Horse drinking unusual amounts of water...

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alexsharpe

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As of last weekend, all the horses at my DIY yard must now be brought in overnight, but can be out by day. Quite thankful as it is so cold!!
I have noticed my horse drinking lots of water in the last week, much more so than normal. His bucket is empty in the mornings and then he goes straight to drink from the water trough when he is turned out - this is not usual behaviour for him.
As far as i can work out, the only 2 things that have changed in his routine are;

1.He is now eating unsoaked hay overnight (but he will be on haylage soon)
2. I started him on Arthri Aid joint supplement 2 weeks ago - he is 18 years old
Can anyone shed any light on why he might be drinking more than normal? thanks
 
Monitor it and see if he settles down, might just be because he is in, but with soaked hay as well, it might be to do with his liver or kidneys - get the Vet to do blood tests to check for anything else that might be going on.
 
Thanks - i will monitor it for now. He had blood tests done 2 months ago after an allergic reaction and everything came back normal for liver and kidneys etc. I'd be surprised if he'd developed a condition that quickly!
I was wondering about joint supplements and whether a side-effect is increased thirst... but it could just be because he is in
 
Cushings springs to mind as he is that age unfortunately and drinking heavily is a symptom even if coat is normal, no signs of lami etc.
 
When i was doing my vet nurse training, i was told problems with the kidneys ect only showed up on bloods when over a third of the organ was affected/failing!! I would ring the help line that should be on the Arthriaid bottle and ask if and increased thirst is a side effect or not. In the mean tine measure out the water he is gettin over night and estimate what he is getting during the day. Then phone your vet and get them to test for things like Cushings, kidney and liver function and also diabetes!!!!!!
 
Thanks FranP - useful to know that statistic! I will contact ArthriAid company for info and monitor water intake as best i can for the time being. I might try soaking his hay whilst we are waiting for the haylage to arrive. I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet!!!
 
Are you sure it's not normal? How do you know how much he has been drinking from the field trough when out 24/7? Just a thought that if you think it's excessive, it may not be as new a problem as you think. Good luck x
 
what size water buckets do you use! only mine has a lage tub trub and he will drink the thing over night when he is given dy hay. I I soak or steam the hay he doesnt get through nearly as much!
 
I would guess cushings too..... caught early via a blood test, it could be kept well under control
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I noticed my 21 yo gelding was drinking a lot more then usual and also peeing a lot more so got the vet out last week to take a blood and urine test. The bloods didn't show much, a slightly raised white bllod cell count which either meant an infection, a very low grade virus or else the beginnings of cushings. The urine test showed that he had an urinary tract infection so is now on antibiotics. Always better to be safe than sorry, so if you're concerned I'd get tests done.
 
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