Fecal Water Syndrome….AGAIN

1510 Views 63 Replies 12 Participants Last post by walkinthewalk, 1 d ago

Txshecat0423

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago

Ok so we were good for about three months on Timothy pellets, ration balancer, and probiotic. He has free choice coastal hay (round bale) and pasture. It’s back.

Saw the vet this week for other stuff and she said take him off ration balancer and give him the pellets and probiotic along with beet pulp. On the FB FWS page, advice and reactions are mixed as to how the beet pulp either helps or makes it worse. I’ve never fed beet pulp, and he does not need to gain any weight.

Thoughts?

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walkinthewalk

· #2 · 5 mo ago

Read this recent HF post for a new idea

www.horseforum.com

My gelding is cured! FWS/Chronic Diarrhea

You won't believe it when I tell you this... Coconut Oil. Yup, a cup of so a day mixed in with his feed and he's been dry for a month! I can't believe it. I don't know if it will work for others, but I wanted to share it with you guys. Everyone who has a horse with FWS is desperate for a...

www.horseforum.com

www.horseforum.com

Here’s a page from Mad Barn. Coconut Oil for Horses: Nutrition, Benefits & How to Feed [Review] | Mad Barn

Reactions: 2

egrogan

· #3 · 5 mo ago

I have been afraid of jinxing myself so haven't updated on Izzy's situation 😉 But we're going on a month now of a smooth, clean bottom. The thing that's made the difference for her is 1 daily scoop of Fiberpsyll pellets. The instructions don't indicate daily feeding (it's supposed to be a somewhat complicated cycle of feeding multiple scoops 2-3x a day for 2 days, then 3 days off, then back on, etc), but I was finding that she was ok for the couple of days a week she got them, and back to a mess when I'd do the "rest" days. So I talked to the vet, and asked her if she thought there was anything in the Fiberpsyll that would be actively harmful if I just kept her on it daily. Vet felt that the dosage on all the ingredients was so low (1 80gm scoop/day), it wouldn't hurt. And if it seemed like the magic formula that was helping, to just go with it. So that's what I've been doing, and she's doing really well. Her appetite and mood are so much better, so I think it must have her feeling better. Should it work? Probably not! Does it actually work? Who knows, but for right now it seems to. And the price to try it out is very affordable: $25 for 5lbs.

As far as beet pulp, I do use it in the winter for added forage and something soaked to add supplements, but just adding that didn't do anything one way or the other for Izzy. It was one of the first things we did back in the fall.

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charrorider

· #4 · 5 mo ago

The vet that saw Chance for his FWS recommended feeding beet pulp twice a day, 3/4 of a pound if the beet pulp was in the pellet form, 1# if it was in the shredded form. At first Chance ate all the beet pulp fine, but at some point he lost his taste for it. So now he gets about half of what the vet recommended, just so that he has some. It's been working now for 3 months.

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Txshecat0423

Discussion Starter · #5 · 27 d ago

I am beyond frustrated with this syndrome. Skip was pretty dry for almost four months. My pasture is pretty lush so I am only giving them a handful of Timothy pellets along with supplements once a day. Performance season has started for us and so I started easing him back into the joint supplements and Equioxx, within a week he was just awful again. Back to washing him every day and his rear is just raw from the scrubbing and the constant water.
The probiotics are definitely no longer working and it seems I am not going to be able to keep him on any of the current supplements. I have been through so many things and I’m just at my wit’s end. It is literally a PITA (although not my A). I have NOT tried the beet pulp as he does not need to gain even an ounce of weight.

I’m just venting…I will try some different things AGAIN (including the coconut oil). I’m just tearing my hair out right now.

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walkinthewalk

· #6 · 27 d ago

@Txshecat0423 , Since Skip has been dry four months UNTIL you started him on the joint supplement and the equioxx, I am willing t9 throw Equioxx under two buses in case the first one misses it.

I would take him off the equinox and slather his butt with hemorrhoid ointment. Not the cream the ointment. It will keep him from galding and help heal him up.

I will go toe-to-toe with every vet on this planet, regarding ,ong term use of Equioxx or Previcox. It may be fine for some horses long term but not for all horses.

Which joint supplement are you feeding Skip? Might also try something different since there are several with science behind them that don’t have fillers in them🤠

The waterWERKS from HorseTech is still working on Rusty so far. Duncan started to get some gas a few weeks back. Not much but it was getting louder by the third day. I started him in half dose of the Water Werks. The gas stopped immediately and is still absent (fingers crossed)

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Txshecat0423

Discussion Starter · #7 · 27 d ago

@walkinthewalk, I put him on LubriSyn HA and Cosequin ASU. He performs so well on those and there are just no problems with his arthritis etc during performance season while on those. The vet insists he needs Equioxx, but looking back I think I had come to the same conclusion: I.e. that he cannot be on it…it just irritates him too much. I’ve taken him off everything again.

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walkinthewalk

· #8 · 27 d ago

Txshecat0423 said:
@walkinthewalk, I put him on LubriSyn HA and Cosequin ASU. He performs so well on those and there are just no problems with his arthritis etc during performance season while on those. The vet insists he needs Equioxx, but looking back I think I had come to the same conclusion: I.e. that he cannot be on it…it just irritates him too much. I’ve taken him off everything again.

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Is there enough time before your next event to let Skip clear up then start him back on the arthritis supplements one at a time? I would keep him off the Equioxx.

Also, just during rodeo season, would you be ok spending the money on Succeed? It has never helped with FCWS but it may help Skip.

It is a great stomach and hind gut buffer.

I have used it off/on for years. These days I feed it when I deworm the horses.

I buy the container, not the tubes. I’ve never had a horse refuse to eat it — it smells like cookie dough, I have thought about eating it, lollol.

SUCCEED Equine - Products & Resources for Serious Horse People

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Txshecat0423

Discussion Starter · #9 · 27 d ago

@walkinthewalk, yes there’s enough time for me to add the joint stuff back in one at a time and I agree I just need to forget about the Equioxx.

I’m looking at the WaterWerks and I’ll take a look at the Succeed. I’m so leery of the high dollar stuff since using Assure Guard Gold. I practically had to sell my organs to be able to use that,
and it ended up only working through the first tub. Second tub zilch, nada, zero, nothing.

I’ve read some stuff on other forums and pages that said Remission shouldn’t help with FCWS but that it does. Thought about giving it a shot since it’s reasonable, but I’m just tired of throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

I appreciate the comments and suggestions!

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charrorider

· #10 · 26 d ago

walkinthewalk said:
Read this recent HF post for a new idea

My gelding is cured! FWS/Chronic Diarrhea

You won't believe it when I tell you this... Coconut Oil. Yup, a cup of so a day mixed in with his feed and he's been dry for a month! I can't believe it. I don't know if it will work for others, but I wanted to share it with you guys. Everyone who has a horse with FWS is desperate for a...

www.horseforum.com

Here’s a page from Mad Barn. Coconut Oil for Horses: Nutrition, Benefits & How to Feed [Review] | Mad Barn

Sorry. Being dry for a month is nothing to brag about. My Chance was dry since last October. That is 5+ months. And it started again a week ago.

charrorider

· #11 · 26 d ago

Chance was dry for more than 5 months and now he has started, again. The only thing that's different is that he started objecting to eating the beet pulp and I took him off it. Yesterday, I started him up on it, mixing it with a little apple juice to make it more palatable (of course, it is also mixed with water). If mixing beet pulp with apple juice is what I have to do to get him normal, that is what I'll do.

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walkinthewalk

· #12 · 26 d ago

charrorider said:
Sorry. Being dry for a month is nothing to brag about. My Chance was dry since last October. That is 5+ months. And it started again a week ago.

I didn’t say that. I may have commented to it but that is not a post that I made🤠

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charrorider

· #13 · 26 d ago

walkinthewalk said:
I didn’t say that. I may have commented to it but that is not a post that I made🤠

I'm aware of that. I responded to the post without mentioning anyone in particular.

Txshecat0423

Discussion Starter · #14 · 26 d ago

charrorider said:
Chance was dry for more than 5 months and now he has started, again. The only thing that's different is that he started objecting to eating the beet pulp and I took him off it. Yesterday, I started him up on it, mixing it with a little apple juice to make it more palatable (of course, it is also mixed with water). If mixing beet pulp with apple juice is what I have to do to get him normal, that is what I'll do.

@charrorider, I’m willing to try the beet pulp if it helps. He just can’t afford to gain any weight, so do you feed according to bag instructions or just trial and error, or weigh it, or….?

Thank you for any help!

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egrogan

· #15 · 25 d ago

I can’t remember if I already mentioned this at the beginning of your thread, but what seemed to be Isabel’s “cure” (I am waiting for it to come back at any moment) was a 1/2 scoop of Fiberpsyll pellets once daily. I started that in February (?) and she has been clear since then. knocks heartily on wood

If you’re going to start experimenting again, it’s a pretty inexpensive thing to try. It’s ~$25 for a tub that will last several weeks at such a small dose (there are other dosing instructions on the tub when you’re using it more like a Sand Clear product, so you’d probably want to play with the dosing regime too). Anyway, I don’t have to tell you this problem is all about experimentation, unfortunately 😔 Hope he gets back on track soon!

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Txshecat0423

Discussion Starter · #16 · 25 d ago

@egrogan, I can get that at Tractor Supply too, so it’s win/win! I hate to start experimenting again, but I just can’t handle it being so bad during performance season. It’s hard on me having to wash him up several times a day and it’s hard on him because his skin gets so irritated and raw in the heat of a Texas summer.

So dang frustrating!

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walkinthewalk

· #17 · 25 d ago

This is purely observation on my part, but. If there is a common ground in all of these horses with FCWS, it is that there is NO common ground, except that they all appear to have weakened digestive tracts.

Each seems to be triggered by something different and each seems to respond to something different. And that makes finding help obscenely frustrating 😡

@Txshecat0423 keep slathering the hemorrhoid ointment on Skips butt until you get this figured out.

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charrorider

· #18 · 25 d ago

Txshecat0423 said:
@charrorider, I’m willing to try the beet pulp if it helps. He just can’t afford to gain any weight, so do you feed according to bag instructions or just trial and error, or weigh it, or….?

Thank you for any help!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When the vet saw Chance, he didn't think Chance needed any weight added. Along with SmartGut, he recommended beet pulp twice a day, 3/4 of a # if I fed him beet pulp in the pellet form, 1# if I fed him shredded pulp. All weights were before soaking. After 5+ months, I thought we had this thing licked. It is extremely frustrating. I wish you the best of luck.

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lovetolope

· #19 · 25 d ago

charrorider said:
Sorry. Being dry for a month is nothing to brag about. My Chance was dry since last October. That is 5+ months. And it started again a week ago.

walkinthewalk said:
I didn’t say that. I may have commented to it but that is not a post that I made🤠

@charrorider, Diz has been dry ever since I posted that thread. In addition, I'm convinced it's the coconut oil due to an event that happened a few times- I ran out of it. A few days with no more oil and it was back. Manure waterfall down his legs, it was just horrid. Put him back on it, and he's good as new again in one day.
I'm not at all trying to push it on you guys, just letting you know what worked for me after a year of trying things that didn't work.

@Txshecat0423, I'm really sorry you're going through this again, and we're all hoping you find something that works. 🤗

Reactions: 2

lovetolope

· #20 · 25 d ago

I also want to mention that while I had started with a cup a day, I'm down to a 3/4 cup of it every two days. I'm sure the larger dose helped him in the beginning, but now we're just maintaining it. 🙂

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