Spykey
New User
Has any one ever come accross this with their horse?
Saturday morning i arrived to find my much loved 14 year old horse (who i have owned since he was 2) breathing very heavily and reluctant to move. his head was almost to the ground, he did not want to pick it up. He had only eaten half his net and 2 droppings all night. he usually does about 6 or 7. His bed didnt seem trashed. although 1 of his droppings was on his bankings and he never does this on his bankings. The vet came and he had a heart rate of 80. (60 is considered high) His circulation was poor. His legs were very cold. I was told he was very poorley. He was given some pain relief and some antibiotics. A rectal examination was carried out and all seemed fine in there. The vet returned a couple of hours later. His heart rate had not changed, his circulation was the same. She informed me again that he was very poorley and that it was suspected peritonitis. She returned again in the evening and started to wonder if he had inpacted colic. Heart rate was the same and circulation was the same. He has not passed any droppings all morning or had a wee.
She performed a rectal examination and found a bit of a blockage.
She inserted a tube up his nose and gave 3 jugs of epsom salts and water. this seemed to go down without any problems. she then gave him some different antibiotics and some more pain relief. I stayed with him all night and he did 5 droppings. he also had a couple of wees but he did struggle and had to stretch very hard to make one come out. the color was quite brown. i actually think there was a bit of blood in maybe. he was drinking throughout the night. and pickign at his haylage and sugar beet. he did seem a little restless but his head had picked up off the ground and he was a lot more alert. he did try a few times during the night to kick his stomach with his near hind. he only attemped to get down once and roll, and he only made it to his knees and got straight back up.
On sunday morning i opened his door and let him walk a little. he would take a few steps then stand still.. then take a few more and stand again. i let him "roam" in the indoor arena for about an hour. i then decided to put him back in his stable as he may have wanted a drink. i had to get someone to push him from behind as he was reluctant to walk. his breating had settled a little. (still not where near his normal self)
when the vet came back on sunday afternoon, his heart rate had not changed, his circulation had improved slightly, and he had had maybe 1 poo. and 1 week. (brown in color) She was very worried about him. she performed another rectal examination and he had about 7 pieces of small solid droppings in there. they sounded like stones as they hit the floor. she did the same with the tube again up his nose and with the epsom salts. she could only fit 2 jugs in this time as he was pretty full. she had to sedate him for this as she did not want him to be too uncomfortable knowing he had it done the previous night. the vet told me to ring if he changed for the worst at any time. as his sedation wore off his breathing becaame heavier and heavier. he was walking round and round his stable and trying to get down. when he got down he jumped straight back up and shot backwards a few strides. he tried to get down again but i managed to stop him. i was very worried so rang the vet and she said he will most probably be uncomfortable due to amount of fluid in his stomach. i let him out of his stable and he was walking round the indoor nibbling at bits of hay and haylage and water. this lasted about an hour then he did not want anyhtign to eat. he then started to walk sideways and backwards. it was like he was disorientated. he was trying to kick his stomach again with his near hind. we rang her again and she told us he had the most pain killers possible and she couldent give him anymore so we needed to decide wether or not to pts or to send to leahurst. he was not capable of travelling in a box for 1 hour. he could hardly stand up. we were just hoping and praying he would have a poo and feel a little btter but he didnt. he then kept trying to get down, we wouldent let him but every step he took he just wanted to get down. he managed to get down and he dropped to the floor with his legs off the ground. he was strugging to breathe and didnt even attempt to roll. his head was lay on the ground. the vet was on her way she was here within minutes. he got up and she checked his heart rate. this had increased to plus 80! his gums were purple so we had to put him down.
a post mortem was carried out monday morning and the vet was absoloutely shocked at what had happened. the first inspection showed peritonitis as suspected, further examination found a small part of his liver ( approx 1/10th) was completely strangulated by a mesh webb that covers the internal organs. it was wrapped in a way that looked like it had been tied round and round and round by a human!!! the vet had to take pictures as she had never ever seen anything like this before.
We still do not know what has caused this. he was perfectly fine on thursday and friday night when i left at 9pm.
has any one ever had or heard about anything like this before???
RIP SPYKE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Saturday morning i arrived to find my much loved 14 year old horse (who i have owned since he was 2) breathing very heavily and reluctant to move. his head was almost to the ground, he did not want to pick it up. He had only eaten half his net and 2 droppings all night. he usually does about 6 or 7. His bed didnt seem trashed. although 1 of his droppings was on his bankings and he never does this on his bankings. The vet came and he had a heart rate of 80. (60 is considered high) His circulation was poor. His legs were very cold. I was told he was very poorley. He was given some pain relief and some antibiotics. A rectal examination was carried out and all seemed fine in there. The vet returned a couple of hours later. His heart rate had not changed, his circulation was the same. She informed me again that he was very poorley and that it was suspected peritonitis. She returned again in the evening and started to wonder if he had inpacted colic. Heart rate was the same and circulation was the same. He has not passed any droppings all morning or had a wee.
She performed a rectal examination and found a bit of a blockage.
She inserted a tube up his nose and gave 3 jugs of epsom salts and water. this seemed to go down without any problems. she then gave him some different antibiotics and some more pain relief. I stayed with him all night and he did 5 droppings. he also had a couple of wees but he did struggle and had to stretch very hard to make one come out. the color was quite brown. i actually think there was a bit of blood in maybe. he was drinking throughout the night. and pickign at his haylage and sugar beet. he did seem a little restless but his head had picked up off the ground and he was a lot more alert. he did try a few times during the night to kick his stomach with his near hind. he only attemped to get down once and roll, and he only made it to his knees and got straight back up.
On sunday morning i opened his door and let him walk a little. he would take a few steps then stand still.. then take a few more and stand again. i let him "roam" in the indoor arena for about an hour. i then decided to put him back in his stable as he may have wanted a drink. i had to get someone to push him from behind as he was reluctant to walk. his breating had settled a little. (still not where near his normal self)
when the vet came back on sunday afternoon, his heart rate had not changed, his circulation had improved slightly, and he had had maybe 1 poo. and 1 week. (brown in color) She was very worried about him. she performed another rectal examination and he had about 7 pieces of small solid droppings in there. they sounded like stones as they hit the floor. she did the same with the tube again up his nose and with the epsom salts. she could only fit 2 jugs in this time as he was pretty full. she had to sedate him for this as she did not want him to be too uncomfortable knowing he had it done the previous night. the vet told me to ring if he changed for the worst at any time. as his sedation wore off his breathing becaame heavier and heavier. he was walking round and round his stable and trying to get down. when he got down he jumped straight back up and shot backwards a few strides. he tried to get down again but i managed to stop him. i was very worried so rang the vet and she said he will most probably be uncomfortable due to amount of fluid in his stomach. i let him out of his stable and he was walking round the indoor nibbling at bits of hay and haylage and water. this lasted about an hour then he did not want anyhtign to eat. he then started to walk sideways and backwards. it was like he was disorientated. he was trying to kick his stomach again with his near hind. we rang her again and she told us he had the most pain killers possible and she couldent give him anymore so we needed to decide wether or not to pts or to send to leahurst. he was not capable of travelling in a box for 1 hour. he could hardly stand up. we were just hoping and praying he would have a poo and feel a little btter but he didnt. he then kept trying to get down, we wouldent let him but every step he took he just wanted to get down. he managed to get down and he dropped to the floor with his legs off the ground. he was strugging to breathe and didnt even attempt to roll. his head was lay on the ground. the vet was on her way she was here within minutes. he got up and she checked his heart rate. this had increased to plus 80! his gums were purple so we had to put him down.
a post mortem was carried out monday morning and the vet was absoloutely shocked at what had happened. the first inspection showed peritonitis as suspected, further examination found a small part of his liver ( approx 1/10th) was completely strangulated by a mesh webb that covers the internal organs. it was wrapped in a way that looked like it had been tied round and round and round by a human!!! the vet had to take pictures as she had never ever seen anything like this before.
We still do not know what has caused this. he was perfectly fine on thursday and friday night when i left at 9pm.
has any one ever had or heard about anything like this before???
RIP SPYKE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
