{"id":6379,"date":"2021-09-15T09:37:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T07:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ehorses.com\/magazine\/?post_type=news&amp;p=6379"},"modified":"2021-09-15T09:37:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T07:37:07","slug":"should-we-give-up-on-starving-horses","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.ehorses.com\/magazine\/news\/should-we-give-up-on-starving-horses\/","title":{"rendered":"Should We Give Up On Starving Horses?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Researchers have found that successful recovery from starvation can improve a horses body condition on the nine-point body scale. But the horses ranking on the body scale already plays a big role in their chances of survival. So should we start starving horses that we can&#8217;t save?<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=&#8221;3&#8243; images=&#8221;6382,6381&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221;][vc_column_text]\u00a9 Images: Poulin Grain<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When it comes to diagnosing a <strong>horses survival rate after starvation,<\/strong> their <strong>body condition<\/strong> plays a major part. For every point <strong>higher<\/strong> they score on the Henneke body condition scale, they&#8217;re <strong>more likely to survive<\/strong>. But while <strong>body weight, rectal temperature and white blood cell counts<\/strong> can support a horse&#8217;s diagnosis, Jennie Ivey, assistant director and equine specialist at the University of Tennessee, says the <strong>body condition score is the only way to predict if an animal will survive the first 100 days after starvation.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>Starved horses, donkeys and mules<\/strong> usually have a <strong>difficult<\/strong> time <strong>recovering<\/strong> from <strong>starvation<\/strong>, as their stomach can <strong>no longer handle<\/strong> the large amounts of <strong>nonstructured carbohydrates<\/strong> needed to <strong>gain weight.<\/strong> As a result of starvation, and then not being able to handle carbohydrates, the animals can develop a <strong>fatal refeeding syndrome.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]On a mission to find <strong>early signs<\/strong> that indicate which horses <strong>might survive<\/strong> the recovery period, researchers found a few factors that could help predict their chances of survival. They found that white blood cells were higher, and that body temperature was lower, in horses that <strong>didn&#8217;t survive<\/strong>. Even so, these differences aren&#8217;t <strong>significant<\/strong> enough to completely dismiss the body condition scale. <strong>Their findings<\/strong>: every point higher the horses score on the nine-point body condition scale, they\u2019re nearly <strong>15 times more likely to survive.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Ivey states that refeeding horses, mules and donkeys can be a <strong>huge challenge,<\/strong> so its important to consider whether it&#8217;s worth going the route of <strong>extended therapeutic efforts<\/strong> to save a malnourished horse, and if <strong>taking the risk<\/strong> of <strong>decreasing<\/strong> the <strong>welfare<\/strong> of the animal really is the<strong> best choice.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Study\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jevs.2020.103370\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cClinical Factors Associated With Survival Outcomes in Starved Equids: A Retrospective Case Series,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0was published in the\u00a0<em>Journal of Equine Veterinary Science<\/em>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Researchers have found that successful recovery from starvation can improve a horses body condition on&hellip;","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":6385,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6379","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equestrianism"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Should We Give Up On Starving Horses? - ehorses Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Horses ranking on the body scale already plays a big role in their survival rate. 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