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Post by Shelly on Aug 18, 2014 20:34:09 GMT
My horse has been having chronic diarrhea for quite some time. With the help of vets we tried to see if omeprazole would help and a month and half later, no change. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this and has any tips.
He is dewormed regularly, and I got a fecal done on him. It was inconclusive.
I'm concerned because my horse is starting to look thin (he has free choice hay 24/7 and grain once a day). I do have my vet coming out to float his teeth next week and we are hoping that may be the cause. At this point any tips or advice would be helpful.
Thanks
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Post by lorddaxter on Aug 18, 2014 21:20:54 GMT
Where are you located?
Maybe someone can recommend another vet, I'd be worried if my horse had been sick for that long and the current vet was making no progress
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466 
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Post by Terry on Aug 19, 2014 0:05:25 GMT
Where are you located? Maybe someone can recommend another vet, I'd be worried if my horse had been sick for that long and the current vet was making no progress Agreed! Chronic diarrhea for a month and a half is far too long!
What type of hay are you feeding? Is it high in alfalfa content? Is it from a new source?
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Post by Shelly on Aug 19, 2014 0:14:57 GMT
Sadly we don't have many vet options in the area, we have had the same hay person for years and the quality has always been good. It's an alfalfa, timothy, trefoil mix i believe. He's been battling this since the spring  If it doesn't improve after having his teeth done I will consider getting a second opinion. |
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Aug 19, 2014 0:22:56 GMT
Hmmm...  I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else can offer some suggestions and/or advice. 
I was hoping it was something as simple as a new hay supplier, or hay that was too rich in alfalfa that might be causing your horse's issue. I know I had that problem once when we got hay that had a high alfalfa content - it was simply too rich for my horses and gave them diarrhea.
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Aug 19, 2014 2:36:16 GMT
Have you tested him for sand in his manure? Sounds like he could have a gut full of sand. Really easy to test for yourself - just google it.
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on Aug 19, 2014 3:58:00 GMT
Well from what I read up on it.
It could be Chronic Salmonellosis, Horses who recover from enteric salmonellosis can become carriers and shed salmonella in their feces, The stood varies from soft and uniformed(cow Pie) to profuse watery. Treatment with various antibiotics including odochorohydroxyquinoline (Rheasform) is possible, but improvement is often temporary. In addition the carrier horse remains a hazard to other animals and to humans who are quite susceptible to salmonellosis. Care should be used in handling each horse.
Intestinal Parasites, Migrating larvae of S. vulgaris have been implicated in cases of chronic diarrhea in horses. Although most horses with chronic diarrhea do not have strongyles infection, treatment directed at killing migratory larvae is worth the effort and, if successful is followed by cure of the diarrhea, Failure to recognize and treat protozal diarrhea sometimes leads to diarrhea that continues for weeks or months. The stool is soft and has the consistency of cow manure.
Sand Ingestion. Sand in the intestinal tract can be a cause of chronic diarrhea
Also Liver disease, tumors and Malabsorption syndrome can be factors.
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Post by horselady on Aug 19, 2014 11:13:45 GMT
Shelly there are so many different reasons why a horse has loose stool and perhaps when the vet comes have them run blood test and start him on a course of antibiotics. is this horse getting grain. ? perhaps try a hay that is bagged or hay cubes soaked until they are soft. and drain them well to not have water in it.and than mix with the grain.
i have had one horse with it so bad that the vet diagnosed potomic horse fever and massive doses of antibiotics
my personal arabian mare had it so bad and the vet found cancerous tumors and she passed within a short time from the cancer. she too got thin ,
i hope you have the vet check further than just doing the teeth. and good luck
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Post by Shelly on Aug 19, 2014 21:10:43 GMT
Ya the vet was going to take blood work but figured he would hold until his teeth were done and go from there. If it doesn't resolve itself we will definitely do more testing wise. Right now he is on a daily feeding of grain. I have him on the martin mills "stable pride". He has been getting a scoop of that along with his omeprazole, some coco-soya oil and just recently I started him on Red cell to give him a vitamin boost. I have found he has a bit more energy since i started him on the red cell.
I've been contemplating adding soaked alfalfa cubes or soaking beet pulp and adding it to his feed as a filler but I haven't changed anything lately.
I know my vet is iffy when it comes to prescribing antibiotics but I did have a fecal done and he was parasite free.
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Post by shadowlark on Aug 20, 2014 7:50:44 GMT
Yikes! I don't have any suggestions but I sure hope he gets better soon! Please keep us updated!
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Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Lipizzan on Aug 20, 2014 8:35:40 GMT
I did not read what others wrote so I will just write what I know about diarrhea. I have dealt with diarrhea some time ago, as wit yours horse it was going on for quite some time and we got really woried. Diarrhea is a common symptom for different diseases it really can be anything. salmonella infection, parasites (but you said you have dewormed him regulary- so apparently it is not it), excessive ingestion of sand, diarrhea may occur as a reaction to antibiotics also, neoplasia, cancer.... Did your vet took his blood sample? If not that should be done. Also ultrasound would not hurt.
When my horse had diarrhea we gave him dry bran, because it will stiffen his loose stoole. I know that too much of the same food can also lead to diarrhea.
Good luck, I hope your horse is better soon.
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Post by Shelly on Aug 21, 2014 4:54:49 GMT
Thanks everyone for the tips, I will definitely check his stool for sand and get my vet to take blood when they are out on thursday. It's been a lengthy process. I'm hoping the issue gets resolved soon.
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Post by horselady on Aug 21, 2014 11:20:12 GMT
Do not forget to have them palpate in case there are tumors. good luck. and please keep us informed as we all would like to learn more about horses and how to treat them.
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Aug 21, 2014 11:38:12 GMT
Shooting off my thoughts after reading everything.
1. Just because you have the same hay supplier, doens't mean the distribution of plants is exactly the same. The alfalfa and trefoil would more than likely increase in density over time. However, the increase wouldn't be a steep curve, but it wouldn't hurt to test it for N aka protein. It is also possible an invasive weed got into the mix and is now at an abundance level that is not tolerated, again, doesn't happen all of a sudden. Diarrhea in response to a chemical vulnerability
2. Wormers can only kill the parasites that are vulnerable, if they are encysted, it can't get to them, if, say, a hookworm were attached to the intestinal wall and died, it wouldn't leave the body and so be detected in the stool and it wouldn't lay eggs and be present in a stool sample. Diarrhea as a physical response.
3. Does the horse have other symptoms of needing to have his teeth floated? If not, I'd need to have it explained why that would cause diarrhea. I could see it causing a compaction more than diarrhea but then that could be my ignorance.
4. Please explain why a grain substitute isn't suggested as grain is not a natural part of a horses diet and while it might not cause a problem in and of itself, it wouldn't support good intestinal function but I can see if the horse is losing weight why you'd want to supplemental feed. Grain and grain products can be a source of bacteria and fungi which can cause diarrhea, I would have it tested. You can't smell or visually detect all molds or bacterial infestations.
5. Personal opinion, diarrhea in a horse, particularly chronic diarrhea is critical because of the horse's incredibly long digestive tract. I'd get a blood test sooner than later.
6. Sand colic or other impactions can cause diarrhea, so oddly enough, and of course ask your vet, a laxative would help move the offending materials out of the intestine and thereby relieve the cause of the diarrhea.
Good luck and speed on resolving your horse's issues.
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Aug 21, 2014 12:13:55 GMT
hugs has some good ideas and suggestions. I was also wondering how needing his teeth done would cause diarrhea. Please let us know what the vet says so we can all learn. You say they will be out Thursday - do you mean today?
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nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
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Post by nhg on Aug 21, 2014 14:23:03 GMT
We had a young horse that developed severe diarrhea and our vet prescribed human laxatives. The reasoning is that it turns to a jelly in their tummies and gives the gut something more solid to work on plus it will pick up anything like sand and move it out. I went to Wal-Mart and bought ten big containers of store brand Metamucil and put half of a container of it dry in some sweet feed for her twice a day. It worked quite quickly and she never had it again. Make sure your horse has access to plenty of water.
It was horrible because it was winter and it would spray out of her and her tail was a huge chunk of solid diarrhea ice. |
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Post by horselover4life on Aug 21, 2014 14:39:58 GMT
Shelly a red flag waved to me...
You started on Red Cell and had a improvement in energy levels...
That strikes me as anemic, vitamin and mineral deficiency...amongst other things.
I think if you are not having the vet today, you need the vet today and you need a full blood chemistry done.
I would prioritize this over a teeth floating procedure. Unless your horse is pooping out whole pieces of feed, dropping his food and having issues with chewing properly his hay {quidding}...this can wait IMO.
It's gong to be expensive but it should answer many questions too.
Your "feed" is a brand and type I have never heard of...but if it is missing in some key elements it could be a cause for what ails your horse.
If your "feed" though is also high in other elements then compounded by the hay/forage he ingests, it could also have knocked his digestive system out of whack and loose stools happen politely put.
Is this what you feed?
www.martinmills.com/horse/horse_Stable%20Pride%20Feature%20Sheet%20Oct%2011.pdf
OK...I think you need to go read all of this, not skip a section.
www.horsechannel.com/horse-health/nutrition-fact-or-fiction.aspx
My first gut reaction is first you are feeding to much protein. Horses don't need that much protein, fact. They do very well on 12%- 14%. Very high level competition horses, race horses consume 16% protein...a young horse, at home not in a competition setting and work load does not need this and it may be hurting him.
How long has the horse been eating this "feed"?
After reading that article you may find some correlation of feed to symptoms.
So...although you may not feed a bran mash...that feed has a lot of bran with it being the 4th ingredient on the bag. Makes me wonder...
The fact that adding Red Cell, a vitamin and mineral base supplement with a added high iron content... raises flags to me.
You need that blood chemistry to answer some questions about your horses "levels" and if they are out of whack which could be the entire reason for your situation.
Elevated levels of certain things point directly at particular problem areas...
Also...your feed says it should be fed 2x a day not once. A grain overload on the digestive tract if happening could also be a contributing factor in this... It does not take a "huge" amount of feed/grain to overload the gut either when other food sources provide sufficient amounts for the body to thrive.
So...
Feed the same amount of feed but put equal amounts at each feeding. So if the horse for example received 4 kg per day, he would be fed 2 meals of 2 kg each meal so the total amount consumed = 4 kg. The more meals a horse can have the better their digestive system works and less chance of "grain overload"....
Also...although you have had the same hay dealer for some time has the hay man changed his source of hay? A different supplier, different fields of hay could have a small amount of weed or even good forage that just may not agree with your horse. Hay you called and spoken to your hay guy about your horses issue? You might not be the only one, he may have other customers with the same issues as you...can't hurt to make a phone call.
Please let us know what the vet finds in his evaluation process, we care!!
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Post by Shelly on Aug 21, 2014 14:45:25 GMT
The vet said that his teeth being bad cause him to not properly grind his foods down so when they start going through the digestive system it makes it a lot harder for it to process and absorb nutrients and compact the stool as it normally would.
so I think that's his theory behind it. And sorry his appointment is next thursday. I'll definitely be drilling him with questions! Any suggestions on what i should ask? I'll get back to you guys with his response
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Post by horselover4life on Aug 21, 2014 15:03:05 GMT
Shelly...so many flags are waving at me..
Your vet says teeth are a major issue and problem yet he didn't do anything 6 weeks ago {a month and a half ago you started treatment with omeprazole}
It makes no sense to me, sorry. If the teeth could be a contributing factor........I'm at a loss.
If his teeth were that bad then...why wait this long to address a issue since digestion starts in the mouth with the grinding of food.
$$ ... post-date a check to the vet.
Vets have people do this all the time..and some never pay either for their horses care. A tough situation to be in searching for answers and it costing $$ not necessarily sitting around not needed!
I'm sure you will get lots of questions to pose to the vet...
I am far from being "diplmatic" when it comes to this... I am blunt and to the point, not meaning to be accusatory in nature but when questions raise I jump at wanting a answer, NOW!!
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Post by Shelly on Aug 21, 2014 15:48:06 GMT
You bring up a lot of good points. I am considering changing his diet. I had him on other feed before and changed him over to what he is on now (gradually of course) thinking that may have been the issue. Recently I added the red cell and I find he has been doing better since he has been started on it (not loose stool wise, but energy) and he's had a growth spurt since he's been on it. What do you think of this feed, it is the one i originally wanted to put him on (martin mills brood mare) www.martinmills.com/horse/horse_Brood%20Mare%20Feature%20Sheet%20Oct%2011.pdfand adding either soaked alfalfa or beet pulp (most likely alfalfa since the broodmare feed contains beet pulp already) Origionally the vet came out for an other emergency involving my horse (he got a good gash on his face so I called him out to do stitches) and while he was there I let him know that he has been having chronic diarrhea. Without doing any testing (it was like 11 at night) my vet said he has equine colitis but I am not convinced. My practice has two different vets, one mentioned the colitis and put us on Omeprazole. The other vet on the other hand wants to do his teeth and take blood and escalade from there. Last visit was the first time his teeth were checked when he got his annual vaccinations. Payment hasn't been an issue, I've been paying them every time they come out (don't want to see my visa lol!) And regarding the hay, there really hasn't been any change. Our supplier grows it himself. The only horse in the field affected is mine, we are just finishing last years hay right now but our next shipment will be this seasons. |
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I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else can offer some suggestions and/or advice. 
