How to treat dysbiosis

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bolandruth

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Hello!

I hope that I have put this in the right place. I always turn to these forums for advice but have never posted before.

I have had my mare for 10 years and she has always had a problem with very loose droppings. I have asked many vets to diagnose this but was always told not to worry unless she starts to loose weight. She has never been a particularly bad doer but has always been difficult to muscle in certain areas. When she does put on a summer grass belly she carries what I would call an "undergut".

Recently, the physiotherapist saw her and immediately felt that she is suffering from dysbiosis. I am wondering how to tackle this problem and any advise would be greatly appreciated. She is stabled for the winter but is turned out for 6-7 hours weather permitting and has a steady supply of good quality haylage.

My plan is to incorporate alfalfa and apple cider vinegar into her feed and a probiotic such as: http://www.triequestrian.ie/index.p...intenance-2kg.html?keyword=probiotic&sef=hcfp

I really want to resolve this issue and would love to hear from anyone who has had similar problems.

Thanks in advance,

Ruth
 
I have found that apparently loose poos in some of mine and especially one are down to sugar content of hay and grass.
Excess, spills over into and irritates the microbes in the hind gut and causes all sorts of problems for some horses. Putting them on soaked hay restricted grass and feeding yea sacc does the trick very quickly. You could try a test of soaked hay, much reduced or no grass for a couple of days and see if it helps. Also consider gastric ulcers.
http://www.barefoothorseblog.blogspot.ie/search/label/hind gut acidosis

Something else to try (but expensive) is Marksway high fibre haylage. It is guaranteed low sugar and starch. Haylage locally grown may not have been made well enough for sensitive horses.

I expect there can be lots of causes but this has been my experience. Upset gut/microbes also reduces the nutrients the horse can absorb so they are often poor does too despite loads of concentrates and supplements.
 
Btw,none of mine have a diagnosis of dysbiosis (had to look it up lol) I have just learned by googling and studying their response to things.
 
Thanks so much for the speedy reply!

It's great to hear that you have managed to make progress by switching the diet. It's most certainly worth a try, I'll soak her hay and see how she responds, restricting grass won't be too difficult at this time of year!

I'll let you know how we get on
 
Thanks so much for the speedy reply!

It's great to hear that you have managed to make progress by switching the diet. It's most certainly worth a try, I'll soak her hay and see how she responds, restricting grass won't be too difficult at this time of year!

I'll let you know how we get on
 
I would beware of alfalfa, it has a record of turning a lot of barefoot horses footie, which also originates in the gut.

Do you feed yeast? It has two effects on the gut that reduce inflammation. One of mine is a laminitic without yeast. Either brewers yeast at 50g a day, or yea-sacc at 15g a day (less because it is live and the other is dead, they both work).
 
Just tried a young horse in brewers yeast and literally saw an overnight difference. No more loose cow pats and trashed stable plus he seems a little happier in himself.
 
Just wanted to let you all know that I started my mare on bluegrass releve and brewers yeast and saw an overnight improvement! Her dropping were immediately improved, no more cow pats.

Thanks for all the advice!
 
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