Gassy, scouring Thoroughbred mare. Alfa-a?

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alicem22

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My 15yo TB mare has been scouring for a few weeks now. She has become quite gassy too over the last week. Other than this she is the picture of health and still eating/drinking as normal with normal poos just gassyness and liquid at other times. She is fed Alfa-a (2 stubbs scoops a day), ready mash and balancer with NAF Thrive and Yea-Sac. Started the Yea-Sac earlier this week with initial success then back to being covered in poo again! She has access to a mineral lick and salt lick.

I have ruled out worms! I am close to ringing the vet now but just one final last ditch attempt!

-Has anyone experienced this when feeding Alfa-a? I know protein levels are high but she is fed a level scoop per feed which should not be too much...She has been on it a year now and no problems until now?
-If it is spring grass is there anything else people feed to help scouring at this time?
-Equine Gold Biotal? Very close to buying this!
-Feeding fennel?

ANY ADVICE GREATLY APPRECIATED THANKS! :)
 
Hopefully what you are looking at is just a reaction to spring grass, my mare would scour quite a lot and was always quite gassy. I don't personally use Alfa oil anymore but can't see it being the issue, much more likely it's the grass. If you are feeding haylage I would switch to hay for now, as spring grass and haylage together may just be too rich for her tummy. You can't control what's in the grass but you can control the other things, perhaps cut her turnout down a little bit while she adjusts too.
 
:(I have been having the same problem with my TB, after speaking to my vet who suspected worms, even though I have wormed him and his counts had come back clear, he said it was a bad year for worms due to the very mild winter!
So I wormed him, but he still has a squitty bottom, I have tried charcoal, Biotal, not much help!! I am now giving him protexin and Ulcer Guard and this seems to be helping, he is not as bad as he was!
Mine does not have Alfal A so I don.t know if its the grass or his hay which is soaked?
I am fed up of washing his bum though!!!!!
 
I've been through this most of the winter with my Lippi, finally tried the carob mix from Valley View Animal Feeds, still not completely formed poo but a lot better.
 
Thanks everyone for advice!! I Will try some hay mixed with haylage as she doesn't like hay! Fussy mare!
Have read up on so many things the last few weeks I'm now a bit baffled as to what to try next.
Have ordered some peppermint to give this a go!
 
My TB and a cob that get gassy and loose on grass are only ''cured'' by yarding on soaked (untested) hay with yea sacc. Obviously that may not be an option but what about night time turnout?
I'd keep up with the yea sacc though as her gut is unsettled.
 
I would limit the amount of time she is out at grass, or reduce the paddock size and give her a probiotic to increase the friendly bacteria in her gut. There are a lot of horses getting gassy colic at the moment.

I would also ensure she is put on a horse walker everyday or given some other form of exercise to reduce the build up of gas.

Feed good quality hay and reduce any starch in hard feeds. Bran mash will help the digestive system absorb water as will oats. Just because you have ruled out worms doesn't mean this is the case, she may have a red worm burden. Horses can become resistant to wormers so she may still have worms. Make sure she has access to plenty of clean fresh water.

Tips below (from a website):

Keep horses with persistent diarrhoea on roughage; calorie-dense feeds such as corn, barley and alfalfa may exacerbate diarrhoea and lead to colitis.
Don't allow your horse unsupervised access to fresh spring grass until his digestive system can adjust to it; gradually introduce new feed over a week to 10 days to prevent upset.
Deworm your horse on a regular basis using your veterinarian's recommendations.
Provide your horse with another supply of drinking water if he doesn't like the taste of the electrolyte-enhanced water.
Diarrhoea and colitis can become life-threatening conditions---especially in a young, immune-compromised foal. Long bouts of diarrhoea can cause dehydration leading to heart disease, kidney failure and colic. If the lining of the intestinal tract becomes damaged, toxins produced by normal bacterial flora can enter the bloodstream, causing the horse to become toxemic, go into shock and possibly die.
 
My mare has been the same, i feed limeflour which is £1.50 1kg which is what pink powder is made up off. it has stopped by mare from having the runs!!! i buy mine from thunderbrook herbs which sell the natural equine products well worth a try xxx
 
applecart14 said:
I would limit the amount of time she is out at grass, or reduce the paddock size and give her a probiotic to increase the friendly bacteria in her gut. There are a lot of horses getting gassy colic at the moment.

I would also ensure she is put on a horse walker everyday or given some other form of exercise to reduce the build up of gas.

Feed good quality hay and reduce any starch in hard feeds. Bran mash will help the digestive system absorb water as will oats. Just because you have ruled out worms doesn't mean this is the case, she may have a red worm burden. Horses can become resistant to wormers so she may still have worms. Make sure she has access to plenty of clean fresh water.

Tips below (from a website):

Keep horses with persistent diarrhoea on roughage; calorie-dense feeds such as corn, barley and alfalfa may exacerbate diarrhoea and lead to colitis.
Don't allow your horse unsupervised access to fresh spring grass until his digestive system can adjust to it; gradually introduce new feed over a week to 10 days to prevent upset.
Deworm your horse on a regular basis using your veterinarian's recommendations.
Provide your horse with another supply of drinking water if he doesn't like the taste of the electrolyte-enhanced water.
Diarrhoea and colitis can become life-threatening conditions---especially in a young, immune-compromised foal. Long bouts of diarrhoea can cause dehydration leading to heart disease, kidney failure and colic. If the lining of the intestinal tract becomes damaged, toxins produced by normal bacterial flora can enter the bloodstream, causing the horse to become toxemic, go into shock and possibly die.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I've done a worm count which came back negative and have done another since just to double check ad still negative.

She's in medium work 5/6 days a week hacking/schooling/jumping so don't think the exercise is a problem.

It's not so much diarrohea as poos are actually solid it's just the gas and scouring.

I've swapped from haylage to hay which has made a big difference. Bran mash is meant to be a laxative!
 
Sounds like, for the moment you're doing what you can, really glad the swop to hay has made a difference. For now, I'd just continue with that, the protexin and ulcer guard and give everything a week or two to see if it all settles. While out (if you can) I'd provide some hay in the field. Hopefully, while out and eating the grass he will also eat some hay which will help too.
 
Thanks everybody! WE HAVE A SOLUTION

A few days after swapping to hay (which was a nightmare to find good quality stuff!!) we are completely back to normal. Going to keep up with the Yea-Sac and Peppermint as well to help any further upsets that may be caused from Spring grass.
 
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