Dr. Dan,
I ran across your website in search of some help for my daughter's horse. He is a 19 year old quarter horse gelding and he has been having diarrhea for over a month now. We got him about two years ago and nursed him back to health as he wasn't very well taken care of. Last summer he was in excellent health and looked beautiful.
However, this winter was especially hard on him (we live in Indiana and had a terrible winter) and we noticed this spring he was having loose stools and not putting on weight. I wormed him in early spring, then again in two weeks, then every other month (thinking maybe he had worms…unfortunately, I thought that was the right thing to do, now I know better) and we upped his feed. He wasn't looking any better so we took him to the vet and had his teeth floated and the vet suggested giving him soybean oil to help put weight on him and that is when it got really bad, so we took him off the oil right away.
For a little while (about a week) he even got to the point of having projectile water diarrhea (extreme). We called the vet and he put him on bantamine, probiotics and not grain (hay/pasture only). He didn't get any better. We took him into the vet and the vet said he looked pretty good for a horse that has had diarrhea, etc. and he wasn't dehydrated, surprisingly. He tested his poo and said there was no parasites but that he was not digesting his food at all. The vet put him on prednisone steroid because he thinks he has colitis and just cannot get over it. He wanted to reduce the inflammation. He also said to continue with the probiotic. He said to take him off pasture and only give him grass hay, steamed oats, and rabbit pellets. It has been about three weeks and he now has cow patty stools but he is losing a lot of weight and looks really bad.
I called my vet back and he said to take him off the prednisone since it isn't working and he really had nothing else he could do for him except give him another drug called metronidizole(sp), which I told him I didn't really want to give him another drug! He didn't do any blood work so he doesn't really know if he needs an antibacterial in my opinion. I'm not too happy with this vet! I ran across your website last night and would love your opinion on what to do to fix him. We love this horse. He has been such a gentle, sweet horse for my daughter and I want to make him well. I am really worried because he looks and feels terrible. It is also extremely hot here this summer…98 today. He is still eating and drinking though. I am thinking about turning him back on pasture, slowly. What are your thoughts on that?
Also, a friend told us to try a fecal transplant to reinocculate his gut. I guess you take manure from a healthy horse and make a "tea" with it and then give it orally to the sick horse. It is supposed to work wonders, but I would like to know your thoughts on this.
Thanks so much!
Lora
Hello Lora…
Thanks for finding us!
I don't know if you have had time to look over my sites etc…. but my feeding program (see: www.WhatToFeedYourHorse.com)
is the basic foundation that I hope all would consider adhering to and then supplement for support as needed. You will see that I prefer oats and as part of the program there is a supplement that is designed to enhance the oats called Just Add Oats, and then along our RED CAL that replaces salt/mineral blocks/rocks… I absolutely do not want rocks/blocks around…the other component is our Weight Check Oil (with our GMO-FREE soybean oil) that is will help maintain on or off and in my opinion "other oils" don't compare. I would start out "slowly" with the oil working up to 6-8 oz. daily.I'm also going to suggest a couple of supplements that are going to support the immune system and detoxing and getting and keeping junk out of system— junk that includes the drugs… our Health Check is an extremely potent antioxidant product that I want you to consider along with our Aller Check and then our Gut Check product for the added probiotics/prebiotics for digestive support, which the horse needs also.
I of course, do not recommend drugs and what is already there needs to helped to be gotten rid of and not more put back in. The challenges this horse is dealing with and most of the other symptoms or challenges we, our pets and horses have is a result of the body trying to discharge the junk.
Again, I appreciate you doing the due diligence to help and then finding and considering us!
Keep me posted and thanks for asking!
The Natural Horse Vet Magazine: http://www.DrDanMag.com
What To Feed Your Horse? http://www.
WhatToFeedYourHorse.com Dr. Dan's Library: http://www.DrDanLibrary.com
The Natural Vet On The Net: http://TheNaturalVet.net
