Help with aged gelding - 10 points

Question

I have a 28 yo appy gelding who drinks ALOT. he has done for about the last five years. I mean i fill the trough (bathtub) once a day and it is always empty the next. There is only him and an 8month old colt sharing the trough. is there anything i can do to help quench his thirst? What are electrolytes for dehidration. The gelding is visited by our vet on average every 4 months to have his teeth cared for and the vet says its due to his age. Its winter here at the moment so it is not due to heat. any suggestions on suppliments would be great.

Answer 1

ok if you have an atwoods near where you live then you can get a hydarated liquid that you put in there trough/ bathtube. its kinda like gatoraid.

Answer 2

Excessive thirst is usually related either to insulin dependence (like diabetes in people) or to kidney disease.  Have you noticed any other signs/symptoms that either of these may be the cause?  It isn't wise to start feeding supplements without knowing what you are treating.  Age alone is not an explanation for this.

ADD..I just read through the other posts....my advice as a professional in the medical field is that you don't follow any of the "treatments" offered here, and have your vet do some diagnosing.  First do no harm.

Answer 3

It could be he has Cushings Disease.  See symptoms below.  Ask you vet.

Late shedding

Excessive urination

Poor wound healing

Loss of muscle mass

Elevated respiratory rate

Patchy and slow shedding

Excessive drinking of water

More susceptible to infections

Increased tendency to founder

Growing winter coat earlier than other horses

Answer 4

hmm...i dont know much about a horse drinking too much.lol.but i do know a lot about horses not drinking enough.lol.all i can suggest is go to www.doversaddlery.com and they have electrolyte suppliments there if you really think dehydration is the case but if your vet says everything is fine then i wouldnt worry about it.

good luck!!!

AA

Answer 5

if you ride if alot than it is  fine that he drinks quite alot of water but if you dont ride him that often  you should try  not filling the tub full to put a limit to how much he can drink

Answer 6

Older animals of all kinds (even the human kind) are prone to PUPD- Polyurea/polydipsia.  Fancy word that means they drink a LOT and they pee a LOT.

The basic reason is that the kidneys have aged and deteriorated, and can no longer concentrate the urine properly.  

As long as he's drinking enough to handle that, he'll be okay.  It's when he starts not drinking enough and not peeing enough that the kidneys are failing.

Also....  if he's drinking the whole trough, you should probably either fill it twice a day or add another.  PUPD patients should be given as much water as they want, or toxins can build up in their bodies.

At 28, he's doing well.  I don't think there's much you can/should do, but definitely ask the vet about supportive supplements when he's next out.  He'll have the best idea on what will help.  I wouldn't recommend taking anyone else's advice on this without consulting him, as things which a normal horse kidney could handle with ease might be difficult - even damaging - for this horse's kidneys.

One final thought - when you fill the trough, do you leave the hose in it?  If you do, and you have a frostfree hydrant to fill it with (like most stable hydrants and outdoor spigots), the hose may be sucking the water back out.  That's how they make them frost free - any water left in them when they're turned off gets slowly sucked back.

Good luck with your old man!

Answer 7

Horses will drink a lot. A bathtub size tough seems like a lot. Is there a chance the trough is leaking. At his age though, I would be happy he's drinking a lot since the more water a horse takes in the less chance for colic. Do you have any salt available for them? I don't think electrolytes are the answer and since he isn't being ridden, I doubt very much that he needs them. If everything else about him is normal, I wouldn't worry about the water. In the winter, I like to see my horses drinking more water, since they are eating hay.

Answer 8

well, this might sound silly, but we had a filly (she's now 7) and when she was younger, she used to play in the trough, splash her head around and litterally empty it, we'de have to fill it every day (it was a bath tub) SO annoying, odd thing was, we've had three other horses over the years that do the same thing, so its not that uncommon!!

they just splash around and empty it! one gelding we knew once had his two front feet in and blow goddamn bubbles. i know this probably sounds crazy, but ive never heard of a horse drinking that much. as for the electrlytes, they are usually given after a horse is worked, or traveled, to replaced salts that he''s lost when sweating.... anyways!

Answer 9

ok so he is 28yrs old. electrolytes are given to horses that are worked out a lot like show horses, etc... there is many different types of electrolytes that you can give horses BUT  that is when you ride them or give them a work out and from what your said he is retired from being ridden and working so electrolytes would not be the best for him.

he may just have a case of being thirsty and if your vet said

there is nothing to worry about then there really is nothing to worry about.

just seems to be old age and seems fine to me from what you said.

Answer 10

Does he urinate as much as he drinks?  If yes, then he's not retaining water.  This is a metabolic problem.  There may be no permanent solution b/c it's probably an age thing.  Do you have a standard salt block available at all times?  If not, try one.

Is he getting enough to eat to keep him full?  Sometimes horses that feel an empty stomach will fill it with water to get that full feeling.  It could be one of those tricks he's learned with age and experience.

Otherwise, just keep up with his water.  You'll have a well-hydrated horse!