# Chronic diarrhea in 27 year old horse



## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

My Appaloosa gelding has been getting full on projectile diarrhea when eating hay. The horses are on pasture board but when the footing in the field is wet, they get hay and are confined to a dry lot. About 24 hours after getting hay, he gets diarrhea. The diarrhea resolves after returning to grass or with biosponge treatment. This has been going on and off for maybe 2 months.

He's been examined by a vet. Physical exam is normal. Blood work is normal. He doesn't seem to have trouble chewing and his teeth are fine. He has all of them. None are broken or loose and he is up to date on floats. The vet was unable to feel any points or other issues. He has no fever, and no loss of appetite. His attitude is bright. The other 2 horses in his field are fine. He was just dewormed and his fecal exam was negative. He's in good weight. He is being treated for Cushing's with a daily half dose of prascend and he's on probiotics.

The hay is a high quality grass hay, the same kind of hay he's always had, and none of the 18 other horses on the property seem to be having an issue with it.

There has been no change to his turnout situation or his workload (been retired for 2 years). He hasn't left the property. Other than the grass to hay switch, his diet remains the same.

I read that chronic diarrhea can be a common issue for older horses. Does anyone else have experience with this? What else can I do to combat this?


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

There's something in the hay, maybe a weed that he's having a problem with. Might just be too rich for him. Most horses do best on mid quality hay instead of the gorgeous green stuff. Buy a few bales of other hay and offer him that next time he's up. Should tell you a lot


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

You've done a terrific job in trying eliminate all the possibilities and explaining the situation 

I agree with *LHP*, I think there is something in the hay that is bothering him. 

If he is home, are you feeding round bales or giving him flakes from a small square? If you're feeding a round bale, I would get him off it, if at all possible, and feed him from small squares that have been stored inside.

I would also take a few samples of the hay and send it for testing -- especially if it's at your barn and you have hay for the entire season.

If the runny bums continue, I would ask the vet for something to help your horse so he doesn't dehydrate ---- which, make sure he is drinking enough to compensate. Especially with the weather getting colder. Some Horses don't always drink enough water in colder weather


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks guys. He is boarded. They hay is grown on site at the boarding stable, baled in small bales and stored inside. I'll ask the barn manager to try a different cutting or a cutting from another field and see if it makes a difference.


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## brightspot (Mar 9, 2017)

Are there little pieces of hay in the manure? My old boy's manure got soupy towards the end and the vet saw the little pieces of undigested hay. Even though the teeth are decent, the digestive system is just getting older and less efficient. He suggested I use a chipper and make the hay into smaller pieces. I didn't do that because his problem wasn't really that bad. He also recommended a digestive aid (probiotic) that works in the hind gut. I did do that. :grin:


Another thought: have you had him checked for sand? That is a real problem here on the plains.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

My friends 32 year old horse had the same exact issue. She still had most of her teeth - still tried to eat the hay but every winter she had constant diarrhea that would resolve in the spring when pastures greened up again. After consulting a couple of different vets it was determined that her stomach/colon just was not able to digest the long fibers of the hay. They moved her to hay cubes and alfalfa pellets and it helped some but did not resolve it completely. The mare gradually lost weight her last winter and no matter how much she was fed she was not thrifty.

You are doing a great job with your horse - could be that he is just getting older.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

I've had more than one older horse do this. First thing to try-- switch hay. I had one who couldn't handle grass hay, but did fine on alfalfa mix. Another needed the coarsest, stemmiest, blandest hay I could find. The rich, good horse hay caused him all sorts of issues. If it hasn't been tested, have the hay analyzed and see what the sugar content is. That may be your issue.

If another type of hay doesn't help much, he simply may not be able to digest it anymore. Sometimes older horses' digestive systems start to slow down, and they just can't digest hay anymore whether they have teeth or not. You may need to switch him to a complete senior feed that is forage-based, or look at soaked alfalfa cubes and beet pulp for his forage and drop the hay altogether.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

How long has he been on the Pracend?
It can cause diarrhea in some horses when you first start using it. The recommendation is to stop using it for X number of days then restart on a lower dose and then up the dose to where it should be.


Given his age he might have intestinal lymphoma. Acute diarrhea is a common symptom


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks for all the input so far guys! You've given me a lot to think about.

We are switching him to a less-desirable first cutting batch of hay to see if that helps. Rags has always been a slow, picky eater. He usually refuses to eat coarser hay, so he may just not eat it... we'll just have to see how it goes.

My usual vet is out of town this week, so I'll be talking with another vet at the practice later today. Hopefully this will introduce a fresh veterinary perspective.

There aren't any visible hay pieces in the manure. His manure is just liquid.

We don't have a sand problem here, and he's already on probiotics.

He's been on the prascend for almost 3 years... and he's already only getting a half dose (because he loses his appetite if he gets a full dose.) I wouldn't think it would be that, since he's been on it at this dosage for so long.

If I try him with alfalfa, soaked cubes, or any other totally different forage options, I'll have to reevaluate his board situation. He's on pasture board with 2 other horses right now and is at the bottom of the pecking order. It would be pretty much impossible to give him something different in his current situation.

For now, the game plan is just to talk to the other vet, and try him on less rich hay. I'd have to move him if I wanted him to get completely different forage options, so I'm saving that as a last resort.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I have the same problem with my 18 year old gelding. Invariably, when he's on full hay, he gets diarrhea. He eats hay without an issue in late summer, when I start supplementing the grass. But the minute I take him off pasture and he is only eating hay, it starts. The vet recommended finer hay (second cut) so I bought a bunch last year from a completely different field. No change whatsoever. He doesn't like the coarser hay, and prefers the finer hay, but his stool still gets runny. I put him on pre- and probiotics, and digestive enzymes, and it is finally a little better after a few weeks, but not completely resolved. The only thing I can figure is that the grass must have digestive enzymes that help his digestive system work well. 

I do give him timothy hay cubes twice a day, and my equine nutritionist has suggested I could just feed him hay cubes, but that would take away his foraging which keeps him busy all day, and I hate to do that. 

I'd be intersted to hear if you find a solution, because we struggle with this for weeks on end each fall. It does seem to resolve itself eventually, but not soon enough. 

Oh, I also feed psyllium fiber when it gets bad - sometimes that helps. But you're not supposed to feed it all the time, just for a while, then stop.


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