I'm a little worried about my 15yr old quarter horse gelding. When I got home from school today, I noticed some watery poop. I know this isn't normal because my neighbors horse would do this when he was ridden or taken anywhere because he got extremely nervous and he ended up having kidney disease and being put down. I was wondering what you guys thought about this. I'm going to stall him up for a day to see if it clears up and if not we'll have the vet out. I did give him a little bute the other day because his back ankle is all fluidy and he was worked harder than usual.
So a little about his feed (haven't added anything new):
Alfalfa twice a day ( noticed the bale was pretty damp but he's been fine with it for two+ weeks now)
Burmuda grass all day
4 cups of grass/alfafa pellets at night
I will not give him any hay tomorrow morning to see if that settles his tummy a little bit.
Thank you in advance for sharing your wisdom with me.
is it cow plop consistancy? or more water ? Hay should not be damp. This can and will cause mold, which can kill a horse. Get rid of the damp hay. get some Dry feed.
He could have a parasite load, eaten moldy hay, have an ulcer, The only way to correctly fix this, is to have the Vet out.
Cow plop consistency, still the right color just not the right form. I'll watch him today and if nothing changes I will definitley have the vet out. I will see if I can exchange the damp hay. Thank you.
3 Different types? Do you mean grass, pellets, and hay? He gets the pellets because my mare gets that with her polyglycan, and she won't eat it unless Maxx has pellets too. And grass so he can snack all day, and form a natural grazing habit. I have some dry hay that I will go give him, thank you.
Did you happen to change alfalfa batches around the same time as the runny poop started? If the alfalfa bale you are feeding is richer (a different, leafier batch than before) it will also sometimes give them runny poop.
I have a mare that will get really, really soft poop if the alfalfa is too rich. But that doesn't seem to be a problem with her if I am also feeding bermuda hay because it dilutes the alfalfa out.
It does seem a lot richer than other bales, however it looks like it has cleared up when I checked on him this morning. I will continue to feed him the dry bale. And tr to exchange the damp ones. Thank you!
Do you havea lot of sand in your soild? Does your horse eat off the ground at all?
This to me sounds like it could be a few things. You are right to question kidney function but more than likely it is a virus or an agitated intestine.
I would take some of that yuck poop and put it in a bucket. Fill it with water, stir it up, and then let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then slowly dump it out and see if there is any sand at the bottom of the bucket. If there is, you'll want to sandclear.
Definitely take the horses temperature to make sure he's not running a fever and then another thought is ulcers...
I will go do the water bucket thing right now, it cleared up this morning and I took him for a little walk. He had some but the other day because he's getting over an old injury and he was ridden kind of hard. He does get his alfalfa on the ground or else he throws the grass everywhere. But the ground has rubber mats and there is never any dirt on them where I feed him.
Keep an eye out for it again, it may mean something if it's reoccurring, or if it's after bute maybe find something other than bute. A day here and there isn't usually a big deal.
to check for sand, get a rubber glove, put some fresh just saw it pooped out poop, take only the very top , put it in the glove, add water hang up with some twine and wait a while. feel the finger tips ,you will be able to feel the grains of sand.
Regarding old injury. If you are concerned about him being sore from a partially healed injury I would be even more concerned about the strain on the injury itself. Just something to keep in mind. I don't know what the injury was but I would be hesitant to bute for something like that.
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Horse Forum
3.4M posts
92.6K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to horse owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, grooming, reviews, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!