Thick Horse Urine

[Jack16]

Today I rode my 13 year old TB gelding. Afterward he peed in his stall. I never see him pee but I figured he was just a private guy as he drinks well and has never acted like anything is wrong. Anyway, I went to clean it up and it was dark and syrupy. Is there something wrong? I'm crazy so I took his temp and heart rate and checked over his gums and he was fine. I just want to know if this is normal. I'm a little worried now.

[Gry2Yng]

Not to alarm you, but yes. There is probably something wrong. I am guessing you are posting late on a holiday because you are concerned. Usually dark urine is a sign of dehydration or a word I am searching for but cannot come up with - I think tying up will also present with this symptom. Check capillary refill and skin pinch test, these will give you some indication of whether you have a dehydration issue.

I have a horse who dehydrates easily and I make a point of watching him urinate to monitor color. I believe, but it is late and I am about to go to bed and half in turkey coma, that dark urine is from a high concentration of protein, so less fluid would concentrate normal protein or ketoacedosis (that is human not sure if it is equine) would cause extra protein in urine.

Would call vet in am for sure. Can't say whether I would call tonight, not being there.

[TrueColours]

There have been a few threads on this already

I had the same concern with one of my mares awhile back and emailed a friend whose Dad is a vet to see what her thoughts were:

Was in my mare's stall today picking it out when she peed. This was the weirdest pee I have EVER seen - it was a yellowy-orange colour (like the colour of the inside of a Cadbury's Creme Egg), thick like a milkshake and totally thick and opaque - more like pus than urine ...

At first I immediately thought of a vaginal infection, but nope - it was pee and not vaginal discharge at all ...
And it started dribbling down the inside of her bum cheeks and left yellowish streaks down her bay coat and then dried and crystallized like if you had salty water that dried on your skin and left a residue

Phoned the vet and he suggested starting her on liquid Sulfatrim (TMS) in case it was a urinary infection, which I had on hand, so gave her 30 cc's of that and then went back into the stall with a sterile container, whistling like mad to try and get her to pee again ...

Her manure is fine - normal to bordering on soft - so she doesnt appear to be deydrated at all. Skin *pinch* test come back normal - so again - indication that she is properly hydrated.

There is no odour to it at all. You know how if a horse IS dehydrated and their urine is a deep yellowish brown colour, it is has a very strong ammonia smell - that is not the case here at all

So - I DO end up getting a sample after I whistle for awhile and this time it is still thick, still very opaque, but more of a deep deep yellow colour instead of that orangey yellow tinge ...

Drive it like mad over to the vet so they can spin and test it and in the 10 minutes it takes me to get there, chalky sediment has settled on the bottom half of the container - almost like if you had dissolved chalk in a yellowish liquid and then let it settle for awhile???

The vet spun and tested the liquid. Negative for everything - blood in the urine, white blood cell count, anything/everything they could test for, so they then tested the sediment and found the same thing - negative right across the spectrum of all tests.

So - she is not harboring a urinary tract infection that we can tell, she is bright, eating normally and acting totally normal. She has never been a huge water drinker, but she goes through 2-3 buckets in her stall and however much she drinks outside with the other mare and her foal from the water trough during the day ... Its filled up every 2nd day so SOMEONE is drinking it!

Nothing has changed - not her feed components, the water, the hay, nothing.

The vet recommended adding a tablespoon of salt to her meals twice per day which we are going to try but she is such a picky eater anyhow, the salt might be enough to back her off eating totally ... to try and increase her water consumption but I keep thinking if she wasnt getting enough water, we'd see it in the way of hard-as-golf-balls manure and in her skin test as well, which we are not

Plus I bought some tube electrolytes and gave her a 25ML dose of that tonight as well ...

Do you have the FOGGIEST of ideas what this might be and/or have you come across anything like this before?



Her recommendation was:

If I were you, I would run a BUN and a CREA to check the kidneys, plus a CBC and a TP to ensure she is not dehydrated, and if all that comes back normal, I would just forget all about it. I have seen all kinds of urine come out of horses, from creamsicle to cranberry juice, to antifreeze color! All with no abnormalities found. Just my very personal opinion, but I think it has to do with what plants they eat sometimes. You know how some people if they eat Asparagus it makes their urine smell funny, and other people it either doesnt smell, or they cant smell it? I think if some horses eat certain weeds or plants, either grazing or in the hay, it makes some horses have funky urine some of the time. Good Answer, huh?

As far as the sediment, again that comes from diet in my opinion. If she is on the same diet she has always been on, then it is nothing to worry about. If her kidney values come back normal, then the sediment is not blocking anything up so you are safe there.

I hope this helps - draw some blood and get those tests run, if anything comes back abnormal let me know, otherwise I would not worry about it.



All of those tests had been run at the vet - the BUN and CREA and CBC and TP - all were in normal ranges

So - if his urine was bordering on brown - I'd be worried but all of the other colour choices seem to be within "normal" ranges!

Good luck - let us know how he makes out ... :)

[idtogo]

It can be normal. My 22 year old thbd has had thick, syrupy urine since I have owned him (11 years....). Initially worked up with blood and u/a but all fine and it's just the way he is....


If you are worried, have him looked at but it may be fine

[Jack16]

I called my vet and he said it's completely normal as long as there was no other symptoms which there isn't. He is getting up in age so I worry! Thank you.

[Gry2Yng]

Glad to hear it. :)

[MistyBlue]

Good to hear...had a similar experience with my mare when I first got her. She urinated slightly syrupy but day glo neon bright orange. Not "blood in the urine" orange. We're talking brighter than blaze hunting orange. :eek:
I kept thinking, "Nah, I just didn't see that color come out of my horse, did I?" :confused:
All her stats were fine, called vet and left message. Got call back a couple hours later, she had peed again and the color was still bright orange but not as neon as it was and a little thinner. Vet also said some horses just urinate weird colors on and off and try to get a sample, which I already had and brought it right over. It also tested negative for everything.
Come to find out over a couple years of watching her pee and remembering what she'd been eating...some second cut hay coming off one certain field from my hay farmer friend caused the sometimes wacky color urine. Must have been something growing there that was non-toxic but just turned her urine funky 80's pop band colors. :winkgrin: <--It was even brighter orange than this color.