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  Discussion on No hay, no pasture, no alfalfa cubes, grain ONLY?
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Member:
winifred

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 - 3:48 pm:

Hi, I've posted before about Buck, my paint with diarrhea, but I'm back. After three glorious months of clean bushy tail, he got acute diarrhea again last week...and I'm, again, at a loss.
My vet put him on paste proBios, electrolytes, and strongid daily dewormer, and said to feed him ONLY Blue Seal grain, a beet pulp product. So I took away the alfalfa cubes, and, sure enough, he got better. Hungry, but better.
Yesterday, at her recommendation, I started him back on a handful of soaked cubes, and his tail is already runny.

What is the matter with my horse???

He recovers if he is kept off of all hay (I have forty bales stored and can't use them!) and all pasture (I have ten acres), and just fed Blue Seal beet pulp grain. He lives in the barnyard, which he, of course, has turned into a dusty lot, given our Virginia DrOught and his poor bored self.

Whenever, at her recommendation, I start caughtiously adding alfalfa cubes, never hay or pasture, he's okay for a while, then, like today, starts to be runny again, and I'm sure that by tomorrow it will be full scale horribleness again.

Can a horse live on grain alone? He's twelve, has foundered before, is quite healthy in every other aspect, and is very kind.

I have read the feeding overview, but can't find anything relevant to chronic diarrhea. This has been going on for over three years, and I'm beginning to dread the winter. Tail washing is zero fun in 20 degrees!

I know I've posted on this before, so forgive me for repeating myself. I'm just wondering if anyone has anything to offer at this point. Thanks so much,

Winifred
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 - 6:44 pm:

For more information on diarrhea you should look at Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Diarrhea in Horses » Diarrhea an Overview and not the articles on nutrition. Currently your horse is not on all a all grain diet. Beet pulp has been successfully used as a forage substitute in horses, for more on feeding and balancing the nutrition of such a diet see Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Beet Pulp.

Your history suggest that there is something in the grass hay or alfalfa he is not digesting well. The undigested osmotically active particles remain in the bowel pulling water into it and causing diarrhea. Another possibility is that when consuming these forages he drinks more water than his digestive system can absorb. You might try a enteric fauna transplant as explained in the article of overview on diarrhea. In fact you will find many other recommendations in there and indications for them. Sometimes they just are tried on a trial and error basis.
DrO
Member:
winifred

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 - 10:02 pm:

Thank you, Dr. O. I did read the articles and understand that beet pulp can be successfully used as a forage substitute. But my horse is only receiving it in a grain form, the Blue Seal Vintage Maturity extruded product, explained to me as a "predigested" grain product.

Will this one product be enough for him, for the rest of his life? Does this amount to forage? He is currently not receiving any other form of feed.

Thank you, Winifred
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008 - 8:07 am:

I am not familiar with this feed Winifred but beet pulp cannot be turned into a grain. If the feed is mainly beet pulp and not processed to the point that the fiber is broken down, and the product balanced to meet the horse's needs, it should be fine. I think that your horse's stools are normal suggest the fiber is adequate. Then again high fiber foods seem to promote diarrhea in your horse so this is a unsure point.

If this feed contains less than 50% beet pulp you could start supplementing the beet pulp portion using the recommendations in the article on beet pulp to balance the nutrition.
DrO
Member:
winifred

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008 - 8:56 am:

Thank you,Dr. O. I'll go read about beet pulp some more, and try to stop wishing he could just be a normal hay-eating horse.
I do appreciate your input very much.
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