diarhoea in older horses

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janetbebs

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has anyone got any advice? my 25 year old mare has had this problem for coming up to 18 months and its worse in the winter. her droppings are very runny and finish with droppings with the consistency of water. the vet has already ruled out worms, blood test showed nothing, teeth checked,have changed diet as recommended by feed co.........lots of fibre, probotic powders, nothing with sugar in it etc. now back on codeine phosphate tablets but they stopped working last time. she is ok when on grass in the spring and summer, the problem starts when on hay. desperate for some advice which will help her be more comfortable.
 
I had this with a 13 yr old pony, he was just a bit nervy but didn't show it in his behaviour just in his stools quite often. He'd drop weght a bit due to this and he ate a lot for his size!

I found NAF pink powder helped a lot, every day, in the feed. It a pinky chalky substance with some minerals in it too. You have to order it in for most horsey stores.
 
thanks for your reply. she is on pink powder already and its not helping. also tried calm and condition. poor love is drinking like mad to replace the fluid she is losing. its not down to nerves as i've owned her since she was 8..........17 years!...........and its only a recent thing.
 
Aw poor thing, I suppose she's getting sore too.

If she is okay on grass and not hay, could you just try feeding her alfalfa or chaff instead of hay for a while?
 
could try feeding just alfalfa, will talk through with the vet. last winter she dropped loads of weight with this problem but then picks up again in the summer months. Where do you get the aloe vera juice from?
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Oh yes, good one! Christmas sparkle! I have heard of doing this, also supposed to work for sweetitch too, and everything.

Forever Living Products (not cheap though) brilliant stuff!
 
I order mine in bulk from Forever living - I joined as a distributor so I get it for about £13 per ltr instead of £18, but my feed merchants stock it too, as do most health food shops.
 
There are some excellent ideas on here for you to try. If none work, try Arrowroot powder, its only about 30p a sachet from your local health food shop. Put a teaspoon in with each feed and this should hopefully dry it up.

I would also recommend you pm H's_mum and ask her about Coligone. I have recently started using this on an EPSM horse, but one of its qualities is to settle new born foals tummys when they are scouring.

Spillers Hi Fi Light can be used as a hay replacer and given ad-lib.
 
Speak to your vet about givng her charcoal, we gave it to a 30+yo mare who has constant squits and it helped but not sure of doses etc, you may be able to just ask them over the phone.
 
Is she chewing properly? Our old lady had a short bout of the runs but was eating very gingerly. Vet said worm her but she has a zero count......Now the runs are over and it coincided with her mouth working correctly. Just a thought.
 
thanks for all your advice. she has been on thrive for a week now , had a haynet of good braley straw to nibble, and high fibre nuts and chaff. there is a definate improvement . so fingers crossed this continues!
 
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