In an effort to figure out what is causing my gelding’s diarrhea, I tried a one-week sand clear treatment as a low-tech, can’t hurt to try approach. At the end of the 7 days, his poop was the best formed I’ve seen since I’ve known him. Now that he’s off it, loose manure is back. I’d like to try it out longer term and see how much it helps. Any specific brand recommendations? Pellet or powder? It seems like a pretty benign approach, and could be useful for hind-gut issues if they exist. I’ll be bringing my vet into the picture soon, but I though I’d try to rule out some feed/forage issues first so we can narrow down what the culprit(s) are.
just FYI - struggled for diarrhea for years with my horse when he was a youngster. Turned out to actually be hind gut ulcers. We were able to mask the symptoms through various means, but took about 18 months of special diet and carafate to actually heal them. He still gets loose when he gets any sort of grass hay, but has perfect (if neon green) manure when on straight alfalfa.
I have an oldster that is ultra sensitive to sand and has had gut issues for a good portion of his life. He gets 1 cup of whole flax seed daily, year round. Despite a dearth of denture, he does manage to chew some, and the rest that passes whole does create a surprising amount of sticky gel. I am covered with it daily. My boyfriend freaks out one in a while thinking the back of my arm is covered in ticks : ).
When it rains for a spell, or the grass is short, he needs extra support.
I’ll put him on HorseTec’s SandTrap https://horsetech.com/equine-supplem…lium/sand-trap I have found it far and away the most effective for moving sand. He may stay on a daily dose for a month or more if we are in drought conditions, or the end of fall when the grass is dying off.
All of this is on top of a wonderful gut health product I’ve been very pleased with, Ulc-R-Aid: http://www.animedproducts.com/productview.php?id=15
Its extremely effective, cheap and palatable. I can’t recommend Animed products high enough, and UlcRAid has kept my golden oldie fat, happy and his appetite up.
There was a horse I used to feed who was on long term psyllium for chronic diarrhea and it did seem to help to an extent. Later the owner switched the horse to Biosponge.
Second the use of HorseTech’s SandTrap product. My horse would not eat the Farnam product (Sandclear?). I still have to use molasses to charm her into eating it, but she absolutely would not touch the Sandclear.
