Gastro symptoms - what could this be?

[Fat_Pony]

I have 4 year old that I have had since a weanling. He has always been out 24/7 until this winter when he comes in at night. He has always had constant access to forage, either grass or hay. He has a vit and min supplement mixed with a tiny bit of sugar beet once a day.

Worm counts always clear and he has been wormed for tape worm twice yearly and encysted every winter.

he has always been a little bloated looking on and off. Droppings are softer than normal, but still the vague shape of droppings, not like cow pats. Often passes brown liquid after. His weight is probably a little higher than I'd like - he is a very good doer.

vet in unconcerned as he is happy is himself, never any weight issues, gut sounds normal and no discomfort.

i have tried charcoal, fennel, yea sacc, and protexin all with no change. His vit supplement has yea sacc and probiotics in it anyway.

can anyone suggest anything else to try? Someone has suggested hind gut acidosis? He is going to be backed soon and I want him to be comfortable. I still worry that he is in discomfort, despite not appearing to be.

 

[sarahann1]

Has he had blood tests done? I would be asking for them next if not. There was a thread in here somewhere about the resistance of tape to a certain chemical.

Otherwise, the bloods should show up any other anomalies which need sorted out. They aren't very expensive to get done and to get peace of mind, worth it.

 

[mummymole]

My youngster was like this when i brought him ,can only be described as liquid farts that used to stain his legs.Like you my vet was unconcerned as everything was working as it should .I tryed pink powders ,protexin everything really but none of them were a lot of good .He always sounded very uncomfortable (full of gas )Then he got laminitis last year from a steroid injection (bear in mind that i have owned him since he was 3 and is now 8 and he had always had the problem )..... i changed his diet .He went on to soaked to death hay and blue chip lami lite balancer with some hifi mollassess free .It stopped just like that unbelievable !!

 

[Fat_Pony]

He currently has no access to grass at all - over winter my horses are turned out on a large surfaced area with a hard standing area where they have ad lib hay. They have 2012 hay as the 2013 cut made them all scour - the grass was so rich down here last year. And hard feed wise, he has pretty much nothing. I have swapped the blob of unmolassed sugar beet for a few soak low feed value grass nuts. He has just enough to mix equimins supplement with - about a fist size. Someone mentioned the sugar beet could be to blame and figured it was worth a try.

I will ring the vet again and see if they will blood test.

 

[philamena]

My youngster was like this when i brought him ,can only be described as liquid farts that used to stain his legs.Like you my vet was unconcerned as everything was working as it should .I tryed pink powders ,protexin everything really but none of them were a lot of good .He always sounded very uncomfortable (full of gas )Then he got laminitis last year from a steroid injection (bear in mind that i have owned him since he was 3 and is now 8 and he had always had the problem )..... i changed his diet .He went on to soaked to death hay and blue chip lami lite balancer with some hifi mollassess free .It stopped just like that unbelievable !!

Interesting - what was he on before, out of interest?