Experienced Horsepeople: colic help!!!?

Question

A few minutes after I arrived at the barn this morning, a friend's horse began to colic. He had eaten and pooped. Then, he started trying to go down, nostrils flared, hot, stomach distended. The barn owner and two if us began to walk him and had a whip on him to keep him from going down, which took a group effort. The vet was called and the owner. In the meantime, I had some Banamine and we dosed him and kept walking. After about 10-15 minutes, he pooped. The p**p wasn't the best, but it wasn't THAT dry. Still, it was well formed and somewhat moist. A moment after he pooped, he seemed to have some kind of abdominal contraction and we had a heck of a time keeping him up, but we did.

The vet arrived after about an hour. He took his p**p and put it in the sleeve they use for palpation, mashed it up, added water, and examined it. Didn't see any sand. Then he sedated and palpated the horse, pulling out a bit more p**p. Again p**p a bit dry but good color and somewhat moist.

Answer 1

Sounds like dehydration and moldy food.

Answer 2

It sounds like it's a twisted gut or som form of colic. There isnt much you can do but just make sure you have the following

Check the average grains he eats usually then check how much grain he was feed and also check the grain itself for mould ect. If he gets any hay check that it isnt mouldy (if its got a weird smell to it it's mouldy) CHeck what other horses have eaten as well.

All you can do is sit and wait;

Make sure the horse keepps standing

Put a sweat rug on the horse

Make sure water is close by for it

If he keeps lying down make him walk

My horse had colic but nothing as bad as this though.

Goodluck and all - Praying for the horse

Answer 3

Have they tried the drug that shrinks the spleen..I have to look up the name.  Long story short...a major colic and suggest surgery with one of mine...tried everything else...chose the drug rather than surgery...it worked and horse recovered rapidly...next colic, gave drug at home and recovered before hours of tubes and painful heroics.  I'll look up my records to find the drug name...it is worth the try...can't hurt and might help.

I can't find it in my miles of records.  We went through hours of misery with our horse as they did everything, then suggested surgery before ever bringing up this drug.  Ask about it before agreeing to surgery...our guy hasn't colicked in 3 years since...but almost died that night.

Phenylephrine...yes, that is the name of the drug.

Answer 4

I would run some blood work.  Sometimes an imbalance can cause severe gut craps that appear to be colic.  Everything else will seem normal.  Eye color, gum refill -- ect..

I would check his water bucket, corners of his stall.  We have stripped a stall thoroughly, just to eliminate that as a possibility.

The other possibility is an abscess of the lining between the outer skin and internal organs.  This can cause a (slow moving) poisoning that can also appear to be colic. --- had a horse at a farm I worked at die of this.  He was under the care of many knowledgeable Vets, which included his owner.  They only discovered the real cause after the horse died.  It tore Doc up real bad, he felt he should of caught it.  It was his favorite horse.

HOPE this helps

Answer 5

im not sure if this is the same situation but my friend had a horse that died do to some kinds of masses in his intestines...he kept going down and they took him to virginia tech but it was a little to late and they didn't think he would make it through the anesthesia so they put him down....idk if this is as serious but it sounds similiar is there a college or an animal hospital you could get the horse to soon ..if so i would!

Answer 6

Sounds more like a gas colic to me.

Sounds like you did all the right things; I'd have tried really hard to get the vet out sooner, by panicing if necessary!  But sometimes they just can't get to my emergencies as fast as I would like.

Doesn't sound like moldy food, or the stomach wouldn't smell okay.  

The vet generally palpates to check for twists, lipomas, and that kind of problem, but he can't reach in far enough to find most things.  That's why they give them the mineral oil, just in case.  If there's a slight twist or an entrapment (that's where part of the bowel gets looped behind the spleen), that may get the contents of the gut through and help it untwist or shift.

The fact that the horse was in pain again as soon as the drugs wore off is a bad sign.  The vet should be called again immediately.  If not sooner.

Check his signs.  Gum color - white or blue, get the vet immediately.  Check his capillary refill time by holding a finger against his gum for like 15 seconds, then removing it and counting the seconds  until the white spot turns pink again (shouldbe about 3).  Count his breaths per minute - should be like 8-10; if it's more that's pain.  Check his pulse - too fast, it's pain.  Press your ear to his barrel and check for gut sounds - the fewer there are, the worse it is.  If they're real loud and frequent, it's more likely a gas colic.  Check both sides, and if you can note how frequently they occur so you can tell the vet.  All these details will give the vet a good idea how fast to come, and a better basis to tell you what to do..

If he doesn't improve, you'll have to be prepared.  Surgery is usually an option, but not always.  It's expensive, and there are no guarantees.

I had a small pony colic once; he was not a candidate for surgery but they put him on "hydrotherapy" or some such - basically gave him IV fluids for two days.  The excess water (he wasn't dehydrated, but it moves things along) made his bowels soupier, so stuff moved through freely.  That was at least 5 years ago; I still have him.  He's never coliced again, and we don't know why he did then!  They said he had a slight twist.

I've had horses colic many times for many reasons, none of them due to bad care or bad feed.  Sometimes it just happens.  I lost a horse to colic two years ago.  It hurts.

Best of luck with this one.

Answer 7

Well from what you've written, it seems like you've done all that you can do.

I can only think of surgery (as Rosi M said).

My best advice would be to keep on doing what you're doing (make sure he's standing up and pooping, etc.) and wait for the vet.

I hope that your friend's horse gets better soon.

Answer 8

I have been told by veterinarians that it is okay for a horse to lay down if they are quiet. It gives them a chance to rest and not stress.  Forcing them to keep moving if they don't want to stresses them and could cause more problems.  Also, when you give Banamine before a veterinarian arrives it masks the pain so the vet will have a harder time diagnosing the problem. When this problem is resolved maybe a good probiotic will help. They help the intestine stay healthy.

Answer 9

By now if it was a twisted gut then the horse would be in EXTREME pain and going through pain medications like crazy. Additionally by now he'd be bloated and the vet would probably be able to feel the bloated area.  If the horse is doing better it was or is probably a partial impaction or gas.  

It's pretty likely that the horse did get a little dehydrated at one point and caused a mild impaction but hasn't passed that impaction.

However some horses just get massive amounts of gas that they can't pass on their own.

Having worked with a lot of colicing horses, if the horse is up, relatively relaxed and not needing alot of pain meds, then it's not a complete impaction or twisted gut.

Answer 10

If not sand or impaction, could be enteroliths.   The word you were thinking of, Rosi, is psyllium.  Trade name "Sand Clear".

Answer 11

It sounds like they are doing everything recommended at this point. I have to say one thing tho-- I don't think whipping a horse when it is already in distress is a good thing to do. I have always heard if the horse goes down and will lay quietly and not roll , it may just be exhausted and needs to relax. I had a horse lay down in the middle of the street when we were on an island waiting for our boat to arrive to get him to a hospital. We had been walking him for hours. He just laid down and laid very quietly and I sat down right there with him while my husband kept people away . After about 15 mins he sat up and we gently encouraged him to get ;back up and he did.

It was a very long trip back to the mainland and then a four hour trip to the hospital . We were lucky , the surgical team was ready and we watched every second of his operation.

He came through with flying colors with a total impaction due to a plastic grocery bag. Someone must have left a bag with apples or carrots in it within his reach at the stables we kept him at for the long week-end we planned. He ate the whole thing - bag and all.

I had it bronzed.

Answer 12

Sounds like you've done all you can do and outside of surgery, that's about all that can be done.  Did the vet suggest surgery?

In the future, you may suggest to the owner that she feed some sort of silleum (sp?).  I had a mare in training in the 1980's who had undergone colic surgery for sand and the vet had me give her a 1/2 of a 3 LB coffee can of red flakey wheat bran with her "Sterilax" twice a week in mash form.  I also added 1/2 a cup of corn oil and 1/2 a cup of apple cider vinegar to the mash and the whole time she was under my care (8 yrs) she never had a reoccurance.

Answer 13

it sounds like he/she has sand colic, if i were u i would put him/her on probias and sand clear or sand blaster the stuff works wonders. i hope this helped:)