INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

roloaimee

roloaimee

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Hello

I have a 15 2 TB who was intimately lame so i started to loan a new horse and turned him away in a field for 4 weeks - he lost a hell of a lot of weight even tho being fed once a day.

Hes now stabled and not gained any weight, and he is very very under weight, his spine is protruding the whole way along, you can see every rib, he looks like a rescue pony - he has had numerous of tests - been scoped etc but has been diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He is now on steroids for the next 3 month - but he is very under weight, the vet is optimistic but i need some reassurance - has any body had any dealings with this?? and any advice??

thanks alot
very worried for him

aimee
 
My last horse was diagnosed with IBS a few years ago. He had bloods taken which showed inflammation and in the end was given a rectal biopsy with showed the IBS up. He lived on steroids long term. We slowly reduced the amount down and we instantly saw when the doze was too low as he got the runs. So they were upped again. He lived quite happily on the steroids and during the time spoke to my farrier about them possibly causing lami but he said he thought my boy would be safe but we just monitored things. They never caused any issue and he got better. But did get PTS but for a completely different reason he had plevic issues that deteriorated.

I hope the steroids work for you like they did for my horse and I hope he back to normal soon. x
 
Really ? He had to stay on them forever?? I was hoping not !!! I asked the vet and he seemed to think he might not need to stay on them?? I suppose its how he copes isn't it??
 
Yeah it all depends on how they get on with them. I do reckon if he was still with me would he be on them now. possibly not as he was getting weaned off them gradually and he could be on 5 tablets a day for weeks and then have to go up to 50 as things got upset again. So there was a good chance I would have gotten him off them but always have some incase we needed them.

Every horse is different so you may need a few months on them and then gradually reduce then and come off them.
 
The tablets were prednisolone and I think we started off with something like 250 a day and decreased it down gradually to 10 I think. They are a prescription tablet. But depending how much your vet charges for them you can perhaps get a prescription and hunt around for best price.

He was off work till we got a diagnosis but was brought back into work while on the tablets with no issues at all :)
 
Well my horse has lost a lot of weight - he's skin and bones which is why I called the vet - they have a glucose test and a rectal biopsy - basically every half hour they should absorb a certain percentage of their feed but rolo wasn't so this and the rectal biopsy showed this up, obviously we ruled out a few other things too such as ulcers, cancer, liver probs. Rolo was also very lethargic. Apart from that no signs really. He's bed seems very messy too. A lot cleaner today so hopefully on the mend! Why did the vet mention this ?? What's up with ur horsey x
 
well for the last year she has been offish she started to colic end of last winter and lost weight so had her scoped she had grade 1 and 2 ulcers so was treated and began to change back to the horse i new she had a massive temprament change to a stressy mess so i had my calm horse back but she never seemed to get back the weight she once had but i kept trying with lots of diffrent feeds sutialble for ulcer prone horses (trying to cut this all short or it will be an essay) then winter came and all symtoms return but worse just as she started to get a little weight back on! So had the vet back on the GG she went but two months later she still isnt great so we are doing another scope and she were we stand and if not glucose testing and possible biopsy for IBD!
 
You sound like it having as much fun as me! Let me know how u get on and what ur vet advises if u don't mind?? Xx
 
420206_10150607080358021_503998020_9055031_2083998046_n.jpg


rolo - when diagnosed with inflammatory bowel...

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rolo today looking alot better
 
Twinkle,I saw on thread on ulcers which said colonic ulcers are often the cause of such symptoms but don't show up on a scope like gastric ulcers do. Horses can have both types at once but GG doesn't cure the colonic ones-treatment for those is something different and diagnosis requires different tests. Apologies if you already know this :-/
 
Hi ya / yes is that the same as hind gut? My vet tested literally for everything! The last test was glucose and a biopsy. Which determined his diagnosis, but as u can see he's looking a lot better now x
 
My boy suffered with this! Basically from the age of 2 until 5, spent thousands on him, plenty of steroids but really bad when off them. He didn't grow properly, I couldn't break him as too underweight. He was better in the summer when out and immediately bad when stables even though not a stressy horse.

Basically gave up hope with the vets as no improvement and not insured we couldn't afford any more steroids.
I rang Allen and page who sent me a feed specialist. She put him on fast fibre, loads of the stuff and within 24 hours he was heaps better, then suggested Coligon - masses more improvement again and then put him on non fertilised hay - result! Completely solid, now 6yrs and has gone from 14.2hh to 15.3hh in the last year and I honestly thought he would never grow after what he has been through.
I have run out of coligone now so I thought I would try without but although he is no where near as bad, somedays he can be a little soft so he is going back on it. Good luck x
 
really, what is coligne? sorry if misspelt? rolo did was on fast fibre a while back?
so you had to keep your horse on permanent steroids?
when u sat soft ? was hes poo very mushy ?? i have put rolo on yea sacc now and changed feed to speedi beet and alpha a oil - with some nuts in... vet seemed to think that i shouldn't need to keep rolo on steroids for the rest of his life?? i was under the impression once he was ok - that was it ??? i am very confused!!!
 
Skinny - yes, never changed from when he was a yearling, always skinny and bony looking. He wasn't soft to begin with it was water, to the point of couldn't wash his bum enough, always covered in .... and burnt the skin he was so bad.
I had to take him off ALL feed! He can't have sugarbeet, chaff or anything else. Just fast fibre and hay and honestly he looks amazing on it! Search coligone they have a website. I'm in work now but as soon as I'm home infront of a computer I will pm you. Typing on a phone drives me mad and I can be a lot clearer and detailed if I pm you. Check your comp in the morning, I will type it tonight for you x
 
would u also tell me - just looked it up how long the coligone lasted you?? did u have the powder or liquid - rolo also windsucks it says it helps with that too! i might try some of that if need be!
 
Sadley my friend lost hers to this last year he wouldnt eat and only the steroids kept him alive he was so thin she had him pts in the end couldnt bare his suffering ,i hope you rlad does better after his steroids and continues to recover afterthey have been reduced xx
 
Think about eliminating all grains, and particularly soya from his diet. It may help him a great deal.

That means moving on to a forage based diet, but even the wheatfeed used to spin out supplements can cause an issue.
 
Rolo has been put onto stronger steroid but still hasn't gained that much weight although has gained a little I'm starting to feel unoptimistic
 
I know this is an old post but would really like to hear how the horses with IBD are doing now as ours has just been diagnosed with the disease. Thanks
 
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