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  Discussion on Diarrhea still there on Day 4
Author Message
Member:
mz4horse

Posted on Sunday, Nov 16, 2008 - 2:48 pm:

Hello Dr. O! I noticed both horses, pasture-mates, developed diarrhea (cow patty splat) right after a fresh delivery of new orchard grass hay came in. Today is Day 4, and things have not changed. The QH's stool is sometimes watery, the Arab's not quite. Neither horse has a history of this. The behavior remains normal, the pulses are 36, 32 also seem normal. I assumed it was the hay, but I'm concerned that they have not adjusted by now. The hay is soft and seems nice enough. It's warm and I've held off exercise to avoid dehydration. They have access to salt. What should I do next? Thanks, Mona (CA).
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Nov 16, 2008 - 6:46 pm:

Mona, Looking at your profile and commenting from personal experience, I would be thinking about the possibility that your horses are both carrying a load of parasites and that the QH is more effected by this.

Of course, it could very well have been the hay change if that was not made slowly, though I see that you regularly use orchard grass hay.

Hope that you find the answer without this becoming long term and chronic.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 17, 2008 - 6:55 am:

Hello Mona,
If, as your post suggest, the problem is due to a change in forage and this is the only problem you should wait it out, it might take 2 weeks or more before your horses bowels completely adjust. Your horses will not dehydrate just because the stools are a little looser as long as they are feeling well and have plenty of access to water.

Vicki has a point that other possible causes should be considered. For more on other possible causes and there diagnosis see the Overview Article's subtopic: Acute Diarrhea Without Fever or Other Signs of Disease.
DrO
Member:
mz4horse

Posted on Monday, Nov 17, 2008 - 12:52 pm:

Thank you Dr. O. I will follow your suggestion, I have read what you pointed to. I will post here again in some time about how they are doing.

Vicki, thanks for your input and concern. I will go ahead and deworm them again ASAP (after this waiting period when they've stabilized a bit). You are right about the hay change, it was completely sudden, same type of hay but nevertheless, a new batch!

P.S. Both my (Polish) Arab and the QH's stool was a little firmer this morn, just a teeny improvement.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Monday, Nov 17, 2008 - 1:59 pm:

Good luck, Mona. I know all too well how messy this problem can be.

My quarter horse who is touchy in this regard can still get a messy butt for an extremely short term from a food change or stress, but his long term, on-going problems were seemingly related to parasites.

Dr. O's plan followed very carefully cleared my horse's problem after years of trying every other possible remedy.

Not to have to continue to deal with the problem is an amazing gift for which I will always be grateful to this site and Dr. O.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 17, 2008 - 6:39 pm:

Mona you should not deworm, you should have a fecal run on your horses: knowing that your current program does not work is important so you just don't continue making the same mistake over and over. On the other hand if what you are doing is working the deworming is a waste of time and money. For more on this see, Horse Care » Worms, Deworming, Parasite Control » Overview of Deworming.
DrO
Member:
mz4horse

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 - 10:51 am:

Dr. O: Thanks for everything!
Both horses improved rapidly after my last post, by about Day 6 all was back to normal. As you advised I continued with the usual routines including exercise, made no changes, and I did not deworm them.

Thanks for the pointer on deworming, I will read the article, and also find out if my current program is working (fecal run, not tried that before). Cheers, Mona.
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