Gelding with Cushings, periodically squirts liquid after poo

[Smudgit]

Hi
My 24 year old gelding is going through a phase where he squirts liquid after pooing , or sometimes just squirts liquid. His poos are fairly solid though. I have tried some dry bran in his feed and also Protexin gut balancer. Some days he's ok and some days he squirts more. He's being turned out on alternate days. He's fed on high fibre cubes and Spillers Veteran feed balancer and ad lib hay. In the past he has had surgery for Ifee colic and made a full recovery. I've read a lot of stuff online (and scared myself) like it could be a precursor to laminitis (which he's never had so far). I was thinking of introducing something like Dengie Healthy Tummy to see if this helps. I've also been told alfa pellets can reduce the squirts, but am unsure if this is suitable for a horse with Cushings, there are so many contradictory reports. I'm about to try him with Equimins fibre digester yeast as a supplement.
Anyone experienced similar problems or can offer any feeding advice? :?

 

[Pen]

My 34 year old has had the same problem for years. He also has cushings. My vet says it's his old guts not being able to absorb enough liquid. I've tried many so called remedies but nothing has helped. To be honest it doesn't seem to worry him much but I hate to see his grey rear end looking and smelling mucky so he has frequent tail and bottom washes. At the moment I'm increasing the amount of Copra he has as he's a bit ribby and I was thinking today that he didn't seem quite so squirty. It would be nothing short of a minor miracle if more Copra was the solution to the problem though. Will be interested to hear if the Equimins fibre digester yeast has a good result. Mine have the Equimins Advance Complete balancer.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi
My 24 year old gelding is going through a phase where he squirts liquid after pooing , or sometimes just squirts liquid. His poos are fairly solid though. I have tried some dry bran in his feed and also Protexin gut balancer. Some days he's ok and some days he squirts more. He's being turned out on alternate days. He's fed on high fibre cubes and Spillers Veteran feed balancer and ad lib hay. In the past he has had surgery for Ifee colic and made a full recovery. I've read a lot of stuff online (and scared myself) like it could be a precursor to laminitis (which he's never had so far). I was thinking of introducing something like Dengie Healthy Tummy to see if this helps. I've also been told alfa pellets can reduce the squirts, but am unsure if this is suitable for a horse with Cushings, there are so many contradictory reports. I'm about to try him with Equimins fibre digester yeast as a supplement.
Anyone experienced similar problems or can offer any feeding advice? :?

Oh dear, this sounds all to familiar OP

One of my livery horses aged 34 started this 3 months ago, sometimes a cup of liquid came before the poo and some more after. Owner was not too worried till I and other livery owners said she needs to get a vet out. (I lost my first mare through an unknown condition where she scoured full time and went emaciated then had a stroke as she was so weak)

I know how quickly they can go down hill when they are ageing. Loads of bum and tail washing and, Finally this owner got the vet and after many test they cut out the mix and carrots to see if any change. They also put him on codeine phosphate tablets to slow the gut down, this helped and gradually improved so they stopped the tablets, but it soon started again.

Turns out poss gut infection or just the age but nothing certain. Now back on two tablets a day and was heaps better and now owner wants to keep him on them, and now intro mix again and no change.

She weight measures him to keep a check on his weight, but he is now so much better with two tablets, she told the vet she wanted to stick with them.

Maybe small feeds little and often so not to overload the system.


You should get a vet out and check for gut issues etc.

Also try small holed hay nets so the chewed food is not passing through the intestines too fast. This can speed the gut back up again(personal experience)

 

[Birker2020]

I would suggest

It could be because there is a problem with her colon and she is not metabolising the water in it correctly. I think pink powder may help with this as it supports gut function, but I would ask the vet first.

 

[Smudgit]

I would suggest

It could be because there is a problem with her colon and she is not metabolising the water in it correctly. I think pink powder may help with this as it supports gut function, but I would ask the vet first.

Thanks for your replies. He has been seen by the Vet, who suggested a probiotic and dry bran, and see if he improved, which he did. She said if there was no improvement or he got worse, they would do bloods. However, every now and then he's had a day when he's squirting again. If he doesn't improve or gets worse, I'll get the Vet back again. He seems Ok in himself, whereas initially when I first called the Vet he was a bit lethargic.

 

[Birker2020]

Thanks for your replies. He has been seen by the Vet, who suggested a probiotic and dry bran, and see if he improved, which he did. She said if there was no improvement or he got worse, they would do bloods. However, every now and then he's had a day when he's squirting again. If he doesn't improve or gets worse, I'll get the Vet back again. He seems Ok in himself, whereas initially when I first called the Vet he was a bit lethargic.

My boy used to be very much like this at one time, and I put it down to the rich grazing that we had at the yard. Also fluctuations in the weather, say if it had rained after a particuarly mild period. It was an ex dairy farm and the grass was very rich. He used to get the squits, where basically it would sound like someone had thrown a bucket of water onto the yard it was so loose. He also got repeated episodes of colic (always gassy spasmodic colic)In the end it was a mixture of probiotics, swapping from haylage to hay and reducing turnout iwith a gradual increase of hours over weeks.

I do hope you get your horses sorted.