at wit's end

[Charlene]

i am ready to chuck it all. once again, red is suffering explosive diarrhea. i am out there at 5 a.m. in 5 degree weather (i don't EVEN wanna know the wind chill) washing his behind and trying to get frozen poop out of his tail. i can't feel my fingers. my vet left yesterday for a mission trip to haiti. red isn't "ill", he eats fine, moves fine, he just craps everywhere. i switched them all from sweet feed to pellets thinking he was getting too much molasses. i *thought* we were in the clear, no loose poop for weeks and all of a sudden WHAM! and he only gets what amounts to maybe 1/4 cup twice a day. HELP!!!!!!!

my farrier was out monday and i'm satisfied that he trimmed rebel too short. my poor little man does NOT wanna move. he will come out of the barn for his grain but he is reluctant to walk all the way out to the hay feeder. i could KILL that man!! and this has never happened before with him, not in 30+ years. again, no vet. my "back up" vet is useless. i couldn't get him out here in an emergency if my horse's LIFE depended on it. should i give rebel some bute or banamine and if so, how many days can i do that?? i know it will be a matter of letting his feet grow out but in the meantime, it's killing me to see him in pain. HELP!!!!!!!!!

all of this and, i am missing gary so much i can hardly see straight.

 

[Minimor]

Aw Charlene, I'm sorry things aren't going right for you.

As for Rebel's sore feet--some bute or banamine would help his feet feel better, but I'm always reluctant to use it & have the horse walk more/too much on hard or frozen ground. Doing that runs the risk of having him get bruised soles & be lame for a longer time. I've had this happen too, and I try to put the horse somewhere that has soft footing--say a shed or the barn aisle, well bedded with straw or whatever you use--and just let him stay there for a few days until his feet grow out a little. Sometimes it doesn't take very long for the horse to get over being tender. You can put iodine on the soles to help toughen them up. I just don't like to see a horse walking much on hard footing if he's been trimmed too short.

 

[Connie P]

Charlene,

When I got my mares that I'm fostering, both were foundered terribly. I of course soaked there feet numerous times a day (which you will not have to do for a short trim). I also duct taped maxi pads to the bottom of their feet. It gives a great cushion and will help the poor little guy out until his hooves grow out a bit.

Hopefully that will give him some relief.

Hugs!

Connie

 

[Mini Mouse]

Charlene,

When I got my mares that I'm fostering, both were foundered terribly. I of course soaked there feet numerous times a day (which you will not have to do for a short trim). I also duct taped maxi pads to the bottom of their feet. It gives a great cushion and will help the poor little guy out until his hooves grow out a bit. Hopefully that will give him some relief.

Hugs!

Connie

I think the tip about maxi pads is a good idea and then you can give him some banamine. I gave mine banamine for 2 days when my farrier did that.

 

[Warpony]

With a big horse I took care of who got a short trim we used baby diapers (bigger feet, lol). We packed the hooves with poultice clay stuff, put the diapers below that, put a cardboard piece trimmed to fit the hoof on the bottom to give it some strength and then covered it with duct tape. The only problem we had was that once he didn;t need the wraps he was left with grey stick tape residue on the outside of his hoof wall. It worked really well.

 

[Reijel's Mom]

I've dealt with diarrhea quite a bit in the aged riding horses I've had over the years. Everyone told me to put them on a probiotic. I have to say it wasn't the miracle cure that I'd hoped but it might be worth a shot for your little guy.

 

[StellaLenoir]

dang Red!!!!

Charlene I am so sorry red is doing the poo thing again.

If it is any consilation, Silver, who shares Reds issues sometimes.

Gave herself loose poo the last time the vet was out.

I had put the baby and mama in the back yard for brushing and such, Silver was alone in the horse area, but she could see them. She went from perfect........to slightly loose.........to hershy squirts in an hour. The last and most explosive one she did in front of the vet!

He said not to worry, as long as she was eating, drinking and hydrated, what she had done was not what he would call terrible diareah. And what she produced looked like thick chocolate milk.

Silver did this because she was worried about being alone on other side of the fence from the others.

She recovered as soon as they came back.

Maybe Red feels for Rebel and shows it in his poo. OH! he may be WAY sensitive like Silver is.

I would give him some probios, and try not to freak out. Of course you are making sure he is fine as far as drinking ect, and he will be fine! Red is a nervous pooer! (maybe) I really think he and Silver are soul mates, imagine what trouble thier baby would cause! LOL!

Hang in there!!!!

 

[Contessa]

My filly at two months old got severe diarhea because of fresh cut hay be fed to her mom. My vet gave me one dose of probiotic and told me to give her 10 cc's of regular Pepto Bismol every 3-4 hours until is looked like it was firming up. It took almost 3 days but it worked! For an older mini maybe you should up the cc's to about 15.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Oh Charlene, I am so sorry you are going through all of this. Have you tried biosponge, for the diarrhea? You should be able to just stop in at your vet and get some or you can order it on line. I had a 3 year old filly, who was constantly getting the diarreah. I tired probiotics and everything else, the only thing that cleared her up was the biosponge. She is fine now. Here is a link for biosponge http://www.platinumperformance.com/animal/...category_id=162 Hope this helps you. Corinne

 

[Connie Ballard]

Charlene...you can get Probias at most feed stores...Tractor Supply, etc. Its incredible stuff...replaces the good flora in the bowel which balances the system back out to normal. Friends use plain yogurt too says works as well but I havent tried that. Our vet had us hay the horse...no grain till balanced back out with the probias...then add the grains back slowly. If he did well on the sweet feed...I'd go back to that and remember the grain is just a supplement...not the meal...so doesnt have to have much to get his nutrients. It feels weird to just give them hay when they feel like that...feel like I'm leaving out the 'main' part of the meal...but like the nutritionist at Nutrena Feed told me...its just a supplement, not the meal.

I too would just keep Rebel in for few days...you'll be surprised how fast he'll feel better if he's not walking on hard ground in that little time.

Darn...its too cold!!!! Good luck

 

[Charlene]

thanks for the replies, everybody! all 3 of my horses have been on daily probios for months. i started them when red had his first bout of diarrhea. this problem seems to be cyclical. he'll be fine for 2-3 weeks and then WHAM! my vet has suggested deworming for tapeworm but didn't want to do it at the same time i was switching feeds. now, he is out of the country until 1/11 so i will call him the second he returns and see what he thinks.

i have used pepto in the past and will do so again this afternoon.

as for rebel and his sore feet, when i left for work this morning, a couple of hours after feeding, he had walked on down to the hay ring and had even jumped inside of it. i will still get the pads and duct tape and see how he is this afternoon. i'm leaving work at about 2:30 so i'll have plenty of daylight and SUNSHINE to work in.

corinne, is biosponge the same as what probios are?

yep, connie...much too cold to be outside with my hands in water even if the water IS warm!!! OH!

thanks again, everybody!

 

[CKC]

I went through this for 5 years with a filly we bought at a couple months old. Right before she was supposed to be delivered the breeder told me she had loose stool.

Lets just say the next time I hear that I won't be buying that horse. It cost us over $10K to never know what was wrong with her other than... a vet hospital suspected she was allergic to straight grass hay.

She coliced all the time especially, during bad weather. Can't tell you how many times we were out in her stall during a thunderstorm/hail storms, etc. I tried probios and biosponge. Hopefully, one of those products work for you. I think my girl had many many health issues combined. When she was about 3 they found that she had a heart condition. Something that had never been found before. At the time of her last hospital visit it was determined that she couldn't have had colic surgery because she wouldn't have made it through it with the heart condition. She always had diarrhea. I also, had to clean it pretty much everyday. She also, was always in a bad mood which I always said it was due to her health. I felt really bad for her and wish we could have known what her true condition was. We feel good that although, it was a lot of money we did try everything that we knew to do to help her.

Kim

 

[Marty]

OK Charlene take it easy, calm down and have a nice cup of hot tea and re-group.

This is all fixable:

First:

add tons of conditioner to the tail to loosen up the poop. Then dip the tail in two buckets of warm water and swish it around real good to rinse. Then braid the tail under the tail bone. Fold it up and hold it there with a rubber band. Then wrap it with saran wrap or vet wrap. Add a tube sock with a pin if you have one on top of that and more saran wrap. This will keep it out of your way and yourself from getting gross. You can do this in 30 minutes. That will solve that problem.

Next:

Give some probios or Dannon or Yoplait yogurt to try and calm his stomach down.

I would also start a 5 day thingy of Safe Guard; that never hurts

Next:

By all means give a good pain killer for the feet. When they are cut too short, you run the risk of them getting a laminitis attack from stress and pain so do bring on the pain killers.

Soak in warm epsom salts if you can.

Bed deeply in shavings.

Do not let him out.

Put him on Biotin to help speed up hoof growth.

 

[CKC]

oops double post

 

[Millstone Farm]

The bio sponge is a good idea for the diarreah. I have had horses get bad diarreah from ingesting sand, which irritates their gut.

FOr the feet - please give some banamine. The maxi pads are a great idea, too.

Also - you'll need to "toughen" up the feet. I had a farrier tell me once to put iodine on the sore areas. It hardens the hoof. Just be VERY careful NOT to get it on the coronet band, as it will irritate it.

Good luck!

 

[whitney]

Just a word of caution about giving the pain killers they may make the stomach problem WORSE they irritate the stomach and may cause ulcers. If the horse is walking without the pain killers I wouldn't give them.

Whats worked really well for me is DOUBLE strength Pepto Bismal. For a 250# unbred mini mare 35cc every 6 hours cleared up in 2 to 3 days.

 

[Charlene]

Just a word of caution about giving the pain killers they may make the stomach problem WORSE they irritate the stomach and may cause ulcers. If the horse is walking without the pain killers I wouldn't give them.

two different horses, whitney. one horse has sore feet, the other has the squirts.

at least my big gelding isn't causing me any worry...YET! OH!

marty, i can't stand tea. can i have a gallon jug of wine instead???

i have always used turpentine to toughen feet. it's been a standard for me forever. i know it sounds harsh but i am extremely careful that it goes ONLY on the soles of the feet.