I am feeding my friend's horses while she is
out of the country. She had a hair analysis done on her 12 y.o. mare on the
recommendation of the Homeopathic chiro/accupuncturist vet. He prescribed
coconut soya oil, and a liquid silica supplement, plus a myriad of other
things that my friend said not to worry about. Is there a specific reason for
coconut oil? Do horses in tropical climates eat coconuts(Howard?) And is
silica deficiency common? This poor girl is losing her appetite with all this
vile stuff he wants her to be fed!! Thanks for any insight!
There was a time when everybody got all excited
about hair analysis to determine everything from the overall health of the
animal down to which astrolgical sign the ideal rider was and whether the tack
should be pink or purple. There are *some* things that can be determined
by examining the hair shaft, follicles, etc, but it's not all encompassing and
not very accurate---there's just not that much stuff that will show up in the
hair. Anyway, about the only difference between coconut oil and other
types of vegetable oil is that coconut is a lot more saturated. No other
significant differences worth the extra cost, and I can't think of any
particular advantages to a saturated vegetable oil either, other than it won't
go rancid *quite* as quickly as an unsaturated oil.
Silica deficiency, no such thing. Plants
and grasses normally contain average between 1-4% silicates dry weight (some
higher), but it has no specific role in the body. In the plant, it
provides cell wall stability and thus adds to the non-digestible fiber portion
of forage, which in turn maintains gut motility. So if your horse is
having troubles with gut motility, by all means provide him with more "silica"
and throw him another flake of hay. But add it from a bottle?
Please. If anything, too much silica in the diet of small
animals (or humans) can cause kidney or bladder stones. Sorry, your
friend's getting rip......no, I won't say that. Let's say that IMO, your
friend is doing a fine job of helping pay off the homeopath's student loans as
rapidly as possible. <g>
Got no argument against chiropractic or
accupuncture, but remember folks, vets do NOT get any nutrition training to
speak of in vet school. A few hours and that's it. Some vets are
great nutritionists, in fact most of the top nutritionists in the world are
(also) DVMs, but it's not a given.
Susan G