At wits end with runny poo! Any ideas?

[ImmyS]

Could it be someone giving him stuff he shouldn't have?

No he’s moved yards in this period and no difference. He’s on a private yard currently and no one can get on to the yard without access code and tucked out of the way so no public access. I trust the yard owner and one other livery wouldn’t be giving him anything else 😊

 

[milliepops]

Thank you, wo

thank you would you feed it instead of normal salt or along side? And if so how much? Sorry all the questions! I appreciate everyone’s help

horses need sodium so I would def keep your normal salt supplementation going. I think a rule of thumb is 2 parts normal salt to 1 part lo salt.

 

[windand rain]

How come e coli and other bacteria doesn't make them Ill?

Foals eat poo to establish a good gut flora it must be safe for them to do so. Rabbits also poo then eat it again before forming pellets so I guess herbivores are not prone to carrying a load of harmful bugs or are designed to tolerate them

 

[Mule]

Foals eat poo to establish a good gut flora it must be safe for them to do so. Rabbits also poo then eat it again before forming pellets so I guess herbivores are not prone to carrying a load of harmful bugs or are designed to tolerate them

Very interesting. I forgot about rabbits. Perhaps we should go herbivore too and see if our bugs would change. (Btw I'm not suggesting we try poo tea )

 

[windand rain]

A suggestion made by my farrier was my boy suffered from a rye grass allergy. He had one that couldnt tolerate even small amounts of rye its not easy to find turnout or hay that is rye free

 

[be positive]

horses need sodium so I would def keep your normal salt supplementation going. I think a rule of thumb is 2 parts normal salt to 1 part lo salt.

I used it as above for one with a problem where he was drinking excessively so weeing too frequently as well as a bit loose in his droppings , it seemed wrong to increase his salt intake but my instinct was it would help, vet agreed it worth a try, and it did, he improved within a few days and I gradually reduced the amount once he was back to normal.

 

[gunnergundog]

An article you may find interesting; a recipe for poo tea is in the last paragraph. https://thunderbrook.co.uk/why-does-my-horse-eat-horse-poo/

I would add that your faecal sample needs to come from the healthiest horse you can find; it should be on no meds, no supplements and ideally just on a diet of grass, hay, fresh air and water.

 

[Mule]

An article you may find interesting; a recipe for poo tea is in the last paragraph. https://thunderbrook.co.uk/why-does-my-horse-eat-horse-poo/

I would add that your faecal sample needs to come from the healthiest horse you can find; it should be on no meds, no supplements and ideally just on a diet of grass, hay, fresh air and water.

So basically we already have a human version of poo tea except we don't drink it, we transplant it!

 

[Micky]

Yogurt...natural balancer for gut..recommended by my now retired vet years ago..🙄

 

[Chinchilla]

How and why does poo tea work?
😮😀

Because you're taking the gut flora from a healthy animal and giving it to the sick one so it reestablishes healthy gut flora - basically exactly as windand rain said

Poo tea reintroduces the gut flora and so stabilises the good bacteria that encourages correct digestion, still think it may be an interference in gut lining that is causing the issue. Old livery suffers when fed hay so he now has a mix of pink mash and equidgel so far this year he has been fine

Foals eat poo to establish a good gut flora it must be safe for them to do so. Rabbits also poo then eat it again before forming pellets so I guess herbivores are not prone to carrying a load of harmful bugs or are designed to tolerate them

Rabbits and other lagomorphs (and chinchillas etc./basically all the cavy-like rodents) are eating caecotrophs though which aren't 'poo' as such, more half digested food matter produced in the caecum (not the large intestine) - once they eat it it goes through and is digested again then becomes poo. Not sure why I didn't think of poo tea for horses before though, their digestive system really similar to rabbits'.

There was some stuff on the BBC website/New Scientist a while back about faecal transplants I think....? Bit icky though.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Pink powder always settles by ponies tummy down if he ever gets the squits, usually spring and autumn grass will set him off and this works a treat. My other thought was colitis, but if he is otherwise healthy and the vet is happy with him it would be unlikely

 

[AUB]

I've had the same problem with my mare, but it seems that ProEquo and Equine Gastric 74 does the trick.

 

[Fransurrey]

How old is he and does he have any metabolic conditions?

Short term, Biosponge will dry him up. You can buy direct from the US, or through the vet.

 

[SEL]

OP - if you go down the Equibiome test route then PM first and I'll tell you the pros and cons

I'd start by trying some of the suggestions above. If you still get stuck then I use a product called Diamond V which is yeast based and helps with acidosis. Mainly aimed at dairy farmers although it is fine for horses, just really hard to get hold of (& expensive). I can send you a sample, but I think the lo-salt would be a huge amount cheaper to try first.

 

[ImmyS]

How old is he and does he have any metabolic conditions?

Short term, Biosponge will dry him up. You can buy direct from the US, or through the vet.

He’s 5, no metabolic conditions. Thank you will have a look

 

[ImmyS]

How old is he and does he have any metabolic conditions?

Short term, Biosponge will dry him up. You can buy direct from the US, or through the vet.

Would you recommend the paste or powder?

 

[Fransurrey]

Would you recommend the paste or powder?

I had the powder. It came through the vet, so can't say either way on the paste. Was AP (alkaline phosphatase) covered in the bloods do you know?

 

[AFB]

Sorry if it's already been suggested but have you tried Global Herbs Black Salt?

I had a pony that had sporadic runny poo and it always sorted him out. It stinks to high heaven so if you have a fussy eater they might turn their nose up but from memory it was inexpensive so worth a try IMO.

 

[OdinsMum]

Possible allergy to something in his feed? My mums horse has an allergy to molasses and he gets the wildies if he eats too much of it.

 

[ImmyS]

Possible allergy to something in his feed? My mums horse has an allergy to molasses and he gets the wildies if he eats too much of it.

I’ve tried removing all feed for a few weeks with no difference

 

[StableMum]

You could try Keratex Zeolite, my daughter's mare is prone to cow pat poos and this sorts it out.

 

[Surbie]

Have you tried magnesium oxide at all? I was advised to try it for my horse's feet & fizziness and to help ensure his poos stay firm when he went on spring grass. And then I didn't ever take him off it...It is at least cheap.

Apologies if it's already been mentioned.

 

[OdinsMum]

I’ve heard good things about Frickers Baseline TT for gut issues, may be worth a try

 

[Mule]

It just occurred to me that they probably wouldn't want to eat poo. Are you supposed to sneak it in to food?

 

[SWE]

Can highly recommend NAF daily gut health for this. Only thing that sorted my boys runny poos. Protexin didn't really do a lot but the NAF one was great

 

[windand rain]

It just occurred to me that they probably wouldn't want to eat poo. Are you supposed to sneak it in to food?

syringe it in but my bet would be to wear waterproofs as you will also wear it

 

[Po Knee]

Have you tried activated charcoal? It worked a treat for my mare.

What sorted FLF out a few years ago, was charcoal and banana.
Sliced banana (not peeled but with skin on) and a dessert spoonful of charcoal twice a day with Hi Fi Lite and a bit of Enduro mix. Took 48 hours to settle the system, after a week I stopped the banana, kept up with the charcoal. If I stopped the charcoal then within 24 hrs she was cow patting again....
Oddly, she had never drunk properly away from home, once I'd got her tummy settled, to her owners amazement, FLF drank 'normally'. Vet baffled, but noted the changes as 'useful trial' ☺

I'm not suggesting you try this combi, but it worked for her. (And I'd had full bloods run, vet check etc)

Another vote here for activated charcoal. It worked wonders with my mare.

 

[YasandCrystal]

I have an aged Falabella he is 29 yrs old. For the past 3 years he had constant runny poos, so bad his tail and legs were always wet and covered in poo. I almost got to the point of having him pts it was just so bad especiallly in winter with daily washing, which he hated. I like you had tried every potion and supplement going. I tried daily Guinness, Peptibismol, charcoal, protexin, aloe Vera, bio sponge, yea sac to mention just a few. The vet was baffled.
Anyway roll forward to last summer and he suffered a nasty fetlock puncture wound, which almost saw him pts. The vet thought the tendon was infected but seeing how devastated I was. (I have had Barney for 26 years) they gave me some liquid anti biotic to try (also used in pigs Dorolex). The tendon injury took weeks to heal BUT his poo became normal after just 2 days on the antibiotic. Alleluyah! We have not looked back. He must have had some nasty bug in his gut, unbelievable that it cleared so quickly.

 

[ImmyS]

I have an aged Falabella he is 29 yrs old. For the past 3 years he had constant runny poos, so bad his tail and legs were always wet and covered in poo. I almost got to the point of having him pts it was just so bad especiallly in winter with daily washing, which he hated. I like you had tried every potion and supplement going. I tried daily Guinness, Peptibismol, charcoal, protexin, aloe Vera, bio sponge, yea sac to mention just a few. The vet was baffled.
Anyway roll forward to last summer and he suffered a nasty fetlock puncture wound, which almost saw him pts. The vet thought the tendon was infected but seeing how devastated I was. (I have had Barney for 26 years) they gave me some liquid anti biotic to try (also used in pigs Dorolex). The tendon injury took weeks to heal BUT his poo became normal after just 2 days on the antibiotic. Alleluyah! We have not looked back. He must have had some nasty bug in his gut, unbelievable that it cleared so quickly.

Hi, that’s interesting, do you have anymore information on what the vet used? Just looking up dorolex and can only find info on pain relief not antibiotics. Thank you! 😊

 

[ImmyS]

Sorry for not very pleasant post in the morning but I’m still tackling the poo problem! Currently working through some suggestions be careful to not suddenly change or add things. Nothing’s making a difference, they are still just really variable, it seems no matter what I do!!

Sorry for the pictures but just to demonstrate the variability here’s his poo from overnight.

A couple are like this -

And the rest are like this, or somewhere in between the two.