Off colour...virus?

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doris2008

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Rode my Tb last night about 4 ish and then did my usual chores and fed. He was fine when ridden - perfectly normal and forward going. He ate some of his dinner then lost interest. This is VERY unusual for him. Left him with it and he ignored it but was eating some hay.
YO has just left me a message saying he's not right today. Didnt eat breakfast, hasn't eaten much hay overnight and hasn't pooed much. She has checked his temperature and its normal. He isn't showing any colic signs - he has been prone to gassy colic in the past,but he's very obvious with it - will thrash around, look at belly alot etc.
YO has given him a walk around and kept him in.
Should we just keep an eye on him or should I get him checked over?
 
If he's displaying behaviour that is unusual for him, then better to speak to the vet about it than leave it. Horses don't usually stop eating unless there is something wrong, and not all colics manifest themselves in the same way, often the more serious cases are just quiet. I would get him checked over.
 
I think it would be unlikely. He was lightly hacked around tracks, and is on no cereals and a high fibre diet. Doesn't seem stiff or uncomfortable but generally miserable it sounds.
YO has called to say they have walked him around in the menage for an hour and he seems to have perked up a little bit. Although has only had 1 poo today. But considering he hasnt eaten much that is not suprising. They've given him a small net to see if he's interested and he has normal sounding gut sounds!

The only thing suddenly ocurring to me is that he had vaccinations on Tuesday. I wonder whether its a reaction to them?
 
The vaccinations could well be the cause then, just like the human flu vac can make people feel a bit under the weather.
 
doris2008 said:
The only thing suddenly ocurring to me is that he had vaccinations on Tuesday. I wonder whether its a reaction to them?
Click to expand...

A couple on our yard, including mine, had a reaction to their vaccs this year.
Mine had a raging temperature and was off her feed, which must be bad, as she was born to eat. They didn't have any colic type symptoms, they were just very quiet in themselves.

Hope he picks up soon.
 
doris2008 said:
I think it would be unlikely. He was lightly hacked around tracks, and is on no cereals and a high fibre diet. Doesn't seem stiff or uncomfortable but generally miserable it sounds.
YO has called to say they have walked him around in the menage for an hour and he seems to have perked up a little bit. Although has only had 1 poo today. But considering he hasnt eaten much that is not suprising. They've given him a small net to see if he's interested and he has normal sounding gut sounds!

The only thing suddenly ocurring to me is that he had vaccinations on Tuesday. I wonder whether its a reaction to them?
Click to expand...

Bear in mind it takes 36 hours approx for food to pass through, so if he's not eating much today then you won't have reduced droppings until 36 hours later....
I'd be thinking that there may be a pelvic flexure impaction brewing, these often present with very little in the way of typical colic signs but is very common following disturbed weather etc etc.

I would get vet to check before it goes on into the weekend myself as the impaction type scenario will only get bigger and gut sounds will eventually disappear.

Suspect unlikely to be vacc reaction.
Imogen
 
Hi Doris
I've had two of my TBs have similar symptoms over last two wks. First one displayed very similar behaviour, went off his food for a couple of days although did pick at hay, but didnt poo much at all. This lasted for two days and I was unsure if just a bit off colour, but he then lay down whislt in the field which is really not like him and was looking slightly uncomfortable but not classically colicky. Maybe slightly gassy but had none of the other colic symptoms and he is not one to be colic prone.
Vet came out and treated for usual colic symptoms and he was fine for a day but then went down with the same symptoms the day after that. We took bloods this time and he came back with a very high white cell count which we treated with baytril and bute and he is now doing fine. A week later one of my mares started to display exactly the same symptoms and again bloods were taken and white cell count was high so treated in the same way. Bloods have come back and treatment seems to have sorted it although we are still in the dark as to the cause.
Rest of my gang have been completely unaffected although we are still monitoring them all. So maybe would suggest you get some bloods taken if you are a little worried. It could of course be something completely different but my vet has been having a few odd cases like this lately so thought I would share this with you in case it helps.
Hope he gets better soon x
 
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