Gelding with weight problems

[Keri]

My buckskin gelding was a stallion up until last August. He was a harder keeper as most stallions were when they pace and walk the weight off. So he had unlimited food, etc. and did good. Well, last year I gelded him and he was doing just fine. He's top dog in the herd, gets all the food, etc. Well, earlier this year, I noticed he wasn't putting weight on his back like he should've. At this point, he as getting a normal ration of beet pulp and grain with hay (4 cups of beet pulp, 2 cups grain and hay). So I upped his portions to 6 cups of beet pulp, 4 cups grain, oil and hay (all my horses are separated when they eat). Still not much improvement. So I stalled him. Gave him those portions, except I switched to equine senior. He's getting 6 cups of equine senior, 6 cups beet pulp, oil, 1 cup of power phat, and unlimited hay. This has been for the past month and a half and he's not really gaining any weight. And these are big horse portions. I feed him something 3 times a day. And some days, he's getting more equine senior. He is 6 years old. He eats everything in sight too! He has his normal energy still. Lots of spunk, loves to jump, etc. I'm taking him to a show this weekend. Didn't know he was going to be on the thinner side, but he isn't horrible looking. But he should be more fat with the portions he's eating.

So I'm going to get blood work done next week on him. What I'm wondering is has anyone experienced this??? Should I ask the vet to check something specifically?? I'm really afraid something is the matter with him. His teeth are a bit sharp and he's due for his float this year. But I'm not overly concerned about that since he is eating everything. Any ideas???

 

[Reble]

usually the opposite occurs, gains weight, maybe just loose minerals could help.

 

[whitney]

check for ulcer

 

[Keri]

He has access to a really good all around salt block. And licks it a lot. I'll have the vet check for ulcers. Thanks! He's never gotten ulcers before and he hasn't been under any type of stress. But who knows???

 

[JourneysEnd]

Usually if you have ulcers they don't feed everything they see.

3rd stage incrusted strongyles (sorry about the spelling) will cause weight loss no matter how much you feed.

No matter how well you worm, this can happen. Have the vet pull a fecal.

 

[Keri]

Hmm...How can the worms be treated?? I keep up on his worming every 6-8 weeks. Does the vet have to do some type of special treatment??

 

[Magic]

Encysted strongyles can be treated with a five-day double dosing of Fenbendazole. I don't know if a fecal egg count would show any encysted worms, since they are, well, encysted. It could very well be his teeth as well.