# My horse drank septic water!



## site4pets (Sep 28, 2010)

About half an hour ago i looked out the window into our back yard to find my horse drinking septic water :shock: 

You see, a couple weeks ago we had to dig a hold in our yard to find our septic tank so it could be pumped out (*vomit*) and ever since then liquid has been coming up in that hole...

i thought a horse would since it's bad for her and NOT drink it, but she did, i immediately put her in her corral, dumped her tank and gave her fresh water (both in the corral and in her pasture waterier) 

she has been d-wormed but she has NOT been vaccinated this year...what should i do? I can call the vet Monday at the earliest, but what should i do until then? Should i make sure she gets lots of water? Or what? I'm making sure she isn't getting anywhere near it now. We would have blocked it off from her, but we had nothing to use, if we put a tarp over it we would have risked her stepping on the tarp and tripping and freaking out...please let me know soon, i'm really worried.

She seems to be acting fine, she is on the pasture right now eating.


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## YoungCowgirl (May 7, 2011)

Well, if she freely made the choice to drink it, then she may feel like she's lacking a nutrient. When lacking a certain nutrient, funny cravings may occur. I may have that checked out but if she's acting fine, I would refrain from putting so much energy into worrying about her. It will pass through her system, I don't think any vaccine would help her in this case. (I disagree with vaccines to begin with).



Dogs sometimes eat horse & cat poop. Heck, sometimes they even eat there own. I've seen horses also eat there own poop. 

Hope this helps.


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## site4pets (Sep 28, 2010)

YoungCowgirl said:


> Well, if she freely made the choice to drink it, then she may feel like she's lacking a nutrient. When lacking a certain nutrient, funny cravings may occur. I may have that checked out but if she's acting fine, I would refrain from putting so much energy into worrying about her. It will pass through her system, I don't think any vaccine would help her in this case. (I disagree with vaccines to begin with).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


She didn't drink that much, so hopefully she will be okay, but i had to drag her away from it :shock:


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

You have an open septic system in your yard, it is oozing poop and pee and has been doing this for two weeks???? And your parents are doing nothing to close the hole? Seems a little unhealthy for parents to leave an open oozing septic tank hole, I imagine your neighbors love the smell also. 
Come on, are you sure this is not just another story you are making up Site4pets to see what you can stir up?
Of course it will make her sick, it would make you sick if you drank it.


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

We had the same thing happen but with our geese/ducks. I was not home the day the septic was pumped out. Well naturally my stupid birds went swimming in the crud and had a party while everyone else thought it was funny. (ummm NOT) Luckily they showed no illnesses from the fiasco and the hole was covered back up quickly. 

I would be very concerned if RID-X or other chemicals have been added recently to the tank. I would go ahead and call the vet ASAP and ask for his opinion either way.


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

Then again...This is a hard glass to swallow. :think:

Its hard to believe that a horse (as smart as they are) will drink something that toxic. The smell alone would have sent mine running for the hills...


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

yes and site4pets tends to tell pretty big whoppers to get things stirred up.

I can't believe that a city/town would allow open septic waste for over two weeks, doesn't seem real plausable story to me.I can't believe that parents would allow human waste to be bubbling out a hole for two weeks.


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

In my area, its not that uncommon to see that actually :shock:. Its mainly farmland around here, therefore the city may never know about it unless reported.


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

yea, but site4pets is from Colorado... I am betting this is another story, she will say she will call the vet and the vet won't come out, but on the phone will talk and the horse will be just fine. 
Been there done that so many stories, her folks must have let her have some computer time again.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

Why is your horse anywhere near it to begin with? A horse tromping around on the leach field will destroy it and that's going to cause serious issues with the septic system. 

I've never heard of leaving a septic system uncovered, I just bought a property with a septic system and had it pumped this week. Two concrete covers, they were removed, tank was pumped, they went right back on and the couple inches of dirt was shoveled right back over them. Smell wasn't all so bad and absolutely no oozing liquid.


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

Thats why I am saying this is typical threads from site4pets, she comes up with unbelievable stories, as soon as she gets called on them, she will either disappear or come up with amazing finishes. Check out her past posts and you will see what I am talking about.


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

wyominggrandma said:


> yea, but site4pets is from Colorado... I am betting this is another story, she will say she will call the vet and the vet won't come out, but on the phone will talk and the horse will be just fine.
> Been there done that so many stories, her folks must have let her have some computer time again.


 Ah, I see.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

Thanks for the tip, Wyoming..

Can't help wondering why in the world this person feels the need to make up stories on internet forums about horses they don't have and/or things that didn't happen.....

:shock:It is kind of...odd.


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## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

You notice she has not gotten back to this thread? read her past posts, you will see what I am talking about.If she comes back to this thread, it will say something like" I talked to the vet and he/she said it was all okay and no worries".
She posted on a dog forum I am on, same name, same silly threads, same state. When I asked if this was the same person from the Horseforum, she said" I don't know what you are talking about" and has not posted since
I think she is a little girl and craves attention. If you read her other posts on here, you will see what I mean. Guess she has nothing better to do than play on the computer


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## site4pets (Sep 28, 2010)

We don't have any neigbors near by, just hundreds of empty acres. The only reason its taking so long is because we had to wait for someone to come out a few days ago to decide whether we need a new one (bigger one) or just pump out this one. She seems to be acting fine, eating, using the bathroom, drinking, etc.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Most likely the manhole was dug up, opened and closed. What you are seeing is probably rain or ground water that is sitting in an available low spot. Septic tanks are not just open on the top or they would fill in with dirt. 

Your horse will not drink septic seepage. (Unless you are not providing her any water.)








wyominggrandma said:


> Thats why I am saying this is typical threads from site4pets, she comes up with unbelievable stories, as soon as she gets called on them, she will either disappear or come up with amazing finishes. Check out her past posts and you will see what I am talking about.


Gotta love drama. NOT!


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## site4pets (Sep 28, 2010)

*Picture:*

This is a picture of it see the hole that's dug up with nasty water?


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## site4pets (Sep 28, 2010)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Most likely the manhole was dug up, opened and closed. What you are seeing is probably rain or ground water that is sitting in an available low spot. Septic tanks are not just open on the top or they would fill in with dirt.
> 
> Your horse will not drink septic seepage. (Unless you are not providing her any water.)
> 
> ...


 Thank you........


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

I would still lay a grade or boards across it. I guarantee that it IS septic water, seen it first hand and just like the picture. Leaky/broken pipes(connectors) are a main cause for that. The hole is having a swimming pool effect, otherwise rainwater would just evaporate. Not sit in the hole for days/weeks. Yes the "man hole" does have a lid over it so thankfully she cant step into it.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

If the manhole does have a lid then it is not septic water and there is no way in heck that you can tell from that photo what type of water that is.

Sigh.

If that horse willingly drank sanitary waste then the OP is not providing the horse with any source of clean water, period.

And I also have to wonder why anyone would turn their horse out where there is an open hole like that for the horse to fall in or trip over?


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

What I'm saying is its _possible_. Not from the "manhole" but from the pipes entering and leaving the main tank. 

Yeah I'm not following why the horse(s) are allowed around that, or any animal for that matter.


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

I wouldn't put my horses in a field in that condition.:shock::shock::shock:

Regardless of whether that is an open cesspool or just a pool of stagnant water, it is a breeding ground for insects and disease, not to mention a falling hazard. YUK!!


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## Hunter65 (Aug 19, 2009)

When was the picture taken, why is the horse still out there?


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## KatieQ (Apr 4, 2011)

site4pets said:


> We don't have any neigbors near by, just hundreds of empty acres. The only reason its taking so long is because we had to wait for someone to come out a few days ago to decide whether we need a new one (bigger one) or just pump out this one. She seems to be acting fine, eating, using the bathroom, drinking, etc.


Your horse is using the bathroom? No wonder the septic is full!


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm only going to comment on the fact that on some occasions, horses DO drink toxic things, even if they have fresh water available. One reason that horses drink from muddy puddles instead of their trough is because - like someone else stated -they are lacking something. This horse could be needing something that he or she is not getting, and resorted to drinking the septic water. 

For example I was using a bleach and water mixture a few months ago to scrub down the outside of our shed (it was mildewing because we'd been having a LOT of rain) and one of the kid's ponies bucked her off. I, ofcourse, ran to help her catch the pony and left my bucket of bleach water- assuming that the horses would smell it and be uninterested since it was a half and half solution...but when I came back ten minutes later, one of the ponies was drinking the water happily! He had to have his intestines pumped out to keep him from being burned internally, but he still drank it. I can't tell you WHY because I had just filled their buckets, but he did.

Horses are horses. Generally, yes, they ARE smart enough to know when not to drink something, but sometimes they arent. *shrug* not much you can do about it.

I do wonder why OPs horse is in that field at all, but I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why I'd leave a bucket of bleach out in a horse pasture! We all do stupid stuff sometimes. ^^


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## Scoope (Oct 19, 2010)

This strikes me as alittle off ..?

We have a septic run off system - waste goes down pipe into a big tank , is then treated , and the run off (basically clean water - apparantly you can drink it safely , although I cant say I would be inclined to) runs off down in the bottom pasture.

It must be pretty unusual to just have a sitting tank?? and why is there no cover?? and also - it is not a huge puddle , and therefore is not hard to fence off if need be , we have just planted a whole lot of native trees for the wild bird population on our run off paddock ,as well as a few christmas trees as it is often quite wet (because of the water) , and so I dont want the animals on it churning it up.


wierd set up you have there :S the vet bill you will get from your horse standing in the hole and breaking his leg is going to be exponentially more than what it would cost you for a few stakes and tape to temp fence it off.


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