Excessive drinking?

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We bought a 5 yr old cob a few mnths ago, who in my mind drinks and wees a lot, (although appreciate these two will go hand in hand!).

When stabled he gets through 3 full black buckets a night, and his bed is often so wet the wee runs out of his stable. When hacking he wees at least once on the ride and out hunting can wee up to 4 times!

Our other cob is what I would class as 'normal' - drinks 1 - 1/2 buckets and his bed is significantly drier.

Does this sound a lot or am I just worrying over nothing?
 
Most of mine get through about 3 buckets a night, I use trugs that hold almost 4 and they are topped up fully with about a bucket left in the morning, if they are getting dry haylage they drink more than if it is wetter.
Weeing out hunting is most likely a nervy reaction rather than actually needing to go but if you are worried get him checked by your vet, I prefer a horse to drink more rather than less as long as it is consistent and normal for the individual.
 
Thanks for that reassurance. Maybe the other cob is the 'abnormal' one then!

He is due his vaccs in april so will mention to the vet then.
 
Is there anything else different at all? Is the coat any thicker than usual? Are you rugging more than usual (is he too warm?)
I'd be tempted to get a blood test done sooner than later to rule out cushings, some vets are offering this at a reduced or free if doing anything else at same time.

That said, FLF can drink a full trug (3 buckets) in 12 hours overnight if over-warm, or on lots of hay.

Hope you get to the bottom of it x
 
I did wonder about cushings but is only 5yrs old. He is clipped and rugged, but I don't like them too warm so only in a m/w.

He is on haylage rather than hay, but it is quite 'dry' haylage. His feed is always dampened.

He also drinks a lot from the field troughs......but again as only have had him for 5 mnths don't know if this is just 'normal' for him.

Meant to add he is only 14.2hh and lightweight for a cob.
 
I have a 27yr old who drinks 60L of water a night! His stable has a drain right outside thank goodness. He's been tested negative for cushings, and other things, and the thought is he has psychogenic polydipsia. He's always drunk alot (we've had him 13yrs). TBH its just something you get used to. We don't deny him water, just accept that his bed is always going to be wet.
 
Britestar said:
I have a 27yr old who drinks 60L of water a night! His stable has a drain right outside thank goodness. He's been tested negative for cushings, and other things, and the thought is he has psychogenic polydipsia. He's always drunk alot (we've had him 13yrs). TBH its just something you get used to. We don't deny him water, just accept that his bed is always going to be wet.
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Wikepedia mentions Zinc deficiency in humans, wondering if this is possible, we know that Pro Hoof and others have Zinc [and other minerals of course]
I have seen a few who drink a lot but the vet seemed to think it was in the "normal" range.
 
Not just Cushings ( or PPID as its known now) to check for, ask for EMS/IR test too. If you look on the laminitis site, it will give you al the info you require to gem up on these.
 
I had a pony that did this, would drink a massive bucket full every day and the stable was flooded! It would take my other horses 4 days or more to drink that much. I investigated the medical side of things, nothing showed up. At the time he was new to the yard, and had quite a stressful journey from Ireland. He was kept in a field away from other horses and I believe he was drinking excessively for comfort- when he was socialised with the herd and got in to a routine, the excessive drinking and urinating stopped. I read somewhere that horses can drink a lot for comfort, Just an idea !
 
One horse at our yard drank more than normal, and her bedding was soaked,she had a kidney infection,can you get a urine sample for your vet,better safe than sorry. Our cob drinks about one and a half normal size buckets over night.
 
Hi, thought I would say my horse had the same symptoms, drinking 40l a night and weeing a lot. Did a urine test as I thought it could be a water infection. Raised enzymes were found in the urine so bloods were taken. Turned out he had a virus that had attacked his liver, fast forward three months, after steroids and supplements from the vet he is drinking and weeing less.
Not saying this is what your horse has, but it would be worth checking with the vet for the sake of a £30 urine test it was worth finding this out.
Good luck!
 
My Arabian gelding drinks like a camel and pees every hour on the hour. In the summer he can easily do 100 litres a day. There is nothing wrong with him (we tested for all sorts) and it's a family thing. It comes thu his sire and he has numerous half siblings who all do the same thing.

He would have been hopeless in the desert !
 
A friends horse has locking stifle and drinks as much water as she gives him, she was told by the vet that it can be pain related. How true that is I'm unsure.....
 
Can be a sign of liver issues - worth a chat with your vet about taking bloods id say!
Could be nothing but a check now could save you the stress of bigger and alot more expensive problems in the future :)
 
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