Recurrent colic with no obvious cause

[Cates123]

Hi all, I'm looking for some help to identify why my horse is suffering from recurrent colic. I've had my 5yr old ex-racehorse for 2 months (race until end of April '22) and he had his first colic episode within 10 days, vet administered pain relief and fluids and it cleared. Next bout was 3 weeks later and resulted in colic surgery for displaced colon (due to gas build up). He was then scoped and found to have ulcers which have been treated successfully but he then colicked again this week and is back at the vets where we're trying to get to the bottom of it all. He's on wet, low starch/high fibre feed (4x small feeds a day), all day turn out in small paddock with not too much grass (and nothing is growing at the moment in this weather) plus wet hay available and then stabled at night with ad lib wet hay. Always plenty of clean water available. No exercise due to surgery but he was previously worked every day - he's now walked morning and night and moves around his field a lot. We keep his days as similar as possible to avoid any changes triggering him. He's the quietest boy and dealing with it all so well, so we assume stress isn't a cause, but we're pulling our hair out and my anxiety is through the roof. It's horrible to see him go through all this and I'm hopeful someone will have some answers on here.

 

[Connemara24]

Hi all, I'm looking for some help to identify why my horse is suffering from recurrent colic. I've had my 5yr old ex-racehorse for 2 months (race until end of April '22) and he had his first colic episode within 10 days, vet administered pain relief and fluids and it cleared. Next bout was 3 weeks later and resulted in colic surgery for displaced colon (due to gas build up). He was then scoped and found to have ulcers which have been treated successfully but he then colicked again this week and is back at the vets where we're trying to get to the bottom of it all. He's on wet, low starch/high fibre feed (4x small feeds a day), all day turn out in small paddock with not too much grass (and nothing is growing at the moment in this weather) plus wet hay available and then stabled at night with ad lib wet hay. Always plenty of clean water available. No exercise due to surgery but he was previously worked every day - he's now walked morning and night and moves around his field a lot. We keep his days as similar as possible to avoid any changes triggering him. He's the quietest boy and dealing with it all so well, so we assume stress isn't a cause, but we're pulling our hair out and my anxiety is through the roof. It's horrible to see him go through all this and I'm hopeful someone will have some answers on here.

Grass sickness as much as I hope it's not and very much doubt it Is but it can be a cause of recurrent colic. Might be worth asking you vets about it. I had 2 pass away from it. Hope your find the cause soon, its never nice when they are ill.

 

[MereChristmas]

I have had 3 cases of grass sickness and although 2 colicked they all stopped eating completely and lost an enormous amount of weight rapidly.
My pony had ulcers and he colicked 3 times in 2 weeks although he had other symptoms too.
Was your horse scoped after the ulcer treatment? I believe sometimes more than one course of Gastroguard, or similar, is needed.

 

[JumpTheMoon1]

Sorry to hear this - i would say its a weakness your horse has for colic.Hes a colic prone horse - some never suffer and some do.You have only had him a short time so ask the seller what was his history with colic - they might lie or be honest.Good luck.

 

[Cates123]

Thanks for the info. He hasn't lost his appetite - in fact he'll eat just before he colics and try to continue grazing. In fact, he's always been completely fine (eating, drinking and good droppings) right up until he starts to colic. Sadly weight is hard to judge as he arrived in racing weight and since surgery has dropped even more so that he's currently very thin. He was rescoped today and it was completely clear - great news about ulcers but bad news that sorting that issue hasn't stopped his colic episodes.

I will ask the vet about grass sickness but really hoping it's not that. Have had other horses on the same paddock all year with no issue, but I know it's a bit random which horse gets effected.

 

[ycbm]

I hope AdorableAlice will be along shortly but she's been struggling with this in a mare and has now, I think, got her stabilised. If she doesn't spot the thread, you could PM her.
.

 

[tristar]

has he been dosed for tapeworm and egg counted for other worms

if it got desperate i would worm him, just saying, actually thinking abut it i did just that many years ago with a hopeless case that nearly died, as a last resort he was injected with cattle wormer that you could use for horses as well, as we had nothing to lose, within24 hours he looked better, he had recurrent colic, he lived to a good old age in the end

 

[Cates123]

has he been dosed for tapeworm and egg counted for other worms

if it got desperate i would worm him, just saying, actually thinking abut it i did just that many years ago with a hopeless case that nearly died, as a last resort he was injected with cattle wormer that you could use for horses as well, as we had nothing to lose, within24 hours he looked better, he had recurrent colic, he lived to a good old age in the end

Thanks for this. He's was full spectrum wormed after last bout and worm count taken from droppings - being redone now to recheck. What was he injected with? We've covered all the most likely issues but still getting colic so I'm ready to hear/try anything at this point. Hoping we can get this sorted and crack on with a normal life - he's a lovely horse but I'm beginning to worry we won't get over this hurdle.

 

[Marigold4]

Thanks for this. He's was full spectrum wormed after last bout and worm count taken from droppings - being redone now to recheck. What was he injected with? We've covered all the most likely issues but still getting colic so I'm ready to hear/try anything at this point. Hoping we can get this sorted and crack on with a normal life - he's a lovely horse but I'm beginning to worry we won't get over this hurdle.

Might still be worth testing for tapeworm though. It won't show up on wormcounts. Tapeworm can be the cause of recurrent colic.

 

[SO1]

With my pony it turned out to be a gastric impaction only picked up when scoped for ulcers.

It may take a while for your horse's gut to stabilise after surgery.

I do feel for you it is a constant worry that you turn up at the yard to a colicing horse.

You could also try colikare supplement if it is gassy colic.

 

[nutjob]

I had one who had multiple colics believed to be caused by eosinophilic colitis. It only stopped when I got him completely off grass and fed him on hay / haylage. Most vets who saw him said he should be turned out more, partly because they thought that more movement would improve things. Even after he stopped colicing without grass some refused to believe that was the cause so they are not always right. He was allergic to other things as well and also suffered from urticaria (hives) sometimes very badly and was a headshaker. Keeping a diary of everything helped me to work out what was going on. That included things like weather conditions, exercise, feeding, turnout etc to see if there is any common trigger. For yours, it might be worth contacting the trainer to see if there were problems before you got him and what was his regime whilst there in case they can recommend something.

Mine wasn't a very good drinker and especially at competitions and had to have a thin soup sugar beet / pony nuts to persuade him to take anything. It sounds like you have this covered though.

A friends horse also had a lot of colic and like yours was found to have ulcers. His mainly happened in the morning if he had run out of hay. It resolved only after having kissing spine surgery which I guess relieved the pain which had caused the ulcers.

I do know how stressful it is, mine went from looking OK to flat on the floor in minutes, it was always in the evening after being turned out for a few hours. I would also advise that you make a plan about what you would do in various scenarios while you are not in an emergency situation.

 

[SO1]

You have not had him long and lots of life style changes I expect from being a race horse to being a leisure horse a different diet and routine. Then surgery. If he is on wet hay could it have fermented in the hot weather and caused a build up of gas?

 

[pistolpete]

Equi biome test through Carol Hughes might help?

 

[Red-1]

I have known 2 over the years with recurrent colic and no obvious cause, even with great efforts to keep them regular. The colics would be regular but relatively quickly resolved without surgery. They got worse and finally, on PM with one, surgery with the other, they both had internal growths.

In a way it was a relief that it wasn't anything we had done wrong.

 

[pistolpete]

Mine used to colic quite regularly. He’s stopped since he’s on 24/7 turn out and not ridden. Stress related? Was always very stressy to ride.

 

[Cates123]

I've chatted to his trainer and he never colicked with her, whether in work or not and didn't seem to bother when lifestyle changes were introduced previously, all very confusing. I also spoke with the vet who is sure it's not grass sickness so we're putting him on steroids and rechecking his worm count to be safe. He comes home tomorrow and I'm going to try him on 24 hr turnout and see if that helps. Hoping it was a complication from the surgery but I guess only time will tell. He's a super chilled out horse so no obvious signs of stress. Thanks for the help!

 

[AdorableAlice]

I hope AdorableAlice will be along shortly but she's been struggling with this in a mare and has now, I think, got her stabilised. If she doesn't spot the thread, you could PM her.
.

Yes, the mare is stabilised at the moment. After many visits to horsepital and a multitude of tests, we are none the wiser for reasons. However, I did keep a diary throughout and the main denominator for her is seasonally growing sugary grass and lack of drinking. All episodes bar one have been gas and displaced. One was impaction due to no drinking. She was very dry inside.

The last visit to hospital was August last year and they wanted to open her up and have a look. With guidance from my own vets that was declined and she is not insured. My own vets stuck to her problems being management and environmental. My own vets know the mare and I very well. I trust their judgement totally. The hospital vet left me with one never forgotten piece of advice for this horse - 'never let her get a full belly, no gorging on anything, always keep her half full and carefully trickle feed the into her.

I have adhered to this advice religiously. The mare isn't impressed ! but never gets the tell tale bloated look, has trimmed down and is happier in herself.

She grazed through winter each morning 8 to 1, except for frosty mornings with no issues, ridden daily only hacking, she is my plod. Well soaked and weighed hay. I developed a system of getting 40 litres of fluid into her a day by using Saracen Recovery mix 500g dissolved in 10 litres of warm water. Also use Spillers senior mix apple and cinnamon flavour. hard feed is minimal and to carry Equine 74, colikare and vits. High level of vit e given. We got through winter without a hiccup from her, but severe hiccups from me due to financial ruin !! it is also exhausting as I have to go back to her late at night.

I check her muck daily to ensure it is full of moisture, any doubt and another dose of fluid is given.

Spring this year and she was out 8 to 1 on a track system, no grass to note, but she did it again in May, gassy bloated and on the deck. Treated at home, starved and exercised, pain relief etc. The mare has not been turned out since and is maintained totally on hay. Her stable has a hard standing area outside and I ensure she has a lot of enrichment with toys and food puzzles, exercise of some sort twice a day. In the heat earlier this week she was on the lunge at 11pm. That did not please her but her belly needed a wobble.

I've done endless reading and tried to educate myself. I have looked at old fashioned remedies. Fennel seeds and mint for instance. I feed both, fresh mint from the garden, fennel from Global Herbs. Both have a marked effect on her with much increased farting. Colikare is oil, fennel, mint and marjoram. Fluid, more fluid and even more, yes her bed can be swamp like at times, but shavings are cheaper than hospital and one day she might not come home. Exercise, gentle but regular is also important for her.

I still worry endlessly about her, but I keep trying to keep her alive.

I have a horse who cannot seem to eat what nature intended them to do, survive on grass.

 

[Cates123]

We're just going to try different things and see what works - for some people it's 24 hr turnout, others none. I think more turn out and movement will be our friend......we will see. Hoping we'll figure it out and life will become easier. I'll update on how things go on and if we ever find our answer!

 

[Snow Falcon]

I hope you get to the bottom of it. Colic is such a worry. Sadly I speak from bitter experience with a mare I had-delayed gastric emptying.

 

[chaps89]

Was he getting any grass turnout at the racing yard? If not and he didn’t colic there, based on what others have said, that could be your problem?

 

[Cates123]

I spoke to his trainer and he was turned out during training but was also turned away for 6 months during Covid with no issue, so not sure why it's happening here. Vet has suggested trying 24/7 turnout.

 

[Cates123]

Yes, the mare is stabilised at the moment. After many visits to horsepital and a multitude of tests, we are none the wiser for reasons. However, I did keep a diary throughout and the main denominator for her is seasonally growing sugary grass and lack of drinking. All episodes bar one have been gas and displaced. One was impaction due to no drinking. She was very dry inside.

The last visit to hospital was August last year and they wanted to open her up and have a look. With guidance from my own vets that was declined and she is not insured. My own vets stuck to her problems being management and environmental. My own vets know the mare and I very well. I trust their judgement totally. The hospital vet left me with one never forgotten piece of advice for this horse - 'never let her get a full belly, no gorging on anything, always keep her half full and carefully trickle feed the into her.

I have adhered to this advice religiously. The mare isn't impressed ! but never gets the tell tale bloated look, has trimmed down and is happier in herself.

She grazed through winter each morning 8 to 1, except for frosty mornings with no issues, ridden daily only hacking, she is my plod. Well soaked and weighed hay. I developed a system of getting 40 litres of fluid into her a day by using Saracen Recovery mix 500g dissolved in 10 litres of warm water. Also use Spillers senior mix apple and cinnamon flavour. hard feed is minimal and to carry Equine 74, colikare and vits. High level of vit e given. We got through winter without a hiccup from her, but severe hiccups from me due to financial ruin !! it is also exhausting as I have to go back to her late at night.

I check her muck daily to ensure it is full of moisture, any doubt and another dose of fluid is given.

Spring this year and she was out 8 to 1 on a track system, no grass to note, but she did it again in May, gassy bloated and on the deck. Treated at home, starved and exercised, pain relief etc. The mare has not been turned out since and is maintained totally on hay. Her stable has a hard standing area outside and I ensure she has a lot of enrichment with toys and food puzzles, exercise of some sort twice a day. In the heat earlier this week she was on the lunge at 11pm. That did not please her but her belly needed a wobble.

I've done endless reading and tried to educate myself. I have looked at old fashioned remedies. Fennel seeds and mint for instance. I feed both, fresh mint from the garden, fennel from Global Herbs. Both have a marked effect on her with much increased farting. Colikare is oil, fennel, mint and marjoram. Fluid, more fluid and even more, yes her bed can be swamp like at times, but shavings are cheaper than hospital and one day she might not come home. Exercise, gentle but regular is also important for her.

I still worry endlessly about her, but I keep trying to keep her alive.

I have a horse who cannot seem to eat what nature intended them to do, survive on grass.

Thanks Alice, this is very helpful. Mine also suffers from gas colic leading to displacement and had surgery after the last episode. He drinks well, always lots of droppings and loves his food. The colic comes on very quickly - one minute he's fine, the next pacing and uncomfortable. Not being able to exercise him is an issue but unavoidable whilst he recovers. I've chatted with the vet and we're going to open up the big field which has some grass but not too lush and try him on that 24/7 (with shelter) in the hope that he will move a lot more and this will stop the build up of gas.
Did you find Colikare helped?

 

[AdorableAlice]

yes, the colikare is helping.

 

[Melody Grey]

Random longshot but have bloods been taken to rule out a virus or infection? I recently had a recurrent colic that was due to a virus (we think).

My vet gave an interesting viewpoint that I’d never considered before in that colic is the presentation of discomfort and though it appears to all be about the gut, can be from other sources that prevent the horse eating normally. We considered kidney failure and kidney stones and UTI infections too with mine. He did seem to respond to antibiotics along the way.
ETA: this horse also had recurrent ulcers.

 

[Cates123]

yes, the colikare is helping.

Great, I've just ordered a bottle to try out.

 

[Cates123]

Random longshot but have bloods been taken to rule out a virus or infection? I recently had a recurrent colic that was due to a virus (we think).

My vet gave an interesting viewpoint that I’d never considered before in that colic is the presentation of discomfort and though it appears to all be about the gut, can be from other sources that prevent the horse eating normally. We considered kidney failure and kidney stones and UTI infections too with mine. He did seem to respond to antibiotics along the way.
ETA: this horse also had recurrent ulcers.

That is interesting. Bloods have been taken but I'm not sure if they also plan to check for a virus / infection, I'll check. Although I would say he always eats normally, even right up to when he colics, and nothing will be different from the 1,2,3 weeks before it happens. In between bouts he's healthy, happy, eating and drinking and temp stable. We've treated the obvious issues and now we have to wait and see if he stabilises. He's now home and I'm checking on him 30 times a day (lucky to have him at home but means there's always an opportunity to just pop out to 'take a peek'....anxiety is through the roof)!

 

[DSB]

Have you checked his family history?We had a mare who colicked regularly,as did two of her daughters,two of her granddaughters, out of those mares and one g/gdaughter.,All eventually died or were put down after episodes.We stopped breeding that family as it appeared to be an inherited trait.

 

[Cates123]

That's interesting, but he comes from a racing background and has moved around a lot so I don't think I'll be able to get that information. Sorry to hear about your horses, it's so horrid constantly watching and waiting for the next episode

 

[tristar]

Might still be worth testing for tapeworm though. It won't show up on wormcounts. Tapeworm can be the cause of recurrent colic.

the one we had was infected with red worm, he had 25cc nilverm injected but doubt anyone would do that now

could ring westgate and ask for tape test, i`ve had yearlings plus who were w ormed religiously and still had tapeworm til they developed resistance perhaps and mainly tb horses

 

[Cates123]

They've done a blood test to see if anything like tape worm infection shows up....we shall see. He's out 24/7 at the moment (with access to big shelter with bed and hay) and seems very happy so I'm hoping that will continue.