Impacted Colic

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devilinajar

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My friends mare started with colic yesterday morning. She called the vet out, who proceded to up set Bell that much she reared up and took a chunk out of her head. Without even doing a recteal has told my friend she has an impaction, and for some reason has told my friend to give her Epsom Salts.
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Has anybodys vets ever told them to give a colicing horse these?
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I thought they were used for upset stomachs and as far as i knew colic is to do with the intestines not the stomach!!!!
 
That is what i thought. luckily she didnt get any worse over night. I have trained as vet nurse at and equine practice so have sent her out for some liquid parafin this morning, and told her if it gets any worse then to call the vet out again but to ask for a different one as this vet was very rude and very abrupt with an already very nervouse horse!!!!!!
 
Would have to do a rectal examination to determine if the horse if impacted.
If impaction was detected then the vet would usually drench with liquid paraffin and give muscle relaxants and pain killers like Buscapan (sp)
Fresh grass works a treat too - seems to get things moving.
My horse impacted after eating her straw bedding.
I would get another vet out to have a look at her as it isnt something you want to leave without being treated.
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what about bran??
would def get another vet there is no need for rudeness or worrying the horse after all they get paid a fortune to do the job
 
Yes the vet would normally use water and liquid parrifin, though epsom salts are used as a laxitive and draws water into the gut which hopefully will move the blockage.
 
I had a mare with impacted colic who was taken immediately to our vets to be flushed through, this was done for three days and still nothing. She was in a really bad way and was hooked up to a drip as she was dehydrating rapidly, they told me to prepare for the worst! When i arrived they had turned her out in a paddock of very lush grass and she was munching away and guess what!! she did the biggest poo i have ever seen come out of a horse and from then on she made a full recovery! What a relief!! The old saying 'Doctor Green' must be true in this case!
 
Just spoken too my friend, and she has put her out in the field for some grass, evidently the vet has phoned and has now dropped off some finadine paste and some liquid parafin, and told her to get as much parafin in her as she can and just to see how she goes. Im so not happy as she has not passed any droppings for over 24hrs now and she could have given her the parafin yesterday, and then she may have been much better today.
The vet has appolagised for yesterday and said she was just in a hurry to get to her daughters first birthday party. Think i might phone up myself and complain about her being very unprofesonal.
 
I'd keep a close eye and if theres any doubt get the vet out again- I had a horse years ago with an impaction and he had to go to an equine hospital as the volume of parraffin that he actually needed to get everything moving again was vast- a gallon drum! by stomach tube. Also had to be hooked up to a drip too. if he hadn't of got better after being given the parrafin by stomach tube they would of had to operate.

Hope she gets better quickly.
 
There was an impaction case shown on a TV vet programme a few weeks ago and I think they ran an article in one of the horsey mags recently too. You have to be careful with impaction colics as - obviously - the implication is that there is a lump of something that won't move that is blocking the gut. Once a correct diagnosis has been made, an initial attempt to clear it is often successful with vast volumes of Coca Cola! The vet on the TV case sent his staff down to Tescos to buy up a load of it! Unfortunately, there is a high rate of re-occurrence with impaction colics so fingers crossed for your friend's ned x
 
Hi

My friends horse had colic 2 weeks ago - the vet did an rectal exam and couldn't feel an impaction but obviously a vets arm can only go in so far so she wasn't 100% sure he hadn't got an impaction.

The course of treatment was painkillers, anti spasmodic then he was tubed - 3 litres of warm water was passed through the tube 1 litre at a time and then each time was taken back out his stomach - this is done to see if the stomach itself is twisted if the same amout of water comes out that is put in theres a problem. Thankfully only a small amount came out so I helped the vet then pour in a further 7 litres of warm water which had electrolights and epsom salts in it! I'm very pleased to say my friends horse has recovered well! No liquid parafin was used at all - your vet was wrong to rush with your friends horse but just wanted to let you know what my friends horse was given thought it might make your friend feel abit better?? Maybe epsom salts is as good as liquid parafin? who knows?
I hope your friends horse is recovering well now!
x
 
Hi my mare suffers with impaction colics after she had one the vet said it was the biggest she had ever seen and now the gut has stretched so she has had another 5 since. My vets recital her and then liquid paraffin her every time as well as muscle relaxcent. The Epsom salts go in as well as I know the mare doesn't drink when she colics so she has fluids as well. She usually lasts for three days until it has passed through but the amount of liquid paraffin we go through is unbelievable. My advice is get the vet back out and get a tube up its nose to put paraffin in, I don't allow my horse to eat anything whilst it's colicing apart from watered down beet to get fluids in her.
 
One of mine had a partial impaction eighteen months ago. She was still passing diarrhoeal dung, but lying down a lot and looking uncomfortable.
The vet came to see her first thing, gave Buscopan, and bute, then left her. When she didn't improve by that night, they admitted her to equine hospital, where she was observed overnight.
The next day they had to operate, and found that she had a small colon impaction (quite rare) due to a blood clot.
If I were you, I'd treat it with care.
S
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A great new hydration product called Horse Quencher (www.horsequencher.co.uk) - you put it in water, looks like muesli - gets horses drinking, rehab yards use it to prevent impaction colic

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and that would be your product, would it?
Advertising is not permitted in the Terms and Conditions
 
My friends horse had it two years ago, very scary as due to the build up of toxins she nearly didn't make it. The vet manually got as much poo out as possible and also stomach tubed her. She's never had it since then touch wood but as she's funny about drinking in winter we always make her feeds sloppy and give lots of succulants.
 
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The vet has appolagised for yesterday and said she was just in a hurry to get to her daughters first birthday party. Think i might phone up myself and complain about her being very unprofesonal.

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Too right! VERY unprofessional!
On a different note; How's your friend supposed to get the paraffin into the horse? One of mine had impaction years ago and they put it in through a tube up his nose.
 
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