Need Advice on Poo-Poo Problems

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clpclop

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My filly and colt (7 & 8 Months) have been having intermittance bouts of runny poops. I feed Timothy in the morning and Alfalfa in the evening. I stopped the grain and the only other thing they nibble on is some honeysuckle bushes that line the stall. Their mom's also eat the same diet and have no problems.

Any advice? I've left a message for the vet and was hoping to get other ideas from mini owners.

Thanks!
 
Not a big alfalfa fan here, I would give back the grain and take away the alfalfa.

My babies have always had trouble with alfalfa. I would try taking it away first and see if it clears them up. Keep the timothy.
 
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We have fed alfalfa all our lives (I am a grandma) with NO problems at all. I do personally find that Minis fed on nothing but grass hay, especially youngsters, do not seem to get enough nutrients out of their diet to keep good meat up over their backs and rears. They look pot bellied but skinny along the topline.

Keep in mind this is my personal experience with horses we have purchased over the years. I am sure you will get other opinions here as well.

How about sand in the guts? Have they been checked for that? Your vet would know more about the nutrient content of your feed that you have, and may be able to recommend something. Also, if the poop is not really runny or looks like a possible illness problem, I wouldnt really worry about it that much.

He may be able to answer your question as to whether you really have a concern with just a phone call and description to his office.
 
I have had a very severe diarrhea problem with one of my fillies for a year now. I FINALLY got her better, and it wasn't any one thing that did it I don't think. Things to check FOR SURE: sand in the gut. Get that cleared out. If you don't know how to check yourself, or have the vet out, just get your baby on some psyllium product like sandclear or something like that for a while. The first time I had my filly's belly x-rayed, she was full of sand and I had her on sandclear for a month.

Probiotics: Biosponge is the best, but any probiotics will be good as long as they have live cultures.

Ulcers: I treated my filly for 2 months, this did make a little bit of difference, but I was still in big trouble with her after the two months.

Chinese Herbal Medicine: If you have the availability of someone who really knows their stuff in this regard, this did help my filly also. The vet in this area that incorporates it into his practice is very very good. He studies in China, he is a board certified vet that incorporates western medicine with chinese herbal medicine, accupuncture, and chiropractic. We still weren't quite there with my filly after a month and a half on this.

I did the next things on the list pretty much at the same time. I was desperate, I was really going to lose this filly, she had been down for too long:

Isolate her, no friends, so I could monitor everything happening with her.

Diet: she is on timothy hay only, 1 dry cup beet pulp soaked and 1/2 dry cup LMF TACO (Timothy, Alfalfa, Corn and Oats) soaked given twice daily. Strongid C daily dewormer. And some drops formulated by the treatment person below:

Bicom Bioresonance Therapy: She had two Bicom treatments. This is one of those "magic" things that I have no way to describe. I didn't really believe it would help, but I was totally desperate. Well she had her first fully formed poo the day of her first Bicom treatment. The practitioner also formulated some drops for her food based on the therapy she was given.

All I can say is that I FINALLY have this problem licked. My filly is fat, spunky, full of energy and bright. No more diarrhea. I am so thankful. She is back in with a friend now and holding her own. I wish like heck I had a before picture but I didn't get one. Here is her after:

walk.jpg


Forgot to mention that you can also give Pepto Bismol and that might help.
 
This is all great information, thank you. Just to give a little more detail, my filly is the one that had a neck fracture around 9/1. She had been on Bute for about 6 weeks and taking an anti-ulcer medication also. During that time she started the diarrhea. My colt was fine during that time and occasionally had soft poops. I put them on sand-free for 3 weeks on, and off and on perodically. I guess I have to really dig in and get to the bottom of it, like you said. I could try the "timothy only" since I believe they are very healthy and maybe a bit more "round" than they should be. I'll waiting to get a call back from the vet, so I'll keep you updated on how this works out.

Just a follow up on my filly....she's pretty much back to normal after the fracture. She's playful, runs, kicks, bucks, rolls and the only noticeable sign is that she keeps her head positioned lower than normal. Hopefully, after time, that too will be corrected. I have not started her back in a halter yet. I have to wait until December 1st until we make that attempt. I'll be cautious, because I'll be starting fresh with her and will worry about her pulling back and re-injurying herself.

Any suggestions or comments about starting her in halter training again? She's just about 8 1/2 months now and since I haven't worked with her for 3 months, I'm sure it won't be easy.

Thanks,

Karen
 
I will get back to you with a detailed plan for the halter work if you are interested. I do clicker training as you may know or have guessed, so my plan would include a little homework on your part...but it will serve you well over the long run! I would teach your filly to touch a target with her nose, then follow the target, then using a figure 8 rope around her chest and bottom get her to give to pressure in her body so she learns the concept, then put the halter on and begin using a very gentle guiding pressure on her nose just before you use a target cue for her to follow. I can write a detailed plan but want to make sure you are interested in clicker training before I go into it. Many people are just not that interested in a method that involves treats.

Go here first to get a preview of the method:

http://www.clickryder.com

P.S. Karen: I am REALLY glad your filly is okay. Poor little girly.
 
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