now_loves_mares
Well-Known Member
My mare (who is currently on livery 150 miles away, at a very very experienced friend's yard) colicked this week. Initially a small impaction was found in the pelvic flexure, she was tubed and painkillers and seemed brighter. She was colicking again next morning though so vet came out, impaction was nearly passed but bloods taken, and a belly tap showed increase peritoneal fluid and a slight increase in temp and heart rate (they had been normal the day before). Peritoneal fluid was clear, so next suspect was a displacement. She was admitted to the clinic and had an abdominal scan and gastroscopy. She does have stomach ulcers, though they aren't horrendous. Scan was luckily clear - although I know from previous experience they can be hard to do well. Bloods however showed increased fibrinogen and lower WBC's. So, coupled with the increased fluid, vet is assuming infection/inflammation has caused the colic. She had 3 days of injectible anti-b's up to today and is now on orals. TPR have all been normal other than the one spike
So my question is, what is the likely course of events? Is it the most likely she had some kind of infection leading to inflammation that then meant she got an impaction; and although that cleared she was still fighting the infection hence a further colic? She's not colicked since she was taken into the clinic on Thursday. In the normal run of things, should we presume that the anti-b's will just do there job and all will be fine, ulcers not withstanding. She's obv on gastroguard for those. There were no obvious infections in the ulcers. Where is she likely to have an infection? Presumably it's in her digestive system somewhere; or could an infection somewhere else also cause colic? I'm assuming not in this case considering she had an impaction. All poo has been normal throughout (other than the temporary blockage) so don't think we are dealing with anything like hind gut ulcers.
I guess at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if she gets better, but can't quite follow the chain of events. My own vet thinks this is a far better problem to deal with than some of the other potential causes; so as far as I can tell the odds look good for her. But I'm scared of colic from my previous history so just want to be sure I'm not missing anything, such as a more serious underlying issue that we haven't found.
Any experiences or thoughts much appreciated
So my question is, what is the likely course of events? Is it the most likely she had some kind of infection leading to inflammation that then meant she got an impaction; and although that cleared she was still fighting the infection hence a further colic? She's not colicked since she was taken into the clinic on Thursday. In the normal run of things, should we presume that the anti-b's will just do there job and all will be fine, ulcers not withstanding. She's obv on gastroguard for those. There were no obvious infections in the ulcers. Where is she likely to have an infection? Presumably it's in her digestive system somewhere; or could an infection somewhere else also cause colic? I'm assuming not in this case considering she had an impaction. All poo has been normal throughout (other than the temporary blockage) so don't think we are dealing with anything like hind gut ulcers.
I guess at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if she gets better, but can't quite follow the chain of events. My own vet thinks this is a far better problem to deal with than some of the other potential causes; so as far as I can tell the odds look good for her. But I'm scared of colic from my previous history so just want to be sure I'm not missing anything, such as a more serious underlying issue that we haven't found.
Any experiences or thoughts much appreciated
