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Symptoms on the Horse Body – What Diarrhoea, Urine, Lymph Nodes and the Skin Tell You.

Everything About Symptoms on the Horse Body II

Chart on Symptoms on the Horse Body

How often do you wish horses could talk to you? Well, you know they can’t, but nevertheless your horse will give you signs when something is wrong.

Here is an overview of common symptoms and what they can mean:

Symptoms: General Lymph Nodes, High appetite: PPID, EMS, Malnutrition Low Apptite: Detal Issues, Stress High Thist: Kidney failure, PPID, Disease Low Thirst: Stress, Diarrhea, Diseases Urine: Dark Yellow urine, Dehydration, exessive sweating bloody urine: urinary tract infection, trauma, renal stones, growths foamy urine: lare amount of mucus dark urine: tying-up, dehydration, kidney issues droppings: Dry & Hard: dehydratin, bad-quality forage Diarrhea: colic poisoning, infection Worms: parasitic infection constipation: stress, malnutrition, infection Capillary Refill prolonged (longer than 2 sec.): heart problems, low circulation, dehydration Hydration: Skin flattens slowly (afer 2-4 sec.) or not at all: dehydration

Lymph Nodes

To check the condition of the lymph nodes, gently press on the areas around the head marked in the diagram above. You should be able to feel them well here.

If the lymph nodes are swollen, this can have various causes. Most often it is a viral or bacterial infection, more rarely it is caused by cancer.

Appetite and Thirst

Appetite and thirst also say a lot about your horse’s well-being.

If your horse has little appetite, dental problems or stress are often the culprits. Excessive appetite can indicate malnutrition, EMS or PPID.

If your horse drinks a lot, this can also be a symptom of PPID, but also kidney failure.

Stress, diarrhoea or other illnesses often manifest themselves in low thirst.

Urine and Droppings

Your horse’s urine and droppings often give you clues about the health of your horse.

If the urine is dark yellow, it may be caused by dehydration or profuse sweating. Bloody urine is often caused by urinary tract infections, trauma, kidney stones or growths. Large amounts of mucus in the urine often make it foam.

Dark urine can be a sign of kidney failure, dehydration or cross-contamination.

 

When checking the condition of your horse’s droppings, look for dry, hard, diarrhoea or constipation. You can also recognise a parasite infestation by worms in the droppings.

Capillary Refill Time

If the capillary refill time is longer than two seconds, it may be a symptom of heart problems, poor circulation or dehydration.

The Skinfold Test

The skin fold test is an easy way to check your horse for possible dehydration. Gently pinch your horse’s skin between thumb and forefinger. If the skin flattens only slowly (after two to four seconds) or not at all, this indicates dehydration!

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