My horse is peeing lots! not normal for him

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Rua1

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My horse is always fussy where he pees and will always hold it to go in his stable, however yesterday we took him in the school and he was leaking as we were ridding, had to stop to let him have a pee which he did. Carried on riding, 30 mins later he was doing the same thing, completely covered his legs by leaking so much, so we stopped and i untacked and he peed. Took him back to his stable, and he peed again.

He spent the night out then today i bought him in and went out for a ride, 30 mins in he had to stop to have a wee, he doesnt noramally wee out, 10 mins later we got back, i put him in his stable and he went again, half hour later i put him out in the field and he went again.

Im worried as this is not normally like him and he never leaks, he's very good at holding it as he hates being splashed or anything.

Please could some one give me any advice as to what this could be or am i worrying too much??

Thanks x
 
Increase in protein intake would be my first suggestion, followed by urinary tract infection.

What hard-feed do you feed him ATM? And is he on new spring grass? Do you feed hay or haylage ATM?

Does his wee smell strongly of ammonia? Or not have a particularly smell?

 
Its unusual for a horse to have a UTI - urinary tract infection.

What is his urine like? Is it thick, yellow, smelly? Is he having access to grass?

If you are at all concerned, take a sample into your vets to have it dip stick tested. This will check for infection, blood, diabetes etc.
 
He's on a small amount of sugabeet and chaff with occasional pony nuts but thats it and its about half a scoop when he comes in and if we've had a hard ride - same feed as winter just a lot less. He is also on haylage but only a bit in his stable when hes in so not much.

He is on spring grass, its not great grass but he is on 24hr turn out since the nice wether.

I would say his wee did smell, but doesnt really now although as he's been weeing out im not too sure, but its doesnt smell strongly of amonia. Its also not really yellow or thick, it looks like it always has really

I hope ive answered everything
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Thanks for your help
 
Just googled it. Its called Polyuria and can have different causes, including Cushings. Seems you need to take a sample to the vet. (Sounds like he might be uncomfortable if he is leaking) I'm sure the vet can sort it in no time. Good luck x
 
He's 18 (just) been fit and healthy up untill now
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We are going to call the vet tommorow but they're only open for an hour, do you think i should collect a sample of wee in the morning incase they want to come out or test it?
 
ye, get a urine sample BEFORE he gets his breakfast!

I was just thinking that polyuria (excessive weeing) is a symptom of Cushing's disease........

however, the leaking could also be due to muscle sphincter weakening of the urinary tract......

But if the vet is coming out then sure they will give you a good idea! But defo take the sample just in case!
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let us know what the vet says!
 
My boy had this following a steriod injection in his coffin joint - apparently it can be a rare side effect and our vet had never actually seen it. I spoke to the vets in the phone and they said it was best to make sure he had access to plenty of fresh water and to keep an eye on him. If he didn't improve in five days they would come out.
As the cause for your horse is unknown I'd chat to vets but most importantly make sure he has access to enough water.
 
Hi Rua1,

I'm not a vet, but my own experience of Cushing's is that it has a slow progression, while it sounds like it's come on quickly with your lad?

I totally agree with getting the vet in tomorrow, as you plan, just in case, but it's also worth thinking about any changes in his routine lately. You mentioned he's been out 24/7 lately?

It could be worth thinking that, if he's out (not sure where you live, but ground's very dry + hard round here at the moment), he just holds it in tills he's somewhere where he can wee without splashing his legs?

And grass is coming through, he's getting a lot more moisture in? Ground hard, so he doesn't want to splash his legs?

Testing for Cushings is expensive (i was told this by a young vet only the other week, who suspected my old pony of having it, at a routine vaccination, on the grounds that she has a big belly (pony, not vet!!). My pony has no other symptoms, + has had a big belly since she foaled in 1986!) I think the test involves blood test, maybe more, rather than urine.

Ask your vet, write down what he/she says, Google anything you're not sure about, + keep asking us lot too!

Good luck, friend, hopefully you have nothing to worry about. All bests, BS x

PS: If your lad does have Cushing's in early stages, he's likely to be drinking more, + not losing his winter coat. BS x

PPS: Hi Marchtime! Interesting that steroids can induce urination! When it's known that they can induce laminitis. Maybe there's link therefore between steroids + Cushing's? (Sorry, i'm off topic, + obscure, but it's worth a thought?) BS x
 
Steroids can temporarily cause Cushings in people.

Cushings crossed my mind too, but I like to start thinking of straightforward things first.

If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras!

Hopefully, its nothing at all and its just him. My friends horse who is only 7 have increased urination at the moment, we are keeping a close eye on things.

Taking a urine sample in the morning is a good idea. I used an empty mineral water bottle and be prepared to get you hands wet! I had to take a sample for my horse as he has kidney problems.

Fingers crossed for youx

Let us know how you get on.
 
One other thing could be if the grass he is on is poor pasture and covered in dandelions. The French for dandelion is pis-en-lit which translates to wet-the-bed! Dandelions are a diuretic and will cause more frequent peeing. Hope it turns out to be nothing major x
 
It could just be a simple kidney infection, my boy gets them every so often, infact, he gets cystitus
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But the leaking sounds more of a worry to me
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hope you find out what the problem is
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Hi,

Thanks for all your comments, Brandysnap we had thought about the ground being hard which could be why he was weeing in, it was the dripping we thought was od.

I did have a look to see if i could see if he was sore and without going into too much detail - and i dont make a habit of looking so i couldtn say if it was much different but there was some redness which would tie in with the infections mentioned.

We did call the vet who didnt seem too bothered and just said to keep an eye on him, which we have today and yesterday. He is still weeing lots but seems to have stopped leaking which is good.

He is in tonight so we'll see how he is - seems happy in himself just a bit tired if anything. Then try to get a sample to take for a test.

Anyone have any idea how much this will cost? Are the tests they do the same as what they would for humans?? As we could possibly get these done ourselves!

Thanks for all your help and reassurane, he is our first horse so i think maybe we do worry a bit but you cant help it can you!

x
 
Your vets will probably do a range of dipstick tests where they immerse various flexible strips into the urine sample. They change colour to indicate the presence of blood, protein, sugar etc. Not sure if the human strips would indicate correctly for a horse - does horse urine have the same chemical make up? Cost-wise I wouldn't have thought too much unless the simple tests indicate something dodgy and the vets have to send the sample to a specialist centre for further diagnostics.
 
The fact you said he is tired suggests to me that he has a kidney infection/cystitus.

My horse started peeing loads last winter, although not leaking. He also became tired very quickly when being ridden, and just quiter than normal
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turned out he had simple case of kidney infection, which was cleared up after a course of antibiotics.

hope you find out what is wrong
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I know someone who looks after some very expensive polo ponies out of season. Three of them (2 mares and 1 gelding) started peeing all the time involuntarily. The vet came, apparently they had a virus and were subsequently treated. The two mares recovered well but the geldin is still doing it months later. He also gets very wobbly and unsteady on his backend to! He might never recover which is a pity. No one sems to know why he hasnt recovered!
 
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