First colic experience!! :(

lauraea

lauraea

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This morning I received the call we all dread!! YO had found my boy on the floor in his field calling out :( :(

It is just 5 minutes from my house so I rushed up there and instantly my suspicions were confirmed and the look in his eye told me he was seriously seriously unhappy! :(

Managed to get him up and walk him into the stable block where he was pawing, trying to lie down.. all the usual symptoms. Called the vets and was so grateful how quickly they responded and sent someone up. 30 minutes (and lots of unhappy boy lying down, moaning and groaning later) and vet had arrived.

After some checks, painkillers and a nasty long tube down to his stomach he has finally come around and getting back to his usual self. After a little while he was happy to eat some soaked hay and then hand grazed him this afternoon to get him walking about.. I am hoping that his episode was very mild and am waiting to hear back from my vet again this evening to check up on him and find out where we go from here.

I have been lucky in that in all my years with horses I have not had to experience a colicing horse, it's awful!

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Hugs, It is awful isn't it. I lost my old boy to colic and the horse I have now coliced about two years ago one freezing morning. The longest morning of my life.
*Touch wood* he's never had a problem again, it seemed a total one off. Yours will probably be the same.
Fingers x'd he makes a full recovery- chocolate and a glass of wine for you tonight ;) xx
 
It's so upsetting isn't it? One of my horses had colic recently, I phoned the vet & was holding back tears while I waited (whilst also planning how I'd get her to the hospital if needed!)
Not helped by the fact that the last colicing horse I had was fatal, I'm 48 & have had horses all my life so I know I'm very lucky to have only had to deal with it twice.
It sounds like your vet did a good job & I'm sure it was a one off.
 
Colic is horrendous and the worst thing (in my opinion) to have to see your horse go through.

I have seen numerous colics through working with horses but also had to go through my own horse's first colic (with me) a few weeks ago....like above I was trying not to cry whilst calling the vet.

Fingers crossed for you it is good news and simply a one-off thing.
 
really hoping it is a one off! I've already started on the chocolate.. I rushed up there not long after getting out of bed so I hadn't eaten, when I finally got a moment to pop home the first thing I found in the fridge that I could instantly devour was chocolate - woops.

feel a bit helpless now as although I am so so grateful he is up, grazing and seems relatively happy, I keep feeling like I need to be there checking on him every 5 minutes.

I feel that not very often vets get commended (I suppose to a degree we expect them to be good, with what they charge too!) but I honestly was so happy with their response, let's be honest 30 mins is quite impressive even for an ambulance at times!

Will let you all know how he does... I can't imagine what it's like to lose them in such a horrific way so my thoughts go out to you ladies who have experienced that before.
 
sending healing vibes your way!
what sort of colic was it ? gas ? as you say he was in the field, or could he be eating too much sand ? did they give him oil through the tube or was it just to check for reflux ?

Is he ok now ?

Colic is the most dreadful thing, i've had horses for +30years and up til 2011 i had never had colic until I lost my 29yr old to it in May 2011, within a couple of hours I had no other choice that pts. 4 wks ago I lost my 26yr old to a strangulation in the gut.
 
What vets do you use Lauraea? I think most vets are pretty good when it comes to colic.
The fact he's up and about is a fantastic sign. Has he done a poo? That's another tell tale getting better sign x
 
leggs said:
sending healing vibes your way!
what sort of colic was it ? gas ? as you say he was in the field, or could he be eating too much sand ? did they give him oil through the tube or was it just to check for reflux ?

Is he ok now ?
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He seems to be ok now, fingers crossed! they did not mention what sort of colic it was, but they did give him oil through the tub (can't imagine it was in the least bit enjoyable!) as I was more concerned at the time about him and keeping him comfortable, I never really asked what this achieves. Do you have any idea? Is it just to flush them out as such?


I use Hook Norton vets and they really were great, from my first call I then received 2 calls back before the vet arrived which gave me plenty opportunity to ask questions and advice :) Since the vet was out they have called me twice to check on him too.

Latest update is that he finally went to the toilet! Vet said if he hadn't passed anything by the morning to call them back out but just as I was up there a little earlier he went and all seemed to be fine.
 
My mare was a little monkey for colic so I do feel your pain. It's so scary to see them in such pain and the groaning is something else.

There's a brilliant little series running on horse & country TV at the moment called vet essentials and it gives a fabulous insight into what a vet looks for (and what they feel for) when presented with colic.

The Buscapan and Bute cocktail were generally Lucy's drugs of choice. Sadly I did lose her to a colic episode but this wasn't a surprise given her track record. She was 25 so heading off for surgery wasn't an option.

Hope your lad continues to do well, it sounds like he will do.
 
did they do a rectal exam ? if he's had oil through a tube they must suspect an obstruction. Usually (at least here in NL) they would rather not have a horse eat before the obstruction has passed/cleared.
From anywhere between 12 and 24 hours you should see an oily substance at the rectum so you know the oil has passed through the gut.

if it's "just gas*" they will usually just use buscopan/phenbutzolin to relax the gut so the air will pass. Some light lungeing (or however you spell it!) might help with passing the gas.

I used the * in the above sentence because gas can also mean that there is a twist in the gut, which means the gas cant go out, even with medicine at which point you don'want to put extra oil in because it will cause even further obstruction and even rupture. You don't need to worry about this because in this case the situation will very quickly escalate. As you say he is doing much better, i'm confident that all will be well !!

After May 2011 I started to learn about colic really quickly...my other horse pined for months about my mare and formed ulcers (long story which hurts to much to tell at this time) anyway, I was living out in the sticks far away from emergency vets so I was taught by my vet to do rectal exams and inject buscopan IV. We lost the battle 4wks ago, this time it was not gas (which she hadn't had since the ulcer medicine) but a twisted gut, raced her to the clinic...but sadly had to pts.

edit; if he is out on the field most of the day than I would seriously consider sandcolic because horses generally do not get obstructions from grass. More often straw in the stable, too much hardfeed and no excersize etc. Sand is a silent killer, sometimes giving completely mixed signals like soft manure. You think if the pooh is soft it can't be an obstruction but the moisture part just passes over the sandfilled gut.

Give the vet a call tomorrow, ask what they think.
 
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Thanks leggs, that was really helpful.

They did do a rectal exam, they said there didn't seem to be an impaction but there was something there that was quite doughy to the touch. They then pumped the oil into his stomach. The vet had said that when he perks up a little he is likely to want to eat and told me to offer him soaked hay and then as the day went on, let him graze on good grass - did this and he seems to be fine so far. I think offering him the hay was actually more to prevent him eating the straw bedding.

It did take him a few hours before he passed but when he did it looked much healthier than the manure I had cleared up from his field this morning. As he was resting in the stable I took the opportunity to poo pick, we do this everyday so I have a clear idea of how much I would usually collect. This morning I collected not even half a wheelbarrow (usually between half and full is normal for him) it was also small, dark, hard droppings. Could this back up the idea that there was an obstruction?

He is turned out 24 hrs in summer and only ever comes in over night during the colder months of winter to save the paddocks, so sandcolic is also possible... difficult to really be sure which was the case!
 
Hugs for you, and hope your boy is continuing his recovery. You may have seen my recent thread as our pony colicked 2 weeks ago. He spent 2 days in Rossdales as they were concerned it could require surgery and took a while before he pooed, but I think the initial tubing by our vet was the key thing that prevented a worse outcome. While he was there he had xrays that clearly show sand in his gut, he is on a high dose of sandout now and will need a monthly maintenance dose. It would be worth you checking with your vet if they suspect sand (sandy soil) to blame. I hope neither of us has a repeat experience.
 
Horrible isn't it? I'd had ponies over quarter of a century and up til this year never had a colic. Had a suspected gassy colic at easter time, fortunately I caught it very early and was able to get the vet out quickly. It is sad to get excited about them pooing but I did! Hope he's fully on the mend now.
 
Thanks everyone, he has been himself and seems much happier since Thursday morning. I really have my fingers crossed that this is him getting better now!

Sand is a possibility as his paddocks are quite bare and I do on occasion find him grazing close to the dried muddy spot by the gate which is likely quite dusty/sandy in this dry weather, I may give my vet a call next week just to see what they say about his case

Everyone's comments have been so kind and it's really helpful to hear a little about others experiences, although here's to hoping we never have to deal with it again :)
 
Has your vet suggested sand-out (psyllium husks, could be other brands)? It binds the sand/dust and carries it through the gut. My boy's x-ray showed "silt" lying in the lower part of his gut, obviously 2-d but impression was enough for a decent sandcastle, :( Hopefully much reduced now and the maintenance dose should prevent it accumulating again. On the yard we've speculated about the weather conditions over the last year or so removing some of the topsoil to possibly allow a sandier top layer with shallow rooted grass, also the Saharan sand problems earlier this year (our cars got coated), but also just generally reduced grazing. The vets report several cases in our area. Checking back today I realised his colic was 1year and 1 day since he hurt his leg and had a spell on box rest, spooky...
 
Glad your horse is doing better.
There is a sandtest you can do yourself, but, warning, if you don't find any sand you cannot conclude that this is not the problem. If you DO find sand, then you know enough. best to repeat the test regularly because not every pooh will contain sand.

What I do is preferably use a white bucket or container and "dissolve" 5-6 droppings (balls) in about a quater of the bucket with water. Really hussle it around and then let it sit for 10 minutes or longer. Then slowly pour the water out, if there is sand in the droppings it will sit in the bottom and you will clearly see it.

So if the tests are positive you can safely say he has too much sand in his body, if it's negative it doesn't say much.

Like suffolkmare says, psyllium husk fibers are better than compounded sandclear pellets. But don't feed them longer than 10 days because after this time the gut will pass the fibres without doing anything. Use them for a week or 10 days, then stop for 2-3 weeks and repeat.
 
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