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Very persistent diarrhea in a foal ?

6K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  cmarie 
#1 · (Edited)
I guess we'll start a few weeks back...

When our colt was 5 weeks old he developed the worst case of diarrhea that I have ever personally experienced with a horse. I noticed that he was gassy for a few days and then all heck broke loose. His whole back end was soaked with it, there was no manure consistency, it was just liquid, very rancid smelling, light in color and the poor little guy could projectile shoot it for several feet. My other horses, if standing anywhere near behind him (mostly his mother) were covered in it.

He never did get a temp and though he was miserable and depressed he continued to nurse, to the point that his dam wasn't producing enough so he would get drinks from the water tank, lick snow and he was almost always licking the salt block. Upon speaking with the vet, I immediately started to give him probiotics, pepto bismol and antibiotics. Vet suggested SMZ's but they did nothing so I went with penicillin twice daily for a week. Two days into the penicillin he was clearing right up. I continued the probiodics for a few days past the antibiotic.

He is now 11 weeks old and his manure still isn't right. It has that same, horrible smell and can range from pretty normal to cow pie. He is always gassy, the poor little guy cannot move without breaking wind, LOUDLY.

The vet wanted to call it rotavirus and said we treated it as such. He asked if I'd de-wormed him and yes, I have. His momma was de-wormed prior to foaling and he was around/old enough for the 3 day double dose of Safeguard that I do in January yearly. Just in case, I am going to have him fecal tested.

Anyways, the vet was out for a sick goat last week (Seriously, it never ends...) and asked how the colt was doing. I told him that he continues to have loose stools (nothing like the diarrhea that he started with) and it does have the same, very bad, smell. His response was "hmm. weird" The vets in the area are far from outstanding, I cannot go out and get another vet short of hauling two hours when we need to which we have done.

What are your thoughts? Has anyone experienced a lactose intolerant foal? Is that something that could just kick in at 5 weeks? I am at a loss. I have had someone suggest weaning him to see if that is the case but I have no idea if he could just become lactose intolerant one day? I did plan to wean him on the early side (in 3 weeks) but this is me nervous. Ideas? Suggestions?

I have been watching for a few weeks and this just isn't going away. The next step is I will be calling my herbalist to see what she'd suggest to get his tummy back in order.
 
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#2 ·
New, I personally have never had a lactose intolerant foal, but a friend of mine had one who was allergic to his dam's milk. She had to wean him very early, but kept him with several other mares who took to him and he got his socialization that way.

If he's eating and drinking normally, I'd go ahead and wean him and see if that takes care of it. Sometimes they just can't handle milk.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.
 
#4 ·
He eats and drinks just fine, he is bold, outgoing and often seen no where near his momma. He could easily be slipped into a separate paddock with his brother & sister, he spends most of his days playing with them anyways.

My gut tells me to try weaning him but I have that nagging concern that its very important for him to stay hydrated and if this isn't the case then I could wind up with a very sick foal. Which is why I was curious if it made any sense for him to be fine up until 5 weeks old and then develop a milk related intolerance.

I do think that short of any other ideas, that will be what we try. He is only a hair short of 3 months old anyway, and like I said 3 weeks from now I was going to start weaning him.

The mare has come in heat, but hasn't been in heat for four weeks strait.
 
#5 ·
We call it 'scouring' in the UK and it should be treated seriously as its going to cause dehydration and a loss of 'good bacteria in the gut thats vital for healthy digestion
It might be a viral or a bacterial infection that needs a vet - he should really have done a fecal test especially if there is a bad smell to it
Some foals will scour when the mare comes into season but that is a temporary thing
Some are just greedy
Some will react to something specific in the mares diet you could consider reviewing that.
I have very liitle faith in herbal treatments for anything like this - you need to keep pushing your vet or get a new vet
If you wean the foal now on the basis of it MAYBE being a lactose problem you will have to find a replacement feed thats going to provide the same levels of nutrients, especially calcium and thats not going to be easy
 
#8 ·
Because of the drought, we had to buy hay from several different farmers so I have two completely different 1st cutting grass hays, a 2nd cutting grass hay, a 2nd cutting alfalfa, a 2nd cutting grass/clover/alfafa and one load of 3rd cutting mostly alfalfa.

Lucky for him I have been able to play with the hay in his diet, no such luck though, no change.

His dam is eating beet pulp & Tribute Solutions 10 which he of course gets his beak in to as well. I kept him off from it for three/four days when this first started and I noticed no difference there either.
 
#11 ·
I cringe at the thought of power packing a suckling.
Missed this. Sorry, it wasn't clear, everyone was power packed but he just received a dose of Safeguard with the herd. That is why I assumed hes in the OK but we have figured it wouldn't hurt to do a fecal just in case.

That might be a good thing to feed anyway as I'm thinking the little thing could be struggling to maintain condition
Not at all! :) He is fat, happy, feisty, shinny, naughty... despite this. That was part of the thought process for thinking that the milk might be what needs to go next.


Its the SMELL that really gets me and leads me to want to think bacteria or something other than a milk-related issue.
 
#12 ·
He looks great - I wonder if the problem is that he's just really greedy and eating/drinking way too much for his system to deal with?
The smell is a worry - I would get a fecal test done just eliminate bacterial infection
Weaning him early might be the best option for him now
 
#14 ·
My foal had scours much longer than I thought it was supposed to last. I spent weeks cleaning him off daily and slathering him with vaseline. Then one day I read that deworming the foal with strongid paste can help prevent scours. I don't know how practiced it is to worm a foal so young because hardly anything I read said to, but I gave it a try and he cleared right up.
 
#16 ·
be careful with the herbal treatments, many herbs humans can tolerate can be toxic in horses. The foal should be eating some of mamas poos which is normal. I would check for bacterial infection because of the smell .
pepto did not help ? ask the Vet about the product called biosponge.
 
#17 ·
Can you set up a creep feeder and start this foal on more solid food? We strictly use manure as a probiotic, but I would use an unrelated horse that is slick, fat and parasite free -- the easiest keeper you have. Just put a fresh pile in his creep feeder every day and you will be able to tell if he is eating any of it.

Foals that have trouble with milk benefit from eating yogurt. Once they get real greedy for grain in a creep feeder, you can blend a tiny bit of yogurt into part of it and gradually increase the amount and gradually mix it in all of it. If he will let you, you can also put it in a 35cc syringe that you have cut the end out of and put it in his mouth every day. It is very good for helping one digest milk.
 
#18 ·
We had a fecal done and he has a very minimal amount of strongyles, the vet said that he found two eggs and didn't recommend de-worming again or worrying about it. Had a few other fecals in (other horses) that were completely negative. He said from the looks of things a bacterial infection isn't present but if I wanted to get a better answer on that he'd like a fresher sample, like a swab, and he'd send it off to someone else.

I have had a few folks suggest biosponge to me and I will look into it.

I have spotted him eating moms manure on more than one occasion. She has been known to decline letting him nurse, poop and tell him "here, have that..." - which he does. Putting an un-related pile in a feeder wouldn't work well right now seeing as its getting well below 0* and everything freezes the instant that you put it down.

Hes great with syringing, so I'll start the yogurt again. I was giving him yogurt back when he was getting pepto. Doesn't hurt.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
#19 ·
Is he eating mommas poo? Was he eating it when she was power packed?
Did he get the runs when she came in heat and just not get over them or when she was power packed?


Forgot to answer this, I am not sure if he was or was not eating her manure specifically the day that she was power packed. I'm pretty on top of clean up around that time and it was good and cold so everything froze when it hit the ground.

I am positive that this has nothing to do with Selah coming in heat. This was nothing like any "foal heat diarrhea" that we've had before. And she has long since gone out of heat. When she came in season about 14 days after he was born there was no unusual reaction.
 
#20 · (Edited)
One of my fillies got scours really bad this year similar to what you are explaining, I wormed her and then gave her some sand clear and she cleared up, you can also try putting the manure in the water instead of a creep feeder.

My foals rarely get foal heat scours on the first heat, but they do get it on the second or third cycle.
 
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