Bedding Advice post surgical colic 😞

[Tigertrot]

Hi
I am beyond grateful the amazing skills of the surgeon (Richard) and team at Rossdales that saved Tigers life
We are now on box rest, Tiger is a dirty horse anyway as he's grey but now hes on soaked hay sloppy food and turning his shavings into a pulp
Any suggestions for an absorbant bed ? So I can keep him comfy and clean
Thank you

 

[Nari]

Rather than an absorbent bedding that is more likely to stick to any dampness on the incision have you considered a deep bed of something that's more free draining so any wet goes to the bottom while the top stays dry?

When mine came home after colic surgery the surgeon was perfectly happy with a deep straw bed as long as he didn't eat large amounts of it. I'd asked about getting cardboard which is what they'd used in hospital on top of mats, but her view was that straw was easy to keep clean, wet draineded to the base & it didn't stick to the incision if he chose to lay down.

I hope Tiger makes a full recovery.

 

[meleeka]

I used Aubiose when my pony had large wounds due to sarcoid removal and was on box rest. The thicker the bed is, the more the wet isn’t disturbed. It is quite expensive, but if tbe bed is thick you don’t need to top up much and for me it was worth it for the few months I used it.

 

[Tigertrot]

Thank you

We cant ever use straw as a greedy native he would just eat it
Hes always been kept on mats & shavings its just soul destroying
Skin layer of wound is clean, healed and clips removed
Imhave been using blue frog as per the hospital with wood pellets in the wee area but just not doing it & the shavings slip
I just want him to be clean and comfy
Might consider aubios thank you

 

[Nari]

Even though you've got mats I'd suggest the same as Meleeka, put down a full deep bed so that it isn't walked all round the box & the wet stays away from the surface.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Aubiose is super stuff. I have a mare that is 'too clean' in the stable and when I used wood pellets they became dusty in 3/4's of the stable as she doesn't walk any of the wetter bedding around to keep an even amount of moisture in the bedding. She is sensitive in her wind so I need to be very careful. The pellets were great for the wet patch but not the rest of the box apart from mid minter when the damper atmosphere kept the pellets dust free.

In this hot summer the pellets were just too dry despite regular watering. In July I bought Aubiose and put a new bed down with two bags of pellets in her pee spot underneath the Aubiose. I did water the Aubiose to settle it. The Aubiose has been a total success, no dust on horse, walls, rugs etc, fresh smell in stable, it does not move at all (8" depth of bed). All I do is scrape the Aubiose away from the pee spot and lift the pellet area at the weekends. The mare is in during day and out at night until this weekend, so stood on bed 10 hours ish in every 24. The bed hasn't needed topping up yet so cost wise it has cost £50 to put in 9 weeks ago plus £8 for the pellets. The top tip for Aubiose is use enough at the beginning. Yes it is more expensive than shavings but in the longer term it is cost effective if the horse isn't a box walking swamp creature.

 

[lamlyn2012]

Just a word of warning, we had one colic after eating his aubiose bed. It was a long time ago so it may have been improved since, I don't know as would never use it again.
We use cardboard and find it very absorbent and easy to keep a nice clean bed. Doesn't stick in tails, rugs or wounds.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Megazorb is really good for wet horses, but I would make it really thick and deep, I think as long as the bed is deep enough the wet won't come to the top, I think people make the mistake of just not laying enough down to prevent this, or you could stick with shavings and put wood pellets on the bottom it will soak up more wet.

 

[Tigertrot]

Thank you!
I have switched to smaller shavings with megazorb under on the wee patch
Blue frog just too slippy and not absorbant enough