Question
Storm
Hello,
In middle January I bought a then 12 year old mare. She has had one foal that I know of. We were told that she was not bred back, but guess what. She will be having a foal early summer of this year. The last owner did not properly take care of her. He didn't take care of her hooves for months, she was not being dewormed, she was covered in Bott eggs, and was underweight. I immediately took care of all that. But from the first day that I got her, her manuare has been very loose, almost like cow patties. Every now and then it would be normal but it was rare. But today I noticed as I was cleaning her stall (more like a run-in though) that it turned in to more of a pancake look rather than the cow pattie. She is dewormed every month and I use a diff. dewormer every month and my vet said it was good with him, and her fecal came back negative. I feed her Safe Choice and grass hay twice a day, and plenty of fresh water. So my question is, is it normal/common for a pregnant mare to have such loose manure for so long? Or should I bring her back to my vet for more tests to be done?
Thank you
AnswerHi Brittany,
No, it is not normal for a pregnant mare to have loose stool for that long of a period. Normally their stools will be loose like that just prior to foaling.
Have you tried a probiotic with her? If she had been full of worms for a long period of time, there definitely could be some problems going on within her digestive system. Probiotics will re-introduce the good bacteria in the intestines that is needed.
I also use Safe Choice and have never had a problem with it. You may want to try to add some alfalfa to her diet, as the grass just may not be enough roughage to provide the fiber she needs. The fiber will act as a bulking agent.
I would try a good probiotic and see what that does. If that doesn't help, then try adding the alfalfa to her diet. And of course if all else fails, take her back to the vet for more testing.
Best of luck and happy foaling!
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