Need advice for mare with loose stools please

This morning I took my 6 year old NSSH mare, Emma, to the vet to see if he could help me figure out what is causing her to have loose stools. She has had them since I have had her (about 1 1/2 years). Sometimes worse than others, really bad when she's in season. But she always has stool that is loose.

Because she has white legs, I am constantly cleaning her so I notice it all the time. I keep her cleaned off because I don't want her skin to be affected, but she has muck on her a lot. Her stool is a little better than the consistency of a cow patty.

The vet said the fecal count showed no parasites whatsoever and her teeth are in great shape. She does not have a fever or seem depressed, her eyes are bright, her coat is shiny and her attitude is great, she is a very social and outgoing mare.

He thought it might be a couple of things. 1) We have a lot of clover in our pastures and maybe that is causing it? 2) She has something like irritable bowel syndrome?

He suggested I try giving her Cimetidine for a while. However, he didn't seem real sure of himself, so I thought I would check with everyone here, anyone else fought the chronic diarrhea battle and won?

Thanks for the help!

Oh, also forgot to add what she is eating! She does not eat grain at all, as she is a very easy keeper. She has pasture with mixed grasses and a fair amount of clover. She also has free choice mixed grass hay that is professional grown by Haymaker Farms, it is orchard grass, lespedeza and timothy, and is tested out each year by the AG dept at 11-12% protein. Plenty of water and loose mineral salts.

Hi,

Yes, could be the clover & other rich grass/hay. Hind gut acidosis is a common cause of runny poo. Does her manure smell acidic/vinegary at all? I'd try feeding just hay, soaked a couple of hours & drained, to leach out a lot of the sugar(if it's professionally grown hay, you can bet it's rich) & see what effect that has. I'd also consider speaking to a nutritionist &/or getting onto feedxl.com or such, for working out well balanced nutrition. Magnesium deficiencies are also linked with gut probs & there's also a product called 'KER Equisure' that is a slow release magnesium supp for combatting hind gut acidosis.

Dealing with a very similar issue, here, right now. My guy has had the chronically loose stools since he came to the barn (had been a neglected pasture puff for a year before that, so lord only knows what he got into there). We tried a supplement with more probiotics, and it made no difference. I got the vet involved, and he suggested, as a first pass, Probios. We did that for a month, and it made no difference. Then I had the vet back out for shots and stuff this spring, and he did some acupuncture (which definitely got my boy's batteries revved up) and 5 days worth of metronidazole. One, or the other, or both worked a Wonder - his poop dried up and looked like a normal horse's, and I had no nasty stuff running down his hocks, and he stopped squirting when he farted. Unfortunately, it all started to creep back a week or two after we finished with the metronidazole.

We didn't know whether it was the acupuncture or the metronidazole that worked, so we tried acupuncture again (since it's easiest on the body), and that didn't have an appreciable effect on the poop (although, it definitely improved Huey's energy and focus). So now we're going to try another longer round of the metronidazole.

It's entirely possible that he picked up giardia during his "cinderella" year. I also noticed that - even though Huey has a good BCS and doesn't appear to be a "hard keeper" - during the period before where the treatment worked and his manure firmed up and all, he looked like he was gaining a little weight. I was surprised at what a difference it made having this problem cleared up even for a little while.

Silent one,
Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I'm dealing with exactly the same thing with my mare and have tried everything except antibiotics.

Nope, still no resolution. No response to probiotics. Vet wanted to try her on beet pulp, no response. I guess his next step is going to be putting her on Cimetidine. I'm wondering at this point if I should take her to Rood and Riddle to have her evaluated and maybe scoped, not sure yet. We even switched her hay to a less rich one, nothing makes a difference.

Wonder is, she is fat, shiny and healthy otherwise, sparkle in her eye, lots of energy and a super easy keeper. Just has loose poop! Really hard when she has so much white on her.

I've tried probiotics, no grain and less rich hay too with no luck for my mare. Has your vet mentioned hind gut acidosis? I've been looking online and some of the symptoms match but not all. Sounds like our mares are showing the exact same symptoms. My vet said the next step is to give metronidozole anally for 10 days but I hesitate to try that until I've tried other less invasive methods.

Is she still on the clover? Has the vet done blood tests? IR? Nutrient levels?

Loosie, she still has access to some clover in the little pasture she is in. Not a whole lot. She is on 3 acres with another horse. I don't think she has IR, but I guess you never can tell.

I think my vet is not the greatest, that's why I'm thinking of taking her to a specialist. No blood work, just guesses on the vet's part. Try this, try that. And everything I try "well, it can take a month to work". I'm pretty disgusted at this point.

What is metronidozole and where do I get that?

If she had IR would she be showing it in her coat? Her coat looks good, glossy and shiny, and she shed off quickly this spring. Or is that cushings I'm thinking of?

Should I call my vet and demand more aggressive problem solving and bloodwork?

I'd get her off the clover & other rich grass for a start. Might be the protein levels or such in it, or might just be that she's getting way too much all up. Especially if she's a 'super easy keeper' & has 3 acres with only one other.

Yes, I think that's Cushings you're thinking of. Bad coat can be a symptom of IR but not necessarily. If she's a super easy keeper, I presume she's been overweight for some time & is on what sounds like rich pickings, so it is definitely a possibility.

Well that's your call, but as the problem's been unresolved for some time & it sounds like you've paid your vet on a number of occasions to work it out, I'd be pretty peeved if he wasn't even doing any tests or suggesting basics like diet & stuff. Perhaps he just hasn't got much of a clue & you'd be better off finding a good equine vet before you get tests.