Psychogenic Polydipsia

Britestar

Britestar

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*This horse is being treated by a Vet*

Yes, he's been tested for all other conditions that may result in excessive drinking. Bloods results were good, and he was declared 'very healthly' for a geriatric (how rude!).

More a query to see if anyone has a horse with this and how they manage it.

Boy is 27yrs old and drinks 60 litres of water each night - he'd drink more if I put it in the stable. In the field there is a trough, so not sure how much he drinks out there as well. He's in from 5.30pm to 7.30am.

This of course results in copious amounts of urine and sloppy poo. His stable is well draining and he has a drain situated right outside to help. I take probably 60-70% of his bed out each day.

We are about to start on a water restriction test, but I wonder how others deal with the condition. I'll feel guilty about restricting his water, but know its for the best.
 
i had an old pony here that started to drink to excess, over a 2 week period his weight plummeted and he drank more and more, he peed almost as he drank, bloods were taken but we started on prascend before waiting for results, he improved a little but the main improvement was when I put him on salt, it seemed in some ways the wrong thing to do but felt right, I used a mix of table salt and low salt as advised by the vet, I never restricted the water and he gradually settled to normal.
 
One of ours was diagnosed with polydipsia - all other tests were normal - he was just drinking excessively and his urine was very dilute. The vets told us to treat using salt to encourage his kidneys to concentrate urine and things returned to normal. We still keep him on a higher does of salt than we would normally feed but he seems fine.
 
Thank you all.

I'll bear in mind the salt once the tests are complete to ensure he can concentrate the urine.

He has always been a big drinker ( had him for 12 yrs), but it has increased in the last few months.

He is in good condition and loves his food - a little to much! Bloods were sent away to equine hospital for GH and Heam so assume that poor renal parameters would have been apparent, and all were normal.
 
Britestar said:
Thank you all.

I'll bear in mind the salt once the tests are complete to ensure he can concentrate the urine.

He has always been a big drinker ( had him for 12 yrs), but it has increased in the last few months.

He is in good condition and loves his food - a little to much! Bloods were sent away to equine hospital for GH and Heam so assume that poor renal parameters would have been apparent, and all were normal.
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I would assume nothing and ask specifically if they tested for kidney failure. It's a specific test, not often done because kidney failure is rare. It took me a year to finally persuade a vet that my big drinking horse was even ill. He had almost no kidney function left.
 
Yes!! I have taken on an Exmoor this year (13 yr old) who is obsessed by water! He drains every bucket, and can't walk past a tub/puddle anything without drinking copious amounts!
This means his bedding is floating in the wee every day, and he stinks from lying in it!
I had vet out, had a full mot, blood tests etc, and he decided it was PP.
He said it is generally bought on from stress (like a vice almost) and stressful situations. It is reversible, it's just teaching the kidneys to 'kickstart' and start filtering again.
I had to wait till the weather turned (cooled down) and then began the process of water restriction, which was worked out by the vet.
This was back in October, and I am just starting to see a difference in his drinking habits now.
 
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