Ginn
Well-Known Member
Firstly apologies for multiple forum postings - the posts seem to disappear so quickly I'm never sure where is best to post and I don't know whether I'm being overly neurotic or whether I'm right to be concerned and in thinking dropping a line to the vet tomorrow is required!
Basically my mare (approx 520kg, 16.1hh, tbxid) seems to be drinking a lot at night....
She has started coming in at night for about the last week and whereas normally 1 large tub-trug of water (I'd guess approx 20L) would see her through the night she has been draining it dry. When checked around 2 1/2 hours after coming in it transpired she'd drunk half!!
So last night I gave her a second bucket and I'd say in total she drank approx 30-35L between 8pm last night and 9am this morning. She clearly didn't drink it all as although neither bucket was tipped she'd obviously done her trick of filling her mouth up, standing in her doorway, and "chewing" resulting in most of it falling out as the floor behind and infront of her door had a lovely puddle!
The only major change is that she's started coming in and this winters hay is absolutely gorgeous - very green, very dry, very soft and she loves it so wolfs it down (think half a bale small in 4-5 hours!) whereas normally she'd pace herself throughout the night.
She looks (and feels) well in herself, her coat is gorgeous, glossy and soft. No thick/wooley cushings type coat so I'm thinking that is unlikely?? She isn't looking uncomfortable at all or like she needs to pee, nor have I noticed her peeing excessively though her bed has been slightly wetter (which I'd expect if her water consumption has gone up by 50%!).
The only thing I'm not sure of is how much she's drinking in the field. It definately doesn't seem to be as much as in the stable. She shares her field with one other horse and between them I'd say they drink approx 20L while out (9am-5/7pm). When they were out 24/7 they'd drink approx 50-60L between them in a 24hr period. Water in the field is clean.
So ideas?? Am I being paranoid? Should I give it a week and monitor carefully given she is well in herself? Or should I ring the vet tomorrow and see what he thinks? (having a GP in the family I appreciate how irritating minor concerns are and don't want to end up wasting the vets time over something which may be completely trivial!)
Basically my mare (approx 520kg, 16.1hh, tbxid) seems to be drinking a lot at night....
She has started coming in at night for about the last week and whereas normally 1 large tub-trug of water (I'd guess approx 20L) would see her through the night she has been draining it dry. When checked around 2 1/2 hours after coming in it transpired she'd drunk half!!
So last night I gave her a second bucket and I'd say in total she drank approx 30-35L between 8pm last night and 9am this morning. She clearly didn't drink it all as although neither bucket was tipped she'd obviously done her trick of filling her mouth up, standing in her doorway, and "chewing" resulting in most of it falling out as the floor behind and infront of her door had a lovely puddle!
The only major change is that she's started coming in and this winters hay is absolutely gorgeous - very green, very dry, very soft and she loves it so wolfs it down (think half a bale small in 4-5 hours!) whereas normally she'd pace herself throughout the night.
She looks (and feels) well in herself, her coat is gorgeous, glossy and soft. No thick/wooley cushings type coat so I'm thinking that is unlikely?? She isn't looking uncomfortable at all or like she needs to pee, nor have I noticed her peeing excessively though her bed has been slightly wetter (which I'd expect if her water consumption has gone up by 50%!).
The only thing I'm not sure of is how much she's drinking in the field. It definately doesn't seem to be as much as in the stable. She shares her field with one other horse and between them I'd say they drink approx 20L while out (9am-5/7pm). When they were out 24/7 they'd drink approx 50-60L between them in a 24hr period. Water in the field is clean.
So ideas?? Am I being paranoid? Should I give it a week and monitor carefully given she is well in herself? Or should I ring the vet tomorrow and see what he thinks? (having a GP in the family I appreciate how irritating minor concerns are and don't want to end up wasting the vets time over something which may be completely trivial!)
if anything, I would be slightly concerned if she drank less. The hay is probably a contributing factor as well. All in all, nothing to worry about.