Chronic "runs" -- what to do?

[wjminwi]

Have any of you ever had a horse with chronic "runs"/diarrhea?
Our pony Tango (18 years and healthy/sound) has had loose stools all the years we've owned her, and the previous owners reported the same. In fact, they passed on the "Invigor" probiotic she was on and we've kept her on it too. But the past few months she has gotten way worse. She always has a gross tail and gunk on her back legs, all the way down. She doesn't seem to pass manure more frequently, but when she does, it's nearly water. She is not dehydrated, nor does she seem sick.
Any thoughts or experience stories would be great. Our vet thinks we should put her on a chinese herb (very expensive too!) for liver issues?!? Not sure what to think of that! Our farrier thinks we should do a rotational/every-other-month deworming for a year and see if that helps...sounds ok, but a whole year to experiment? A friend here brought over some kaopectate (spelling?) last night to try for 4-5 days, to see if that gives her relief.

[ghostrider]

Sorry wjminwi I have never had a chronic case. I wonder if it's a reaction to something she is eating? maybe try changing the hay, grain, mineral block? Adding fiber like beet pulp? I'd think diet would be the first thing to look at.

[wjminwi]

Yes, me too...but they haven't had any change EXCEPT I added the supplements "Remission" and MSM in the fall. I took her off both last week in hopes of that being the cause. It seems to me that adding fiber would just make it worse, but am I wrong? Fiber in MY diet makes things go faster/thinner! Sorry, TMI!

[vsolubo]

Bear has had chronic runs since he was a foal; according to several vets, it bad breeding (nervous breeding). Bear is running QH breeding. He very seldom appears nervous but he is more reactive than any horse I've ever owned. His stools normally appear more like a cows, flat & watery; but when he is obviously nervous it becomes extremely runny.

Fiber absorbs water in the intestines & can solidify stools, it isn't a laxative, but you would have to control his water intake & that can cause more problems than the runs are now causing. I cut the underside of Bears tail hairs, he still appears to have a full tail but when he lifts his tail there isn't as much hair to catch his runs.

I also tried the worming every other month, didn't help. Getting as much hay as possible, year around, helps the most. Hay will also absorb the water in his guts, without having to limit his water intake.

[horsespoiler]

Since Remission has probiotics in it I wouldn't think it would cause a problem but maybe he needs more, stronger probiotics. We have been giving our girls a powdered, refrigerated probiotic this year and they haven't had any issues with it. Here they sell gallon jugs of an animal formula of kaopectate that is much cheaper than the human. They also changed the formula of Kaopectate making it a translucent pink (like cough syrup) instead of the thick chalky stuff we all know and loved. He might like the new stuff better since it's peppermint flavor now. The only time ours have had the runs is of course in the trailer where they can decorate the walls. I think the extra fiber in a diet helps balance the fluid in the intestine. It makes us "go" because most don't have enough fiber and we are actually chronically constipated but don't know it. Cooked pumpkin helps with dogs but I don't know about horses.

[ghostrider]

Mine like raw pumpkin? Problem with beet pulp is you can't get it in the pellet form everywhere like HERE! and the shredded has molasses added but if you can find pelleted you soak it for 15 min before feeding and it's like green oatmeal. I put all my mustangs on it for a year or two after I adopted them because it's just good for them, it fills them up keeps them regular and puts weight on them. With a pony she's probably already chunky? Of course I also put a big scoop of sweet feed in the mustangs bucket before feeding it to them.

[wjminwi]

Yes, Denise...she IS indeed chunky! She looks like a QH with her legs cut off.
And we have been thinking, and realized that she got worse about the time the pasture ran out last fall and we went with hay 24/7. So yesterday we let them out into a different pasture, that is still very grassy, for the whole day, then put them in w/hay for the pm. Maybe just adding the grass will help. If not, we're making a list of other options to try, including that kaopectate, one at a time til we figure this out.

[ghostrider]

Yeah beet pulp even the pellets still has sugar might not be great on a chunky horse. Good luck on finding what's causing it.

[wjminwi]

We think we might have zeroed in on the problem! Yesterday she had no new "squirts" down her legs!

The past couple of months, my horses have been eating 24/7 hay, because our small pastures were eaten down. I did not want to put them on the big pasture/hay field because there was just way too MUCH grass in it. I was waiting for it to snow before putting them out there. But here we are at the end of December with no snow. We had a 45 degree day last weekend, so I went out and used temporary electric fence and step-in posts and made a small area in the big pasture and we've been letting them graze there during the day since Tuesday, and only eat hay in by the barn at night. Well....what an easy fix! She just couldn't take that hay round the clock maybe?

I'm going out now to do chores and will see what her backside looks like!

[ghostrider]

Hope it's that easy. (crossing fingers)

[wjminwi]

Her poo is still very loose today, but it's not liquid and not running down her legs....we'll take that much improvement in less than a week. She was really naughty and buddy sour today....maybe that means she feels better :-p

[ghostrider]

Buddy has smegma all over his hind legs. It's an ongoing problem and stinky too. I've asked vets, the old JL board and the one thing someone told me could help has been banned from the US so how much would a person want to use it? All I can do is apply baby oil and curry it off. It's like black TAR.

[horsespoiler]

GR, have you tried a sheath cleaner like Excaliber to remove it?

[ghostrider]

YUP baby oil works the best because it softens it and unsticks it from the fur. I wonder why no other person with geldings has this problem?