IBS in horses

[Roan Mare]

The vet had to come out to Doris yesterday as over the weekend she had really, really loose poohs. She has had a few episodes like this before but this is the worse that I've ever seen it.

The vet said that she didn't think it was an infection and as it has happened before she thought it was irritable bowel syndrome.

She advised me to immediately change from feeding her hayledge to feeding her hay and introduce a probiotic powder to her bucket feed. She said to phone back if things haven't improved after a week of this as she will have to have blood taken to check that there's nothing more serious underlying :(

Has anyone experienced IBS in horses? I would love to know more about the causes (I know a big factor is stress in humans, and that concerns me) and would appreciate any additional tips about how to manage it.

Thanks x

[vels mum]

Turk was exactly the same on haylage! We went through everything in his diet till I realsied it might of been the haylage. Put him back onto hay and gave him NAF pink powder in his feed (probiotic) and within a week his poo was back to normal.
He wasnt too pleased about being back on the hay though as he LOVED the haylage.

[helena]

I would also think it is probably the haylage, and nothing more sinister. It doesn't agree with some horses, mine was just like yours when he was on it at his previous owners. He is fed hay now, and has been absolutely fine since.

[Roan Mare]

Thanks guys. She's been on hay since Sunday night so I hope it starts to resolve itself soon.

I'm going to the tack shop to get a probiotic today (it was closed yesterday) and I'll just keep an eye on her.

How soon do you think I should see an improvement? x

[Roan Mare]

He wasnt too pleased about being back on the hay though as he LOVED the haylage.

Vels mum I don't think Dor is too pleased either. Would rather eat what isn't good for her, just like me ;)

[vels mum]

I wish someone would ban me from eating bad stuff lol

[helena]

I would think that you should see improvement within a week if the problem was the haylage. It'll probably take a few days for the gut to settle down.

[Roan Mare]

Thanks, hopefully by the weekend she will be a bit more settled then :)

[AndyL]

well as far as IBS goes, personal experience is with my mum, as i havent seen a horse have this problem before. what she takes is a few things (all of which are Matrix Healthcare products btw).

MRM (although this might be a little too effective since its high potency, but then that just means you dont use as much)

Colostrum (wonderful stuff, but only first lactations have any benefits in it). what it does is creates a thick lining in the stomach, helps to provide a healthy gut environment, and overall immunity (effectively what it does for new born babies) now this product you can source from 2 areas.
first would be Net-Tex. they are a company i can vouch for who provide colostrum on its own.
second would be ourselves, however it is a new product mixing both mushrooms and WFM Colostrum (effectively combining 2 very good forms of supporting the immune system)

Probiotic. again, this is sourced from many places, but i cant advise on which is the best one to use.