Horse Heath Question

[jayne]

I am coming to you with a summary of my horse's problem and the steps I have taken thus far to see if you can identify any other routes I should be pursuing to resolve this problem.

My 17 year old mare, Sweet Madeline (Maddie) has had on and off chronic diarrhea since I have acquired her in 2000. She does not have cow patties, but rather normally formed poops that exit with quite a bit of green water. Her farts are watery too. She does not drink an unusual amount of water. She has a salt/mineral block that I do not see her use excessively. She is drylotted. Her weight is good and holding steady, she is hydrated, capillary refill is fine, teeth were done in late February, eats well, no temperature.

Here is what I have done thus far:

-Had the vet run a fecal which came out clear.

-Asked the vet for advice and he said that some of his clients just have runny poopies. Ugh.

-Over time, with the proper transition period, tried each of the following straight hays: timothy, orchard and alfalfa. I also had her on a "local" hay that could have just about anything in it and the condition was the same no matter what hay she was on.

-Given repeated courses of Sand Clear without any change.

-Given soaked beet pulp to help with hind gut absorption.

Things I think I should probably try:

-probiotics?

-worm for tapes?

I sure appreciate your help in scrutinizing this case. She is the sweetest mare ever and I sure would like her not to have a dirty butt and tail all the time. Thanks in advance for your help.

Jayne

 

[ChrystalPaths]

You didn't mention feed...does she get any? If so what kind? I would definitely do some probiotics/yogurt, can't hurt. My Halley was like this for 2 yrs. Fine, happy, spunky but a dirty in the buns. I did find she was sensitive to alfalfa so she doesn't get any and I have to watch any feed that has it in it.

Is she a bit high strung, alone, got any friends with her? Could be emotional also. I know lots of folks use dry lots but I always worry about what is the horse to do when the pile of hay is gone? Equines are grazers, browsers, and (just my small non-profesional opinion now) some horses just fret waiting for the next feed or something.

 

[lotsofspots]

I've had several horses over the years like this....do you have wood fencing or trees where she can nibble on the bark? I had one filly who did this and it caused wet poop like your mare. Once prevented from being able to eat the wood or bark, she cleared up almost immediately. My horses have pasture during the day but are up at night in stalls with adjoining paddocks. They get hay after breakfast and dinner but they do get bored when they are out of hay and will nibble on what's available. I have also found if one starts eating the fence/bark, others will mimic them. The greener-type hays will also cause wet poops. Sounds like you've done everything, except the yogurt or probiotics would help, too. Good luck!

 

[justjinx]

If she is getting feed with molasses in it she may be allergic/sensitive to the molasses. jennifer :saludando:

 

[jayne]

Thank you all for your input so far! And thanks for reminding me that I did not talk about her food other than her hay. Since this has been a long term problem, her feeding has varied in an attempt to isolate the problem. I have not fed her anything at all other than hay for stretches at a time (thank goodness she's an easy keeper) and she still had this problem. Right now she's getting about 2 cups of soaked beet pulp (non-molasses kind), the appropriate amount of Northwest Supplement for her weight, 1/4 cup of BOSS, and the appropriate amount of sand clear for her weight/size. All this is in the evening when I put her in her stall for the night.

She shares a very large dry lot with her gelding buddy (and they share a long fence line with our two donkeys and clydesdale and pony, all whom she loves). She is quite mellow and seems happy. The lot is big enough that it actually has a tiny bit of short grass covering most of it. Think of like a poor quality putting green. There are a couple of brushy trees in the dry lot but she does not mess with them (and she's been in this lot for 2 years, but the problem is about 7 years old, intermittently). That is a good thought though and I'll look more closely to see if the bark is touched, but I pick the lot every day and have never seen any evidence of them touching the trees, other than them eating tender leaves in the spring.

Thanks again for helping me to get to the bottom of this!

Jayne

 

[Hosscrazy]

Hopefully you will be able to find the cause is related to diet - I know how frustrating this can be! If you find that she is not getting better, I recommend that you call your vet and ask him to do a colon biopsy. The only reason I'm bringing this up is because years ago I had a 13 year old mare who suddenly developed chronic diarrhea. Turns out it was intestinal lymphoma. Her manure samples turned out fine in testing, blood work was fine, but I was not able to get rid of the problem with diet/probios/antibiotics/biosponge, etc. Please let us know what you find out!

Liz R.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Try eliminating the BOSS.