This first heat cycle is called the foal heat. Foal heat diarrhea was originally believed, to be caused by changes within the mare's milk composition during her heat cycle, leading to a transitory diarrhea in the foal. However, orphan foals or even foals raised separated from the mare also have developed diarrhea during this time. The main distinguishing factor between foal heat diarrhea and other infectious causes of diarrhea diarrhea caused by bacterial or viruses is systemic illness.
Foals experiencing foal heat diarrhea are not systemically ill, meaning, they do not have a fever, they remain bright and alert, and they continue to nurse well and are active.
Foals with infectious causes of diarrhea most often will be depressed and quiet, they do not nurse well, and they may have a fever. Furthermore, foals with foal heat diarrhea generally have mild, self-limiting diarrhea, whereas foals with infectious causes often have profuse, watery diarrhea.
Veterinarians believe that foal heat diarrhea does not result in the foal's becoming overtly ill because the diarrhea is caused by the changing bacterial flora within the foal's gastrointestinal GI tract, rather than an infection of the GI tract from pathogenic disease-causing bacteria or virus. As the foal's normal resident bacterial flora changes, it causes a transitory secretory diarrhea, which resolves in a few days usually without requiring treatment 3.
You often will see young foals during this time period, eating feces from their dam. HHH: The most common cause of scours in foals is a reaction to food. Reactions can occur when there are more nutrients in the feed than the foal is used to, or the feed source is changed too rapidly.
If the dam is eating a lot of rich grass, her foal is at risk for scours. HHH: Diarrhea can occur suddenly and may become chronic.
Evaluate the foal immediately if sudden diarrhea occurs. Rule out life-threatening Potomac Horse Fever and salmonella poisoning right away. Check his temperature and overall condition.
Fluids may need to be given. Call the vet with other signs of illness accompanying diarrhea such as distress, pain, biting and shock pale gums, decreased respiration, decreased pulse and sweating.
Once the horse is maintained through the acute phase of diarrhea, treatment is aimed at improving absorption by repopulating the gut with normal bacterial flora and secondarily by slowing or altering the transit time of ingesta.
The tactic for slowing the transit time consists of feeding a ration high in dry matter and fiber in an attempt to pull some of the excess fluid in the gut into a foodstuff that is not readily broken down and stays in the hindgut for a longer period of time.
Any feed that is high in fiber, low in moisture, and relatively absorptive will meet this need. One such foodstuff is beet pulp, especially for horses with chronic diarrhea episodes. The interplay of increased transit time through the gut and mucosal damage to portions of the hindgut explains why the most significant complication of diarrhea is laminitis.
With compromised GI mucosa, the toxins in the gut and endotoxins released from the breakdown of gram negative bacteria cell walls can readily enter the systemic circulation leading to toxemia and endotoxemia. Endotoxic horses suffer from numerous pathological responses to the systemic insult. Treatment is directed towards ameliorating some of the effects of endotoxin and consequently indirectly addressing the potential for laminitis. In the past, powdered charcoal was used, which is great for absorbing bacteria, but does not absorb water.
The product is a purified clay powder that binds the toxins, and also binds the water, so that the horse loses less fluid in their diarrhea. While absorbing the bad bacteria and toxins is important, also providing good bacteria in the form of probiotics can also be very helpful.
Old-fashioned brewers yeast is also Saccharomyces, but it is a different species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is an instinctual habit to get the good bugs into their stomach. Whatever the route, it makes a big difference to provide the good bugs because that creates the environment for the gut to heal.
While some antibiotics are warranted in the right situation, Heidmann points out that they are not necessary as often as people think. Clostridium difficile does respond to antibiotics, metronidazole being the most common one. For Potomac Horse Fever, Tetracycline broad-spectrum antibiotics are the best. Biosecurity measures should also be taken to protect healthy horses from an infectious barn-mate.
Heidmann recommends complete isolation of the sick horse while it is ill, and for a minimum of two full weeks after the infection has been clinically resolved. This includes no horse-to-horse contact, as well as no shared use of wheelbarrows, pitchforks, etc. Molecular and DNA testing can be done to make sure that the horse is infection-free, but he warns that testing can be problematic.
The state-of-the-art standard of care is a DNA test called PCR, and yet you still have to do multiple tests to get a positive test and get a diagnosis.
Still, the best way to be safe is to continue testing until you are sure. Heidmann warns of common complications in severe diarrhea cases, laminitis being highest on the list. With the sickest of horses, it is unfortunately not uncommon for the veterinarian to get the gut fixed over three to five days, and then find that the feet have started to become very inflamed due to toxins in the bloodstream.
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