Psyllium Question

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Hosscrazy

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Is there any reason why I should not feed my horses wet psyllium? I've always fed it dry (powdered) mixed with sweetfeed, but I'm changing my feeding program and the only thing I can mix it with would be my pelleted feed, which needs to be soaked in water. So instead of a dry mix, I'm giving my guys a wet mashy-type mix. Is this okay or could they choke on this mix?

Liz R.
 
In my opinion, dry psyllium will probably have more absorbency to pull in the moisture and sand from the digestive tract. I give my horses the pelleted psyllium, though, so maybe it's different. I think if the psyllium is already wet and expanded, it might not do the job, sort of like a soggy sponge won't absorb any more. Does that make any sense? I think the mash mix will be easy to swallow, though.

Pam
 
Oh, I didn't even think of that! You are sure right! I just called Farnam - and you are correct - it won't help at all if it's wet...

Well, let me see what else I can figure out! Thanks!!!

Liz R.
 
Hi,

I have been wondering if I should use psyllium with my horses. It has been so dry that I am afraid they are ingesting dirt and sand.

Any special brand? How much.

Debbie
 
just remember with metimucial you have to give ALOT much more then the dose for a human since a human isnt using it to pick up and remove sand in our guts
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so it really doesnt end up being much cheaper at all when you give the proper amount
 
That is why I buy a Generic brand
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Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis said:
just remember with Metamucil you have to give ALOT much more then the dose for a human since a human isn't using it to pick up and remove sand in our guts
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  so it really doesn't end up being much cheaper at all when you give the proper amount
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I feed beet pulp but I didn't know it got rid of the Sand.

Does it?

I use Sand Blast for that. (FYI: The instructions on Sandblast say not to put water in with it at all) .
 
Hosscrazy said:
Is there any reason why I should not feed my horses wet psyllium? I've always fed it dry (powdered) mixed with sweetfeed, but I'm changing my feeding program and the only thing I can mix it with would be my pelleted feed, which needs to be soaked in water. So instead of a dry mix, I'm giving my guys a wet mashy-type mix. Is this okay or could they choke on this mix?
Liz R.

474043[/snapback]

I live in Fl. where we have lots of sand colic, I feed my big horses 1 cup twice a week spaced out by a few days the little ones about 1/4 c. I get a generic brand orange flavored they like that better. Kathy
 
My little palomino mare had a serious build up of sand. She was testing a tablespoon of sand twice a day.

I used the walmart brand of metamucil, and later discovered "from this forum" that the FIRST ingredient is SUGAR.

It took 2 months of the walmart brand to finally clear her out so she was testing with very little sand.

I did the math and it was a lot cheaper and worked faster to buy the Eckele brand of PURE Psyllium. I use it for 7 days and it removes all but a trace of sand.

The first sign she had alot of sand was loose stools. I tried EVERYTHING before I did a sand test. Now at the first sign of loose stools I DO THE TEST.

The "Horse Journal" recommends powdered over pellets in their study.
 
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I also use the generic brand from Wal Mart. My vet said a lot of people use that because the horses seem to like that orange flavor. He said a big horse gets 5 TB, 5 consecutive days per month. I give mine 2.5 TB(dry)with one of their meals.
 
When we lived in the cooold north, up by Chicago, I fed all my horses feed as warm mashes. The first time I added psyllium to this.........went back a couple of hours later and here in Dinah's bucket was a SKINNED DEAD MOUSE!
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At least thats what I thought it was
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Turned out it was the glump of psyllium! Now I have been told that is what it does in the horse's intestine and the soft gel mass is what picks up and pushes the sand on out. I've been told it doesn't matter whether you feed it wet or dry, it still forms this gel mass............but around here, once is soaks up water and forms the gel my horses won't touch it. So I feed it dry.

So that's my psyllium story
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Charlotte
 
I looked into Metamucil - they do make a sugar free version (orange flavored) but it has aspartame in it. I prefer not to feed aspartame to my guys.

I've always used Equi-Aid powder and mixed it with sweetfeed. My mare Misty just died from Cushings Disease/IR (insulin resistance) and it looks like her son (Cody) has inherited the IR - I will get the test results back this week. So for now, I have him off all sugar.

Equi-Aid and Sand Clear make a pelleted/crumbled version, but it has apple & molasses flavoring added. I called Farnam, but they do not know the amount of sugar that is added to the product.

I think what I might do for now is pull my guys off the psyllium completely until I get the blood test results back on Cody. If he is IR, I need to either find a creative way to feed him psyllium, or get the pellets/crumbles & have them tested at Dairy One for sugar/starch content.

Boy, and this used to be so easy...
 
Liz, you might check the archives on the EC list and see if you can find reference to whole flax seed having a psyllium-type effect. After all, psyllium is just basically plant husk/fiber. Some reports indicate that whole flax seed will produce the same sand-clearing result because it forms a gelatinous ooze in the digestive tract. I live in Florida with lots of sand, feed whole flax one week out of every month (the rest of the month it is freshly ground) and do manure tests that return negative for sand. Flax seed is on the OK list for I/R horses and also provides beneficial essential fatty acids.

I think this theory probably has some validity, because if you cook whole flax seed, it does turn into a gloppy, gooey mess.

Robin C
 
whole flax seed
Excellent suggestion, Robin!!! I now remember coming across some reference a few months ago - will search around & see what I can find!
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