my horse is not allowed protine

Question
my horse is a 14 year old mare and has recently had a liver infection and the vet has recomented not to give her and protien in her feed. at the moment she is havin a sugatbeet diet but she cant stay on a sugarbeet all her life so can you help me think of a sutable diet for her many thanks simone

Answer
Hi Simone,  You need to provide energy and protein in a form that doesn't rely on liver metabolism, so as not to stress the liver any more than needed.  Vitamins A,D,E, and K should be supplemented, these are usually released by the liver in to the bloodstream.  A good source of vitamin B is Brewer's Yeast.  You may also try an oral vit. B supplement (about 5 cc's per day) and ascorbic acid C.  You can get most of these vit. supplements at your feed store.  Short branched-chain amino acids (valine, isoleucine, and leucine) are easily utilized as a source of energy and protein.  You should have high levels of soluble carbohydrates and low protein in the diet.  The protein should have maximal amounts of short branched-chain amino acids.  Grass hay, oat hay, sorghum (milo), and corn are suitable feeds.  Avoid legume hay, (alfalfa and clover), soybeans, and oats.  Feed small amounts often.  Also use feeds high in starch to decrease the need for hepatic glucose synthesis.  No fat and salt.  Small amounts of molasses may be added to make feed more palatable, but only small amounts.  Linseed meal has excellent branched-chain amino acids to aromic amino acid ratio and may be used as protein supplementation in small quantities.  Soaked beet pulp may be a substitute for oat or grass hay if you can't get the latter two.  Grazing pastures are fine.  Check with your vet to see if your horse can have grain, if so the lowest amount of protein I know of in grain is 10%, so I would stick with that.  If you can find lower then I would go with the lowest protein you could find.  You will just need to read the labels on the grain bags to be sure of the amounts of carbs, fat, protein etc.  Hope this has helped, good luck!  Jessica