Delayed gastric emptying

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HazelHoney

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I wonder if anyone has successfully managed caring for a horse with delayed gastric emptying? My 21 year old gelding has this condition, after investigations and gastroscopes, he has a food ball most of which was flushed through with the usual coke/water treatment but after 4 days of this (at home) there was still an amount there. The next step would’ve been to take him in to equine hospital which I did not feel was right for him so I called a halt to it. After carefully introducing small grass pellet mashed he’s now back out in the paddock with his buddy and seems much more comfortable. I’m aware that the issue won’t go away but can possibly be managed by feeding only small particle mashes and grass. This is ok now but I’m worried how to manage it come winter as he usually has 24/7 turn out with another horse in a paddock that holds up ok in winter (ie, is not deep mud), they are given plenty of hay in the field. Obviously he can’t have as lib hay anymore so I have found a soaked hay replacer ‘Haycare’ but the issue is how to keep him with a companion as the other horse can’t really have as lib access to the buckets Haycare as I think he will eat my horse’s portion as well as his own. The only thing I can think of is to separate them with a fence, feed them their individual rations of hay or Haycare accordingly but it feels wrong to split them. I guess they will see each other over the fence so maybe that is the best option. As you can see I’m back and forth what to do. Any insights would be welcome, thanks in advance!
 
My mare had this last winter and was on slop all winter, I had to stable her during the day so I could feed every couple of hours.

Hers was caused by a polyp growing over the pylorus which we eventually treated with a laser.

Tbh if it comes back and causes issues I would probably have her PTS, she’s 22 and semi retired.
 
I can't help with the gastric emptying issue, but I had the same problem with Haycare and how to feed it. I was very lucky that my others are Shetlands so I just put a feed manager high enough so they couldn't reach. If that weren't possible I would have separated them overnight and just turned out together for a few hours in the day.
 
My wonderful 20 year old NF Homey had this. He was at the vets for a week they cleared out his stomach using coke. He came home went on a special diet with no long fibre. He went out with grazing muzzle on for 7 hours. He then had four meals of sloppy chaff. One when he came in one at 4pm. One at 10pm and one at 7am. After 5 weeks on this diet he went back to the vets and was scoped again and food could be seen in his oesophagus. His stomach was blocked again.

He came home and I had a few last days with him and then he was PTS on vets recommendation. Whist he was pooing still because his stomach was not emptying properly there was a risk it could rupture and I could not bare the thought of his stomach rupturing in the night and him being pain. It broke my heart.

He had been colicing a lot before his diagnosis.

It is nearly three years since he died and I miss him so much. He looked amazing on the day I said goodbye his coat sparkled. We went on a last hack he was full of energy no lameness . However there were times in the days that lead up this that he looked sad in his eyes and I do wonder if he was starting to feel pain again as his stomach was getting fuller due to delayed gastric emptying.

Hopefully your experience will be different. I presume you have scoped again after a month or so on the special diet to check it is working.
 
HopOnTrot said:
My mare had this last winter and was on slop all winter, I had to stable her during the day so I could feed every couple of hours.

Hers was caused by a polyp growing over the pylorus which we eventually treated with a laser.

Tbh if it comes back and causes issues I would probably have her PTS, she’s 22 and semi retired.
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I am glad yours was able to be treated we never found out what was causing this for Homey. Vet said very rare condition.
 
Sorry to hear that your gelding is suffering from this. I, too have experience with a homebred mare but unfortunately it didn't end positively.
 
I think your instinct to split the field sounds totally reasonable. They can still interact and groom over the fence, but at least you’ll have peace of mind knowing he’s getting exactly what he needs. Could also try slow feeder buckets for the companion to make the Haycare last longer if he’s a hoover!
 
SO1 said:
I am glad yours was able to be treated we never found out what was causing this for Homey. Vet said very rare condition.
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Mine is a New Forest too, we have found the polyp but vet is quite mystified as to why she has digestive issues as she has none of the risk factors. She’s being rescoped in September.
 
My mare has recently been diagnosed with this (i posted at the time so you should be able to find the thread) but we have caught it before there has been a food ball. She was being scoped for the third due to recurring ulcers.

Currently we appear to be managing the condition and i've started to be able to up her workload towards more normal levels but i'm not holding out much hope for winter. She is out 3pm to 6.30am at the mo, comes into a small haynet then has access to haycobs, chaff and fibre blocks for the rest of the day. Shes on Omeprazole and Sucralfate plus Equinectar.

We have to switch to stabling over night in the winter and i'm not sure how realistic it will be managing without hay but will see how we get on. I also need full livery and i can't think of anywhere within about 45mins/1 hr from me that does full livery with overnight turnout all year.

If she at any point looks uncomfortable or starts colicing i'm afraid she will be pts - shes only 6 but i won't have her suffering in anyway.
 
HopOnTrot said:
My mare had this last winter and was on slop all winter, I had to stable her during the day so I could feed every couple of hours.

Hers was caused by a polyp growing over the pylorus which we eventually treated with a laser.

Tbh if it comes back and causes issues I would probably have her PTS, she’s 22 and semi retired.
Click to expand...
Thank you for posting, I’m glad you managed to treat your mare. All the best
 
meleeka said:
I can't help with the gastric emptying issue, but I had the same problem with Haycare and how to feed it. I was very lucky that my others are Shetlands so I just put a feed manager high enough so they couldn't reach. If that weren't possible I would have separated them overnight and just turned out together for a few hours in the day.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Funnily enough my vet suggested Shetlands as companions for that very solution - putting the feed up high for my horse so thru couldn’t reach it!
 
SO1 said:
My wonderful 20 year old NF Homey had this. He was at the vets for a week they cleared out his stomach using coke. He came home went on a special diet with no long fibre. He went out with grazing muzzle on for 7 hours. He then had four meals of sloppy chaff. One when he came in one at 4pm. One at 10pm and one at 7am. After 5 weeks on this diet he went back to the vets and was scoped again and food could be seen in his oesophagus. His stomach was blocked again.

He came home and I had a few last days with him and then he was PTS on vets recommendation. Whist he was pooing still because his stomach was not emptying properly there was a risk it could rupture and I could not bare the thought of his stomach rupturing in the night and him being pain. It broke my heart.

He had been colicing a lot before his diagnosis.

It is nearly three years since he died and I miss him so much. He looked amazing on the day I said goodbye his coat sparkled. We went on a last hack he was full of energy no lameness . However there were times in the days that lead up this that he looked sad in his eyes and I do wonder if he was starting to feel pain again as his stomach was getting fuller due to delayed gastric emptying.

Hopefully your experience will be different. I presume you have scoped again after a month or so on the special diet to check it is working.
Click to expand...
Hi SO1, I’m so sorry to hear that you lost your lovely horse Homey. Your experience chimes with me as my horse’s coat looks so well and shiny it’s hard to think there’s an issue. I know it doesn’t take the pain of missing him away but it’s clear you did the right thing by him, you didn’t risk him having a horrid experience by hanging on and you did the hard but kind thing by saying goodbye before it got bad. All the best to you
 
Peregrine Falcon said:
Sorry to hear that your gelding is suffering from this. I, too have experience with a homebred mare but unfortunately it didn't end positively.
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Thanks for posting, I’m so sorry to hear you had that experience with your mare. I’m sure you did the right but very difficult thing. All the best
 
beatrice said:
My mare has recently been diagnosed with this (i posted at the time so you should be able to find the thread) but we have caught it before there has been a food ball. She was being scoped for the third due to recurring ulcers.

Currently we appear to be managing the condition and i've started to be able to up her workload towards more normal levels but i'm not holding out much hope for winter. She is out 3pm to 6.30am at the mo, comes into a small haynet then has access to haycobs, chaff and fibre blocks for the rest of the day. Shes on Omeprazole and Sucralfate plus Equinectar.

We have to switch to stabling over night in the winter and i'm not sure how realistic it will be managing without hay but will see how we get on. I also need full livery and i can't think of anywhere within about 45mins/1 hr from me that does full livery with overnight turnout all year.

If she at any point looks uncomfortable or starts colicing i'm afraid she will be pts - shes only 6 but i won't have her suffering in anyway.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for posting, I will try and find your thread. Have you tried Haycare for a hay replacement that you can feed like hay in the stable overnight?
 
Henry30 said:
I think your instinct to split the field sounds totally reasonable. They can still interact and groom over the fence, but at least you’ll have peace of mind knowing he’s getting exactly what he needs. Could also try slow feeder buckets for the companion to make the Haycare last longer if he’s a hoover!
Click to expand...
That’s really helpful, thank you so much for taking the trouble to post. That makes me feel better about the fence / split!
 
HazelHoney said:
Thank you so much for posting, I will try and find your thread. Have you tried Haycare for a hay replacement that you can feed like hay in the stable overnight?
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Not yet, have tried to avoid mash/soaked feed in the first instance as think she would go through it too quickly. Shes coping on chaff and haycobs which still mean she has to chew so takes a little longer to eat.

Will certainly add the haycare if i need to though. If we can keep her comfortable in the winter I think she will end up with a buffet of fibre options in her stable!
 
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