Horse just not right. Possibly colic . Thoughts?

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Jim bob

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Hi all,

I am just wanting some advice about what you would do in my situation in regards to my horse.

He has inflammatory bowel disease which appears to be under control.
He did colic badly around 3 weeks ago, and was down and rolling for 50 mins though the vet was called the colic passed before the vet arrived.

He was wormed around 7-10 days ago and seemed okay. Last Saturday night he got loose onto the polo field and was probably eating that grass all night. On the Sunday day apparently he was lied down but seemed ‘fine’ Though I was only told this on the Tuesday. My horse doesn’t often lie down, generally.

Going from the Monday night into Tuesday morning ( 16 hours) he had only passed 4 droppings and looked like he was going to roll so I phoned my vet who said to give him 2 bute which I did. I phoned back around 6pm to say in the few hours I had being there he still hasn’t passed anything. But as he wasn’t showing really any colic signs they were unsure about calling a vet straight away. I called later on that night and again , still hadn’t passed anything but I was told that he wasn’t dying, in short! And he wasn’t rolling/ groaning/ pawing at the ground etc. Though he wasn’t his normal self!

Therefore I phoned another vet who did come out, checked his heart ( slow) gut sounds ( loud) and gums ( normal) who said it was more likely to be spasmodic colic rather then impaction colic and give him a few drugs IV. I came down early the next day ( weds) to find him down (normally he is up waiting for breakie). I went over to him and he rolled and groaned a little before getting up and eating his breakie. I did call the vet as I was concerned and they said as I wasn’t as usual client to call my own vets. That day apparently he was fine.
On the weds night he seemed more like his normal self. This morning He had passed more droppings ( 5 over night) Though, it sounds strange, but the poos he did where different from how he normally poos ( smaller in size and almost in neat little piles) Normally there generally much bigger and go all over! Tonight he seems to be showing well most of his normal behaviour but hasn’t actually showed any ‘typical’ colic signs. Just hasn’t been really right!! I have spoke to a few vets at length and they have said with him not showing signs its hard.
Just to add his bloods are normal, along with his liver etc he has scoped clear for ulcers.
Would you get the vet out again?
Thanks
 
Parts of this reminds me of my late mares condition - a blocked stomach which stretched to allow some food to pass through (so small and fewer droppings)..she liked eating but wasn't interested on some days - showed very little colic type symptons - bloods heart and lungs fine...but finally after a six weeks referred to vet college when full extent of problem discovered...so I think more vet investigation because you know something isn't right.
 
I would push for a referral to vet hospital. I would not be happy with situation, the horse is clearly in pain and the current vets aren't managing it appropriately
 
Thank you for the replies. He seems back to his normal self and passed 7 droppings over night too. There were normal size for him aswell. My vet said that unless they get there straight away ( vet to te horse) then they cant really check for colic type thing. Also according to the vet she said from what I was saying it sounded like he had a small impaction that has sorted itself out.
 
Jim bob said:
Thank you for the replies. He seems back to his normal self and passed 7 droppings over night too. There were normal size for him aswell. My vet said that unless they get there straight away ( vet to te horse) then they cant really check for colic type thing. Also according to the vet she said from what I was saying it sounded like he had a small impaction that has sorted itself out.
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I think your vets attitude, when they didn't come out and you got another practice, and now saying unless they get there straight away they cannot check for colic, would be enough for me to move to the other practice who did attend despite not being your normal vets, colic is serious as you know and sometimes the "quiet" ones with the horse not being obviously in pain are the ones that kill, just as well he seems to have sorted himself out so has got away with it this time, next time you may not be so lucky and you need a vet to come out rather than brush it off as nothing of concern.
As he has issues anyway and has now had a more serious colic followed by this rumbling one I think it still needs to be taken seriously, the vets should be monitoring him and ensuring the IBD is sorted out fully as it is probably still causing him minor problems and these could build up to be more serious as times goes on, he may well settle down but I would want a more supportive vet on board, having lost a few to colic it is something I expect my vets to attend even if it does seem minor and happens at an inconvenient time of day or night.
 
Thank you! He is booked in for the vets to come out on Tuesday to check him over but I was advised to save my money unless I really need them out. Also te fact this went on for around 4-5 days has worried me.
 
Jim bob said:
Thank you! He is booked in for the vets to come out on Tuesday to check him over but I was advised to save my money unless I really need them out. Also te fact this went on for around 4-5 days has worried me.
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I understand the concept of saving money but they didn't come out when you asked and you ended up getting another vet to attend, you need to point that out to them and remind them that you are the layperson/ client and cannot see what is going on inside the horse in order to make a clear judgement call.
I would have also been very concerned it went on for 4-5 days, an appropriate pain relief injection may have speeded up his recovery even if the symptoms were mild.
 
He was injected when the vets came down on the Tuesday but that was is. Would you get them out? As I don't want to get them out for them to say we cant check for colic etc.
 
Jim bob said:
He was injected when the vets came down on the Tuesday but that was is. Would you get them out? As I don't want to get them out for them to say we cant check for colic etc.
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He was injected by the other vet, not yours, yours should have followed up the next day when he was still not 100%, I think it sounds as if he has got over it now so would not get them unless he gets worse again, no idea why they are coming on Tuesday as unless that is also for something else it does seem like a waste of money and too late to do anything for what was going on this week.
 
Neither could I! I then thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill. Luckily a friend encouraged to phone the oter vets who told me they were very concerned and my horse either needed to see a vet tonight or tomorrow morning and I wasn't making a mountain out of a molehill.
 
If he is ok now I would phone the vets that did come, register with them, get notes transferred over and then say you would like to speak to them for an assessment of his current medical situation.
Obviously keep a good eye of him over the weekend and get them out sooner if required.
 
He seems okay now. But I am still pretty worried he will go down hill :( I almost want someone out to check him just for piece of mind.
 
Jim bob said:
Neither could I! I then thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill. Luckily a friend encouraged to phone the oter vets who told me they were very concerned and my horse either needed to see a vet tonight or tomorrow morning and I wasn't making a mountain out of a molehill.
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The other vets were right, you were not making a fuss over nothing and the horse required treatment, I understand why you want him checked now but really think, like ester also does, that you need to consider moving to a better practice that will not make you feel as if you are just worrying over nothing.
 
Let me tell you a story. In 2007, the day after a show, my Dales pony didn't seem quite right. I couldn't figure out if he was a bit colicky as he had no obvious colic symptoms when I saw him, but there were signs he has possibly been down in the field over night. He seemed to brighten up so thought nothing of it. The next weekend, after a seemingly fine week, the pony did it again. It was a weird head bobbing and looking a bit uncomfortable, but he passed droppings as normal and ate as normal. Concerned, I called the vet and explained. They rectal examined him and could feel no impaction, his heart rate and breathing were completely fine. They told me to see how he went over next few hours. He seemed to perk up again so I didn't get them back out, then two days later, he exhibited the same strange slightly 'off' symptom. I rang the vet and they came out and we decided something wasn't right and needed investigating. He still, at this point, was eating fine, has normal temp and heart rate and no impaction felt on rectal examination. I took him into hospital the next day, not urgently as we didn't feel it was urgent at the point as pony still happy enough. Leahurst scanned or Xrayed him (can't remember which) and found an absolute massive mass in his abdomen, so huge that in fact his intestines were right up high in his ribcage where they shouldn't have been . Still, his temperature, heart rate and breathing all remained completely consistent with a normal horse.
He was taken to surgery and found to have an absolutely colossal sized impaction in his cecum, too far back to have been felt on examination. He was still passing droppings as some were going over the top and the impaction had built up over weeks rather than instantly (for anyone who doesn't know, the cecum is like a fermentation chamber that food goes in to and then comes back out of, both openings are at the top so impactions can start over time in the cecum with what appears a normal amount of droppings passing over the top).
He survived, but vets had no idea how he had stayed so stoic about the whole thing as they had had a horse in a few months earlier with the same condition who had been banging it's head against the walls with the pain.

So please, if you're not happy, there are things a vet can do to investigate.

My pony lived another 4 fantastic years after surgery.
 
This morning he didn't want his breakie and was boiling. Vets have suggested having hin up there. Though I aren't sure if it was just because he was upset as his field buddy was loose and out the field this morning
 
My worst night mare and I have a very sensitive mare re: bowel region!!

Please trust your instincts on this one and listen to your posts here - it's time for someone to take you seriously.
 
Jim bob get a referral to vet hospital...my mare was treated for a month for high temps and she refused feeds on and off...get scanned or scoped in hospital. I wont bore everyone again with my mares illness - if you want to know ins and outs PM me but yep..trust your instincts.
 
I too would ask for a referral to vet hospital.

I was looking after a very stoic horse, but he was Cob X ID, s when he stopped eating it was very serious to me. He was not thrashing about, but he was not passing droppings, and the vet was summoned in short order.

The vets that came were very young, and did not seem too confident, and he had injections and some not very successful attempts to insert a stomach tube to wash some paraffin (or modern equivalent!) and water into his guts.

The vets did not seem over worried, but this went on for days, and the horse was still not eating. To me, for a stoic horse that I knew well, I could see he was suffering, so I asked for a referral to vet hospital.

Once there he was thoroughly examined, everything, including samples from everywhere it was possible to collect samples from, including a huge needle directly into his gut! The had him in stocks, and while he was properly restrained he was again tubed, and this time it was effective, he got a full dose!

By the next morning he was a load better, and made a full recovery.

The moral of it, for me, is that the hospital treatment not only was more effective, but it also cost less that the myriad of visits from different vets.

Having learned from that my own horse is now the permanent patient of a major vet hospital, so we can whisk him in whenever there is a problem, to see a senior partner, where there is a full line up of equipment. When Jay had a lameness I would again say that it saved money, as he had just one visit where he was assessed, blocked, X rayed, scanned, and treated by a lameness specialist. I did not even have to pay a call out fee, as we travelled there.

With a colic I would do it sooner than later, while the horse is still fit to travel. I too would leave the vet practice where they did not take you seriously.
 
The vet practice that wasn't taking me seriously are the big vets!! Also my horse... I would choose surgery unless it was standing and steroids aren't an option as he is lami too. I aren't in a sandy area nope.
 
Borderreiver said:
Have you ruled out tapeworm as a cause of his colic, using the saliva test? Just worth a thought.
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Wored him for tape.. around the 10th of this month.

The Fuzzy Furry said:
Have the bloods also been tested for Lymes? Sometimes only 1 or 2 symptoms can be apparent, this test isn't often carried out tho
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I will be getting bloods done this week.

racebuddy said:
I would ask for a referral or a second opinion how is your horse today ?
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Today he seems ok actually.
 
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