Gastric Ulcers / Worm Infestation / Colic - poorly pony!

[Chwee]

Sorry, this is a long one!

I’m hoping someone can advise on the issues I’m having with my 12 year old Trakhenner. He is in light-medium work, competing at Aff Elementary Dressage. He is stabled for the majority of the time, getting 2 hours turn out every day. He as adlib hay and is fed on chaff, pony nuts and oats three times a day.

I bought the horse at the end of July this year, he had been badly managed by an inexperienced owner who had bought a schoolmaster without any experience of looking after a horse. After buying the horse I insured him with the same company as the previous owner, they informed me that there was an exemption on his policy for gastric ulcers. I spoke with the previous owner who denied he had suffered ulcers and dismissed it as the Insurance company being over cautious as he had suffered an episode of mild colic. The previous owners also declared that he ‘occasionally wind sucked’, however, at my yard he wind sucks constantly. I took the previous owners on their word as they are friends with a close friend.

The horse had a bout of mild colic approx 6 weeks ago, nothing serious, but spasmodic pain which caused discomfort, on the vet’s advice we administered bute which relieved the pain and let him settle, the same thing happened two weeks ago, again bute settled him. However, again this week he has suffered another bout of colic, as it was reoccurring I called the vet for a visit. She has taken blood samples to find out if there is an infection and whether or not he has gastric ulcers. I managed to speak with the owner of the yard where the horse was on full livery previously, who confirmed that the horse had been scoped and found to have gastric ulcers, treated and the scoped again to confirm that they had cleared up.

He is a lovely animal, however sometimes he can be particularly lazy and ‘clams’ up and shows signs of resistance when I ask him for shoulder in or travers in warm up, I attributed this to him not being particularly supple after not being in heavy work for a couple of years, however I now suspect that this was a symptom of ulceration – discomfort occurring when I apply the leg aids.

The vet took blood samples this week and they s showed an abnormally high white cell count which is indicative of worm infestation, In the three-four months that I have owned him he has been wormed twice, with Eqvalan, he was wormed for the second time 3 weeks after his due date and on the morning of the day he suffered the third bout of colic. Could this have caused the colic and could the worm infestation have taken place in the three weeks between when he was due to be wormed and when he was wormed, or would it have been something underlying from poor management previously?

I am very relieved that this cause of colic seems to be related to worms, rather than ulcers (as his insurance policy does not cover this!), but I wondered if anyone had advice on the following:

If I have wormed him twice with Eqvalan, what else should I worm him with to clear the infestation?

Is there a link between wind sucking and worm infestation (I know there’s a strong link between wind sucking and colic, but can worm infestation cause a horse to wind suck?)

He is now wearing a wind sucking collar, but still managing to do it, though less frequently than before – he doesn’t hang on to anything when he does it, but arches his neck and does it silently – are there any alternatives?

Can an infestation happen in the space of three weeks? I’m feeling terrible that I didn’t worm him on his due date!

Is there any link between worm infestation and gastric ulcers?

I asked the vet if it would be worth feeding a supplement for gastric ulcers, however she was dubious about the benefits of this (Equine America’s U-Guard etc).

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Gillb]

I'm sorry to hear about your poor horse.
Just a few thoughts on worms. If the horse came to you with a heavy burden then two wormings with Eqvalan would just begin to touch it. He may have encysted redworm which would only be treated by using Equest or Panacur 5 day guard.
Another possibility is tapeworm, often implicated in colic. When was the last tapeworm dose given? If not already done then give an Equitape for this. If in doubt do discuss it with your vet.
Lastly, please don't beat yourself up for going three weeks over the worming gap as I'm sure it would not make the slightest difference.
I'm afraid I know little about windsucking or ulcers but hopefully the worming info will give you a few lines of thought.
I hope you get it sorted out soon, Gill (Westgate Labs)

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Agree with above, you need to check when he was last wormed for Tape worm as Eqvalan won't cover that. My friends gelding coliced 3 times in 3 months, plus had raised white blood cell count, bloods eventually identified Tapeworm as the probable cause.

I would also be inclined to swap his oats for Alfa Alfa (Lucerne), as this is believed (according to Liphook Horsepital), to be one of the few feeds to help stop the reoccurance of ulcers (well that's what they told a friend who's horse went there with horrific ulcers).

Ulcers have been linked with wind sucking, but I don't think they have ever been link to worms.

 

[Chwee]

Guys, thanks for your advice. I finally managed to have a proper conversation with the vet this morning, she's taking a droppings sample to determine egg counts etc.

I haven't been able to determine his worming history, his prevoius owner just doesn't have a clue, so probably he wasn't even wormed 2 years.

He seems to be feeling much better, judging by the passages he performed en route to the field this morning(!!), so I'm going to continue working him lightly until the results are returned.

Thanks again for the advice.