eating their own poo UPDATE

[fleabitten]

Kieran is now at a yard as we have reached the end of our tether trying to look after him and hes still getting colic for no reason at all - he had it again this week. (oh yes - the people at the hospital couldnt find anything wrong with him - suppose this is a good thing in a way but its also bad because we spent a lot of money to be told that - our fault I suppose)

So the YO thinks he may be eating his own poo as he noticed there wasnt very many piles in the stable.

Never thought of this before but I suppose it could be a possibility.

I read that it was only really foals that do this.

[solomon]

More likely he isn't pooing that much, main symptom of colic. Poor Kiearan, wonder what it is? My old mare had worm damage which gave her colic on and off all her life. We got quite used to her leaving her feed and sulking at the back of the stable. I would panic now if Peter did it. Does is clear up with injections? Tara always did after a nice expensive vet bill.

[jack]

yes i would agree it is more likely thats hes not pooing much rather than eating it

[haffyfan]

Flea not going much does more the case than eating it but I think eating it, if it is the case, is a sign of defincies, which in turn could cause him to be colicy maybe (?), certainly off colour.

Has he had blood tests? These should show up any deficiencies...my old boy Sunny was deficient in copper, Zinc and something else I can't think of right now at the end and a very poorly boy.

What causes the deficiencies isn't always crystal clear as he had what I thought a balanced diet of bluechip and forage and decent grazing with access to salt/mineral blocks and had been on same management at same yard for about 7 years.

[fleabitten]

yes, he has had blood tests - the only thing out of line was a slight lowering of either red or white blood cells. Apart from that he was fine.

sol - it does clear up after he gets painkiller - this time mum went and got painkiller in powder form from the vets instead of getting them out and he was better soon after that.

Well, we thought he may be eating it cos hes hungry (restricted feeding). The only way you could solve him not being hungry is to give him more food but then he would end up as big as a house!

Well, he seems to be pooing all right - when he had the colic he was still pooing but maybe it just got built up and then thats what caused the colic. Or maybe just a build up of wind! I noticed when he was on a grass diet he farted a lot more, so maybe the grass was a bit rich for him.

Oh worms - well they flippin cleaned him out well at the hosp!! He got wormed through a tube for 4 or 5 days and then they said to give him a double dose for tapeworm when we got him home. I didnt really like what they did as I dont feel a lot of chemicals is good for him and the programme they gave us was quite harsh we thought. But we did the tapeworm dose - I thnk we will just go back to our worm count programme - he would be due another count soon - perhaps I should email them (westgate) and ask whats the best way to work it.

[maximum]

Flea - the chemicals may be harsh but the vets did it because its whats needed- i know you dont like it but they do know what they are talking about and its iportant that you follow their instructions in order to rule out any type of worm infestation as a cause of the chronic colic.

[fleabitten]

well we completed the course (4/5 days and then te double tapeworm dose) so thats him cleared out

[fimacg]

I hope he is feeling better, one of my neighbours mare's was very colicy especially in winter when she cant be out as much, she tends to stuff herself rapidly when food arrives then colic then be OK, in summer she is not as bad as she is out more grazing.

they put her onto 'ride and relax' as she was also very stressy and apparently she has hardly coliced since.

[joandlad]

Foals eat poo to get the bacteria into their guts that they need to digest food. I wonder if he's doing it (that's if he is actually eating his poo) because after all the treatments he's had his good gut bacteria has been killed off or reduced and he's trying to kick start it again? Might be worth giving a Pre-biotic (not pro-biotic) to try to get some bacteria into him. Baileys do one - Digest Plus. If things improve it could be worth putting him on a pro-biotic long term.

[ceej]

yes - Global herbs also do a course for this - to re-balance the gut. cant remember which one but apparently its very good.

[fleabitten]

sorry for not getting back to this thead. update - YO thinks hes def eating his own poo so hes on a copper supplement.

ceej - he was already getting equine gold from before last week.

Was thinking it could have been the richness of the grass making have a build up of wind that caused the colic cos i noticed that he farted a lot more on grass - even tho there wasnt much of it our grass is very good and rich (connies benefit). Hes on hay now - last years.