Donkey has Diarrhea

[Horsefeathers2009]

I have a 4 y/o 400 lb. Donk that has diarrhea, my best guess is the alfalfa I gave him was too rich. I knew this, and only gave him less than a quarter of a flake mixed with grass hay. Needless to say he's been getting only grass hay for the last two days with not much improvement. Last night and this morning I gave him almost nothing to eat - about a the size of a feed bucket full. Still, diarrhea. What to do? amy

 

[ksalvagno]

I'm not a horse person but any chance it could be worms?

 

[patandchickens]

First, check his temperature and make sure he's not got a fever (yes, I know this is particularly unpleasant when the animal has been having diarrhea , but you need to rule out infectious causes).

Assuming no fever, good attitude, not reluctant to walk, no signs of problems other than 'the runs', I'd suggest giving him only grass hay (and water obviously) until it clears up, may take a couple days for the gut flora to get back to normal. There are probiotic preparations you can give him but I am not convinced they are worthwhile. Some vets suggest giving a psyllium product to help the gut deal with basically-harmless-source diarrhea, I have no experience doing that myself however.

Worms don't usually cause *sudden* diarrhea but if there is any question about his worming history (in terms of frequency or what he has been wormed with) it might be worth having a fecal done if the diarrhea does not resolve in a few days.

If there *is* a fever or he seems doing-poorly in some other way/s, or if the diarrhea is really quite bad (like, very watery or very smelly, not just cow-pie stools) for 24-36 hrs or more, it would not be a bad idea to have the vet out, as there are any number of other things it could be (the alfalfa being just coincidental). That's *probably* not the issue here, just sayin'.

Good luck to you both,

Pat

 

[Horsefeathers2009]

Thank you for the advice. No temp, and behavior is normal. He's wormed regularly so that's not the problem either. I will keep him on small amounts of grass hay. If no improvement by tomorrow I guess I'll have to call the vet.