I know beyond a doubt that psyllium has helped remove sand from the
gut. I used to have an old Sheltand pony who would sand colic
regularly. The first sign of a problem was soft, runny, heavy manure,
and if I gave psyllium right away I could avoid a colic. If I found the
pony already not eating his hay I would make him a mash with a cup or more of
psyllium mixed with bran or sweet feed (to make it taste good, bran does
nothing for sand) and lots of water. If he was too sick to be tempted to
eat that, I would mix the psyllium with water and syringe it into his
mouth. Within 2-5 hours (as I remember) he would poop and it would
be loaded with sand. The ground is pure sand where I live near
Ridgecrest, CA, and the vet recommends psyllium. She said this old
pony probably had a damaged gut from sand, with stretched out pockets that
would collect the sand easily. I use! generic metamucil because it's
cheaper and handy to buy. This happened so many times I'm convinced it
worked.
I'm not so sure if it has an effect on intestinal stones, but
after I bought my POA , Rosie, I gave her metamucil and she passed many
1-2 inch stones. She was on straight alfalfa before I got her, and after
switching to grass hay I haven't seen another stone.
I used to have the horses on the "once a month for 5 days" regime, but
haven't done it for a long time. After reading these posts I think I'll
do it again. After metamucil is mixed with water it gets kind of sticky
and gelatinous, and I guess the sand gets suspended in it.
Linda