Clinical nutrition counselling service in the veterinary hospital: retrospective analysis of equine patients and nutritional considerations

Abstract

SummaryNutrition plays a very important role in the healthy and in the ill horse. Although research in this field clearly shows that incorrect nutritional practices may lead to severe pathologies, inappropriate feeding plans often continue to be used. A clinical nutrition counselling (CNC) service could thus be of great use to both horse owners and veterinarians. The aim of this study was to provide information on equine patients referred to the CNC service of the University of Turin and to provide standard dietary protocols as used in our Veterinary Teaching Hospital for the most common nutrition-related pathologies. The data were obtained by retrospective analysis of the nutritional records of referred equine patients. The data collected included information about anamnesis, nutritional assessment, current diet, referring person and follow-up of each patient. Sixty-one horses were included in the study. The majority were adult males. The most common breeds were the Italian Saddle Horse and the Friesian Horse. Old horses (>19 years) had a statistically lower BCS than brood mares or other adult horses (p < 0.01). The most common nutritional pathologies were chronic weight loss (CWL), chronic diarrhoea (CD) and equine gastric ulcer syndrome. All horses received first-cut meadow hay; 85% also ate concentrates. Young horses (<2 years) received more hay as a percentage of body weight (BW) than old horses or adults. The hay percentage of BW per day given to animals with CWL was statistically higher than those with CD (p < 0.01). The concentrate percentage of BW given to old horses was statistically lower compared to that given to young horses (p < 0.05). The concentrate percentage of BW per day given to horses with colic was statistically higher than that given to horses with CD (p < 0.05). 28% of cases were referred by the owner and 72% by a veterinarian. Follow-up evaluation was deemed to be 'good' in 92% cases and 'poor' in 8%. In summary, the CNC service could provide an epidemiological observatory to study the prevalence of nutritional issues in the equine population.

Effects of total parenteral nutrition associated with glutamine, enteral fluid therapy, with or without glutamine, and fluid therapy on the lipidogram of horses subjected to starvation after laparotomy

“…In horses, VLDL is the major transporter of triglycerides and contains about 57% triglycerides and 15% phospholipids (Watson et al, 1993). Thus, the elevation of VLDL occurs concomitantly with that observed with triglycerides, corroborating the data obtained in this study, since VLDL is the main transporter of triglycerides in horses.…”

“…The observed HDL activity agrees with the results of Bauer et al (1990) in a group of ponies subjected to food deprivation. Watson et al (1993) demonstrated that HDL corresponds to 61%, VLDL 24% and LDL 15% of the lipoproteins in healthy horses that are not deprived of food, not being influenced by food restriction in their serum activity. In horses, most plasma cholesterol is in HDL, unlike in humans where most of it is found in the VLDL and LDL fractions (Ileri-Büyükoglu and Güldür, 2005).…”

“…Food intake is an intermittent process; however, the body consumes energy continuously. Horses adapt well to short periods of fasting using their stores of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, in addition to activating neuroendocrine mechanisms capable of reducing energy expenditure as well as preserving body protein (Melo et al, 2011;Vergnano et al, 2017). Decreased appetite and/or inability to feed are common findings in horses with different conditions, quickly leading to malnutrition and impaired immune function and tissue repair (Melo et al, 2008;Carr, 2018).…”

Evaluation of Two Equations for Prediction of Digestible Energy in Mixed Feeds and Diets for Horses

“…Taking Equation (1) as an example, the prediction error when feeding a horse of 500 kg body weight undergoing light exercise would translate into 1 kg weight loss every 10 days if fed a low energy diet, or 1 kg weight gain every 16 days if fed a high energy diet [17]. Such errors could deviate body weight and body condition score from ideal values and negatively affect horse health and performance in the medium term [36], and should be taken into account in specialized equine nutrition counseling [37]. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that in the 18 mixed feeds and diets whose digestible energy was within one standard deviation of the mean (which corresponded to a crude fiber content between 16.5 and 28.5% dry matter), the mean error of estimation would be reduced to 4.77 ± 3.51% and 5.30 ± 4.06% with Equations ( 1) and ( 2), respectively, or approximately ±120 kcal/kg dry matter.…”

Effect of pony morphology and hay feeding methods on back and neck postures

“…In fact, sport horses in particular are often fed diets rich in cereal‐based complementary feeds coupled with reduced availability of forage (Henderson, 2007; Raspa et al, 2022). This type of feeding practice could be linked to the deep‐rooted beliefs on feeding management of sport horses that persist amongst some stable managers and owners (Harris, 1999), but it could also be a consequence of reduced nutritional understanding amongst veterinarians, who are often the first source of advice (Vergnano et al, 2017). Such feeding regimens increase the risk of gastrointestinal problems and may be associated with the development of stereotypies (Durham, 2009; Hothersall & Nicol, 2009).…”