High Water Content Manure

Hello LSweeny,
Sorry for the slow response, somehow this did not appear in my mailbox. I should check the update bar more.

As to your horse with chronically loose stools, I must say I have such a horse too. Cowboy has been that way since owned and I attribute it to the large amount of water he drinks, almost twice that of the other horses. The problem is: does he drink a lot because he looses more through his stools, or do his stools stay loose because of excessive thirst. We have run him through a battery of tests when he was young and did not find a answer to this problem. I bring this up not to say our horses have the same problem but to suggest this is a common problem which may not have a simple answer.

Because of this the Diarrhea Overview article is a long article with many many suggestions including a diagnostic paradigm. One thing stands out in your post is that there is alfalfa in this horse’s diet. Many horses have looser stools on alfalfa. Sometimes it occurs when they are first pup on it and resolves, other times it remains until the owner tires of the problem and goes off it. I think these are osmotic diarrheas. You should try removing the alfalfa from the diet and give the horse a month to see if there is improvement. If not I would consider a complete chemistry panel and perhaps a equine diarrhea PCR panel. If all this comes back normal consider the empirical treatment for diarrhea outlined in https://horseadvice.com/horse-equine/diseases/colic-diarrhea-gi-tract/diarrhea-in-horses/diarrhea-an-overview/. There you will find more on the diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea without other signs of disease.
DrO

Let me know,
DrO