Advice needed on very loose stools

[emmo1]

My rising 4 yr old has suffered with bouts of this off and on since he was born but it's worse than ever and diving me crazy. His tail has to be kept plaited, gloves have to be worn to remove his rugs and i have to wash his back end every few days.
It is not diarrhea as in complete liquid, more like poo that looks watered down, semi formed with liquid passed before and after. The vet has looked at him numerous times but as he looks well, is growing well, is carrying plenty of weight and it's not affecting him in any way they are not concerned in the slightest and told me its just one of those things.

I have tried him on brewers yeast and yea-sac and for the past 6 weeks he has been on pink powder, both with no effect whatsoever. I'd hate to think that this is how he will be for the rest of his life, hes such a handsome boy and it makes him look awful.

Many thanks x

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

Change from straw to shavings if you are bedding down on straw, check his paddock thoroughly for anything that shouldn't be in there, get the vets to run bloods (even if they think nothing wrong) for infections or liver issues (even mineral deficiencies), change from haylage to hay if you are feeding haylage.

 

[sueonmull]

I assume he has been wormed regularly but perhaps this is another area worth exploring with worm counts and ELISA tests for tapeworm (and liver fluke) as potentially there may be issues with resistance to wormers? With him looking so well may be unlikely but, if nothing else resolves the problem, then worth considering. Can't be nice for him with a mucky bum especially in the summer with all the flies.

 

[emmo1]

He usually lives out 24/7 within a herd of 9 others though has come in quite a bit over the past few weeks because of the rain. He's bedded on shavings and the hay he heats is cut at the same farm so is of the same grass he's used to eating. Can't see anything funny in hedgerows and as i've bred him know his working history. I regularly worm count too.
It does irritate him as he's rubbing his bum on things and shredding all his rugs. I think I will have to ring and ask for a blood test just to rule anything out.
Just wondered if anyone has a horse that is just like this
Emma x

 

[Micky]

Also you could add a tablespoon of natural yoghurt to his feed if he has one, it can help settle his tum too, for a good 3 months but i would get vet out to check over thoroughly too

 

[soloequestrian]

My old mare in her last few years got like this when she was on haylage in the winter. As soon as she went onto grass (the same grass the haylage was made from) she cleared up. If I could force hay into her, she would also clear up, but there were problems associated with that. I wonder if it would be worth you trying the opposite, ie feeding haylage rather than hay. It would be very odd if it worked, but it sounds like you are in a pretty desperate situation anyway. I tried all those additive things with my mare and nothing worked - I just think they take in such a huge volume of forage that a small amount of additive can't help.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My rising 4 yr old has suffered with bouts of this off and on since he was born but it's worse than ever and diving me crazy. His tail has to be kept plaited, gloves have to be worn to remove his rugs and i have to wash his back end every few days.
It is not diarrhea as in complete liquid, more like poo that looks watered down, semi formed with liquid passed before and after. The vet has looked at him numerous times but as he looks well, is growing well, is carrying plenty of weight and it's not affecting him in any way they are not concerned in the slightest and told me its just one of those things.

I have tried him on brewers yeast and yea-sac and for the past 6 weeks he has been on pink powder, both with no effect whatsoever. I'd hate to think that this is how he will be for the rest of his life, hes such a handsome boy and it makes him look awful.

Many thanks x

My first mare scoured for a long time 18 codeine phospate tablets a day to slow gut down and she lost so much weight.

There a several reasons for diarrhea

Changes of diet
to much haylage
to many carrots
gut embalance
to rich grass
sickness
new hay
rancid feed
Salmonella spp
Clostridium spp
Salmonellosis
Antimicrobial-associated diarrhea
Clostridium difficile
C. perfringens
Potomac horse fever (Neorickettsia risticii)
cyathostomiasis (massive infection of small strongyles)
equine proliferative enteropathy (Lawsonia intracellularis)
Noninfectious
Carbohydrate overload
Antimicrobial-associated diarrhea
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Ulcerative colitis
Sand enteropathy
Inflammatory bowel disease
Miscellaneous toxins




When To Call The Vet

• If diarrhea is profuse and watery
• If the horse is acting depressed and/or has a fever
• If there is colic
• If soft manure persists more than 3 days
• If horse was losing weight before the diarrhea started.

I would contact your vet and do some tests, in the mean time make sure he drinks well and keep on a bland diet

more H&H members advice here
http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/d.html

 

[Doormouse]

I had a 4 year old like this and it started intially because we changed his food and I think it was too rich for him. Having said that he continued to suffer for several years with it and blood tests showed nothing, worm counts etc. Eventually we gave him charcoal in his feed and that seemed to solve the problem.

 

[texel]

Horse's guts are quite sensitive, as the vet has not diagnosed IBS or any other issue, keep his feeding regime simple e.g just Hay and a mineral lick then you can try feeding fennel seeds or fennel tea and or Slippery Elm and see if this settles his gut down.

What feeds and/supplements has he been given besides the Pink powder, brewers yeast ?

 

[emmo1]

Horse's guts are quite sensitive, as the vet has not diagnosed IBS or any other issue, keep his feeding regime simple e.g just Hay and a mineral lick then you can try feeding fennel seeds or fennel tea and or Slippery Elm and see if this settles his gut down.

What feeds and/supplements has he been given besides the Pink powder, brewers yeast ?

He's fed on 1/2 scoop light mix, 1 scoop alfa - a oil, 1/2 scops speedi beet and a mug of micronised linseed with the pink powder. He looks well on this but I do find him rather spooky and fizzy to handle. He's not backed yet but when walked out he shy's and jumps at everything and if another horse comes within eyesight he just explodes and i've got a job to hang on to him.
The have round bales in the field so hay 24/7 but im not sure if he'd sustain the weight if i fed him nothing but hay.

 

[Afrikaner]

We were on the trial for this product... went from scouring to normal in 5-6 days.
http://www.sciencesupplements.co.uk/...l#.UtF6dECYbIU

 

[Birker2020]

My rising 4 yr old has suffered with bouts of this off and on since he was born but it's worse than ever and diving me crazy. His tail has to be kept plaited, gloves have to be worn to remove his rugs and i have to wash his back end every few days.
It is not diarrhea as in complete liquid, more like poo that looks watered down, semi formed with liquid passed before and after. The vet has looked at him numerous times but as he looks well, is growing well, is carrying plenty of weight and it's not affecting him in any way they are not concerned in the slightest and told me its just one of those things.

I have tried him on brewers yeast and yea-sac and for the past 6 weeks he has been on pink powder, both with no effect whatsoever. I'd hate to think that this is how he will be for the rest of his life, hes such a handsome boy and it makes him look awful.

Many thanks x

You may find he has a red worm burden. This is what my vet thought was wrong with my horse. I am suprised the pink powder hasn't worked. There is another one NAF do called Biotics, here is the link to it:

http://www.naf-equine.eu/uk/products/productDetail.jsp?detail_id=biotics

I think you feed it short term as an extra boost to the pink powder. Certainly 'dried' up my horse as did the stopping of haylage and teh replacing of hay.

Make sure you give plenty of water in the diet, sloppy feeds, and wet/soaked hay as he may get dehydrated. Here is a link: http://www.gravenhorse.co.uk/Scour.htm

 

[Littlemissmerlin]

My gelding gets runny poos just like you described now and again. If he gets too much of the good stuff...ie haylage, rich grass ect. After trying lots of gut supplements. Some one on here recommended me a company called thunderbrook. Very helpful and knowledgable. They recommended me 2 supplements called gut restore and gut cleanse It's the only things that have made significant difference when he is loose. This may help yours for the time being whilst waiting for results

 

[emmo1]

Thank you for the replies. I have the vet calling out next week. In the meantime I have been scanning the selves at our local store and picked up a tub of equine gold (biotal). I have stripped his feed back to a scoop of alfa-a original, equine gold and a vitamin and mineral supplement. It may have been a one off but he passed the most solid looking stool yesterday that I have seen for a while.
As I bred him I know his worming history and he is regularly worm counted so worms shouldn't be a problem but not impossible.
I always feed sloppy feeds as my old boy prone to choke and he always appears to drink well.
Will look into thunderbrook, Thank you

 

[diamantejumper]

You could try NAF pink powder/haylage balancer. My mare was very runny, her rugs and tail were disgusting. She's a lot better now thanks to the supplement and her droppings are solid. Worth a try, hope this helps x

 

[amage]

Looking at what you were feeding I'd suspect you were completely overdoing it for an unbroken four year old in very light work. From your description of him to handle it sounds as though he's been living on the edge of his nerves.

 

[Tedley]

Hi, I had a thoroughbred mare who had a very similar problem to yours by the sound of it. I tried pink powder which had no effect but then tried NAF haylage balancer which really helped her so would recommend!