HELP - Drinking Problems

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Toby773

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Over the last 24 hrs my horse has stopped drinking her water properly; instead she's slapping her lips at it as if eating it! She is getting water down her but probably not really enought. She's eating her haylage ok and everything else appears ok (droppings etc) at the moment.

Am concerned so will ring vet in morn if no improvement.

Any thoughts + other things to look for. Thank you:)

Also in Veterinary
 
could try putting some apple juice into water? maybe a little salt in her feed, although this may dehydrate horse further, but may also encourage her to drink.

If her droppings become hard and dry, or she stops passing them at all phone vet straight away.

My old girl did this last year when she had to stay in because of the snow, so i battled to ensure she went out every day in it last wk! Have you changed her routine at all?
 
Benson used to drink like that, no wonder his stable was so wet! Made an awful mess but he was always ok.
Things like really sloppy sugar beet in the feed would make sure she is getting some fluids.
 
I always put loads of water in their feeds.

Mick doesn't drink that much so its a good way of getting fluid into him. He will eat the chaff then drink the water thats left in the bowl.
 
Ditto the hot water. Our lad isn't keen to drink when the water is icy but as soon as we add hot water he'll have a good go.
 
Another warm the water. Like people, some horses have more sensitive teeth/gums and icy water can be very unpleasant.

If this doesn't work, would get mouth checked immediately for any signs of loose/damaged teeth, ulcers, a cut (from drinking from an icy bucket/trough) etc. & if no improvement speak to vet. Meanwhile however, hard dropping or lack of droppings, call vet out.
 
Thanks guys. I've been so thinking about more drastic things being wrong, that I completely overlooked the warm water. Many thanks!
 
perfect11s said:
Add a kettle of hot water so its tepid mine love warm water and slurp loads down :D
Click to expand...

Archie gets a large bucket of tepid water to drink and loves it. I wouldn't fancy drinking really cold water and given the temperatures lately thats what it has been, icy cold. Perhaps your horse's water is just too cold.

Hope he gets drinking soon x
 
It’s a little known fact that horses can be thirstier in the winter than they are in the summer. A horse’s drive to drink is dictated by his thirst. This thirst mechanism doesn’t always function as efficiently in the winter as it does in the summer. In fact the colder it gets, the less your horse feels like drinking – even when his body really needs fluid.
Drinking water in the winter lowers your horse's body temperature - ‘it’s already cold – why drink and get colder?’ His body then has to work double to warm itself back up from the heat loss that is incurred so he will instinctively drink less.
This is a problem because water is one of the most important items your horse needs to be healthy. He need water to wash all the food he ingest through his intestinal tract. If horses don't drink enough they can get a really bad colic or intestinal impaction. In fact the main reason the incidence of colic increases from December to March is that many horses don’t drink enough water in the winter months.
There's a good feature in this week's Horse & Hound saying how vets have seen a glut of cold weather colic recently and they recommend horse owners "make sure their horses drink plenty of water".
The problem is water is often not noticed by some horse owners as the reason for this disruption in gut activity. Some people associate drinking and dehydration in their horses only with hot weather - it seems more of a natural corrolation - when in fact the opposite is true. Older horses too often suffer from sensitive teeth and gum disease that restricts them from drinking enough in winter and as horses age, their bodies contain less water, making them more susceptible to dehydration and impaction colic.
The other thing to watch out for if your horse is not drinking enough is malnutrition. If your horse is not drinking sufficient water, he will not produce enough saliva to mix with his feed as it is being chewed. He can then back off eating and then perhaps not produce enough energy to keep him warm in the cold weather and this may result in weight loss despite adequate nutrition. A normal adult horse will secrete 10 gallons of saliva per day to help soften its food as it is chewed and swallowed.
Five years ago you'd never see human beings walking around with water bottles in their hands as a matter of course. Nowadays it is common place. Horse owners are becoming much more aware of hydration in relations to their horses health and performance and are wise to their horses if they are not drinking enough. This is especially true in winter when most health problems from horses not drinking enough occur, so you are wise to be worried and it would be a good idea to be proactive in doing something about this before you possibly run into serious health problems, especially as the ultra cold snap is due back at the end of this week.
As others have said above here there are products available that will get your horse to drink when you want him to and/or try warm water -- although sometimes horses will still prefer the cold stuff and you might need to be more proactive than just offering warm water.
Vet David L Marshall from the University of Delaware did a paper 'Horse Health Depends on Water'. He concluded: "What horses prefer, however, does not always add up to increased water intake. For example in very cold weather, when drinking water temperatures approach freezing, a horse’s water intake will decrease. This decrease in daily water intake may lead to problems, frequently impaction colic. Early recommendations to promote increased water intake were to provide the horse with a bucket of warmed water alongside its regular water. We discovered the horse preferred drinking from the cold water, leaving only the warm, and continued to drink too little water per day. When we took away the cold water, leaving only the warm, the horse drank the warm water, actually consuming a great quantity of water per day. So next winter, to increase your horse’s daily water intake, warm up its water (warm to 60-70 degrees F) and remove cold water sources."
Hope all of this helps and good luck with your horse.
 
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