are though. Florida. Mid-February. Mid-80s. Green Grass.

Ahh, the Green Grass Buffet!

Beautiful, horrible, green grass

Let’s start with how awesome it is to have grass in February. Grass means less hay to feed, and, a highlight for my Docs, fewer colics. However, baby grass is very high in sugar which is why it tastes delicious. We also are likely to experience at least a few more days of cold mornings which will make that baby grass concentrate it’s sugar even more. You know how baby vegetables taste better than the big versions? Grass is the same way.

You mean my horse can’t eat the grass?

That’s not quite what I mean. Certain horses need to be monitored very closely this time of year to be sure they can handle high-sugar grasses. Have you found it easy to put weight on your horse, but hard to take it off? Have you noticed bumps on either side of the base of the tail, or behind the shoulders? Those bumps are fat. That fat is the really bad kind of fat, too. This fat releases all sorts of hormones that tell the body to get mad at everything (the Docs get fancy and call this a pro-inflammatory state), and they tell the pancreas to make lots and lots of insulin while telling the cells to ignore the fact that glucose is around. This leads to what’s known as metabolic syndrome, or insulin resistance.  And that’s a bad syndrome to have.

Horses with metabolic syndrome don’t respond correctly to insulin.  Normally, you eat some food, your brain says “Oh, that was sugar,” your pancreas says, “Release the insulin,” the insulin runs to the cells and tells them to grab the sugar. When this goes wrong, the cells stop listening to the insulin, the pancreas releases more insulin to try to make them listen, the sugar level goes up in the blood, and then some not-great stuff happens. The most common thing horse owners see go wrong is laminitis.

Why does sugar cause laminitis?

There are two main places in the horse that absolutely require sugar to work: the feet, and the brain. There are some long-term effects that are seen in the brain (mostly Cushings), but for this blog the most important immediate effect of high sugar is laminitis.

Laminitis happens because the cells that hold the hoof to the body need sugar to keep working. When the cells can’t absorb sugar because they’re busy ignoring insulin, they end up letting go of the hoof. In the worst cases, those cells even die. As those cells let go, the coffin bone rotates in the hoof capsule leading to what you guys call laminitis.

But my horse loves grass!

Never fear, my intrepid Docs are here! Through the wonders of diet, exercise, and, (when needed) medicines, your metabolic syndrome horse can eat grass, just not all the grass he wants. Here’s my simple plan for success:

  1. Start with a low-starch diet. Don’t know if you’re on one? Talk to Beth in the Clinic. She’s a whiz with feed!
  2. Exercise your horse for 10-15 minutes three times per week.
  3. Talk to my Docs about blood testing and X-rays. Not saying your horse needs this, but a conversation with my Docs is always packed full of information you can use!

I’m not just a pretty face when it comes to metabolic problems. Due to my extreme love of food, hatred of exercise, and bad genes, I’m diabetic. My staff has worked on my diet and exercise, and added in a little medicine, and I’m able to practice my luge technique daily! Oh, and monitor all horse trailers and delivery drivers who come to the Clinic, along with the house next door. If I can do it, you can too!!

Now be a good human: scroll down a little farther and subscribe to my blog. That way you won’t miss out if Facebook decides not to show it to you. 

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Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

Equine Genetics

Equine Genetics

Feb 12, 2018 | Genetics

Tuesdays with Tony

Equine Genetics

Boy, did I get schooled on Thursday when Dr. Brooks came to speak at our Genetics Seminar! I always considered myself a pretty smart cat, but I may have been knocked off my pedestal by that presentation. The information Dr. Brooks shared with us was not only mind boggling, but also fascinating. I’ll do my best to re-cap, but really, you should sign up for her online class at UF to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth (pun intended).

Science and stuff: The Basics

Every species has its own genome. That’s basically a map of genes, which are made up of DNA, that determines everything about an individual (hair color, height, weight, conformation, intelligence, athletic ability, personality, etc.) Alleles are different forms of a gene that are responsible for heritable traits. Horses (and humans) inherit one allele from their mother and one allele from their father for each trait.

Let’s look at eye color as an example. At one site on a gene (or locus) there are 2 different alleles for eye color, we’ll call them B and b. B confers brown eye color, while b confers blue eye color. B is dominant over b. If the sire and the dam both have brown eyes with genotype Bb, their offspring will theoretically be 25% BB, 50% Bb, and 25% bb. Since B is dominant, the foal will have a 75% chance of having brown eyes, and a 25% chance of having blue eyes. In reality, it is not quite this simple, as there are multiple genes that affect eye color. Also, I’m not a cat geneticist.

Genetics of coat color

Horse coat color is multifactorial (determined by several different genes) but we do have the knowledge to predict the possible coat colors we could get based on the genotypes of both parents. About 5,000 years ago, all horses were Black or Bay. How boring, right? But then a spontaneous mutation in a gene named KIT occurred, which resulted in cool white spotting patterns. Humans, being attracted to new and unique things, thought this was pretty neat so we kept it. That is, our ancestors collected the mutant white-spotted horses and bred them, resulting in more white patterned horses. This is how Sabino, Roan, and Tobiano coat patterns all came about.

The next question I asked Dr. Brooks was ‘OK, so how did Dr. Lacher get a Chestnut foal out of 2 Bay parents?’ I know Bay (Black allele “E”) is dominant and Chestnut (Red allele “e”) is recessive. She explained that just like in our eye color example above, the possibilities for a foal of two Ee parents would be 25% EE, 50% Ee, and 25% ee. Since E is dominant, the foal will have a 75% chance of being Bay and a 25% chance of being Chestnut. Now that makes a lot of sense!

Even with all of our current knowledge, and despite knowing the genotype and phenotype of both parents, it is still impossible to predict coat color 100%. That’s because spontaneous mutations, like the ones that occur on the KIT gene, can occur at any time. Coat color genetics will certainly keep you on your toes!

Genetics of disease

Learning how to identify diseases—and thus how to prevent and treat them— is the focus of most current research in equine genetics. Ever since it was discovered that HYPP was a heritable genetic disease found in Quarter Horses descended from the stallion Impressive, it has been a focus of the AQHA and its members to eliminate this disease from the population. Knowing the genetic mechanisms of other diseases can help us to selectively breed them out of horses as well. Similarly, knowing which genes are affected in a certain disease can help in developing treatments targeted at the specific proteins or pathways affected by those genes.

Did you know that there are dozens of tests available for equine genetic diseases? Did you know that most equine genetic testing only requires a sample of hair from your horse’s mane or tail? Did you know that your breed registry may offer discounts on genetic testing for its members? Well, now you do! You’re welcome.

Amongst her many research projects, Dr. Brooks is doing a study on Anhidrosis (non-sweaters) with some interesting early results. If you own a non-sweater, please consider enrolling your horse in her study. You could be a part of the first effective treatment for Anhidrosis! Call our clinic for more information on this.

That’s the extent of what I recall from Dr. Brooks’ brilliant and informative seminar, but this is only a fraction of the information she presented. In case you missed it, head on over to my YouTube channel where you can re-play the live video. Also, check out my next See-Tony event, the Deworming Seminar to be held here on March 8th at 6:30 pm!

Until next week,

Tony

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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21st Century Horse Shoes

21st Century Horse Shoes

Feb 6, 2018 | Hoof Care, Shoeing

Tuesdays with Tony

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: every few months my Docs and a bunch of farriers get together and spend a few hours learning from each other about the wild, weird world of horse shoes and feet. I think this is a great idea since I get an extra evening of humans entertaining me. I have also found exploring farrier trucks and trailers to be an enjoyable pastime. What I have learned from these evenings is: 1. Horses seem to have a lot of problems with their feet, 2. There are a whole bunch of ways to deal with said problems, 3. The problems encountered in Number 1 are best approached by a veterinary/farrier team. In my ongoing efforts to educate you humans about your horses, this week we’re going to talk about horse shoes.

Understanding the problem

In the realm of things done strangely, the equine foot takes the cake. While most of us have a foot made up of 4-5 different finger type things, the horse has to be different. They go with one finger, surround it with fingernail, and land on the tip. I’m not surprised problems happen. I am surprised at how diverse those problems can be. I’m also surprised at how much basic physics are involved in those problems. A little push here, a degree or two off there, add a bit of rotation to it, and Viola! You have one screwed-up foot.

A deeper understanding of the problem

Putting the veterinarian and the farrier in the same location at the same time while watching the horse move lets them talk about what each one sees. The veterinarian may have found that the horse improves when the heels are blocked with lidocaine. The farrier noticed that the horse puts a whole lot of wear on the outside branch of the shoe. Looking at an x-ray of the foot together, the veterinarian sees some arthritis developing, and both of them notice that the joint space isn’t even across the coffin joint. Between the two of them, they can now talk about what may work to address the problem. Even better, when the Docs and the farriers work together, an x-ray can be taken during the shoeing process to make sure the shoe is exactly where it needs to be.

Put a shoe on it (or maybe not)

I have learned that doing the basics well is sooo important. That’s a free life lesson from Tony, right there. With feet that means a good trim. See several previous excellent blogs I’ve written about what a good trim looks like. Horses being horses, sometimes they need more than a good trim can offer. That’s where shoes come in. Shoes help protect areas from getting worn down too much. For example, a club-footed horse wears off their toe very quickly, which makes the club foot worse. A simple shoe protecting the toe can do wonders for these horses. Shoes can add support where it’s needed. For example, a horse who toes out will push their inside hoof wall under the foot. By setting the shoe a little bit to the outside of that inside wall, we keep that weight bearing where it’s supposed to be.

New and Exciting stuff

Now for the exciting part of shoes! There are shoes available that help treat specific issues your horse may have. These shoes are based on how tendons, ligaments, joints, and bones interact in the leg. Then a dash of physics (ok, way more than a dash) is applied. This leads to a shoe with wide parts in some areas, skinny parts in other areas, and all kinds of odd looking things that all have a role to play. My Docs brought in an expert on these shoeing principles for one of these farrier parties. It was so fascinating! I never imagined horseshoeing could be so enthralling.

Want to be sure you’re doing all you can for your horse’s feet? My Docs are more than happy to talk feet with you ANYTIME!! And now I’m off to nap on a good book about equine anatomy.

Until next week,

Tony

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Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Office Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!