“I have an 18 month old filly that has had diarrhea for the past 5 months”…
As a weanling she had Lawsonia Intercelluaris in Nov. She was treated with Erythamyacin for 3 weeks and seemed to get better until she was turned out to grass. She spent 2.5 months on grass without any treatment for diarreha, then I got her. I stalled her for 2 weeks and tried to monitor her feed intake. No grain, just hay and water. A fecal was done and she had tapeworms for which she was wormed. I called the vet who decided it was Irritable Bowel Disease and put her on Dex (steroid) for 1.5 weeks which seemed to make her worse and she started to pee slime. The steroids were stopped and blood work was done along with a fecal and urine test. Her white blood cells are high but fecal was negative and urine test was fine. Blood work also showed she was dehydrated but gums and capillary refill time are normal. At the moment she is on probiotics and ulcer stuff along with beet pulp, hay and senior feed. She drinks a lot of water but pees very little and very thick urine, very slimy like. She eats, is very bright but lethargic and does not play when the other horses are playing. She is quite thin but continues to grow tall. There is no fever, or water retention anywhere. I have noticed her foaming around her mouth, not dripping but a white foam sitting on her lips and she seems to lick her mouth quite often when she is not eating. She has been on this nutrition program for a month with little change. I monitored her water one day and she drank 49 litres of water and the weather here is cold. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have tried everything from Pepto Bismol, charcoal, jello, nothing slows the runs down. What can I do to get her body to mend and get her back on track. Or is 5 months too long and she is past saving.
Dr. Jack Sales’ Answer:
Hi Tracy,
Chronic diarrhea can be a very difficult problem to deal with in the horse. If no bacterial cause can be determined, and the horse has been treated for an extended period, some form of bacterial floral imbalance could be causing the continued problem. There are certain protozoa that have also been incriminated in chronic equine diarrhea. Giardia, or thrichomonas are two possibilities. Eosinophilic granulomatous colitis can also be a cause of chronic diarrhea. (This will usually respond and get better with the treatment of corticosteroids) Another treatment that has been found occasionally effective when all else fails would be taking the fresh manure from a neighbor horse and straining it through gauze. Taking this and tubing the horse with about 3 to 4 liters of the solution can re-seed the sick horse’s colon with the proper bacteria and eliminate the diarrhea.
The above ideas are simply things that might be checked out with your Veterinarian as alternative therapies or diagnosis when everything else has been attempted. I don’t think it is too late for your horse but time is running thin. The symptoms of foaming at the mouth is a common one for horse with severe stomach ulcers. Ulcers of the colon are also a very possible diagnosis. I wish I could be of more help. Good luck.
