10 days of colicing

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jenniferharland

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My horse spent two nights away at the vets for unrelated issues, and ever since has coliced every single day. Despite showing colic symptoms, the horse is not impacted.

On the first three days I just noticed his bed was a mess suggesting he had been box walking over night but seemed fine in himself.

However on the 4th day (Tuesday) I noticed him acting odd - staring and kicking at his tummy, swishing his tail, box walking and trying to roll. Vet was called out where painkillers and buscapan was administered. All hay was taken away until 24hours later where he seemed to have brightened up.

Next day the colicing symptoms resumed but not as severe. Each day after this a 10 minute walk around the school has seemed to settle him, and he has been eating, drinking and pooping as usual. Yesterday the vet was called again after finding the horse cast and being at our whit's end, but was totally back to normal by the time vet arrived 30 minutes later.

Day ten and I'm again walking horse around the school. He has had acid reflux in the past and displayed similar, frequent symptoms, so has been prescribed gaviscon for the meantime as cannot be observed at the surgery until the end of the week.

Although I know colic is very serious, on the days a vet was not called symptoms subsided in the space of 10-30 minutes.
Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience to mine? I'm losing the will to live and I can see my poor horse is uncomfortable.
 
Have they given you pepizole or gastrogard for him ?
That's worth a try the stress of being at the vets might have triggered a flare up of nasty ulcers .
My horse does something very similar it appears the poor lad may have a tumour
 
No I haven't been given anything other than Gaviscon. They mentioned giving antepsin yesterday but haven't got back to me like they said they would. Have just rang vets and had him booked in to be scoped tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about your boy, it's terrible seeing them so uncomfortable - you feel so helpless. Fingers crossed they get to the bottom of your problem.
 
It could be just the stress of staying at the vet one of my horses comes back from the vet in a bit of a state and it does affect his stomach he ends up with very loose droppings once his back, it could just be the whole thing has really upset him I hope you get some answers tomorrow going through colic symptoms everyday is not nice:(
 
I definitely think the vet stay has set it off - too much of a coincidence! The poops are formed and he is such a chilled horse so to see him so distressed is concerning. Thanks me too, he looks so dull and tired. I'll update the post when I hear back from the vet :)
 
I had a horse impact in the cecum, so no impaction was felt on rectal and he appeared to poo normally throughout 10 days of mild colicking that no vet could put their finger on.
By the time he was taken in to be investigated, the cecum had started to overflow and he was taken to surgery.

Horses heart rate and temperature never changed throughout and he poo-ed what appeared to be a normal amount (passing over the impaction).
 
He was being nerve blocked and x-rayed to find the cause of the lameness in both front feet.

Oh dear, did your horse make a full recovery after the op? What you're describing sounds exactly the same as my horse :( He is currently at the vets overnight being checked every couple of hours but they are unsure what time tomorrow he will be examined. Hoping for it to be first thing after hearing that!
 
Goldenstar said:
Have they given you pepizole or gastrogard for him ?
That's worth a try the stress of being at the vets might have triggered a flare up of nasty ulcers .
My horse does something very similar it appears the poor lad may have a tumour
Click to expand...

Along the lines of what I was thinking.



What feed is he on?
Is he on a gut Balancer?
Has he access to sand?
eating bedding
change of diet
work hard after feeding
giving water after feed
bad food
too much food
routine change
cold water
poisonous plants
bolting down feed
sugar beet
rancid food
new hay
to much sugar
twisted gut
sand in feed
allowing horse to much water when exercising
dry food


We had a livery similar to this, we used Colikare on her as hers seem to be gassy colic but owner never went to get checked so we nmever found out, we just dealt with the episodes. Vet was called out when ness, Is there somtyhing in the pasture that could be causing it or something he has eaten (foreign body) that could be in the lining.

MY boy ate a staple when he was two (staple on the field shelter) he was eventually rushed to Newmarket and surgery as he was very close to peritonitis.


I would have a check list and speak to your vets about it and ulcers and worms at the top of the list

Have a look at the list here as there is too much info to post for colic http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/c.html


I lost my pony to this colic

Mesenteric rent entrapment*a source of small intestinal strangulation in horses*
On occasion, a small tear or rent forms in the mesentery, a thin sheet of connective tissue attached to the intestines, through which a segment of bowel can thread itself. Fluid buildup and subsequent enlargement of the bowel can trap that segment, necessitating surgery.


We lost:


My donkey to impaction colic


Al ivery in Oct to an unknown cause of colic


Please act and insist your vets find the cause of this repeated colic. You cannot go on like this or you may find yourself in a horrid situation
 
Last edited:
Goldenstar said:
Have they given you pepizole or gastrogard for him ?
That's worth a try the stress of being at the vets might have triggered a flare up of nasty ulcers .
My horse does something very similar it appears the poor lad may have a tumour
Click to expand...

OMG Golden I hope not for your sake and your boys :(
 
jenniferharland said:
He was being nerve blocked and x-rayed to find the cause of the lameness in both front feet.

Oh dear, did your horse make a full recovery after the op? What you're describing sounds exactly the same as my horse :( He is currently at the vets overnight being checked every couple of hours but they are unsure what time tomorrow he will be examined. Hoping for it to be first thing after hearing that!
Click to expand...

He survived the operation and we had four brilliant years afterwards. Unfortunately with cecum impactions, as it is a fermentation chamber and doesn't rely on muscle contractions, problems with it link to low motility of bacteria, which is very difficult to 'cure' as such. Food enters from the top, goes into the chamber and then back up out near the top again, so it can impact from the bottom up and cause mild Colic on and off for several weeks which can easily be missed.
 
Whilst he's in the clinic I'd get them to run some bloods. I've known several horses have repeated episodes due to liver issues. I'd also get some mycotoxin binder for when he comes back just in case something in the hay/field is triggering it.

Hope you find the cause soon.
 
After being scoped the vets found one small grade 1 ulcer. He has been prescribed 1 month's worth of Gastroguard and since we started the course 5 days ago all colic symptoms have subsided. If this does not solve the problem after a month bloods will be taken. I questioned whether one small ulcer would result in such a dramatic reaction but vet was convinced that this was likely to be the problem.

Tyssandi, out of all your suggestions that could've caused this flare up, change in routine after some weeks on boxrest and the vet visit seems to be the only likely cause. As this horse has coliced multiple times a year since buying him in 2012 we are very careful not to aggravate his sensitive stomach.

Do people rate Coligone? I've been using for 3 years now but not sure I'm seeing the results I'd want considering I'm paying £55 every 6 weeks or so...
 
I did use coligone but stopped when they had supply issues. For me dealing with the causes of the stress that were caused my horse to get ulcers was critical. She has severe food anxiety so needs to have something to eat at all times or at least be in a routine where she knows when food is coming - & that routine has to be stuck to.

Good to hear yours is sounding better.
 
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