Runny back-end

[holeymoley]

My guy seems to be having a very dirty rear-end in the last week or so. Down his back end and legs and over his tail. Nothing has changed in his diet at all. He's got EMS so is on a very strict fibre diet of chaff and fibre nuts, vitamin supplement and soaked hay. He's been absolutely fine with this for the last year or so. The only change being that the chaff gets added at this time of year, however he has been on it for about over a month now. His droppings aren't runny, they are normal consistency, if maybe a little soft but still balled. The only thing I can imagine is the excess water in the grass at the moment? However in 13 years of ownership I can't say that I've noticed overly wet grass to have this problem before! Not sure whether he needs a wee something else added to his dinners? Is it seasonal? Any help appreciated. It's not diarrohea, I would be calling vet asap if it was.

 

[LaurenBay]

My Mare has a sensitive belly, if she is loose then I will give the Protexin quick fix paste spread over 5 days which always does the trick.

 

[Zuzzie]

My horse (24 yr old) has EMS and Cushings and has suffered over the last 2 years with a runny bum every Spring and Autumn when the grass is coming through and especially after it has rained. I've tried many digestive supplements but nothing works. Although his droppings look soft but normal what he has is projectile wet wind. I find I have to wash his bottom twice a day and clean his legs. Left unwashed his legs will get scabby and sore. Its a nightmare as his bed (shavings) suffers too. I have had several conversations with different vets and the last one (who was quite young) called it 'equine retentive fecal water'. I changed his diet some time ago as I thought more fibre would be good so he is fed with Top Spect Fibre Cubes, however, I understand they have a similar product called Top Spec UlsaKind which I'm going to try which will probably help? I also feed him three 3 haynets - two of which are fed dry in an attempt to help.
I wish I could find an answer to this but so far no luck!

 

[holeymoley]

Thank you both for your thoughts.

LaurenBay, I've never used anything like that but will certainly look into it, maybe it could be what he needs.

Zuzzie, my guy is 16 years old. He doesn't seem to have any wind, he's never been a particularly gassy horse. This just seems to have happened in the last week or so. He's on nedzbeds and he's quite a tidy chap. I'll have a look at the UlsaKind, I did wonder if he's maybe not getting enough or something along those lines with his tummy. I'll also have a chat with my friend who had a horse with ulcers who scoured a lot. I just hope it's nothing like that

 

[Casey76]

If you do a google search for “fecal water syndrome” you will find lots of information

 

[Andalucian]

If on a fibre diet and runny bum I would get his teeth checked, if runny on grass diet I'd go for gut issues.

 

[holeymoley]

He is due his teeth and booked in to be done next month.

Thankfully it all seems to have gone as quick as it came... very strange.

 

[Warrior_princess]

Im so glad i have found this thread. My EMS girl had this last year and has started again this year. I got the vet out last year and they blood tested her but found nothing and by the end of november it had cleared up. I feed top chop lite, antilam and i have her on ProBio and i have just started activated charcoal but it doesnt seen to help. Shes not unwell in anyway.
How is your horse doing now?x

 

[Fransurrey]

My EMS pony also has this when the grass is flushing. Normally during rainy spells (especially with sunny interludes). Sometimes it's a shart, sometimes it's loose droppings, too. Always stops when the grass settles down, or I restrict grazing further.

 

[Fiona]

We had an elderly loan pony for my son two winters ago who had such a runny bum that her tail and legs needed washed every day and skin oiled to stop chapping.

However we started her on protexin pretty quickly, and the problem completely disappeared, so that would always be my first step...

Good luck warrior princess ...

Fiona

 

[splash30]

I've just discovered Pharmatrac, I was feeding protexin but it wasn't working but the new supplememt has made a huge difference, he was getting more runny and you could see he was more reactive round his girth area but 6 days in, much happier And formed poos

 

[holeymoley]

My guy is much better now. It came back again after my last post on this thread so he got thoroughly washed and barrier creamed up before his skin ended up raw. I have noticed though that since being on haylage he has been much better.

ETA- I’ve also put him on a broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement. He used to get one then I ran out and never replaced.