[ZipItNita]

Karo syrup is just the name brand name of a company that distributes high fructose corn syrup, and light corn syrup.

Have you ever been really really thirsty, and cracked open a can of Coke, downed it all, and then discovered you were even more thirsty than before, so you drank a butt load of water? It's sortof like that. The syrup acts as a diuretic for the horse, causing him/her to become thirsty, so they drink a ton of water, in essence, flushing their system. It also causes them to urinate more.

[PamelaTX]

Originally Posted by ZipItNita

Karo syrup is just the name brand name of a company that distributes high fructose corn syrup, and light corn syrup.

Have you ever been really really thirsty, and cracked open a can of Coke, downed it all, and then discovered you were even more thirsty than before, so you drank a butt load of water? It's sortof like that. The syrup acts as a diuretic for the horse, causing him/her to become thirsty, so they drink a ton of water, in essence, flushing their system. It also causes them to urinate more.

Yes, know what Karo syrup is. I was just wondering HOW that helped with HYPP. No, when I'm really thirsty I don't down coke, I drink water!! lol But I see your point.
So the more hydrated they become the better during an attack??

[ZipItNita]

Yeah, pretty much.
The more you can get things flushing through the blood stream, the better. So, anything we can use to make them drink and pee more to get everything flushing out, will be used. Lol.

Karo is like... a staple mark of owning HyPP horses, you always gotta have it.

I'm just lucky my mare actually likes the stuff. Every other horse in the barn smells it... licks a speck, and then flails their head around like WHAT THE EFF DID YOU JUST GIVE ME WOMAN.

[noreins]

Haha, I know a guy who breeds and trains halter horses ( and judges them too) and he has enough Karo to open a store

My friends NH mare hates having anything put in her mouth... but she doesn't have bad attacks.

Hooker's half brother does though, he ends up on the ground and can't get up.

[JBandRio]

Originally Posted by Roleysnewmom

so is HYPP predominately in QH and QH crosses? You stated Impressive was the only stud found to have started the problem but that there hasn't been much testing through other breeds? I've never known much about hypp and have been curious.. Is this something I might need to worry about with my nat'l show horse?

If the horse doesn't trace to Impressive, there isn't HYPP. This includes Appendix, QH, Paint, Appy, Quarab, and ANY horse who has ANY blood that traces to Impressive. Think of how many mutts of absolutely unknown breeding there are out there.

Now, that said, is it possible that a horse not related to Impressive *at all* could also have the same mutation? Possible, yes. Likely? No. No example of that has shown up - so far. They might be out there and the owner had zero idea why their horse suddenly died.

Also, what ARE the symptoms of an attack? Is it basically like a human seizure? Just tensing up all over and basically being paralyzed? Also, obviously there are variations in the horses that do and dont have attacks even if they are HH, but are there variations in the attacks themselves? Could two HH horses that both have attacks have them by varying degrees? For instance one horse has very mild attacks whereas the other could be completely debilitated by his?

http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/hypp.php
http://www.aqha.com/association/registration/hypp.html
http://www.bringinglighttohypp.org/

Originally Posted by ZipItNita

Karo syrup is just the name brand name of a company that distributes high fructose corn syrup, and light corn syrup.

Have you ever been really really thirsty, and cracked open a can of Coke, downed it all, and then discovered you were even more thirsty than before, so you drank a butt load of water? It's sortof like that. The syrup acts as a diuretic for the horse, causing him/her to become thirsty, so they drink a ton of water, in essence, flushing their system. It also causes them to urinate more.

Since the effects of Kayro syrup, or any syrup like that, is often immediate, it has nothing to do with subsequent water consumption The syrup lowers the blood potassium level by supplying a sugar source, which in turn causes an increase in glucose and potassium absorption by causing an increase in insulin production. It's very similar to what happens when Type I diabetics drink OJ or something else sugary - nearly immediate response.

That's why feeding whole grains can benefit these horses - the sugars in the grains provides glucose which causes insulin to be produced, which therefore causes an increase in potassium uptake - out of blood circulation

[ZipItNita]

Thanks for the correction. I'll have to chat about that with my vet. I think he 'dumbed it down' for me, assuming I wouldn't be able to understand the REAL reason you use Karo. I may be seventeen, but my mind is a sponge. >.>