Twisted something?

Question

My friend had a horse that had twisted something in his stomach. He had been rolling around alot, sweating heavily and barely eating.

We took him to my vet, who couldn't do anything. By the time we were getting ready to leave to take him to the Equine Clinic in another town he couldn't even load up or stand shortly after. Sadly, our vet had to put him down.

It's been about a year now. Someone was telling me about their horse doing something similar today, but I can't remember what it's called. What did my friend's horse twist in there?

Answer 1

Colic in horses is defined as abdominal pain, but it is a clinical sign or a symptom rather than a diagnosis. The term colic can encompass all forms of gastrointestinal conditions which cause pain as well as other causes of abdominal pain not involving the gastrointestinal tract. The most common forms of colic are gastrointestinal in nature and are most often related to colonic disturbance. There are a variety of different causes of colic, some of which require surgical intervention and can prove fatal. Colic surgery is usually an expensive procedure as it is major abdominal surgery. Among domesticated horses, colic is a major cause of premature death. The incidence of colic in the general horse population has been estimated between 10 and 11 percent on an annual basis. It is important that any person who owns or works with horses be able to recognize the symptoms of colic and determine whether or not a veterinarian should be called.

There are many types of colic...

Pelvic flexure impaction

Spasmodic colic

Ileal impaction

Sand impaction

Gastric ulceration

Mesenteric rent entrapment

Strangulating lipoma

Epiploic foramen entrapment

Intussusception

Torsion

Left and Right dorsal displacement

Cyathostomes

Tapeworms

Large roundworms

Enterolith

Other causes that may show clinical symptoms of colic

Strictly speaking colic refers only to signs originating from the gastrointestinal tract of the horse. Signs of colic may be caused by problems other than the GI-tract e.g. problems in the kidneys, ovaries, spleen, testicular torsion, pleuritis, or pleuropneumonia. Diseases which sometimes cause symptoms which appear similar to colic include laminitis and exertional rhabdomyolysis.

Symptoms of horse colic include refusal to eat, niping at their own sides, kicking at their abdomen, stretching or straining during defecation, violent rolling or shaking, excessive perspiration, lip curling, cool extremities, fewer bowel movements or a high pulse rate.

Colic can be prevented by restricted access to carbohydrates, clean feed and drinking water, preventing the ingestion of dirt or sand by using an elevated feeding surface, a regular feeding schedule, regular deworming, a regular diet that does not change substantial in content or proportion and prevention of heatstroke.

I know this is way more than you were asking for but im making sure everyone is informed about this.I have seen WAY too many horses die because their owners were uneducated.

Answer 2

Colic.  A horse's intestines get twisted.

Answer 3

the sickness that horse had was most likely called a collic those are the symptoms :(

Answer 4

It's colic, a twisted gut. Tell your friend if it happens again to immediately take away food, offer it water and walk the horse until the vet arrives. Possibly surgery. Horses can't throw up so they colic. In a case like this usually the horse must undergo surgery be sure to pass this on I've had this happen to me :(

Answer 5

It is called Colic. It isnt always fatal but it def can be.

Answer 6

sounds like  colic so their small intestines.... tell them not to let the horse eat keep it walking around and call the vet immediately if it eats it will make it worse keep it walking so the undigested food can possibly work its way through... horses can throw-up like people and most mammals so they colllic best wishes!=] =[

Answer 7

it would be a twisted gut, due to collic.

Answer 8

it was colic he prob twisted the large or small intestines. If this ever happens again try not to let him roll but this can be very hard they are very big animals. you should keep a tube of banimne in case this ever happens again

Answer 9

sounds like bad case of colic

Answer 10

A twisted gut = Colic

     When a horse gets colic most of the time the horse needs to be put down. A horse can get colic by eating to much rich food ( alfalfa, grain ) at one time or drinking lots of water right after a long tiring work out. Thankfully none of my horses have ever gotten colic. I'm really sorry about your friends horse, to bad the vet couldn't have saved him. I hope you never have to experience it. I hope I've helped. Good Luck!

Answer 11

sounds like colic, and it would proberbly a twisted gut - almost allways fatal

Answer 12

Colic.  Food gets impacted in the intestines and depending on how bad it is it can be quite mild or, like yours, they can twist their intestines and die from it.  It can happen when they switch types of feeds suddenly, when they eat too much, by ingesting sand or dirt, or by parisites living in the horses intestine.  Walking them around can help mild cases, as ot can loosen the impaction in the intestine.  Pumping mineral oil or large amounts of water into their stomach is usually what the vet does for mild-moderate cases.  The only treatment that can help after a horse twists their intestines is surgery, and sometimes that can't even help.  The most important thing is not to let th horse roll when he shows signs of colic, as rolling can easily twist the horses intestines.  Symptoms include not eating, nipping at their belly, sweating, high pulse rate, not passing manure as often or not at all, or not being able to pass manure.  We had a horse who got into a large wagon of grain, then twisted his intestines and was almost dead before we found him.  The vet could not do anything.

Answer 13

Colic is a general term that refers to abdominal pain...it is a term that describes a symptom.  The diagnosis is the name of the underlying cause of the colic...for example, renal colic is abdominal pain caused by kidney stones being passed...the diagnosis would be nephrolithiasis, or kidney stones.

The twisted gut that caused the colic may have been a volvulus, which is the twisting of a portion of bowel onto itself.  It could be intussception which is a telescoping of one portion of intestine into another...usually the small instestine into the large intestine.  It could also be something that resulted from an anatomic abnormality in the particular horse.

Without surgery, or necropsy, the actual cause is an educated guess.