Experience with colic

[mwatson]

Hi, i am currently completing an extended project qualification on 'the causes of colic in equines' and would like to gather some info. If your horse has ever had colic i would love know some information about it (such as the cause, and how it was resolved). Many thanks

 

[Undecided]

Cause: we think it was wormer as that was the only thing that changed from usual routine that day. Resolved: lots of walking up and down hill, he did a poo on the walk as vet arrived so he just gave pain med and was told to monitor through the night. We no longer use that brand of wormer as a precaution and never had issues since.

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

Cause: horse didn't drink enough water overnight in stable. Owner of horse put a lot of dry hay in the stable as well as a bucket of dry chaff as added fibre, however this horse was a poor doer and not used to so much food available at once.

Result: impaction colic and a twist of the insides. Horse was walked about for 6 hours, vet came out twice and the end result was pts

 

[oldie48]

28 year old TB found in the morning in great pain, vet examination found twisted gut, horse PTS. Vet thought he probably had an internal tumour.

14 year old horse out at night on good grass came in with tummy ache, given a muscle relaxant to ease pain, gassy colic from too much grass which resolved quickly.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi, i am currently completing an extended project qualification on 'the causes of colic in equines' and would like to gather some info. If your horse has ever had colic i would love know some information about it (such as the cause, and how it was resolved). Many thanks

case one: Not sure why but started to colic after a week of purchase - got sever despite walking around vet gave buscapan and she seemed ok but 1/2 hr after vet left she started again vet came said RVC now. Seem to improve over journey there , intestines had changed on rectal
6 weeks later was ok 5pm then 7.30pm started to colic walked around till vet, buscapan again and I said please don't go as she colic again after vet went, sure enough she colicked again, walking round 10.30pm rectal ok carried on walking then stated again and lay on her back with legs bent facing upwards. Got her up walked round and round for 3 plus hours till 2pm kept wanting to lie down, second rectal not good and vet said won't make it to RVC pts PM showed she had an displacement and entrapment.


case 2 stopped eating out of the blue did not eat hay over night - turned out would not eat, showed no symptoms. Vet came temperature high and said RVC could not do surgery as stomach was not emptying, did a stomach empty through nose and injected water into stomach to try break up mass . Got some out over the time she was there 5 days, then started to look bright went out for hand grazing but next day stomach was so full camera could not enter. Result stomach muscles had stopped working and passing food through to small intestine pts.

case 3 a. livery called F* coliking vet called buscapan improved with walking
b same horse different time has had 5 different attacks
last attack 2016 livery found 6.50 am cast, got himself up before I opened the door. walked round and around till vet, had 4 lots buscapan some 1/2 hr apart, 11.30, getting worst would hardly stand so pts..


case 4 2017 my new pony colic after eating ready grass vet buscapan improved, few months later the same, and again july this year. Gastroscope and ultra sound, loss of protein showed IBD The small intestine so inflamed food not passing through properly. Bloods show protein improving, praying for no more colic hoping less swelling + less backlog
getting backlogged. Change of haylage and diet 99% on strict diet nursing

case 5 gelding came in and had colic in the evening - no cause found vet buscapan etc improved

case 6 same gelding as above 2 days after above same treatment - not colic since


case 7 colic brought on by an asthma attack caused by livery feeding dry hay buscapan and walking improvement

case 8 livery lying awkward got livery up vet buscapan and improved

case 9 another livery grass colic buscapan and virtually no hay over night then gradually increase

case 10 same livery as 9 another time took longer to improve but did recover

case 11 again same livery usual treatment improved

case 12 livery different one gassy colic improved with colikare

case 13 -14 -15 16 17 18 same horse vet called buscapan got better owner did not investigate. Finally found in the field dead after they moved yards after colic attack


I could go on but have writers cramp now

 

[Remi'sMum]

5 yo WB/TB cross mare. 3 severe episodes of colic in 10 days. Each episode required vet for pain relief etc. Vet suspected grass colic (mild wet weather = grass flush). After 3rd episode vet said something didn’t feel quite right to her and recommended referral to internal medicine specialist. Abdominal ultrasound revealed thickening of the gut wall along its entire length. Thoracic ultrasound revealed fluid+++ around the lungs in the chest cavity. (Chest/lung sounds normal on auscultation and horse was not exercise intolerant or showing any signs of breathing difficulties). Multiple gut/stomach biopsies taken via scope and fluid samples via chest drain. Biopsies and fluid all showed elevated lymphocytes. Diagnosis - early lymphoma. Mare PTS as prognosis very grave. Post mortem showed early changes in multiple internal organs but no actual tumour anywhere.

We’d caught it early before she suffered too much and before she became very debilitated. She looked fit and well, and I think still felt mostly very well (colic episodes aside) She danced sideways on the end of the lead rope up to the paddock to be PTS. She had no idea she was terminally sick. It broke my heart 😥

 

[ycbm]

Cause tapeworm. Resolved by worming.

Cause refusing to be caught one evening and going without his forage overnight in winter.. Looked very serious but resolved spontaneously while vet was arriving.

Friends horse. Cause lack of water because he poo'd in his waterer. Resolved with drugs from vet.

 

[JJS]

Alice had colic a fair few times. Luckily, it was only ever spasmodic, but it was still quite scary. I think the primary cause with her was that she was a very ulcer prone ex-racehorse, so almost anything could set it off: changing to marginally richer grass, cold weather which caused her to drink less, and so on. By the time we lost her to a field accident, however, we finally seemed to have gotten on top of it by keeping the ulcers at bay with a carefully devised diet and certain supplements to prevent them recurring.

 

[DirectorFury]

Suspected cause: a particular brand of wormer. The same thing happened the next time she was wormed with the same wormer so we avoid it now.

Treatment: Vet out at 7am, diagnosed spasmodic colic. Gave Buscopan. Horse covered in hives a few hours later - she had a very rare allergic reaction to the Buscopan. Vet came back out around 4pm (long story - I don’t use those vets anymore as they’re incompetent) and referred horse to equine hospital. Horse spent 3 days being monitored and given fluids and painkillers in horspital. Thankfully made a full recovery without any more serious intervention. £1000 bill for me!
Second time nursed her at home with just painkillers (no Buscopan) and she was fine after about 24hrs.

 

[Jnhuk]

Epiploic Foramen Entrapment colic thankfully happened whilst I was checking horses last time before bed. Horse was PTS couple hours later despite prompt vet attention - warned at that time we were looking at surgery or PTS so had the journey time to equine hospital to consider my options but further tests indicated that surgery unlikely to have good outcome and likely to be PTS on operating table.

No cause identified. I had owned this horse for 7 years no changes in management (lived out 24/7) and no previous issues with colic.

PM carried out EFE colic confirmed

This experience has made me very paranoid re colic and really unsettled me for quite some time. Would have been happier to know why it happened.

 

[PapaverFollis]

21 yr old mare, probable spasmodic colic. Possibly due to change to winter fields and a small flush of grass. Possibly due to change of field companion & associated stress along with the change of field. She doesn't travel well and we're in the sticks so surgery a no go. Vet injected antispasmodics twice I think (not sure what he have her to be honest, he called it "chucking the book at her" so I guess he gave her all the drugs). First call in the evening. Second early morning when she still wasn't right. Walked her when she was looking like rolling. She eventually came right around midday, perked up and started eating. We manage her field changes very carefully now.

 

[scats]

Dales pony- Cecal impaction
Cause- low gut motility (Cecal bacteria were found to be very low)
Had colic surgery to remove impaction and then special diet and careful management for following years. Pony re-colicked just under 4 years later and we put him to sleep.

ISH- colicked same time every year, almost to the week, covered in hives and would have mild colicky symptoms at other times with hives
Cause- grass allergy or more specifically an allergy to sugars in certain grass at certain times of year.
Hospitalised one bad time, the rest sorted at home with buscapan/tubing etc. Moved yards.
Horse now lives out 24/7, touch wood is ok on this grass.

 

[Casey76]

Cause: unknown; possible botulism

19yo cob of indeterminate breeding was found in acute distress, foaming from nose and mouth at 8pm. Vet called immediately and arrived at 9pm. By this time horse was in cardiogenic shock. Rectal exam revealed impaction. Pain relief was given. 20L of fermenting fluid was flushed from the stomach. 4L of IV fluids were given, and horse was deemed stable enough to be transported to the clinic.

Horse remained dependent on high levels of pain relief and antispasmodics for 4 days. A FEC showed high worm burden (despite being on a vet approved worming protocol 4x per year), and was given antihelminthics which resulted in a second colic.

Horse underwent a cecal perforation to relieve gas. At this point left jugular vein collapsed, and horse received daily heparin. Abdominocentecis resulted in a dry tap.

After 6 days horse improved enough to be considered for discharge. On day 7, high fever and acute pain were observed and a second abdominocentecis showed high white cell count and protein levels. Horse was given high dose steroids and antibiotics for peritonitis. Horse deteriorated overnight, and was moribund by morning. Horse was euthanized via brachiocephalic vein as both jugulars were non-patent.

Cause of peritonitis was not determined, however stomach/intestinal rupture was postulated

 

[CazD]

Twisted gut, cause unknown although vet said possible internal tumour. 24 year old mare, never suffered colic or any sickness previously although had cushings disease. Grazing happily at 6.15pm, rolled, stood up, rolled again and didn't get up when I went over which was highly unusual. I'd had the horse 20 years and knew her inside out and knew something bad was up. Vet called immediately and arrived with 25 minutes by which time the mare was in terrible pain. Vet checked and said nothing could be done, mare would not make it to horspital and her heart was starting to give up too. PTS by 7.30pm.

 

[tashcat]

Lost my 25 year old to colic last year.

In the past he had a few mild incidents of impaction colic spread out over the course of the past 5 years or so. These were either resolved by lots of walking around, other than on one occasion when vet came and tried to flush fluids through his nose, which was unsuccessful as tube wouldn't go in, and colic ended up resolving itself naturally anyway.

This time round it was apparent how serious it was - vet came out first thing and could see some impaction, but had a suspicion it was much more serious. Took him to Liphook where he had multiple scans showing his small intestine was damaged. Scans weren't fully clear, but it was apparent much of his small intestine would have to be removed. Other tests (cannot remember what they were called, but they were obtained from his blood being spun in a centrifuge) were not positive. He was given IV fluids and painkillers throughout the afternoon and started to pick up. Overnight the medication continued but in the morning he was back to being really uncomfortable and scans still could not establish what was properly wrong. At 25, I couldn't put him through the operation - it would have been incredibly selfish even though he was my best friend and I would have done anything. He told us he was ready and was pts.
On post mortem it turned out he had an idiopathic jejunal perforation - a really rare tearing of the small intestine. Its not well understood, and the cause is unknown. I've read a few journals about it, and its very interesting but lots more studying is needed. There was no way he could have been saved - if we'd operated he would have had to be pts on the operating table. Hopefully our experience will be useful to Liphook, and to others in the future.