worried about claudia

[Deleted]

when she came back for stud she was obese so we have had her on a strict diet and shes lost loads and is extremely fit but.... She started itching quite badly and we though it was the alfa a as i know a few others that it made itch so i took her off that and she seemed to stop itching as much. So shes now on graze on (dried grass) spillers cool mix and sugar beet which i thought would be a good diet as she is doing quite alot of work and is still dropping weight. But tonight iv noticed her itching again quite badly, i need to up her feed because she cant drop anymore weight but im frightened its the food thats making her itch.
Iv done her with lice powder, on with worming her now, shes clipped so needs rugging but she doesnt feel too hot which might make her itch.
Shes on grazing all day and haylage on a night but shes not eating all of her net which isnt helping the weight issue.
Now this pony is normally a nightmare to keep slim but now im wanting to give her the food she needs for the amount of work shes doing but i darent.
I might try her with hay instead of hay.
Blood tests are out of the question unless ABSOLUTLY necessary as she tries to kill the vet.
Any ideas anyone, please.
Jo x

[Debbie]

If it were me, I'd be dropping the feeds completely out, and then reintroducing the feeds one item at a time to see if it removed the itching. I was sure someone on here mentioned that even the speedi beet can cause a reaction in some ponies....not surprising, as it seems everything under the sun can cause an allergic reaction in someone

Also, you might look into introducing oil to the feeds as a high energy/slow release type food. It doesn't take much to replace the calorie content you'd get equally with grain. And the lack of oil (and the fat soluable vitamins) might even be a root problem with the itching.

[dollylanedales]

Molly is always very itchy, and I do suspect it could be feed with high sugars in, and alfa products I also wonder about. Unfortunately she does not keep weight on in winter, and if she has haylage instead of hay, she loses even more! I give her conditoning mix and also alfa beet, which I find do help. She is not thin, no ribs showing or anything, but she loses weight from her back end mainly.

I know the problem of blood tests too, as Molly hates needles, and leads the vet a right dance!!

[nars]

Jo,
what does the vet advise? Have you spoken with any help lines such as Top Spec or D&G? Maybe she has developed an allergy to something in the feeds.

[Daftmare]

Equivite body builder is good stuff and it doesnt contain sugar or grain so you can feed it with just fibre and a vit supplement.