Ask The Equine Nutritionist

I have a senior horse with kidney disease and her protein intake and quality is crucial in maintaining her quality of life(for now ). Now my question is, what protein source should I be feeding? I assume it should be something that can be fed in very small amounts in order to avoid producing to much waste in liver and kidneys. I'm thinking flaxseed or soybean meal? But I'm not sure which one would be best or how much of it to feed. I know she doesn't need a lot of protein, I feed:

3 lbs of Purina high fat high fiber and 0.5 lbs whole flax a day
She is on free choice timothy/alfalfa hay (70/30).
She drinks a lot of water!!!! She drinks 2x what the other horses drink.
She is in great shape and worked daily. The diet is working ok so far for her kidneys but i am always worried about feeding her the optimal diet .

Feeding horses with failing kidneys is always hard. The flax is better than the soybean meal.

Try to use hay that has as little alfalfa in it as possible. Allow her to drink all she wants, plenty of water reduces the strain on the kidneys to filter out waste products.

Good Luck, this is one area where you need to work closely with your veterinarian.


Dr. Melyni Worth Ph.D. - 2004 (c)

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