>Will dry fat products cause loose
stools? I had decreased the oil from 2 cups >to 1 cup because of this
problem... If not, I will definitely add some Fat Pak to >her
ration. Will also try more BP at night and see how that
goes.
Fat is still fat (it's just an animal-source
saturated fat instead of unsaturated vegetable source, which is not an issue)
and if you're getting loose stools frorm one, you might from the other as
well. Try splitting the "doses" of fat into smaller amounts, ie, half a
cup twice a day rather than one cup once a day.
>So my original question is still not really
answered and I am very curious. >Does anyone know if antibiotics
screw up gut flora enough that food doesn't >get properly digested in
the internal fermentation vat?
Well, some do, others don't. Sorry, I know
you're looking for a more specific answer than that. Baytril is
effective against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, and since
some of the bugs in the gut are in those families (along with protozoa and
yeasts and all kinds of other little creepies), if you're dosing the horse
with oral Baytril, then there's a reasonable chance that the hindgut
population is being affected to one extent or another. That doesn't mean
the population has been totally destroyed and that no hindgut fermentation is
going on whatsoever, it just means you're not really getting optimum fiber
digestion right now.
Sorry about the ambiguous phrases here, but this
is starting to creep out of the areas of nutrition and more into pharmacology,
and I figure the best way to make sure I graduate vet school is to not pretend
I'm a DVM until I hold the license in my clammy little hands.
:-))))
> If this is the case, it might not
matter too much what I feed her until I stop >feeding her
antibiotics.
Well, it still matters, because not all food is
going to be digested in the cecum. A good portion of it will still be
broken down and absorbed in the small intestine before it ever gets to the
cecum. And again, there is still hindgut digestion going on, just
probably inhibited to one extent or another.
So maybe Dr. Ralston can jump in here, because
clinical nutrition is *really* her forte---but my guess would be to keep
feeding good quality hay because regardless of how much is being thoroughly
digested or not, you still need it to maintain gut motility. And keep up
with the easily digested feeds, such as the Equine Senior, beet pulp and oil,
because (depending on the feed) quite a bit of that nutrition is going to be
absorbed in the small intestine before it gets back to the hindgut. If
she doesn't get silly about it, a little grain would go along with that as
well, but because the microbe population is less-than-sterling, I'd keep the
amounts small (maybe a pound a few times a day), so you don't get "overflow"
washing back into the cecum. Better safe than sorry.
How much good the probiotics are doing right
now---well, who knows for sure, but they're not doing any harm and a little
extra fussing right now wouldn't go amiss. They'll come in handy once
she's off the Baytril.
I know she probably looks really thin and rotten
right now, but if she's bouncing around and feeling perky, I wouldn't get too
concerned---once she's off the antibiotics, she'll start to pick up again and
be just fine. :-)))
Good luck. :-)
Susan G