Is no poo a sign of colic ??

Armas

Armas

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I go over to do a final good night to my boy at 11pm and am always greeted by a good pile of poo. :D
However today he has not passed any thing since this afternoon. Am I being paranoid ?? He seems fine in his stall not pacing or any thing. Just a lack of poo which is highly unusual.
Is the lack of poo a early sign of colic ?? Worried dad....
 
Yes it can be , is he eating and drinking as normal ?
If one of mine did that I would not go to bed until he does.
Try making up the bed or taking him for a walk around the yard or both.
 
I don't know about drinking as hard to judge but seems to be eating. I can't go to bed as I am worried.
Am going to wander back over to the stable now for another look.
May take him for a walk.
 
he would be already showing signs of discomfort even if it is early colic ... twitching, maybe getting a wee bit hot, not eating and he would look generally uncomfortable.

If he is comfortably eating his hay, then I would go and have a cup of tea for an hour and perhaps go back in a bit.

But, don't panic! They are like us in that sometimes their bowels don't run to a strick routine!!!
 
is he getting as much turn out as normal with the extra training he is doing? if not i would take him for a walk and a graze in hand.
not pooing as often as normal is a sign than things are not moving through the gut in the normal fashion for an individual horse, but a change in feeding or excersize pattern can affect this too.
i would be the same as above and not going to bed until something has been passed or true colic signs show and a vet has been
good luck hopefully its nothing.
has today been exciting has he passed more poo then normal earlier on in the day?
 
The early stages of an impaction colic can be really mild I have seen them eating and looking calm and normal , have his droppings looked normal in size and softness ?
 
It can be a sign of several very serious things. I would keep an eye on him myself. (I find tying them up on a clean yard gets things moving if there is nothing wrong...!:rolleyes:)
 
Just keep checking and don't worry too much, as already said he'd probably be showing other signs by now.

He may start wondering why you keep going out and checking him!! :p
 
Hope your neddie is ok.

If you can have a feel for his pulse (if its racing that would show pain)

Or press your ear to his tummy and have a listen. If there's lots of gurgling then that's good, if there's no noise that's bad!

And keep an eye out for the obvious signs, lots of lying down and getting up etc, instead of pacing my little lad stands stock still with his head hung low when he's in pain.

Look for any signs (wet patches etc) that your horse has been biting at his sides.

Hope its a false alarm!xxx
 
muckypony said:
Just keep checking and don't worry too much, as already said he'd probably be showing other signs by now.

He may start wondering why you keep going out and checking him!! :p
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Absolutely! and he will pick up on your nerves/stress and panic ... you need to look at the whole picture and not focus on one slightly different thing out of the norm.

And you need to keep calm first and foremost!!!!
 
The fact that its a change from your horses normal then yes id be keeping a close eye on the horse.
The early signs can be very subtle and it can missed in the early stages,youve already picked up on a difference
Has your management changed in the last week or so, like stabled, and extra hay instead of grass ?
As well as reduced droppings in the stable
Is there reduced or no bowel sounds present ?
Is heart rate up, even slightly ?
A bit warm ?
Possible increase in breathing ?
Having nearly lost a horse to impaction colic caused by not drinking due to the freezing weather in 2010 if it was mine id be closely monitoring until something appears, that said my mare was passing dung, but much less than normal which could be the case for yours and imo my horse was left to long by the vet who attended x 2 overnight then am which resulted in a night walking her and a trip to the vet hospital where she was flooded with iv fluids and drugs in an effort to soften and move everything along and kept in for a week just making it.
Id be either checking every couple of hours overnight if you live there or camping out in the stables, but it might be worth calling the on call vet for a chat before it gets to late
 
Never have I been so happy to see a pile of poo :D I have just come back from his box to be greeted by a lovely steaming pile.
It feels like a weight has just been lifted from my shoulders.

THANK YOU ALL for your comments :):):)

I can now go to sleep.
 
Glad to hear it, sometimes they're allowed to be slightly out of routine! Maybe he's done more throughout the day than usual or something.

tonitot - If I'm thinking right, then starting a lorry often makes them poo... My old pony would do about five or six tiny poos as soon as a lorry was started/trailer was moved out of sheer excitement!!
 
ahh that is great ... sleep well you and neddy!!!!

(and just thinking .. if he was a person, wonder what he would say about his bowel movements being discussed by strangers over the www!!!!!)
 
tonitot said:
Goldenstar, not sure if I'm being stupid here but how will starting a lorry help?

Hope Armas is okay.
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Makes them poo because they are excited if droppings then look normal no problem.
If they don't poo keep watching.
In fact with mine all I would have to do is open a couple of tack lockers and carry some stuff out of the tack room.
I also know people who take them for a drive if they are not pooing to get them going.
 
Goldenstar said:
Makes them poo because they are excited if droppings then look normal no problem.
If they don't poo keep watching.
In fact with mine all I would have to do is open a couple of tack lockers and carry some stuff out of the tack room.
I also know people who take them for a drive if they are not pooing to get them going.
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Lol like driving a baby about to make it sleep
 
Tonitot. Most horses do little pops through nervous excitement when they think they are going somewhere so that's how starting the lorry can help. Most on our yard do it...apart from mine who doesn't care, lol.

I suspected impaction in my old mare once so put her travel boots on and pulled the trailer round and hey presto...poo started appearing.

I would say it is never bad to take these worries seriously.

I know the resting heart rate of my girls so it is the first thing i check. It is worth checking resting heart rate at the same time every day for two weeks to know the normal rates for your horse, then you can pick up on heightened or lowered heart rates much more accurately.

Very glad you were greeted with a steaming pile of poo :-)
 
Goldenstar said:
The early stages of an impaction colic can be really mild I have seen them eating and looking calm and normal , have his droppings looked normal in size and softness ?
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Friend's horse had very mild case of impaction colic. Called vet out..sorry this isn't much help as I can't remember what was said, but...horse was fed something, possibly a supplement and was fixed soon after :D
 
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