Very old horse with diorreah (sp?)

[Fuzz and This]

as you all know my horse thistle is 46. recently he is really starting to show his age and seems to be getting a bit depressed. he also has bad diorreah. weve had the vet out to him and he cant find anything wrong. he gets wormed regularly (he was last wormed on thursday) and gets fed ponynuts, veteran mix and chaff. he used to have barely as well but on YOs advice took him off that hoping that it might help to dry him up.
ive tried him on N.A.Fs pink powder to try and dry him up and he had some powder (it gets used in cooking - cant think of the name) that the vet told me to try. that didnt really work.

has anyone got any ideas about what could be wrong or what i could try to dry him up?

im starting to get really worried about him now especially because i walked him into his stable on wednesday and he stuck his head in the the corner of the stable, so i touched him to tell him to back up and his back legs nearly went under him! i think that was because he might have been asleep - well i hope so.

thanks
natalie

[Alison+Rio]

It could be to do with the new grass thats coming through. I find both of my two get the runs with the new grass. I would try upping his fibre content, more hay if he will eat it, or substituting it for something a bit easier to eat. Make sure he is getting enough chaff in his feed to. I would also suggest trying him on one of the mixes specifically for older horses. Spillers has out 2 both with glucosamine which will help his joints. I also really like allen & Page feeds.

[ladyrose]

If he ever has a bran mash, for example on a rainy day, then you should cut this out because bran is a laxative. The best feed to give him would be rich in fibre, which encourages the correct rate of digestion. Good sources of this are vegetables and chaff

[Fuzz and This]

thanks for the advice.

alison + rio - i cant really give him any more hay because he is field kept with 10 others so they share hay. he does eat a whole bath full to himself though every night. he does have a mix for older horses. he eats veteran mix by spillers.

ladyrose - we dont give him bran mash, occasionally (hardly ever) he as dry bran. ill try giving him extra chaff.

thistle just seems to get it all year round for the past year. fuzzy has the runs every winter too (shes had it all her life) and the vet said its just her, theres nothing wrong with her.

[galadriel]

A probiotic perhaps? Might help with whatever's going on in his guts to make him runny. (Is that what "pink powder" is? Seems that I've heard it mentioned before, but don't really know what it is.) I wonder if there's a probiotic out there specially designed for older horses, who may not chew or digest their food so well.

You can also give Mylanta to horses, although it's better to try to use a treatment like that in short-term problems (like anxiety from trailering, etc) rather than try to cure something that seems to be chronic. Still, it might help him get started toward getting better.

I assume the vet took his temperature, pulse & respiration rate, right? Chronic diarrhea can be a symptom of an actual illness. I once cared for a very sick horse whose diarrhea was cleared up by antibiotics, because the illness that the antibiotics treated was causing the diarrhea in the first place.

Finally--have you tried the Veteran Horse Society?

[Jinxed]

Firstly, make sure he has an electrolyte suppliment in his water.
If he has a runny tummy, he will be dehydrated, and with the change in weather, ie getting warmer, it is very important to
keep Thistle hydrated.

The Veteran Horse Society is a very good port of call. Their
Telephone number is: 01239 881300 There is an answerphone out of hours, but if you have trouble getting through try
Karen Goodliffe, Senior Field Officer, on 01883 715772
for advice. Please do call them. They may have further advice you haven't thought about.

Good luck. I'll be thinking of you & Thistle.

[clepper]

When pepper needed a fibre boost we were told by our vet to give him a full bucket of watered denji hi-fi lite. aswell as his normal feed. Peppers poo got better in less than a week and started to look like dropping rather than water. Hope he perks up soon,

Clepper x (and one for thistle X)

Galadriel: pink powder is a probiotic that is good for older horses, it helps to line the stomach and absorb more nutrients. It also help dry them out.

[galadriel]

Originally posted by clepper
Galadriel: pink powder is a probiotic that is good for older horses, it helps to line the stomach and absorb more nutrients. It also help dry them out.

Aha. Now I know Thanks clepper.

[Fuzz and This]

thanx guys!!

galadriel: is mylanta like bachs flower remedies rescue remedy? the vet checked him all over and did everything you said. he couldnt find anything wrong.

Jinxed: what do you mean by an electrolyte suppliment? i not sure if he is dehydrated because he drinks sooooooooo much! he drinks the most out of all the horses at the yard. thats a sign of cushings disease i think?? thanks for the numbers of VHS.

Clepper: ill tell my YO about dengies hi-fi lite tomorrow so she can order it for me when she orders the food next.


im starting to think that i should put thistle out to grass now so he has a proper retirement but i dont know whether to or not. he could be loaned out as a companion but i dont know whether i could trust someone else looking after him if you understand what i mean. i was thinking about sending him to the VHS or ILPH but they are sooooo far away from where i live so i wouldnt be able to go and see him regularly. also he could die of stress if i send him away from his friends because he has been in the same herd for over 20 yrs. i dont like the idea of him not being mine anymore (does that sound really selfish?). sorry about all of that but im really upset and worried about him. i think he is going blind as well!!!!

[Wally]

Don't like to poop the party, i have found that the second you put anything into the water they point blank refuse to drink it makeing the problems worse. I'd put the electrolytes in the feed and leave the water sweet and fresh.

Have you ever tried to drink electrolye water? YEUCK!

[galadriel]

Originally posted by Fuzz and This
galadriel: is mylanta like bachs flower remedies rescue remedy?

Mylanta is an over-the-counter stomach medicine for people.

When horses have diarrhea (or people, or dogs, etc) it can dehydrate them in a hurry. This is probably why he drinks so much. Drinking huge amounts can also be an indicator of a kidney problem, but with the diarrhea I suspect you don't need to look any further to figure out why he's drinking so much.

[Fuzz and This]

ok then thanks galadrial, ill look into buying some of that over the weekend.

Wally: i dont even know what electrolytes are!!!!!

[Lucy J]

dry bran may help solidfy things slightly, its wet bran that has a laxative effect. good age at 46 though thats 161 - i reckon my poos would get funny by the time i was that old!

if you feed a lot of molassed chaff combined with spring grass that could change the droppings, perhaps try alfalfa instead of chaff i wouldn't have cut out the barley, its high in protein rather than fibre so wouldn't have thought cutting iut out would make any difference.

could just be age catching up i'm afraid, happens to us all. my old horse had various ailments on and off with no specific cause, just old age.

[artemis]

My friend was told by her vet to feed bio yoghurt in a syringe to her horse with the trots. I also know someone who bought over the counter probiotics which were very good.(sorry some years ago & don't know name)

[clepper]

How is thistle now? hope it is starting to clear up, and the old boy is feeling a bit better. Let us know how he is please?

Clepper~x~

[Fuzz and This]

i went down to the stables on saturday at 8:30 and he seemed to look better than he did on the wednesday. he was still loose but didnt seem as bad as he had been (he is still really loose though ). one of the girls at the yard gave his back legs and tail a good bath for me when i was teaching in the morning, so that helped him look better.

That evening i gave him double chaff and my YO is going to go out and see if she can get me some of that Mylanta galadriel.

the poor old boy still doesnt look too happy though.

yesterday i had a little girl ride him, he was really good, her legs barely reached passed his saddle and she was getting him trotting and cantering, even a few 1' jumps. he seemed to really enjoy it bless him.

when it came to dinner time i gave him barely again and still gave him the extra chaff. he was really excited about his dinner!! he was cantering across the yard! that made me happier! lol

[galadriel]

It really does sound like a good idea to go ahead and contact the Veteran Horse Society. They've dealt with a lot of older horses and may have some good advice for you.