Dark almost black urine !!

[maryann]

We were in the barn today and noticed one of the horses urinating . It was so dark , almost black.

Of course panicked , called the vet and in discussing it with him one of the possibilities that came up

was the Black as Knight we are feeding three of our horses . I have not really looked at the others pee

but will check it out tomorrow. We called the company and they said that they have never heard of their product

having that side effect but we should take the horse off of it right away, just in case. The vet said

the only other

thing he could think of that would cause it has to do with the muscles in the horse. He said the horse should be very sick.

This horse is eating, picking on the young ones , running and playing in the pasture, He is in training for cart and we drove him today. We noticed nothing different about him, he was more than willing to perform . He is not running a fever.

The urine does not have an oder like old blood.

Of course we are watching him like a hawk. And at the slighest sign of him being ill we will have the vet out.

Has anyone else had this experience before?

Anyone on Black As Knight experienced any very dark urine?

We are just baffeled.

Any Ideas? Maryann

 

[Marty]

Holy Moley Batman.........ok I did a very quick search and could not find anything regards to horses black urine I"m sorry, but I did another on human urine and got this for starters:



There are a few reasons for black urine –

1) A build-up of haemoglobin ( Hb for short ) products in the urine

2) Colourings such as food dyes or drugs in the urine.

So it very well could be that Black as Night stuff! ewwwwwww

 

[mondak]

It most likely isn't the muscle thing, azotoria. That would cause him severe pain and he would quiver and NOT want to move. Think of it as pulling all your muscles in you body, thats how he would feel. It is brought on by hard work followed by no work (from an injury or what not) and the horses feed is not changed to accomidate the rest. It is also brought on by very very hard work then feed. It is mostly seen in Endurance and Eventing horses (not saying it can't occur in anything, just most common in these sports). That is interesting about the Black as Knight, keep us informed!

Courtney

 

[Margo_C-T]

I am guessing that the thing the vet mentioned that 'has to do with the muscles...' would be AZOTURIA, commonly known also as "Monday morning sickness", or tying up. Yes, the horse should be manifesting some serious symptoms if that were the case, I'd think, so it certainly doesn't SOUND as if that would be what is the cause of this. I believe I'd listen to what the company that makes the 'Black as Knight' says, though, and take him off of it immediately, just in case. I'd also be very moderate in any forced exercise(just meaning that which you 'cause' him to do, as opposed to what he freely does himself) for awhile, as you keep that close eye on him.

Is there an ingredients list on the 'Black as Knight'?

Hope he turns out to be just fine!

Best wishes,

Margo

 

[Cathy_H]

If it is not any of the above has the horse been eating an unusual amount of leaves, acorns etc? In the past some of our horses ate a bunch of leaves in the pen before I could get them raked up. Their urine was red which got we flying - scooping it up checking it out thinking it was blood.

 

[maryann]

Black as Knight does conatin Paprika and other things which I don't know what they are.

Also the leaves are falling now so I guess he could have been muching on those in the pasture.

What kind of leaves would cause that black color?

Last time I went out to check on him, about an hour ago, he whinnied at me like what was I doing

opening the door and bothering him. LOL

Thank you all for your help on this. And Marty thanks so much for the search. Courtney and Margo that was what the vet said but you guys described it so I could

understand it better.Just whish I knew what the problem was so I could fix it. Thanks Maryann

 

[Rachel]

A few weeks ago I read in one of the "big" horse magazines (Equus I think) that the leaves of a red maple tree will discolor urine. It's a thought....

 

[Carolyn R]

The leaves of the red maple discolor urine because they are creating toxins that the liver can't filter quick enough. The blood becomes unstable and the cells literally burst. The discolored urine from red maple leaves is actually the body getting rid of the bood that is breaking down. VERY VERY SCARY STUFF!

Red Maple Leaves are VERY BAD for horses. If you ever have the displeasure to witness a horse crashing from red maple poisoning, when the vet draws blood you can actually, with- in seconds, see the bood seperate into clear liquid and red mud in the bottom of the vile. Usually if a horse eats a lethal amount of red maple leaves (guessed to be a few ounces for a mini) by the time they show syptoms it is too late (12 hours from the tiime they ingest the leaves until syptoms show up).

If it were from red maple and the urine was that dark, I would also expect the horse to be lethargic, depressed, fever, chills, sweats, shortly later shallow heavy breathing, collapse, then death. That is pretty much, word for word from vet manuscripts that I got the displeasure to go over. There was deffinately no sugar coating the symptoms or the outcome.

 

[Jill]

How are things this morning? The dark urine also make me think some kind of toxicity but that if that were the case, he'd be in obvious distress. I hope his pee's yellow this morning and that he is feeling well.

Jill

 

[honeycomb max]

Maryann - how is he doing this morning? I pray that he will be ok. I know this is driving you crazy.

Millie

 

[honeycomb max]

Here is some info I found - knowing you you probably have already research

http://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/4/21874.html

http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/articles/tying.htm

Millie

 

[barefoot]

Once had a gelding that had very very dark red pee. It was a bladder infection which is rare in geldings according to the vet. Funny we saw the funny pee in the snow and the vet automatically thought it was my Mare and prescribed antibiotics for her. A day later I caught the gelding peeing and had to call the vet again. Does his sheath need cleaned?

Emma

 

[maryann]

He is still his old self this morning, happy and normal acting. Have not see him pee yet. Vet recommended we only give him hay and just a handfull of his

his normal pellets this morning and all the water he will drink of course. He did have another dark pee spot in his shavings this morning, Caught one of the others peeing that is on BAK also but his pee is normal. However he does have a dark urine spot in his shavings also. Also a mare that is not on BAK has a dark spot in her stall. However she is in the same pasture as the other two. So I am wondering aobut the Leaves again. There is a red maple tree in our front yard. Leaves from there could have blown into that pasture in the wind we have had the last couple days.

You guys are the best on posting your experiences. It helps so much to have resources like you to help out.

Millie those articles were great. I am bookmarking those sites for future references. Thanks so much.Will keep you posted " as the saga continure" LOL Maryann

 

[honeycomb max]

Maryann please get rid of the red maple tree - it is the first trees we cut down when I moved to the farm.

I talked to Tricia so I know who is possibly sick - please give him a big hug and kiss from me.

I have to go to work - so I will call you tonight when I get home.

Prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Millie

 

[zacharyfarms]

If you have had a change in weather condition with cooler temps and your horse is not drinking enough your horses change in urine color could be from dehydration which causes the urine to be a much darker red almost black color..I have noticed this only just recently in some of mine and knew it was time to put out the heated water buckets..but yes you must get rid of the red maple tree if there is one in close eating distance.

 

[Carolyn R]

Just checking in on your boy today. I hope all is going well. Keep us posted,

Carolyn

 

[maryann]

The horse is just as happy and healthy as he can be. He is not sick just had black urine. LOL

Anyway we have been out with him and his owners all morning and of course he has yet to pee in front of us, so I don't know if he is still peeing black or not. Everyone else in the pastures are all

fine too and have not seen any sign of them having discolored urine today.

I guess the water you suggested could be a problem too. It has goten below freezing the last two nights

and he does not drink a lot of water anyway.

The red maple tree I thought we had has turned out to be a silver maple , but my husband is cleaning all the leaves out of the pasture anyway, as we speak. Maybe a combination of not drinking, leaves and BAK. Who knows. I just know it was shocking to us to see black pee,

We keep in touch with the vet and he says just to watch him very closley and if he shows any signs of

not feeling well to call him . Last I saw of him an hour ago he was kicking his ball around in the stall and snorting wondering where his grain was. LOL Thanks again for all your suggestions. mary ann

 

[Cathy_H]

In the past some of our horses ate a bunch of leaves in the pen before I could get them raked up. Their urine was red which got we flying - scooping it up checking it out thinking it was blood.

.............. I wanted to clarify my first post - these were silver maple leaves that our horses ate, not red maple or such.. I have noticed when our horses eat these leaves thier urine is sometimes rusty looking also thus the reason I am raking & picking them up this time of year.

 

[honeycomb max]

Great news - so happy that he doing ok. I was not trying to be bossy about the red maple - I know that you and Jim take very great care of your horses. Wish I could go to the Christmas party but I have to work which sucks because it is the one thing I really looked forward to.

See you as soon as I can.

Millie

 

[MInx]

Just read this post..no advice but want to send my best hopes for his good health. SOunds like he's feeling well so at least he's not real sick, thank God..will continue to read to see what he does..hugs to him and you too.

Maxine