Damaged gut

[amzy]

Anyone know the symptoms of a horse with gut damage and if there is any treatment?

 

[Happy Horse]

There are many different types of gut damage. Symptoms can range from sudden onset i.e. severe colic if the gut has actually ruptured or it can be more chronic and symptoms may include for example weight loss, diarrhoea. Treatment depends on the cause, a low grade colitis stands a better chance of healing than a rupture which is fatal.

Sorry to be so vague - do you have any more info?

 

[amzy]

Thanks Happy Horse. My mare developed diarrhoea and the blood tests and dung tests came back normal. She was stabled for a week and only fed hay and Happy Hoof and her dung became more solid and she seemed to brighten up in herself. We then put her back out on poor grass and her dung has started to become looser again. The vet can only suggest gut damage at the moment and will be coming out again soon but I was wondering what tests there are to confirm damage. She is also on a probiotic.

 

[catembi]

When my horse had awful diarrhoea, he went to Newmarket & they took biopsies & also scanned him.

 

[magic104]

Oh god this is a night for it, I have just answered about sarcoids & now I read this. My mare is exactly the same, she is fine when stabled or when coming in at night, but as soon as she is out 24/7 she becomes loose like cow pats. It makes no odds whether she is still receiving a feed or not, she just gets loose. She also gets like this for a few days after being wormed. My vet was not concerned because she is well otherwise, (well has been until this week), her coat, condition etc was very good. For whatever reason she does not process grass as well.

 

[amzy]

Catembi, may I ask what they found?

 

[zigzag]

My old boy is like this but was losing weight as well he is 30, had bloods etc done turns out it is severe liver damage

waiting for more test results today, to see what is causing it but it doesn't look goood

 

[amzy]

So sorry to hear about your horse zigzag.

 

[Happy Horse]

Deeble I would suggest you speak to H's Mum (send her a PM maybe?) Her horse had trouble with grass and so she developed Coligone which seems to be helpful in a lot of cases of gut trouble. She is lovely and will certainly help even if Coligone is not what you need.