Colic again n again n again

[jules9671]

i have previous posts but will start a fresh here,my horse has had colic for nearly 3 months now, spasmodic, possibly 4 times per week, blood tests came back fine, treated with 5 day panacur, on pink powder, coligone, coloycinth,graze on,veg oil,grass at least 10hrs daily,good hay at night. past 10 days he has been good, cheeky self i rode him on quiet hack for 1/2hr last week,redid feeding plan to graze on,veg oil,pink powder 4 days ago, past 2 days celd weather frost has not lifted fields are solid and today he had colic which needed fynadine from vet, any suggestions on what to do with him and what it could be, i think i may have to ask the vet to refer him to dick vet in edinburgh for endoscope, will this show anything, thanks

 

[Ferdinase514]

Difficult one.

I wanted to say sugar intake - as that's what causes Finni's but at this time of year less likely and your feeding regime looks good.

I restrict Finni all year except Dec/Jan/Feb when there's nothing but mud - and then he want's to come in after a couple of hours as he gets bored.

does the vet have any ideas?

BTW Finni's blood tests showed nothing too. Restricting grazing has reduced colic to 3 minor attacks this year in comparison to weekly the year before.

 

[jules9671]

he only moved here middle of july, got colic end of sept.... his field mate so far is total opposite so far healthy, eating all time,so its weird, vet is waiting to hear from his vet friend at dick vet as to any ideas, i was thinking about keeping him on box rest to see what happens,shame on his mate as she will have to stay in too, and i have nowhere to put for exercise only as everywhere is grass
i was maybe thinking a touch of grass sickness but only the colic as a symptom
i have had him 1 1/2 yrs and he only got ill coming to our home.but checked with vets and its not enviromental,

 

[seabiscuit]

Been in the same boat.My boy was intolerant to all sugars.Grass made him colic. Anything with molasses or carbohydrate made him colic.


Are you giving him any grass?
Any Cereals?
Any sugar- fruit/veg?
Is there sugar/molasses in the chaff that you are giving him?
Is this 'graze on' stuff made from cow pasture grass( too rich for horses)
Is there sugar/molasses in the vitamins/oil that you are giving him?

Lastly, have you had his droppings scientifically analysed for microbacteria populations in his gut? My boy was significantly low in certain microbacteria and significantly high in certain microbacteria. Was told to give him antibiotic course to cut down on the too high numbers, and then a high dose of a very specific probiotic to build up on the low numbers of microbacteria.

I can PM you the number of the science lab that investigated the above for me on my horse. My horse was basically fine on a diet of just hay, alfalfa ( with NO molasses) vitamin supplement, and high dose of this specialised probiotic. Cannot say how my horse turned out long term as he was put down after 3 months due to discovering he had wobblers, but he did not colic for 3 months it was only on the day before he went into hospital to investigate his wobblers that he colicked again. I do not know why as he had been great for 3 months but suspect that he ate some hay mixed up in poo....

 

[seabiscuit]

Re read your post. Would cut out grass and graze on from your horses diet and see wether that clears up the colic. Also highly reccomend you get his microbacterial analysis for his droppings. I can guarantee that will shed some light on this and give you info on what you should or should not be feeding him.

 

[jules9671]

hi checked the graze on no sugars or molasses,none in the pink powder, so i have gave him big hay net and going to start just letting him out a few hours daily and see how we get on,he does not get any cereals and the only veg fruit is carrots daily. i ll see what today brings

 

[Alibear]

did he go out on the fields after the frost?

Forst changes grasses sugar contents etc quite drastically and has been know to kick off bouts of colic in suseptable horses.

Sounds like yours could be one of them?

 

[CBFan]

[ QUOTE ]
hi checked the graze on no sugars or molasses,none in the pink powder, so i have gave him big hay net and going to start just letting him out a few hours daily and see how we get on,he does not get any cereals and the only veg fruit is carrots daily. i ll see what today brings

[/ QUOTE ]

Carrots are V high in sugars (hence vets say not to feed them to laminitics) so I'd reduce / cut them out and see what happens. Think you're doing the right thing feeding as much hay as possible but never really had to deal with thi sort of thing so not sure.

Hope you get it sorted soon x

 

[siennamum]

Lipomas. My friends horse colicked frequently over a year and she insisted they scanned his gut, where they found a large lipoma. A change in diet reduced the attacks, but they think the lump is inoperable, so he may have to live with the colic.

 

[jules9671]

well i will cut out the carrots, and about your friend with the lipoma what diet did she put her horse on?

 

[annaellie]

One of my horses had colic as above it went on for a few years all tests shown nothing at all, I tried all sorts till she colicing so bad they took her in to operate and it turned out she had an hernia that was strangulating and they think thats when the colic came. She ended up having 8ft of intestine removed during the op, Its very worrying when they colic a lot. Am sure your horse is like some of the posts above, Hope everything works out for you and your horse. Good luck.

 

[BBs]

This is interesting stuff Kate, thanks. Snoops as you know has had a delicate tummy since ive had him.
Some days poos are very runny like cow pats and other times normal.

At the moment (on liquid again as hes decided he likes it) hes stable YAY but will watch out on any changes etc.
He hasnt EVER touches wood coliced but he definitely isnt as easy as winston and berts.

Interesting to note the frost issue with sugar changes in the grass - def answers a few questions.

 

[sillygillyhorse]

You have been given some excellent advise from both Forrest and H's Mum. My horse is also in the same boat and we have controlled his colic by diet. He is kept in 24/7 and fed a diet of hi fi lite, ride & relax plus a probiotic.

You probably feel it is unkind to keep your horse in 24/7 but until you isolate the food/s that are causing the problems it really is the only way. My boy is not at all bothered about going out (he sometimes gets half an hour out to buck, roll and be a horse but always on very bald paddock) guess he has worked out that if he goes out he ends up with tummy ache. I now have a happy smiley cheeky horse instead of the grumpy git.

Good luck with getting to the bottom of this. Really interests me as to the growing number of horses that are suffering with these types of problems. Feeding horses is a science of sorts but have the feed companies gone too far, dont remember these types of problems in the good old days when more horses were fed "straights" with the relevant "bits" added as needed!

 

[jac47]

my boy went down to the dick vet last october and had 10ft cut out of his small intestine. It has not been easy this past year he had colic about 5 times when he came home from the dick and has recently started colicing again. I feed him alpha a, with pasture mix. He started to colic since coming in and we think it has got something to do with sugars so I have stopped giving him carrots he gets coligone powder in his feed and kate, has sent me some liquid to try. I will carry on with the powder and give the liquid when I think he needs it. But you have to watch them in the frost. like you our fields are white every morning the joys of living in scotland. Hope you find the cause.

 

[H's mum]

Absolutely - it's trial and error with these types of horses - if they've got sensitive tums they can be a nightmare!

Fortunately though once you've found the key managing them is much easier!

Kate x

 

[H's mum]

Got to agree with you there Mrs T! These problems are becoming more and more apparent - but fortunately people are becoming wise to it and are learning how to manage the horse... Makes you wonder if all the mollassed-packed horse feeds are to blame though doesn't it - like you say - it never used to be like this 20-30 years ago!

Kate x

 

[jules9671]

well i dont feel good keeping them in, but i let them out for 3hrs yesterday in the aft. and they will get out for a few hours today,he was on the liquid coligone but still colicked with it but i still have some left in case i need to use it again,vet is coming tomorrow for some other thing and i will talk with him then and keep you posted.

 

[H's mum]

Good luck!
It does seem cruel keeping them in whilst you're going through the process ... but if he ends up having surgery he'll be on box rest for a lot longer - so in the long run just bite the bullet and go for it - Good idea to discuss it with your vet!

Will keep everything crossed for you
Kate x

 

[PrettyPolly]

I just wanted to mention that my pony has had problems with mild colic, diarrhoea and laminitis over the past few years. It wasn't until I changed her food to Simple Systems that she started to get much better. Their feeds are sugar-free and made from 100% natural ingredients. I have been feeding my pony their feeds now for 3 weeks, and her droppings are almost normal again, she has no more colic symptoms and is like a spring chicken at the age of 30 years! Check out the Simple Systems web-site for more info. - it may help your horses out too?

 

[sillygillyhorse]

This will sound harsh and in no way is a dig at you but in all reality you have to get over the keeping them in hangup. I dont really like mine in 24/7 as agree it is not natural but given the option of a healthy happy horse or a dead one I have come to terms with the situation. Sounds horrid I know but it is a fact.

My horse has been through surgery and I never want to see him, or any horse, lying on the floor doped up but still in such pain before the decision was made to operate. The surgery was essential that time and he repeatedly colicked afterwards, diet is the only thing that keeps him right and that means no grass, not even half an hour a day. You have absolutely no control over the sugar content in grass and it changes not just day by day but hour by hour. The current weather with warm days then frosty mornings dont help.

 

[BBs]

Wise words Mrs T. I know what i would rather choose.

 

[acolvine]

Hi,

My pony is now 30, never had colic in her life. Then last year had a bad attack. Turned out it was a lipoma strangulating the large intestine.
I went ahead with the surgery and after three weeks in intensive care she pulled through.
A year on and she is her normal self and i am very poor! But she was worth every penny.
Might be worth getting your horse checked for lipoma's just in case.


I think you are wise keeping him in and researching feed content etc.
My other mare 'used to' get spasmodic colic. Stress trigures it as i found out when moving yards, one yard overwormed and that trigured a bout of it. It can happen sporadically so i have cut out cereals from her diet and added a probiotic. Also i never turn out on frozen grass. Touch wood we have been fine for a year now......

Hope you get to the bottom of it soon. Nothing more worrying than colic.

xx

 

[lorenababbit]

[ QUOTE ]
Feeding horses is a science of sorts but have the feed companies gone too far, dont remember these types of problems in the good old days when more horses were fed "straights" with the relevant "bits" added as needed!

[/ QUOTE ]

damn well said and you have no idea how many compound and amufactured feeds are 'molassed'. Hi Fi for example doesnt look as if it is but its there. I only really feed straights now, one gets a small amount cool mix but i also feed small amount bran (am hearing the cries of horror struck nutrionalists as i type) as what ever the science says to the contrary, i still havent found anything i like better for resting /sick horses and i still think it has a slightly cleasning effect on the bowl as it does in humans that is particularly good for stabled horses. And before you ask, touch wood but no colic for years, neither has one of my beat friends and horses in our care have been regularly competing at badminton, burghley and doing loads showing, showjumping and dressage in between.

Good luck with the horse though.

 

[jules9671]

hi well the vet came today and he is referring him to dick vet for next year, so hopefully they will find something i also found him eating his straw bedding last night so just went out and got him a shavings one instead

 

[sillygillyhorse]

What exactly is your vet asking the Royal Dick to do, look for etc? What course of action has he suggested in the meantime.

You could end up spending vast sums of money on something you can control yourself by stabling 24/7 and finding the foods that trigger the colic attacks. Could you suggest to your vet the analysis option Forrest suggested and get his opinion on that course of action. Not for a minute you are suggesting to him how to do his job, explain you want the best for your horse. Such analysis might be the cheapest option for some clear pointers as to the cause of the problem rather than continuing to treat symptoms i.e. the colic