This message is from: "Karen McCarthy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi Patti Jo,
What a frustrating thing with this gelding!
I have a 5 mo. old filly who just got over a weird bout of colitis 2 weeks
ago. No temp, gums normal, eating, drinking + nursing, she just had a leaky
hiney w/ no solid poops and a bloated belly. Aside from small doses of
Banamine and ulcer meds, and the active yogurt + pedialyte blend, we gave
her something called Bio Sponge (see link). It worked! The active ing. are
suspended in a kaolin base, so it looks like you are putting 60cc's of clay
in their mouth.Cleared up the ooze. My vet thought it was a case of
salmonella, probably picked up when she ate some of her dam's poop, or stuff
that is in the soil.. I can't rule out worms either with this baby, as we
have moved onto a property that had not been kept up over the past 5 years,
and there has been livestock on here intensively for the past 100+ years.
One other product that I would use if my horse had a chronic history of
scours, is 4 Life Transfer factor Performance + Show. I have posted about it
before on this list, as I used it on a pregnant mare that had a very severe
dryland distemper/pigeon fever infection and was severely debilitated. It is
a bacterial infection caused by a corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis
bacteria. (I actually lost a foal in Calif. to this crud, as her infections
+ abscesses were all internal.) The Transfer factor was recommended to me by
a vet in Galt, Ca. who is a big racing TB vet and deals w/ allot of horses
that have immune + respiratory problems. The stuff is $$ but is worth every
penny.
Since were talking about scours + colitis, on a food note, we grow excellent
hay here in the central Oregon area, allot of the fancy Orchard Grass hay is
shipped to Kentucky, etc. but I like the kentucky bluegrass straw hay that
is a by-product of the grass seed industry here. We can get a ton of it for
$70-$75 and it is just fine, bright, clean grass that seems like it was
tailor- made for the "airferns" aka Fjords. I can give each horse 2-3 flakes
and they stay busy on it most of the night. They also get some limited
turnout on pasture.
Here is the Bio Sponge link:
http://platinumperformance.com/animal/equine/products/productcategories/product.cfm?category_id=162
Hope some of this info will be of help.
Good luck!
Karen in Madras, Or.
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