- Jul 27, 2009
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Did your vet do a scraping of the intestinal lining? Some isues such as salmonella and other bacterial upsets can be diagnosed only with intestinal lining scraping. Since all of your horses are exhibiting the symptoms I would definately inspect your feed & request that your state lab sample it. I would also have the state lab sample your hay source. You may have already did all of this but if not at least this gives you a base line of areas to begin looking for the issue. I would also get a 2nd veterinarian's opinion - not to say your vet is not good - but perhaps something has been missed.
After consulting with your vet - I would also consider taking the horses off of all grain & concentrate feeds - or just feed plain oats & good quality hay. Basically you want to simplify their feeding program using a more bland diet until you can pinpoint the problem.
Of course I am assuming that you both deworm regularly & rotate your wormers. You must also look at your pasturage - this time of year there may be some plant in the pasture that they are grazing that they normally would not. Many evergreen plants contain alkoloids that cause chronic diarrhea when consumed. So taking the horses off pasture for a few weeks may be prudent. Walk your fields or have your local state agriculture rep come & walk it with you - or if not him/her try for a college professor specializing in native plants. Most states also have a website with pics showing their native plants that are toxic to herbavores. Usually it is linked to the state ag website.
Mainly though you are going to have to contain them & monitor their intake until you figure out what is causing the problem. If your barn & fields are clean & well maintained - it is most likely your feed or a native plant they are grazing while the grass is scarce.
I hope this helps you develop a plan of action & that you find the issue soon. Please keep us posted.
After consulting with your vet - I would also consider taking the horses off of all grain & concentrate feeds - or just feed plain oats & good quality hay. Basically you want to simplify their feeding program using a more bland diet until you can pinpoint the problem.
Of course I am assuming that you both deworm regularly & rotate your wormers. You must also look at your pasturage - this time of year there may be some plant in the pasture that they are grazing that they normally would not. Many evergreen plants contain alkoloids that cause chronic diarrhea when consumed. So taking the horses off pasture for a few weeks may be prudent. Walk your fields or have your local state agriculture rep come & walk it with you - or if not him/her try for a college professor specializing in native plants. Most states also have a website with pics showing their native plants that are toxic to herbavores. Usually it is linked to the state ag website.
Mainly though you are going to have to contain them & monitor their intake until you figure out what is causing the problem. If your barn & fields are clean & well maintained - it is most likely your feed or a native plant they are grazing while the grass is scarce.
I hope this helps you develop a plan of action & that you find the issue soon. Please keep us posted.