He not too visibly fuzzy yet, but the Irish clip o did on him a few weeks ago looks nearly grown back in already 
Well we had probably a good week or two of leakage, but now we are dry again with the temps being steady in the 50’ and 60’s. Hopefully we are on the out for the year.
Question on electrolytes though! I started him on Apple-A-Day electrolytes through all the FWS trail and error. With the weather cooling, do I need to continue them year round? Dial them back? Stop completely? He has salt in his stall and pasture which he loves electrolytes or not.
I would wean off the e-lytes and see how things go. 1/2 dose every day, or a full dose every other day, flip of a coin. If it comes back, then you know it’s actually helping. If not, it’s a simplification to his meals (and a little $ saving along the way) 
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I have also been reading this thread with interest since my mare has had FWS for years. I tried Assure Gold for 2 months and over $500 with no results. Tried PP with bio sponge and it also didn’t work. On a whim, tried 1/2 cup daily of chia seeds, it didn’t work. She flares when there is a change in hay, which is 2x per month at the barn where I board. Last year, I experimented with cutting her hay ration in half and feeding a Standlee timothy pellet with her regular ration balancer to make up for the loss in hay. For 3 months she was clean, even when the hay changed. Unfortunately she developed mild laminitis over the winter and vet recommended taking her off the diet. Now I’m looking for other ideas.
What did the vet recommend feeding instead?
My 22 year old gelding has had lots of trouble with diarrhea and FWS in the past. Subtracting part of his hay from his diet and replacing it with Timothy pellets and Senior feed has been helpful. The thing that made the biggest difference for him, though, was changing his hay. Moving him from Timothy or a T/O mix to a soft, fine, straight Orchard hay has been a game changer. I’m almost afraid to say it but right now his poops are totally normal.
I did also give him a course of Panacur this summer (not sure if that made a difference or not) and he is also on HorseTech’s Sand Trap for one week out of every month.
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There’s nothing inherently wrong with that diet. It replaced 50% of the hay with hay pellets
How old is she? It would be worth testing for IR and PPID at this point. Cold-induced laminitis is a real thing, unfortunately, related to IR, but not nearly so easy/simple to manage
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I agree…but wanted to share that my vet prefers alfalfa pellets.
I think my mare had a case of cold weather laminitis since it happened in early february. As anyone who has gone through laminitis, it gets ugly fast. Her sugar level was 200+ and she tested for cushings. I don’t know why the vet wanted her off the pellets, maybe she thought the pellets were contributing sugar to her diet.
After the laminitis, she went on soaked hay (1st cutting), a ration balancer, and she goes out with a muzzle on pasture for 2-3 hours a day.
I need to start a thread on cold weather laminitis, I have so many questions, and looking for answers from those who have been down the road.
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The pellets were no more likely to have contributed to the laminitis, than the previous hay would have. Depending on the exact pellets, it’s possible they were even a safer option than the previous unsoaked hay.
Soaking hay is a great way to help this, for sure.
Cold weather laminitis is an unfortunate situation because it’s not about diet. Some have managed it by keeping legs wrapped and warmer, though obviously that’s not always an option.
A new thread on that would be so good, for a lot of people who have struggle. I unfortunately know several horses who had to be put down because the winter/cold laminitis was just too much for them
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Ah man, another thing to worry about! I told the vet this week that I want to start doing some sort of annual bloodwork since we are a laminitis risk and dealt with it spring of 2021. We are starting with insulin and T4. A new thread would be great on that, I didn’t know it was even a thing.
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LOL, don’t add that to your list! It’s not nearly as common as the “normal” IR situations. But sadly, it IS a thing.
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After reading someone’s experience on a FB page with winter laminitis, I am going to buy shipping boots for the front legs. I like: Cashel Shipping boots, due to the thickness and price point.
If anyone has a better suggestion, let me know.
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Shipping boots are tricky, as they aren’t designed (well) for staying on with a lot of movement. They generally can’t be snugged down enough. Some might be better than others, I don’t know.
A good standing wrap, with a nobow or pillow wrap (I much prefer nobows, easier to tension without lumps or slipping) can do a good job.
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I havent read all the posts, but I have a horse (20, Lusitano) that has had this problem off and on for several years. Each time, the manure is nicely formed, normal looking. He gets a bit gassy and the farts become both air and liquid. The first time (after trying several other options) my internal med vet diagnosed a case of colitis, put him on antibiotics, a long course that tapered down over about 8 weeks. Cured. He gets a flare up maybe once/year and we have worked out a shorter course which will work over 2 weeks.
One thing we have discovered in the process is that ANY alfalfa will set him off. Our barn buys straight timothy as one feeding option, but occasionally some alfalfa seems to creep in. Fortunately barn staff is good about checking and they always keep some of the old hay on hand until new load is checked.
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Reporting in. Not a drip since the temps dropped here. Flu/rhino and some banamine didn’t mess with things during this time either.
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Also reporting in. We replaced half his timothy hay with orchard grass hay, and half timothy pellets. Took a few days, but he’s joined the clean-butt club. Now he’s migrating from orchard grass to timothy hay, and will remain on half timothy pellets. So far, so good.
The WaterWerks helped some, but it was intermittent. Just when we thought he’d turned the corner, full-blown nastiness.
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My gelding had random squirts but they were getting smaller, not as nasty, and less frequent. Nobody knows what actually creates the problem but stress is one possibility. I saw an article that said it’s not how you feed something, it’s the ingredients that cause the problem. I kept him on a low dose of WaterWerks figuring it would help maintain the inside of this intestines.
I had to put my beloved Paint gelding down in July, much sooner than I anticipated. Speckles was 28 and we did a short Century Ride in 2021. His arthritic knee was deteriorating and I knew I would lose him. He was stronger following another shot of Osphos in May but the lameness was getting worse. The vet said it was time so I reluctantly set the date. The next day we walked to the outdoor arena. He stopped at the salad bar to munch a wonderful selection of weeds. Another few days, and he wouldn’t walk away from the barn. It was the flexion. There wasn’t enough for this knee to control the hoof.
His butt was clean! Thanks to Rod at HorseTech we didn’t have to scrub it. He didn’t need a bath. His last balls of poop were nicely formed. So many people asked for tail hair that it was gone, right up to the bone. All the braids in his mane vanished but I managed to snag one.
A couple of dozen friends, mostly his but some were mine, came to say goodbye to Speckles, one-in-a million. He was still a bundle of energy and a constant source of entertainment.
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Very interesting reading through all of this.
My fjord cross gelding (early twenties) with laminitis has had bouts of this for over a decade. Initially it was mild and rare and I always chalked it up to stress. Particularly in the last year it’s gotten much worse, and I decided to try some new things.
His seems directly related to the water content of his forage. When the grass is dry (most of the year here) or he’s on hay the issue is exacerbated, and when the green grass comes back the FWS clears up… only to return when he has to have the grazing muzzle on to head off laminitis.
What I have found to manage it thus far:
- Tripling his Triple Crown Senior (beat pulp feed, so high fiber) from 1.5lbs to 4.5lbs
- Feeding 2-4oz of whole psyllium husk (just the stuff in big containers from the grocery store, not paying the ridiculous horse supplement prices, ha)
Clears up within a few days on the 4oz and I dial it back to 2oz and then discontinue it after about a week. Have taken him off the psyllium entirely with varying success. If the hay and grass was consistent I think it’d be doable but as it is with management varying I’ve had to reintroduce it twice thus far over a few months.
Just another update on my previously poopy gelding. At this point his poops are entirely normal and his white tail is beautifully clean. Runny poops and fecal water have been a problem for him for the last 5 years but I think we’ve finally beaten it. Right now this horse looks amazing - like he’s aging backwards.
The final piece of the puzzle for him was finding a really soft, clean orchard hay. I think he just can’t process stemmy hay at this point in his life. I also think the Panacur Power Pack done over the summer helped a bit, and I definitely think that adding HorseTech’s Sand Trap (psyllium with probiotics) for one week a month has helped a lot.
AM and PM this horse is getting 1 pound of Timothy pellets (soaked a bit), 1 cup of beet pulp (soaked), 1 1/2 pounds of TC Senior Gold, 1 T salt, and in the morning he gets 1 squirt of Purina Omega Match Ahiflower Oil.
I hope this helps someone else. This is such a trial and error process.
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