Clinical Veterinary Perspective-Stress - TechMix Global

Clinical Veterinary Perspective-Stress

Home Equine Clinical Veterinary Perspective-Stress

June 20, 2025

|By Carl Larson, DVM

Clinical Veterinary Perspective-Stress

Animal welfare advocacy has steadily increased during my time in veterinary practice, and the 5 primary tenets serving as the basis for determination of welfare include:

  • Freedom from hunger and thirst
  • Freedom from discomfort
  • Freedom from pain, injury, or disease
  • Freedom to express normal behaviors
  • Freedom from fear and distress

As people involved with animals, we are obligated to uphold these basic standards.

 

As a veterinarian, I have seen the whole spectrum. I’ve worked with people who love their animals and put almost everything they have toward their care and still struggle to meet these standards. I’ve worked with people who personally think they are doing very well with their animals but seem oblivious to what the majority of people would consider acceptable, as if they don’t know any better. I’ve seen people adamantly opposed to being told they should have a look at certain interventions for their animals, and I’ve seen people go above and beyond to the point I’m genuinely envious of the situation in which their animals live! I’ve seen production animal operations thrive when these concepts were embraced, and I’ve seen others go out of business, in part because they considered these freedoms optional. What is missing when these 5 freedoms are present? Stress. And it pays dividends for the animals as well as their owners.

 

We can all relate to the impact of stress because we know how it feels and what happens to our bodies when it is too intense, too long, or both. Human or animal, stress comes when basic needs are not met, when the perception of scarcity overwhelms the perception of abundance, and most if not all, of those basic needs fit within one of the five freedoms listed above. Horses are uniquely hardwired for strong fight-or-flight responses, and are renowned for allowing things to stress them out! Animals express stress when they are hungry or thirsty, when they are uncomfortable physically or socially, when they are in pain, restricted from engaging in normal behaviors for their species, and when they are fearful. Among many other consequences the negative impact of stress can include:

  • Decrease in appetite
  • Susceptibility to illness
  • Drops in production or performance
  • Undesirable behaviors emerge
  • Decreased body condition
  • Dull physical appearances
  • Reproductive underperformance

Various nutritional interventions (in addition to adequate quantity and quality) can play a role in alleviating stress or helping to recover from stressful events. Supplementing electrolytes can help prevent and treat dehydration by preventing the anxiety of thirst, provided that adequate water is available. Additional safe, “cool” calories like fats rather than carbohydrates, can decrease anxious behaviors and improve body condition while also providing the extra energy to support the immune system and other body systems that get deprioritized during times of stress. Trace vitamins and minerals in a good ration balancer can ensure proper functioning of all body systems to minimize the risk of illness. Some components like thiamine and tryptophan among others are known to have calming effects, thus reducing stress and the possibility of experiencing negative physical consequences of stress. Supplementing with bovine colostrum also appears to have a calming benefit, likely from multiple effects, such as reducing potential stomach pain from ulcers or intestinal discomfort. Bovine colostrum contains inherently calming bioactive compounds that trigger satiation receptors, and more.

Consistently providing abundance to our animals… having no scarcity or competition for feed or water, no scarcity of important nutrients, no scarcity of space, no scarcity of opportunities to engage in natural behaviors or escape from real or perceived threats, all these provisions contribute to keeping our animals in a state of ease rather than disease.

In my experience, horses that have been though stressful periods have really benefitted from TechMix Restart® Builder, Colostru-Boost® Recovery Pellet, and Equine Bluelite®. Clients have commented on observing calmer demeanors of typically nervous horses when they have utilized Colostru-Boost Protection Paste. Individually and in combination with one another, these TechMix products help prevent or decrease the level of stress a horse experiences, and helps facilitate speed of recovery from physical symptoms acquired after stressful events.

With you, keeping your animals drinking, eating & producing.

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