Colic again - any ideas?

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noodle_

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3rd time in 6 weeks....

spasmodic....

i personally think her grazing is to blame/the weather etc - ive restricted her from 7 hours a day to 3-4(max). But she still got it.

Scariest part is her signs are very subtle... twitchy lips it starts with.... then shuffling back feet - the 2nd time she went down... (didnt roll - didnt flank watch etc).... 1st and today - no going down just lip and leg shuffle.....

Im going to ask my YO tomorow very nicely for a sick paddock (literally no grass)... not sure if its possible but im not willing to restrict her grazing further in case of gorging (vet reccomends build her up but that i did and she got colic the first 2 times because.....!)

Any ideas??? I did ask about ulcers about scoping... but im clueless and rather all out of ideas except it can only be the grass.... shes a good do-er gets a handful of feed (chaff), double netted haynets, restricted grazing and exercised upto 5x a week....

Any advice/ideas??? what i can do to manage her (better?)
 
I don't actually know what may help but restricting her grass may and i would consider having some tests done in case there is another reason for it. My sister's horse has just been like that this evening too. He has done it a few times and I think it is due to the good grass and him getting gassy. He was doing the lip curl and looking generally rather uncomfortable although unlieke the first time he didn't seem to be wanting to roll/lie down. We brought him in for a bit, then walked him about - I was waiting for him to poo or wee or even fart which he thankfully did eventually although still looked a little unhappy but then seemed to improve so we have given him a bute to make him a little more comfortable and I think we shall look to move them all back into the paddock with less grass again as I am sure with him that is what's caused the problem.
 
thanks for the replies....

woudl it be worth sticking her on a "sick paddock" for a few weeks - with not much grass??

her current field is very grassy and huge... i cold restrict her turnout but tbh like th vet said - she may get wise and gorge the grass when shes out....

id prefer a sicky paddock for her weight anyhow - shes not overweight but little more chunky than i like them,...?
 
Having lost my pony to colic.

It turned out the intestines went through the gut wall ( every horse has a hole in their gut ) bonnies was too big. .

Dancer got colic had surgery diamond had compacted colic.

take this seriously I only had Bonnie 1 week before first colic 6 weeks later again and i lost her :(

check plants
check no one is throwing scraps of food in
check no one is feeding it other than you
is it bedding they are eating
too much grass gorging result colic buy some electric tape cordon off small area
check teeth are not sharp resulting in swallowing with out chewing proper
make sure not gorging on feed
check poisonous plants
put a muzzle on
fence off an area
call vet
are they chewing wood eating sand or dirt ( lack of minerals)
 
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Get the bloodtest done for tapeworm infestation??

I am currently trying activated charcoal (Happy Tummy) on my one that has a problem with grass and getting a really good result.
 
cptrayes said:
Get the bloodtest done for tapeworm infestation??

I am currently trying activated charcoal (Happy Tummy) on my one that has a problem with grass and getting a really good result.
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Yes get a wormcount. My youngster had recurrent colic even though regularly wormed since birth, and it was a worm infestation. Once the worms were gone so was the colic :)
 
diamond_light sorry for your loss :(

i said the same to my vet tonight - i dont want to come down to the yard when my horse has died from colic because i didnt catch it as her signs are so minimal....

she does like chewing wood.... only when she goes for a walk/inhand or ridden - she nibbles at the fence in the outdoor or indoor? minerals? she has a salt lick but hates it. - but what else can i give her??

Ive spoke to the (lovely)YO tonight who has agreed to have her in a sick paddock for a week - i know it will take longer but he dosent normally allow it so i will see how we get on with the week in there any mabey try to consider another solution....

Shes happy to go out even an hour a day... (i prefer 3).... but as long as she goes out shes ridable....so if i have to exercise her more but have her in more then so be it....

They are regularly wormed on the yard too :)




ets - my vet is blood testing her in a few days when the colic has completely settled..... BUT im wondering if to insist on a referal to scope???
 
Even if your horse is regularly wormed she may have a worm burden so get a blood test done and also a worm count just in case.
Restricted grazing may also help. Ensure that all feed is well dampened and any hay well soaked in fresh water for one hour.
May be worthwhile getting your vet to refer to an equine hospital for further investigations.
 
^thanks. My vet will refer us if she goes down with colic again.... but me and my friend were discussing it before and we both concluded she goes down with colic at ttea time (wich didnt click when the vet was out....) which is a sign of ulcers?

Im not sure.... i jus tknow i dont want to go down to an ill horse once a week.....!
 
This could be a sign cushing's disease. my mare uesd to have colic once aweek for 2 months!!
Turned out she has cushing's disease and also her stomach acid was attacking her stomach lining!! At some points it was that bad her stomach lining was pasted in her poo!!
We put her on Protexin prebiotic and she never had colic again but sadly she died due to a massive heartattack she was 35!!

Would not hurt to have his/her blood checked!!

Could be barking up the wrong tree but only trying to help!!
 
brightmount said:
I highly recommend Coligone, it's really worth a try, it has helped my horse no end:

http://www.ekmpowershop2.com/ekmps/shops/hbradshaws/coligone-powder-3kg-3-p.asp
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This! I use the powder as a day to day supplement and then when he starts a bout I use the liquid. My lad gets gaseous colic and he usually takes a few days to recover, with the liquid he takes a couple of hours! He is also less grumpy with it and I will never take him off it. I really can't recommend it too much, it has made such a difference to my lad.
FDC
 
I would certainly not allow her access to ad lib green lush type grass. It is most likely to be colic due to fermentation in the gut, and if there are other problems like worm damage or a history of colic, then this would make her more susceptible than most horses.
Is she able to chew well, if she is gobbling without mastication due to teeth issues then this could make things worse.
The green lush spring and autumn grass contains less fibre and more sugars than at other times of the year, which can also lead to laminitis, so I would go adjust the diet to one low in sugars and high in fibre.
The yard owner is providing a service for which you are paying, and if they are unable or unwilling to find more suitable grazing, I think you should look around for somewhere else.
it would be sad if she had to be kept in isolation but there may be someone else in the same boat, and you could share a corner of a grass field which is well grazed. You can put out a bit of soaked hay to make sure she is trickle feeding not "bingeing"
In the meantime would it be possible to have her in at night with pretty much ad lib soaked hay (soaked to remove sugars)
In the spring when I am introducing the growing grasses, I feed my boy on Dengie molasses free HI FI to "line the stomach" before he goes out, it is an expensive chaff, but is palatable and has some alfalfa as well as oat straw in it.
Hi-Fi Molasses Free is a low calorie, high fibre feed that provides 8.5MJ/kg DE
Hi-Fi Molasses Free is suitable for horses and ponies that require a low sugar and starch ration such as those prone to laminitis that maintain weight with ease.
I went to a First aid meeting and we were all advised to learn to take the pulse if we were having problems with chronic colic, I have a stethoscope, but can't seem to hear anything, nowadays there are heart rate monitors available which might suit the purpose. The idea is that you can ring the vet with the information and he can asses whether it is urgent or not, apparently some horses colic every few days, which must be a nightmare.
 
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Personally I would go for a daily routine, hack out quietly every day for 40 mins and treat the horse with extra care, not that I am suggesting you don't do this, but we had 100's of horses fed on a racehorse diet, which is based on concentrates, yet never had a colic, I put this down to the routine, also they did get a fibre chaff mixed in with ther oats etcetera, we did not feed pelleted concentrates (nuts) as the manufacturer may change the recipe from time to time, and we wanted complete control of the diet.
 
Thanks all - all suggestions welcome :)

Im not putting her out in the field she was on - its a hue field and a lot of grass considering its never rested...!

Ive asked the YO for a smaller field bit (sick paddock).... but its only short term then shes back on the big field which will do her no good - so i agree im going to have to look round unleess she can go onto a 'no grass' field permanently as ijust cannot afford my horse to be ill with colic....

ets - she gets ridden 4/5ish times as a week on average.... normally schooling as she isnt safe hacking on roads and the fields are being cut... (few more weeks and i will be hacking her too...)... shes always had this routine though and the colic started 6 weeks ago.....

shes fed a handful (literally) of chaff at tea and a handful of redigrass in the morning....nothing else.
 
My old boy gets this. He had loads of scans done at Rossdales and with him its due to his age (32 now) and his gut not functioning properly, but it is always triggered when he gets dehydrated. When the grass comes through and its all lovely and sweet, he doesnt feel thirsty, doesnt drink and bang...I usually leave him in for a day with dry hay, he then gets thirsty and drinks - goes away. Its all very strange:)
I also use Dengie Natural Vitality (pre/pro biotic) which seems to keep things settled
 
Get your hands on Rite-Trac by Kentucy Equine Research. You will only need the one bucket but it will settle the PH levels in the hind gut and balance everything out again. I lost my mare to colic and I wish I had known about this product then, as she was prone to it.

www.bluegrasshorsefeed.com

Bluegrass also have two feeds especially for horses prone to colic & ulcers called Releve & resolve. Both excellent products one is a cube and the other is a mix.
 
I would put her in the starve paddock and feed her soaked hay and a bit of hifi lite with bitoics. It sounds as if the grass is too rich for her and she will need fibre to slow the passage through the gut. I wouldn't feed the readigrass type stuff as that is spring grass also.
My late mare always got colic in the spring and autumn when the flush of grass came through. Sadly she died from it :(. When they operated on her they found old adhesions and old damage from previous colics in her gut, years old. They also found pock marks from worms. Basically she had not been wormed as a youngster (I think the first time she was wormed was when I got her as a 5yr old!) and even though I had her with a 0 worm count the damage had been done :(, the old damage had weaked her digestive system so it couldnt cope with the rich grass. The vet said he was surprised she had lasted as long as she did bless her heart.
Worms are awful. I would make sure she is wormed also and try to find out from her old owners if she was regularly wormed.
 
thanks.

I know when her old owner gother (this time last year - backed her and sold her to me) she was full of worms...... so wormed her and then sold

Im loathe to ever put her back on lush grass tbh.... so i will ring my vet tomorow (or today if needed)...and talk to him about geting my horse a sick note for the YO - i know she needs a sick/no grass permanently

i desparately dont want to move as the YO is lovely... and the yard is ideal - so if i can find a way round it then i will.
 
nother thought does she have a mineral block???

what i do with all mine i buy the brick type mineral block and put it in her manger they have to move it about when food goes on top thus some minerals come off with the food and they have to lick the mineral to get food off also boredom breaker :)
 
I think getting her off the grass permanently is a very good idea.
My horse always used to look her best in the winter when there was no grass and she was being fed adlib hay. In the summer she would get a pot belly look. She was always very messy in her stable also, so much poo!
Alfa wasn't good for her either, like the grass I think it was too easily digestible for her, molasses to were not good.
The mineral lick sounds a good idea, she will need that.
Good luck, hopefully she will get better once all she's eating is lots of hay. Hopefully she hasn't got what my mare had but even so it's horrible when they keep colicing :(.
 
noodle_ said:
Thanks all - all suggestions welcome :)

Im not putting her out in the field she was on - its a hue field and a lot of grass considering its never rested...!

shes fed a handful (literally) of chaff at tea and a handful of redigrass in the morning....nothing else.
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I would avoid Redigrass, i'm not sure why you are feeding it as you want to cut out grass, also I would feed plenty of Hi fibre low sugar and NO molasses chaff with low alfalfa content, this would fill her with a feed which will not cause colic, also while in the starve paddock make lots of little piles of soaked stalky hay available. so she has to work for it, keeping her outside will allow her to move about and this in itself will help the digestive processes work.
Make sure she is getting a mineral and vitamin balanced feed like Fast Fibre which is recommended for laimitics and natives, as it is low sugar no cereal and no mollasses.
Have you asked about fencing off a corner of the field where she can be observed easily and be kept on bare grass. you can offer to poo pick if YO feels it is too much work.
 
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I have one who has spasmodic colic quite often - I've never really found the cause.
I restrict her grazing, give her fibre (haylage, alfalfa, HiFi etc) and Probiotics.
Recently it's been suggested to me that it might be ovarian pain when she comes into/goes out of season - which might tally if your is colicking at around her season times?
S :D
 
sorry just noticed replies!!

well had her on restricted grazing (vets done bloods).... and the little git jumped the 3.5 foot fencing (least we know she can jump!!!) :o so she was banned from going out there (she als got 2 good kicks on her backside from being in with the geldings.... dirty sod lol)

so since then we have moved yards anyhow. - she hasnt been out yet but will be tomorow.... so will see what happens...

she seems in herself happier/less crabby... much more settled... ulcers and ovaries have been mentioned a couple of times now.... so see what comes back with the vets today/tomorow and go from there :)

new yards much nicer - more convenient and better turnout :)
 
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