Can you succeed where me and the vets have failed??

J

Jane H

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13 February 2002
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53
Location
Durham
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My lovely boy has chronic diaorea (not sure that's how you spell it, I should know by now), it does not affect him physically but it is really unpleasant to deal with. He mainly squirts it out between poos which are also prolific and pretty runny. He has to be on haylage as he has a mild COPD so hay is not an option.

I have tried every pre and pro biotic in the book. The only things that have ever worked have been metronidazole (clears it up in 5 days but costs about a hundred pounds and it can recurr in weeks), and big doses of aloe vera (won't clear it up when it is really bad but can maintain, but also costs about £60 a month in the amounts he needs). I simply can't afford the medicine or the aloe vera at the amounts he needs.

Does anyone have any other things that I could try??!!

Thanks!

Jane x
 
You could steam hay instead of using haylage. Could he live out well rugged, that sometimes helps.
Have you tried anything like Pink Powder, Blue Chip or Topspec, anything like that? What about natural yoghurt too?

What's his usual diet and work or turnout routines? Is he losing weight with this? Is he a very sensitive horse that gets easily stirred up or a laid back muppet so that you can't say it's atmosphere that's setting him off?

Sorry for the questions but they'd give us a better picture.
 
Someone I know would give them some human tablet...not sure what but it was on the advise of vet. Was cheap but may not be a long term option, more a one off.
 
I too would suggest well steamed hay. It works well for 2 of ours who developed mild respiratory problems as a result of rape pollen, has a much lower water conent and is a more natural food.
 
The stallion at my yard has a form of IBS and he is on Bran because of it.
Another mare had the runs and was put onto Bran for it.
Seems to have worked
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Re. the Hayledge. You can soak/steal hay and it is fine for horses with COPD.
Izzi
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Hiya

Thanks for replying so quickly! They do have a hay steamer at the yard but it doesn't really get through to the middle, and they could not do enough for him and the other horses as he eats a phenomenal amount each day. He is a stressy soul, he is not one to show it externally but he is a real worrier. He recently moved yards and that will have been a stress for him, but if a bad bout starts, as it has, it can literally go on for 4-5 months after the stress has died down.

To have him live out is not really an option for me, round here (Durham) if you want to have the facilities to ride and compete you have to be on a full livery yard, and they never let you have your horse live out. He has good turnout all year (about 9 to 4 in the winter and longer in the summer). I have tried all of the things you mentioned but I must admit I have not tried yoghurt...

Thanks again! Jane x
 
natural yogurt and also try that feed for sensitive horses. Theres a horse on the yard that has a very sensitive stomache all year round and this seem sto help her.
 
Well that gives us a better picture!

Have you tried kaolin at all, that's usually very good?

What is his diet BTW does he get mollassed feeds at all?

I'm also a great believer in bran for something like this as someone else said.
 
My mare has grass intolerance... she is on Biotal Equine gold,it's the best one (so far) I've found, having tried Actiprem Plus, Pink powder, Baileys digest plus and Feel Good 30 Digestion, the Feel Good 30 was the 2nd best. I've found that the Equine Gold keeps her reasonable during the spring and summer and we have mostly normal poo's as soon as the grass loses its goodness.... my mare is a great barometer for grass content! Plus, compared to many digestion supplements out there its very reasonable for the money.

Another friend gave her horse codeine for the squits... but that can only be for short periods of time as no-one really knows what long term usage would do to a horse. I've always tried to avoid codeine as my mare would be on it permanently.

Good Luck, I know how frustrating the "poo juice" is, my mare is white, so you can imagine the effect... At least I don't have to constantly wash her now and slather her private parts in baby bum cream...
 
Thanks MFH,

I have not tried Kaolin, do you mean like the human medicine or is there an equine version? He is about 620 kilos and so he always needs a super dose of whatever he has.

He gets equine sensitive and happy hoof, no molassed feed at all. I have not tried bran either, although some sites say not to use bran for it??

J x
 
what feed is your horse on apart from the haylage. Anything with garlic in it is likely to increase the problem as it kills the good bacteria within the gut. Check all your feed carefully as so many mixes have garlic in them.
 
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Thanks! What is anit-lam? I looked it up on the internet but it thought I was looking for someone called Anita Lam! Could not find any entries Jx

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Anti Lam is a yeast based feed and it will help to bind your horses poo's. Its on that web site. Its actually ment for laminitic ponies, but its fab stuff and sorted my Archie right out
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When ever he lifted his tail, you had to get well out the way quick!!!! Top spec do it aswell, but its mega expensive. Its worth giving John Chapman a ring and have a chat with him, he's very helpful and will recommend the best thing.
 
My horse poops a lot when I ride him, not sure why. Not overly sloppy, but not as solid as normal. My instructor said to me the other day, had I had him tested for stomach ulcers. His horse apparently was really sloppy in the stable, and after about 8 yrs (!) they had him tested (dont know how), he had an ulcer, had that removed, and after that he was absolutely fine. I dont know too much else about it - but is it something that your vet has crossed off the list, something worth looking in to.
 
Have you tried adding Tree barke powder to his feed, you can get it from health food shops. It is also nown as Silver Birch powder. It works for all animals and is herbal and reasonably cheap!!!!
 
He is also white! (with red bits) a(and lots of black/green!!!)
I did try EquiGold but that did not work unfortunately. He is okay on grass funnily enough. I know you will understand its just such a disheartening thing that makes any kind of grooming/tidying seem like a complete and utter waste of time, then it can clear up for a few days which is heaven but then come back with a vengeance!

Still, a lot of poeple have much worse things to deal with I know that! And he is a completely gorgeous buy in every other way
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It could be anxiety related.

My horse has to have haylage due to his slight lung problem with hay. The only haylage he can tolerate (he is also intolerant of sugar, protein, and alfalfa) is Marksway Horshage. The blue high fibre variety.

Haylage is very very rich this year and full of sugars due to the wet weather and it could just be this causing his problems.

I would try a protiotic and prebiotic. My friend's horse has a similar problem and she found pink powder helped.
 
When I was working at an equine hospital we used to give post operative colics with squitty tummies something called phsyillium. I think you can get it from a few feed suppliers (Dengie springs to mind but their website is being naughty at the mo) but I'm certain you can get it from helath food shops. I've found it in capsule form here http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=124 but you can buy it in big packs containing stuff the same consistancy to posh garlic (if that makes sense!). It's not expensive & really dries them up.
 
Pink Powder and a 30ml does of Aloe Vera (I get mine from forever living) per day has sorted my coloured mare out. I now feed Badinton Horse Feed Easy Rider (instead of Happy Hoof) as it has no mollasses at all.
 
I'd want to be sure bloods have been taken before embarking on any other route. A call to your vets should answer it for you. My horse had really bad runs due to tumours in his bowel which were diagnosed by blood tests.
 
Is the haylage homemade or bought in? Some home made can cause the runs. A friend of mine used to keep her horse on a yard that made their own, and her horse was loose the whole time it lived there (as were many of the others). Once she took him home and changed to a diufferent supplier, it stopped.
 
My horse has had this following a course of antibiotics and has been put onto codine phosphate and a powder called biosponge - I should see a difference within 48hrs apparently....I'll let you know. We also tried tuffrock foal plus - a volcanic ash product - didn't work for him sadly.
 
If it has been particularly bad since you moved yards then it may well be that their haylage is particularly potent - if you fed him soaked/steamed hay for a week then at least you could pinpoint it or eliminate it as the problem otherwise you could spend lots more on different remedy's when the answer could lie much closer to home, so to speak. if it was the problem then perhaps you/the yard could just source some other haylage that was less rich - just a thought but would probably be my first course of action.
 
My horse gets the runs on rich grass or haylage. Personally I wouldn't keep anything with a dodgy digestive system on haylage. Soaked hay only - much as I bl**dy hate doing it!
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Have your vets not recommended to you to this company that does scientific analysis on the gut bacteria in their droppings.
I had a horse that used to have constant severe colic trouble, and a sample was sent of to these scientists. He was found to have severly low numbers of certain gut bacteria and exceedingly high numbers of other types. Either extreme can cause diarrhea and/or colic.
He was put on a very high dose of a specific probiotic called 'probalance' and he had to stay on this high dose for a year to sort out the problem. He had something like 12 meausres a day of it. Was also told to feed him no starch based feeds whatsoever ( alfalfa and oil only ) and plain hay. On no account haylage ( but then we are talking about a horse who's life was in the balance as his colic was so bad )
I would go all out to get some top quality dust free hay, there is some good stuff that you can import from canada I think that is completly dust free. or just soak normal hay.
 
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