Hind Gut Acidosis

[PassagePony]

As the title implies, our vet and I have tentatively come to the conclusion that this is what my Percheron mare, Trixie, may be suffering from. I took her in Monday, dropped her off and that afternoon they scoped her for ulcers. Our vet called and said that he wishes many of his equine patients had stomachs as nice as she did, not even a hint of any healing, scarring, or old ulcers, she was clean and good there. Part of me was relieved, but another part of me broke down and I cried, what could be wrong and why the colic so often?

I picked her up on Wednesday, Trixie was very happy to see the trailer come pulling in and trotted around the round pen they had her in for a bit of exercise. Spoke more with the other attending vet who said they watched her eat as well, as they had kept her an extra day to worm (and we will be checking that next week) her for me and ensure all was well, and she literally wolfs her food down. That she learned from where she was most of her life, our friends would open all their pipe stalls, throw grain in each feeder and who got what was decided by how fast they could eat it til another horse came and ran them out or shoved them out of the way. Tried a large rock in her feeder, the mare is smart enough to shove it out of the way or flip it sideways and “hold it” there with her big ole face…I have cut her down to half a quart, along with a very small handful of alfalfa cubes broken up. Feed them x2 a day as well to cut things a bit and allow her more time to digest her senior feed. The senior feed is given to her to help her better digestibility as it is easier on the stomach.

Vet said to try a tablespoon of baking soda, aka sodium bicarbonate, in her feed in the evening. She has been showing some signs of the acidosis and he thinks this will help lower and level out her pH, help the uncomfortable feeling she shows, the girthiness and hating to have anywhere around her flank area touched.

Called Kentucky Equine Research center…or KER…they have put out several good and informative articles about the hind gut acidosis and I spoke to one of their nutritionists who helped write the articles about my Trixie. She agrees with my vet, then pointed me to a supplement made by Equisure of a pelleted form of baking soda that is specially designed to be broken down by the hind gut and of better digestibility for this issue. I ordered 2 buckets that will give me 40 servings and by that point she said we will know if this is indeed the issue or not. She also explained that when the pH is off, when they aren’t digesting as they should, it does hurt, and it is important for the horse to get as much nutritional value out of what it eats…hence the lack of a proper and good top line on her that I now see, which is another sign of this.

This has been hard on me emotionally…I am at the point I have to take something to help me sleep at night, I am so worn out from checking on her to ensure she is still okay, she is up or she is merely quietly sleeping or resting when she is down and not colicking. I have had several people tell me that it is lipoma’s, to love on my mare as this is it, others say that I need to do this or I need to do that…when you have several vets say that yes, while my pasture has little grass, I supply round bales every week (and my horses do have their botulism shots), along with squares if it should run low and of the best grass I can, I wash my water troughs out weekly or more if they need it and have 3 of them in my pasture so they never run out, I get good supplements, I know them intimately, and for their age, they all are doing well health wise, with the exception of Trixie. Believe me, no one wants my vet bill at the moment. I also have picked up a 3rd barn to work part time to be able to pay everything off and would NEVER ask for money from anyone, even my husband who does help me with the vet bills, because they are MY responsibility.

Fingers crossed this nightmare has a silver lining and this is truly what it is. Time will tell. Our vet knows, her quality of life is first and foremost in my thoughts and deeds. IF it ever came down to the lipoma or worse, I would let her go and know I did everything possible. That is what a good horseman does…I just hope that no one else has to go through the guessing game like we are and trouble shooting like I am.

[EmilyM]

I’ve hear apple cider vinegar is also good to balance stomach ph. I personally use Assure Guard on my horse that had ulcers (since cleared up with Misoprostol). It was recommended by a vet, and I think the smartpak GI is a similar product. They target fore and hind gut. Maybe these supplements would help you? i don’t know exactly how hind gut acidosis is different than hindgut ulcers (perhaps a cause?), but thought i’d share.
Before my horse was diagnosed with his ulcers, he was colicking weekly for a few weeks. I too was emotionally devastated. a 7 week course of ulcergard (you can do that math) did nothing to improve him, but a 3 week course of misoprostol healed his ulcers. I understand some vets won’t touch it because in some small percentage of patients, it actually causes colic and ulcer upset. Did wonders for mine.

[PNWjumper]

I’ve posted a lot about my guy over the years. Had him on maintenance omeprazole which we (multiple vets and I) think caused hind gut acidosis and caused a couple of bad gas colics.

Pulled him off of omeprazole and initially put him on Succeed, pre/probiotics, and apple cider vinegar. After about a year I switched the Succeed to SmartDigest Ultra and pulled out the probiotics. He now gets SmartDigest Ultra in the morning, a Platinum Performance supplement in the evening, and 1 oz Apple Cider Vinegar morning and night. His appetite is excellent and he’s the shiniest he’s ever been.

I did buy Equishure at the same time as the Succeed and never ended up using it. I’ve heard really good things about it and wouldn’t hesitate to try it, but the Succeed did such a good job getting him back to good that I just wasn’t tempted to try anything else at the time.

[PassagePony]

I haven’t asked my vet yet how you would check for hind gut ulcers, or can you even, in a horse, right now my vet bill is needing to be paid off a bit and lowered. But it certainly is something to keep in the back of my mind and to think about next time I see my equine vet.

I have heard good things about Succeed…found Equishure first, talked to them and received my order today. Started it tonight so fingers crossed. I am also throwing in a small handful of alfalfa cubes in her small amount of senior feed, slows her down, she HAS to chew them, so she isn’t wolfing it down as quickly any more and the calories aren’t going to hurt her. Once I get her stable and can really breath a sigh of relief, going to go back to riding her and bringing back her top line and muscle, she has lost a lot, not so much weight but she certainly doesn’t look like she use to.

Thank you for the replies. It has given me hope that maybe I will get the colic under control…THAT is my biggest fear, I can deal with anything else but that, as it does scare me. Even when my silly Thoroughbred mare Lucy impaled her butt cheek on a latch while scratching, that was easy peasy for me!

[ToTheNines]

This is very very sketchy, but to me, it seems like mine back up to the wall when their hind gut is bothersome to them. I say this because I am a big fan of EquiShure and when I see them doing that (two of mine tend to do it), I throw some Equishure in their feed for a while and they stop. I also like the SmartPak hindgut supplement – sorry I get the names confused, but it is the one for hind gut with sodium bicarb in it.

Also, seems like I read somewhere that hind gut issues will cause a sour smelling poop, but check me on that one!

[yaya]

Succeed has a fecal test kit you can do to check for bleeding in both the stomach and hindgut. I believe you can only get it through a vet.

[stryder]

I also had my mare on omeprazole for well more than a year. She developed ulcer-like symptoms which I attributed to hind-gut acidosis after reading about it here on CoTH.

Her symptoms were foul, sour-smelling manure of a cow pattie consistency, decline in appetite and just looking uncomfortable. Hindgut ulcers can’t be found by scoping, BTW, so tests are limited.

Added ranitidine, took her off omeprazole. I added LMF Digest 911 and Standard Process GI Support to her diet. Both are available locally, although the GI Support comes from a vet.

The other thing, and although this might sound crazy, I worked on not projecting the anxiety I felt about her. I worry, she worries. I chill, she worries less. I started thinking of her as a 1300-lb. mood ring, and worked to project calming positive thoughts, enough for both of us. Believe it or not, that helped. When she’s calm, happy and well, I can “share” a little more. But when she’s struggling, all she gets from me is, “It’s OK. I’ve got this.”

Good luck. You might learn more about yourself than your mare in this process.

[Donella]

My five year old would get colicky every few months this last year…usually after exercise and always very mild but vet could never find anything obviously wrong. She was also extremely girthy and just angry in general about having her tummy touched on the left side, her poo smelled weird and her coat always seemed a bit dull. We did two six week stints of gastrogard but strangely it never helped even a little bit. We also tried succeed without success. Finally another vet suggested Sulcrafate for hind gut ulcers and I also ordered the KER Equisure. She is SO much better after a month of treatment, I have no doubt that we finally found the source of the problem. I would do the Sulcrafate along with the KER stuff.

[PassagePony]

Donella…I will certainly look up the sulcrafate later on when I am home and see what it is. I am hopeful with the Equisure, I ordered enough for 40 feedings…

Yes, I try to stay calm, I go into the barn in the evening during feeding time and talk to the horses, I kiss Trixie behind the ear where her fur is really soft and have read somewhere that if you portray calmness, much like you described, the horse will be more calm as well. She is a very endearing mare, one of her qualities I so love is how personable and kind she is, that was one of the reasons I decided to buy her 6 years ago.

I have the fecal test book marked, my vet wants to wait a bit first and see how she does on the Equisure, we also are retesting for parasites too, as through all this her immunity was low and she did develop a higher parasite load than my other horses, who are all on the same worming schedule. We do the fecal egg count to make sure we worm for the correct parasite. To me, her manure doesn’t smell any different than anyone else’s, when she stayed at the vet’s a few days when she was scoped for ulcers, they said the same thing.

Fall is here and winter is approaching…my hope is to get her feeling better, stabilized if you will, then see how things go, one thing at a time if you will. With a husband who travels constantly, I worry sometimes things will go really wrong and I am going to be alone to have to face it. Guess that makes me a bit of a wussy…

[Doctracy]

Did he palpate and ultrasound her girl parts? My mare acted like this each time she had a uterine infection/inflammation.

[One_Two_Three]

I can also second a plug for Succeed. It seems to be a hit or miss product, but it really does condition the digestive tract, and in my horse’s case I saw quite a marked improvement. He’s a heavy boned OTTB as it is, but I could not get him over that ‘hump’ of looking rather ribby and bony and having hindgut discomfort. I opted for Succeed over Equishure because Succeed has what’s called the Succeed Challenge in which you feed the product for 2 months, and if you aren’t happy with the results, you can return it for a complete refund. At the end of month 2 I couldn’t bring myself to return the product for a refund because it made such a remarkable difference in my horse. His gut is primed and ready. A few of the positive effects wore off after stopping Succeed, namely sensitivity in the back part of his belly/hind end area returned, and his ribs poked through just a bit after going through a ‘fat’ stage. I’ve started him on a cheaper alternative, Smart Digest Ultra, and I’m hopeful that it will fill in a couple of the holes that we’re missing now that we’re off the Succeed. It’s notable to add that those using Succeed for weight gain should realize: I’ve been told by the vet who recommended I try it, that it is calorie dense. So if you notice weight loss after increase upon stopping Succeed, it’s likely the calorie deficit. If you don’t want to put them back on Succeed, add those calories in the form of food! An extra scoop of Alfalfa pellets seems to take care of that for my situation.

Anyhow, I would def. give the equishure a try. You’ve already got it there, and there are just as many positive reviews surrounding that as there are for Succeed (as well as negatives–with everything in life!) just keep Succeed in your mind if Equishure isn’t making a difference for you! Especially if you’re in the US and can do the Succeed Challenge, guaranteeing your money back if you’re not satisfied!