Re: [RC] DO NOT FEED BEET PULP DRY - Part 1 - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.
>This is a post for anyone deciding
to feed beet pulp. I know the directions and many advocates >say you can feed
dry....BUT DO NOT FEED DRY!!!! SOAK!!!!
>In
summary, there has been many testimonials of choke, and in addition to choke,
beet pulp if fed dry, can >absorb
the moisture out of the gut and cause colic. This has happened to me w/
beet pulp not soaked >enough.
Please soak the beet pulp, don't pay attention to claims of feeding dry.
>Erica
DeVoti
Okay, let’s review this point by
point from a physiologic point of view.
“In summary, there have been many
testimonials of choke…” Yes, horses can choke on beet
pulp. Dry or wet. They can also choke on hay, grass, pellets of any
composition, grass, carrots, apples and darn near anything else they can stuff
down their face. Based on *peer-reviewed
data* (as opposed to “testimonials” which I venture to
guess verge on the shall we say, highly emotional and not particularly
objective), the most common source of obstruction is hay, followed by pellets of
any composition, followed by grain, followed by everything else, including beet
pulp. If we removed all foodstuffs likely to cause the occasional choke,
then I suggest horses may be heretofor restricted to items off the Jamba Juice
smoothie menu. Tasty, but not very sensible.
“…in addition, beet pulp, if
fed dry, can absorb moisture out of the gut and cause colic…”
Yup, beet pulp soaks up moisture in the gut. So does hay, grain, bran,
and anything else that hits the stomach. That’s what digestion does---whenever
*anything* hits the stomach and
subsequently small intestine, the GI tract responds by secreting a large amount
of assorted fluids. Saliva, electrolytes (more in ruminants than in
horses), gastric juices, enzymes, bile from the liver, bicarb from the
pancreas, etc, etc etc. Gallons of the stuff, which is later reabsorbed
mostly in the large colon a few hours later. The stomach is in part
evolved to be a holding tank to mix assorted fluids with ingested food, and
doesn’t get released into the duodenum until the whole mess is of a
particular osmolarity--- a fancy word for “diluted”. Where
does all that fluid come from? From the extracellular compartment, ie,
the fluid portion of blood volume. Assuming the horse is not clinically
dehydrated at the time, and has free access to drinking water, then this is all
*normal and expected*. Beet
pulp, dry or not, doesn’t just absorb fluid from inside the GI tract and
somehow leave it all caked up and blocked. A much more likely scenario is
that in some circumstances (such as during an endurance ride), too much fluid
is shunted to the GI tract, leaving plasma volume depleted. So feeding *every* food during a distance ride wet and
sloppy is a good idea, just as a way to supply food already “pre-diluted”.
But not because dry food will somehow “dehydrate” everything inside
the GI tract. It just doesn’t work that way.
I appreciate concerns for other horses,
and open discussion is great, but maybe understand equine gastroenterology
before anyone goes trumpeting dire warnings, eh?
