now_loves_mares
Well-Known Member
Apologies, this will likely get very long! Im also going to post in multiple forums!
Early in February, my mare broke her pedal bone. About a week later she started going off her food, and long story short was found to be suffering from a caecal impaction, Right Dorsal Colitis (ie inflamed/ulcerated colon), and gastric ulcers probably a reaction to the Danilon. She spent a month in horsepital, had 6 weeks worth of gastroguard for the gastric ulcers, IV fluids and the impaction cleared fairly well. The colitis was tougher she was on sucralfate for a while, but the vets said there is little that they can do medically as its hard to get a drug to act as far into the digestive system. So google research led me to put her on a no-hay diet. Since late March she has been on 6 sloppy feeds a day/night of alternating soaked high fibre cubes and soaked grass nuts. Breakfast and dinner was chaff, unmollased sugar beet and topspec balancer. Shes on cosequin for the foot, plus has been on liquid coligone in her feed twice a day. She gets pink powder (4 scoops a day). I have been getting up at 3am every night for nearly 3 months to try to keep her on a regular feeding schedule. Technically she has been on box rest, but as she kept colicking we started short bursts of hand grazing, then for a while she was turned out on our garden (right by her stable). About 5 or 6 weeks ago the farmers who own the field right by our house allowed us to fence a bit off so we could start increasing turnout (she is still not sound on her foot, hence didnt want her traipsing up and down to her normal field which is much further away).
All was going well and she was up to nearly 4 hours twice a day in the field, and had gone nearly 6 weeks without colic. She then colicked again. This was a gassy bout, she then colicked again about a week later (last Friday), also gassy, a change from her previous problems. Back to Google, which suggests the most obvious cause is rich grass. But what really confuses me is that she and her Shetland companion had slowly been eating down the ungrazed grass; but she didnt colic until it was down to very short almost non-existant? There are lots of things going through my mind so that now Im more confused than ever!
1. Buttercups could those cause gassy colic?
2. Ive been reading about sugar levels in grass. Could she have been eating old grass when it was long, but now that its grazed down, shes eating the fresh new growth. Is that higher in sugars therefore more likely to ferment?
3. Sugarbeet as the weather has warmed up Ive taken her off this in case it was fermenting.
4. Weather itself. May was wet and cold in my part of the country. The colics seemed to coincide with it slightly warming up change to the grass structure?
5. Weather again could hotter weather actually increase the chance of excessive fermentation.
6. Soaked meals. I had started to cut those down to keep her weight in check. Possibly combined with the short grass, she wasnt getting enough fibre (and/or water). Cant do wrong for doing right, or something!
7. I read one tiny snippet on the internet about lack of food being a cause of gassy colic, so as above could the short grass and no hay, and reduced other meals be actually causing the problem.
8. If that was the case, would I be better just taking my chances with her normal field (10 acres, never fertilised so not lush but plenty to eat) or is that just asking for trouble? This is my main contradiction/confusion! Am I starving her into colic, or overfeeding her into it?? My gut tells me she cant possibly be gorging herself on the tiny ¼ acre bare patch she is on.
9. Coligone can you feed the liquid in feeds? I have been, but OH noticed the carton said not to. Would she be better on powder instead?
10. Time of day of turnout. Temporarily Ive cut her grass right back and making sure she eats loads of her soupy meals instead. My plan is to work towards her staying out overnight instead. Im also very very slowly trying her back on to hay, and if that works she can at least fill herself up a bit more on that, so she doesnt pig out so much once out at grass.
11. Any other remedies for gassy colic that work? Charcoal? Fennel seeds? Ive read US forums about people using Gas-x, which is an American human drug, the UK version seems to be windeze. Anyone actually tried this. Ive started adding dried mint to her feed as I happened to have some from when she was first ill and went off her food.
Ive never had to deal with colic before this horse, and before her injury she was so easy to keep, never suffered as a result of change to feed/routine/weather/exercise.
I am really unsure about what is the best course of action! Her foot is slowly getting better all the time, but she really needs a year in the field now hard to do if its going to cause colic Anything Im missing or not considering? Any suggestions or advice very very welcome!
Early in February, my mare broke her pedal bone. About a week later she started going off her food, and long story short was found to be suffering from a caecal impaction, Right Dorsal Colitis (ie inflamed/ulcerated colon), and gastric ulcers probably a reaction to the Danilon. She spent a month in horsepital, had 6 weeks worth of gastroguard for the gastric ulcers, IV fluids and the impaction cleared fairly well. The colitis was tougher she was on sucralfate for a while, but the vets said there is little that they can do medically as its hard to get a drug to act as far into the digestive system. So google research led me to put her on a no-hay diet. Since late March she has been on 6 sloppy feeds a day/night of alternating soaked high fibre cubes and soaked grass nuts. Breakfast and dinner was chaff, unmollased sugar beet and topspec balancer. Shes on cosequin for the foot, plus has been on liquid coligone in her feed twice a day. She gets pink powder (4 scoops a day). I have been getting up at 3am every night for nearly 3 months to try to keep her on a regular feeding schedule. Technically she has been on box rest, but as she kept colicking we started short bursts of hand grazing, then for a while she was turned out on our garden (right by her stable). About 5 or 6 weeks ago the farmers who own the field right by our house allowed us to fence a bit off so we could start increasing turnout (she is still not sound on her foot, hence didnt want her traipsing up and down to her normal field which is much further away).
All was going well and she was up to nearly 4 hours twice a day in the field, and had gone nearly 6 weeks without colic. She then colicked again. This was a gassy bout, she then colicked again about a week later (last Friday), also gassy, a change from her previous problems. Back to Google, which suggests the most obvious cause is rich grass. But what really confuses me is that she and her Shetland companion had slowly been eating down the ungrazed grass; but she didnt colic until it was down to very short almost non-existant? There are lots of things going through my mind so that now Im more confused than ever!
1. Buttercups could those cause gassy colic?
2. Ive been reading about sugar levels in grass. Could she have been eating old grass when it was long, but now that its grazed down, shes eating the fresh new growth. Is that higher in sugars therefore more likely to ferment?
3. Sugarbeet as the weather has warmed up Ive taken her off this in case it was fermenting.
4. Weather itself. May was wet and cold in my part of the country. The colics seemed to coincide with it slightly warming up change to the grass structure?
5. Weather again could hotter weather actually increase the chance of excessive fermentation.
6. Soaked meals. I had started to cut those down to keep her weight in check. Possibly combined with the short grass, she wasnt getting enough fibre (and/or water). Cant do wrong for doing right, or something!
7. I read one tiny snippet on the internet about lack of food being a cause of gassy colic, so as above could the short grass and no hay, and reduced other meals be actually causing the problem.
8. If that was the case, would I be better just taking my chances with her normal field (10 acres, never fertilised so not lush but plenty to eat) or is that just asking for trouble? This is my main contradiction/confusion! Am I starving her into colic, or overfeeding her into it?? My gut tells me she cant possibly be gorging herself on the tiny ¼ acre bare patch she is on.
9. Coligone can you feed the liquid in feeds? I have been, but OH noticed the carton said not to. Would she be better on powder instead?
10. Time of day of turnout. Temporarily Ive cut her grass right back and making sure she eats loads of her soupy meals instead. My plan is to work towards her staying out overnight instead. Im also very very slowly trying her back on to hay, and if that works she can at least fill herself up a bit more on that, so she doesnt pig out so much once out at grass.
11. Any other remedies for gassy colic that work? Charcoal? Fennel seeds? Ive read US forums about people using Gas-x, which is an American human drug, the UK version seems to be windeze. Anyone actually tried this. Ive started adding dried mint to her feed as I happened to have some from when she was first ill and went off her food.
Ive never had to deal with colic before this horse, and before her injury she was so easy to keep, never suffered as a result of change to feed/routine/weather/exercise.
I am really unsure about what is the best course of action! Her foot is slowly getting better all the time, but she really needs a year in the field now hard to do if its going to cause colic Anything Im missing or not considering? Any suggestions or advice very very welcome!
- though I couldn't have got this far without some lovely help, too 
It may just be one of a combination of all these things, so will probably just have to keep experimenting until we find the right solution!! 