success!

[Charlene]

out of sheer desperation, because i have run out of ideas to clear up red's constant diarrhea, i started him on another round of "sand clear". i called the manufacturer and they told me it was ok to up the dosage. this is day 4 on the dosage given for a FULL SIZE horse and i can hardly tell red's poop from rebel's!!!

i have tried this stuff 2 other times, with very little success. if this works, i can't believe it was such a simple solution after battling this for MONTHS!

 

[whitney]

I just heard the SAME thing from a BIG TIME miniature horse breeder.

Charlene do me a BIG FAVOR I'm dying to know. Do a sand check on the manure now, and tell us how much sand you find. This would be a true test if its sand that is causing the runs.

 

[Mona]

That's great news Charlotte!! I bet you won;t soon be forgetting that little trick!

 

[Charlene]

when i go out to do chores in about 30 minutes, i'll do a sand check and let you know. i did do a check right before i started this and was not surprised, since my guys are on dry lot (pure sand) and red is a little hoover, that there was some sand in the bag.

 

[Magic]

Hey, that's awesome!! Good to know, too! I hope Red will be "solid" from now on!

 

[Charlene]

he's not entirely "solid" yet but it looks like he may be on the way to being so.

sand test showed still some sand BUT, MUCH less than the day before i started. only found one loose poop, the rest were firm and i know some of it HAD to be his!

you would think that, if sand in his gut has been causing this problem for all these months, he would have shown SOME sign of not feeling well. quite the contrary, he is the little instigator when it comes to playtime and he runs circles around his much younger partner in crime. go figure!!

whitney, when you say you heard the same thing, do you mean this breeder increased the dosage?? and, were they successful???

 

[whitney]

Yep she was giving a mini a FULL SIZE horse dose and she said it worked for her.

How much sand did you get the first and second time a teaspoon, tablespoon a pinch?

 

[Charlene]

WOW! i don't know why i didn't think of doing this sooner but glad to hear this other person got good results. i makes me hopeful that this could finally be an answer.

the first sand test i did, the day before his first big dose, gave me about a teaspoon of sand. not a lot when you think about it but a LOT for a little horse. yesterday's result was probably half that or a little less.

this morning, i did not find one single loose poo, red's butt was CLEAN and there was not so much as a HINT of poop in his tail.

do me a favor, whitney, if you can. ask this trainer what her thoughts are about giving these guys a small amount of sand clear maybe every other day or every 3 days from now on. i wonder if just a small dose every so often would keep the sand moving through rather than having to do a purging sort of treatment every month.

the only problem i have is that red does not like the taste of this stuff so i have to coat it in molasses and then even sprinkle a little sugar on top to get him to eat it. i'll end up with a rolly poly little horse but hey, i won't have to be washing manure out of his tail when it's 10 below zero out there!

 

[whitney]

Charlene you got a teaspoon BEFORE the big dose and 1/2 teaspoon AFTER the big dose?

To me thats saying its not sand unless it takes awhile to pass? A teaspoon is ALOT my vet said you shouldn't get more than a pinch.

How many turds did you test?

Next time I see her I will ask for you.

It took me almost a month of a tablespoon day and night to get my mini mare free of sand, I dosed her until all she had was less than a pinch.

 

[Charlene]

Charlene you got a teaspoon BEFORE the big dose and 1/2 teaspoon AFTER the big dose?
To me thats saying its not sand unless it takes awhile to pass? A teaspoon is ALOT my vet said you shouldn't get more than a pinch.

How many turds did you test?

Next time I see her I will ask for you.

It took me almost a month of a tablespoon day and night to get my mini mare free of sand, I dosed her until all she had was less than a pinch.

yes, a teaspoon before and probably less than a teaspoon but that was after just 4 days (i'm pretty sure today is day #5) so i didn't expect to see a total absence of sand. i'm sure it doesn't all pass at once and i'm not even sure i would WANT it to. seems to me that could cause additional problems.

when i have done this test over the years, no matter the size of the horse, i always got more than a pinch. i keep the others on metamucil and they take to it just fine. red just simply won't eat it, no matter how much i try to disguise it.

i can't really tell you how many apples i tested for sure but i know i grabbed a handful (rubber gloves!!) so there had to be at least 5, maybe 6. the joys of horse ownership!

 

[uwharrie]

Have you tried Flagyl? We had a mare come down with accute diarhea and the vet recommended

two doses of Safeguard ( one day apart)

if that did not clear it up we were then to put her on Flagyl twice a day for 5 days.

All horses will ingest some sand/dirt, it only becomes a problem with large amounts.

 

[whitney]

Oh I understand now this last test was done 4 days INTO treatment. I think thats good that it can cut the amount tested to 1/2 in just 4 days.

 

[Charlene]

there is nothing acute about this, it has become chronic to the point of every day, several times a day, week after week with very little break. when i say i was washing his behind and dunking his tail, i meant twice a day, every day. no medication worked, we tried several.

i know all horses ingest some sand and/or dirt but my guys are on dry lot, 100% sand and if there is ONE PELLET of grain fallen from a bucket, red will root like a pig until he finds it.

yup, whitney, today is day 5 of treatment. two more days to go and then i will decide if i'm gonna keep him on a little bit every couple of days. i sure don't see how that could hurt but i won't decide till i talk to the manufacturer.

 

[Charlene]

POOP REPORT! this afternoon...ALL road apples, NO loose stuff. woohoo!!!!!

 

[Annabellarose]

Charlene (or anyone with a dry lot),

I bought a rubber mat that was made for the bed of a truck (a stall mat would work even better, but, at the time, I couldn't find one in any of the local farm/feed stores) and I rolled it out where I fed. I poured the feed in a rubber tub on the rubber mat and I put the hay on the rubber mat as well. It really, really reduced the sand/dirt the horses were ingesting. When I bought nice hanging fence feeders I put the rubber mat under the feeder because they will usually, depending on the horse, try to pick up what they drop or spill. Just a thought.

 

[Bailey@SmallWonders]

POOP REPORT! this afternoon...ALL road apples, NO loose stuff. woohoo!!!!!

Good Luck I hope this works for you. We went through the same thing with one of ours having constant diarrhea (like water!) for several months and nothing worked. The sand clear route made him somewhat better for a day or 2, power pack worming did nothing, Probios, meds etc...we tried everything. We finally tried a product called Invigor by Adeptus and he became totally normal after his first dose! Its a digestive supplement sold by Smartpak, needless to say he's on it for life.