I'm at my wit's end

Oh god i so feel for you, colic is an evil ********r of an ailment and terrifies even the most experienced owner, i hope they get to the bottom of the cause for both your sakes ( hugs ) i have also done the walking in snow through the night and shattered trip to the vet hospital the next day, so appreciate just how rotten and worried youre feeling, i really hope you get things sorted out this time
 
I'm so sorry, there can't be many illnesses that are as worrying for you as colic. My mate had an attack before christmas, we're still not 100% on the cause, but my vets took bloods after to test for internal problems like a tumour or worms to see if that was causing the problem. They turned out negative, so we put it down to being feed related, and she has had haylage instead of hay plus sloppy feeds ever since, water topped up with hot when it's chilly and a shavings bed ever since.

Touch wood, she has recovered well, but it is worth getti g the bloods done. Good luck for you both x
 
Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. It really helps to know that there are people out there who also care.
I didn't get a call through the night and am waiting for an update sometime today from them.
Will post again when I know more.
 
When your mare is a bit better, could you lead her out in hand to graze along, say, a track verge to get some grass into her?

It's regarded as Stone Age stuff now, but our hunters were always fed bran mashes in 'the old' days, and we never EVER had a colic attack in 22 years of 4 hunters. I still feed my horses their meals (they live out 24/7) very very moist, especially in frosty/snowy weather. The feeds look quite sloppy, but they love them, and the hot water brings the aromas out! I also feed limited amounts of home cooked linseed, which I think has a very good effect on the gut.

I am so sorry you are having these problems. Colic is a horrible thing, but you sound to be in very good hands, both with your vets and the YO. May she have a quick recovery!
 
Sorry I haven't posted but there was no update to post until now.
She finally had a colic attack at the hospital. I know this may sound cruel and horrible but I am ecstatic she suffered one while she was there as they could carry out investigations immediately. This is what we have been waiting for the last few days.
She is ok now after medication to relax the bowel.
I thought I was going mad, that I was doing something wrong that was casuing her to colic or maybe she had developed a sudden allergy to her food. I was going to take her normal hay and food with me tonight so that they could feed it to her and see if that triggered an attack but that is now obviously not the problem. :D I am so relieved.
Anyway they carried out a scan of her bowel and found a thickened wall of the small intestine. They say this could be as a result of all the colic attacks she has had over the last 10 days or it could be something else entirely.
They are going to continue their investigations further tomorrow. She is going to be scoped and they will check in case the ulcers have returned as well but they are also going to take a biopsy of the thickened wall and test it.
They are also going to try a glucose test. That is they will put some glucose solution straight into her stomach and then test her blood every couple of hours to see how fast or slow her body is absorbing this. This will give them am indication of how fast or slow her food travels through her system. If it is too slow or too fast then this can be addressed.
I am so pleased (that sounds so wrong but I think you'll know what I mean :))
Finally we are getting somewhere. Now to start to worry about what they find in the biopsy and what that will mean.
Going to visit her tonight. So looking forward to seeing her. :D It's horrible having to look at an empty stable when I there with the others.
 
Apologies as I haven't read all the thread but have they considered migrating blood worms (large redworms) causing the colic episodes? I believe they can cause severe episodic pain when on the move which can appear like gut colic.

ps. Fingers firmly crossed they get to the bottom of it.
 
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Poor you, I know how desperate it is when your horse is ill.

Long term I would talk to the vet about whether she would be better out 24/7. I have one who used to be stabled a lot. She is now out all the time with field shelters. She often pops herself away as if it was a stable, but never more that for a couple hours before she comes out and mooches around for a bit.
 
Our welsh cob did this a couple of years ago. We think an initial attack was eating the bed of straw and then this attack caused the lining of his intestestine to get lesions which made it sensitive causing subsequent colicing. I learnt as hard as it was to starve for 24 hours then reintroduce hay very slowly over a week after then soak his pony nuts with hot water until they were sloppy then add a probiotic. The best advice off our vet was that doctor green is best and come spring we turned him out for 4 months and it really worked.
 
Its less common in mature horses but we have had occasional positive results(I work in a vet lab) from mature horses but get your vets to check for lawsonia intracellularis. It can cause the above and can be treated. Make sure they do the faecal pcr test and the serum IFAT test as whilst the pcr is very sensitive I believe shedding of the organism is intermittent. I hope shes ok.
 
I commiserate with you - a horse sick with colic is an emotional event! I've slept outside my mare's box on many a cold night just on the mere suspicion - she displayed all the classic symptoms three or four times and was always brought on by her amazing appetite and a change in fields or sudden weather ( which altered the nutritional content of the grass ) so some easier to control than others.

However; colic ( or what people refer to as colic ) is just the symptoms not a disease so no one really knows what you are dealing with - and by now vetinerary science has probably moved on quite a bit since my midnight dashes - I'm in favour of every test your people can think of.

It took a long time but now it's pretty well established that most ulcers are caused by bugs ( sorry I call every disease a bug!) bacteria, virus even fungi can do all kinds of damage and in the horse it usually affects their digestion sooner or later.

I think you are treating your horse very well, vet, hospital etc., I can appreciate the wits end thing but beware of all the "old wive's tales" you'll get asking on an open forum.
 
I really hope your mare is improving by now and hopefully you will have proper answers and a constructive solution tomorrow. My old mare recently passed away (last month) after displacement of her left colon and ongoing colic. She also had severe ulcers which treatment was being given. Sadly she colicked severely and the vet couldn't shift the displacement without surgery and given her age she was just too old to put through it. She was 20.
 
Made the journey to see her tonight and I'm pleased I did. She was really pleased to see us and very affectionate with both me and my daughter which is really unusual. As soon as I saw her, I knew she wasn't feeling well and yes, the colic symptoms started to rear their ugly head while we where there. Informed the staff on duty and we stayed with her almost 90 mins. Typical when the staff were watching her she didn't really show the symptoms but as soon as their back was turned..... The symptoms were different tonight to the ones she usually shows. Yes, she was pacing, curling her lip, yawning wide and wanted to roll but she was also standing with her front legs and back legs stretched out, kicking out at the wall and basically stretching her whole body as far as she could. I think the staff think I'm over stating things but they don't know her like I do. It seemed as though it was spasmodic.
We spent some quality time with her, trying to make her comfortable but when we had to eventually leave they took her out of her box to see if some gentle exercise would help and if not they were going to call the on duty vet. They are watching her closely and her neighbour opposite as he was also very unwell. Didn't like leaving her like that but I know she's in the best place. I can't even phone them to see if she's any better as there is only a telephone number for emergency admissions. I will be ringing them first thing in the morning. Not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight.
They start with the tests tomorrow and I also need to speak to them about some suggested tests. Somtimes I wish i had never moved over here. :o It's difficult enough with another language but when they add all their veterinary jargon in to the mix! I can speak the language very well but when your stressed and upset you tend to forget simple words! Luckily my daughter is on hand to help. Her Dutch is better now than her English :p:(
I will update once I know more tomorrow. Let's hope that the test results are positive and this can be treated.
 
Oh MM, I missed this- what a ******! Poor Ruby- and poor you- big hugs from me and ponies here.

Don't know if it'll help longer term, but I swopped the boys to Allen and page feeds a wee while ago as I was worried at the amount Ru sweats in summer, and enough water getting to them in winter when they slow down/are stuck in, and they're just coming out of their first winter on fast fibre- I've soaked it well in warm water on really cold days, cold water usually, and they're just on that and HiFi with currently a sprinkle of 'just grass'- like ready grass as ours is totally dead now :( they have never looked so well- and the stress head gingernut is actually gaining weight.

Fingers firmly crossed for Ruby xxx
 
The cause has been found and it's one of those cases where it had been one thing that has led to another that has led to another!

I'll explain. :rolleyes:

During the recent very cold weather we have had, the pipes for the water troughs in the stables froze and so the horses had to have buckets and tubs in their stables. It turns out that Ruby didn't drink enough even though we kept the water topped up with warm water. She also seemed to be eating some of her bedding. This led to impaction colic which resulted in her first trip to the horspital on 21st January. They sorted that and she came home on Friday night 25th Janaury.
Next morning she started again with colic symptoms but with no apparent cause. After the 3rd attack in 36 hrs we took her back to the horspital. They have carried out various tests today. The first was a glucose test. This was to measure how fast the food is absorbed and travels through her digestive system. The results of this test are good - she is well within normal levels.
They have scoped her today as well and low and behold they found very small ulcers in her stomach. :eek: The vets there are 99% certain that these have been caused by the stress of the impaction colic.
She had colic around this time last year and after investigation was diagnosed with very nasty ulcers. After the initial treatment with Gastrogard we had this under control. We changed her from haylage to hay and made sure she had food 24/7. We also added Slippery Elm and camomile flowers to her feeds and tried to keep her as stress free as possible.
The biopsy results for the thickened small intestine wall will not be back till Tuesday but this is now looking like an inflammation caused by the impaction colic.
So now, back to a month's Gastrogard treatment and then the slippery elm and camomile flowers in her food and for safety's sake an ulcer supplement. I am so relieved it is not a food allergy or something much much worse. I will also keep her on the wood shavings so she's not tempted to eat her bed.

Now, I'll also add Epsom salts to her food if I don't think she is drinking enough so we prevent the whole cycle from starting again.

Seems like I'm going to have to watch her like a hawk in the winter months. Dr. Green takes care of her in the summer. :D
I think I've taken 10 yrs off my life expectancy with all the worry this last 2 weeks. Ulcers? - It should be me suffering from the ulcers through the stress she has put me through. May also have to take the Gastrogard:D:D
 
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And it just goes on and on :(:(

Thought I would be able to bring Ruby home yesterday but when I hadn't heard from the hospital by late afternoon, I gave up waiting and rang them.
Apparently the ulcers are not the only problem causing the colic. :(
Spoke to the vet and the results of the biopsy had come back. Ruby also has a chronic bowel infection. My poor poor mare. No wonder she was in such pain. :(
She was still having small colic episodes off and on over the weekend but when we saw her on Sunday she was her old self - looking for food and attention! :p
The vet wants to keep her there a while longer. She is now on the Gastroguard and a mild painkiller. Vet is hoping the Gastroguard will help with the infection :confused::confused:
If not then they are talking about giving her steriods which I really do not want them to do.
So , what other than steroids are my options? I would like to be able to suggest something else to the vet. Having experienced a protracted course of steroids, this is the last thing I want to subject Ruby to. If there is no alternative then ok.
 
oh no poor you and Ruby it must be a very stressful time for you both, and i hope things improve quickly.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but just a quick question and i apologise for not reading through all the thread word for word, but why have Epsoms salts been recommended? I thought that unless highly diluted in water these can cause damage to the intestinal lining.
 
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