Not eating and abnormal poo?

[Bounty]

My 18yo TBx (second pic in sig) is pretty much refusing to eat.
She was having 2 round stubbs scoops of soaked oats, half a scoop of flaked maize, 1 scoop of speedibeet, and 2 scoops of AlphaA split into 3 feeds a day. This is supplemented with pink powder. She has ad-lib hay, though barely touches it.

Over the last few weeks she has been getting increasingly picky, and often doesn't finish up, and takes ages to eat.
However, over the last 4 days things have got really bad. She shows no interest whatsoever in her usual feed. I have tried splitting up the components, and this morning managed to get her to eat a small amount (literally a double handful) of oats and maize. She won't touch anything else - have offered her everything I have here....Topspec feed balancer, high fibre nuts, coarse mix.
She is eating a tiny amount of hay overnight, and have offered her hay soaked, and haylage, to try and tempt her to eat more.

She had her teeth by the vet done under sedation at the beginning of november and had some fairly significant hooks that manual rasping hadn't shifted during previous appointments, so she was rasped with a power tool.She's wormed up to date, and looks and feels well in herself. I take off her rugs twice a day, and she's not looked tucked up or bloated at any point.

This is what comes out the other end:

To me this looks pretty undigested?

A friend has suggested trying the Le Brick things, any other suggestions on how to manage, and ultimately what might be causing this?

Sorry it's so long!
Meg and Tills x

 

[Tempi]

id call the vet.....if my horse had stopped eating for nearly four days i would immediatly be seaking proper advice.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Sorry I echo above. Get you vet to check her. Is she stabled full time or does she go out on grass at all?

 

[Maggie2]

Vet needed asap, this is not normal, and if all she is eating is starch based feeds then no wonder her droppings aren't normal.

 

[Tempi]

my thoughts exactly....

 

[amzy]

I would call the vet. I had the same experience with my old mare and the vet suggested priobotics (sp?). Unfortunately the brown liquid just got worse and overtook the undigested food. We had her pts soon after as she quickly went downhill and couldn't even eat grass. She was in her 30's though and the few teeth she had were all loose. Don't mean to alarm you as this was just my experience but do get the vet to put your mind at rest.

 

[AmyMay]

Perhaps not the most appetising of food???

If it were me - I'd stop feeding what you're giving her immediately and move on to a high fibre based feed - just simple spillers hi fibre cubes. And ensure that she has good adlib hayalge. It might also be worth adding some pink powder to her feed.

The second shot of the droppings do look very odd - although with the ground being so wet at the moment that could be having an effect.

When was she last wormed?? I would possibly be ringing the vet for a chat toward the end of the week if there is not a marked improvement.

Have you taken her temperature? It's also quite possible that she has some sort of virus, and the first thing to go is usually the appetite. If temperature raised - vet today.

 

[Bounty]

She's usually out for about 8-10 hours a day, but over the last week she's been in alot more due to snow, and then the subsequent flooding. The last two days she has been back to her normal routine despite the others being kept in still, as I thought it may be the change that had upset her.
There is little grass to be had, so have been feeding hay out in the fields.

 

[Bounty]

She only had a small amount of oats/maize this morning, and has only had hay for the last 4 days.

 

[Bounty]

She won't touch high fibre cubes or haylage (have already tried) and is already on pink powder, which i've been managing to give her in handfuls of alfa-a.
Was going to take her temp when I went out at lunchtime, but she refuses to be caught. She seems to be feeling very well, and is prancing around the field like usual.
ETS: Last wormed a fortnight ago with Equest. Used this before with no side effects whatsoever.

She has a broken tooth in her maxillary arcade which has been broken the entire time i have had her (4/5years) and has never caused any trouble. Do you think this could have anything remotely to do with it?

 

[the watcher]

Possible that if she had some heavy dental work, it might have started off an infection that is affecting her well being, she might have dental pain..the droppings don't look chewed.

I would be considering bloods, in any case the vet needs to have a look

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
She seems to be feeling very well, and is prancing around the field like usual.

[/ QUOTE ]
Obviously not much wrong with her then!

Just make sure that she has plenty of ad lib hay if she is out 24/7 (if I've understood correctly) and some bog standard mix.

 

[catembi]

I know it's expensive & means a day off work, but I'd get the vet too. This is how my horse started, & he ended up with full blown protein losing enteropathy (inflamed intestines) & was very dangerously ill for several months. He lost nearly 200 kg. If it's something nasty, it's best to catch it early, and it would be cheaper in the long run as we're WAY over our £5k-per-incident from PetPlan, plus it would give you peace of mind.

 

[Bounty]

The work she had done was at the very beginning of november, and there was an immediate difference as soon as we got home. She was eating more quickly, and dropping less food. See above post, edited to mention a broken tooth. What do you think?
She just seems so well in herself - she's supposed to be the safe'n'steady one, but is giving our 4yo a run for her money.
I broke my collar bone 4 weeks ago, so she's been out of work, but other than that nothing has changed.

 

[Bounty]

Not insured due to her age anyway

Thanks for your input. x

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Probably is the change in routine that has upset her digestive system, my friends 24YO mare stops eating if kept in, last time (Thursday when we had the snow) we tempted her with Alpha A Oil and veg (carrots, swede and parsnip).

 

[Bounty]

I'm hoping so. This last week is the first time I've stabled any of my horses for anything other than proper box rest. I'm soft, so they've still been out for at least an hour a day.
Tills has never been stabled for longer than overnight since she's been here, though as an ex-polo pony I'm sure she remembers the long days of being stood in.

 

[amzy]

You have said that the last 4 days have been the worst but also that she has been back to the usual routine for the past 2 - I don't think it is to do with being stabled. Please keep us informed as I am always interested to hear updates.

 

[Sags_Deer]

i would try soaking her feeds and like someone else said soaked fibre cubes, conditioning cubes, simple systems grass nuts are good add mint to help with the taste.. you seem to feeding quite high protein feeds the oats and maize. and look at a hay replacer on the veteran horse society website. and get the vet to check out by the way vets are generally not good at doing horses teeth registered horse dentists are far better.

 

[Llwyncwn]

I echo SammyJ - always get a time served dentist rather than a vet to do teeth. I notice that you are in Gloucestershire. My dentist (Anthony Jones) is not far from you and I have used him for the last 12 years. If you would like his number, please pm me - I cant recommend him highly enough. In fact, my dentist has on numerous occasions had to 'put right' the dentistry that vets have done! Ok, dont all you vets on here jump on me !

 

[Bounty]

She wouldn't touch anything soaked at all. And we'll have to agree to disagree on the dentist thing - Have always used a 'qualified dental technichan' in the past, and since using my vet I will never use anyone else again. He gave a much more thorough examination and treatment, and discovered things about Tills's mouth that the others hadn't even seen.

Anyway......
Bought some Allen and Page Old Faithful's this evening in a last ditch attempt at tempting her to eat, purely because it smelt so good! She was tucking into it well when I left (can't stay and watch her eat or she gets very unsettled). Also got Just Grass, which seems to have been a good move. She'll have the just grass ad-lib, and lots of very small meals of the A&P stuff.
No temperature, and a very relieved mum!
Hopefully she'll continue to eat overnight, and if not the vet will be out tomorrow.

Thanks for all your halp and advice everybody. X

 

[Breezesbenefactor]

Call the vet

 

[Gingernags]

Mine doesn't have abnormal droppings as such but can get incredibly picky with feed. Now if you met Asti - she is a complete fat pig and LOVES food. She once got out of her stable and it was an enclosed yard - and spent the night eating everyones breakfast feeds and haynets!

However, there have been times when I've gone to feed her and instead of diving at her bucket like normal, she turns her nose up and won't eat it. Which scares the pants off me! Hers is a simple explanation though, she gets fed up with some feed. Currently if I put too much sugar beet in - she refuses to eat it - I have to make it really sloppy, water with a sugar beet falvour almost - and she consents to eat that.

She has also in the past refused to eat certain chaffs like hi-fi and hi-fi lite. She'll eat them for weeks and then get fed up. Currently she's on the graze-on gold chaff and likes that!

Some of the feed companies, I'm sure Dengie is one - do veteran chaffs - with mint in them - well worth a try - they smell lovely and minty and we get it for out 17yo TB and she loves it!

If she's not eating much then her droppings would be strange. I would get the vet mind just in case it isn't, or in case there is maybe an abscess or something since she was rasped.

Might be worth soaking hay too - make it softer and easier to chew? Oh and peppermint cordial works a treat!

 

[Bounty]

No panic - she's eating better than ever now. She's demolishing haylage and is having 5 small feeds a day of allen and page old faithful's and high fibre cubes.
When she wasn't eating I was really worried, but at the same time nothing about her general attitude to life had changed, no temp, no staryness of her coat, tucking up etc.
I guess it must just have been the stabling that put her off keel for a few days.

 

[Bounty]

Lol, would love to meet Asti. She's gorgeous, and am always drooling over her in your pics!
I think she'd just gotten fed up of what she was on (shame cos she was looking FABULOUS on it!!) and said enough was enough. She's always been quite faddy, but just never with her feed to this extent. She won't won't mollichaff...or anything apple flavoured!
Going to start introducing the chaff and sugar beet back in slowly soon, but right now i'd rather she was eating something well. I don't want to put her off again.
Her A&P stuff smells delicious, it's what made us pick it up it the first place. It's got the mint in it, and also a bit of chaff that's soft in texture. She loves it!
Thanks for your advice. X

 

[AmyMay]

Excellent news

 

[chunk1]

try taking the suplement out or mixing it in with water and wetting the feed horses are very picky eaters and can not eat because of dicomforts

 

[Gingernags]

She never used to be picky! One old yard I was at, another horses owners have a feed store and kept bringing new things up to try, or older stuff to clear... and their mare was VERY fussy. Guess which horse got to eat it all???? She got to test out lots of supplements and sweeties, all of the people there loved her and she was thoroughly ruined!!!

I think she gets fed up of "diet" food and I can well sympathise, and she can spot an additive at 30 paces. The only one she'll eat no fuss is coligone if her tummy is being funny. I think her greatest hatred was garlic and biotin in the same feed - must taste horrible. I got her a big tub of I think it was called TLC - which combined them all - and the b*gger was having none of it so I bought seperate and she still wouldn't eat it. In the end I dosed it all with peppermint cordial and she would eat it after sniffing it suspiciously.

Currently she's doing so well, as is the TB - they get 1 feed on a night, speedi beet, low cal chaff, and a handful of economy mix, and haylage, and they are all nice and round on it. Luckily they are good do-ers which I am very thankful for!

Glad she's starting to eat though, hope she's back to normal soon.

 

[douglasb]

I have come into this discussion a bit late but looking at the pictures she is not digesting her food properly. I had a similar problem and my vet recommended a product called Gut Cleanse. Have a look at the web site www.thunderbrook.co.uk I found them most helpful it worked for my horse and sorted out his digestion problems.