? recurrent low grade colic

ScarlettLady

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Hi,
I have an 11yr old shire x gelding, who for the past 2 weeks has been having reccurrent bouts of low grade colic. :-( increased respirations and 'heaving' and gurgling stomach.

Vets seem a bit stumped, thought it was infestation of small red worm at first, but no evidence of anything in stools on worming and faecal worm count was negative.
Bloods were done 10days after first onset and these have come back normal, with the exception of some muscle damage which my vet assures me is normal for most horses. vet was concerned there was some fluid in his abdomen, and it seems slightly swollen, when he's uncomfortable at the widest point his stomach is 232cm and when he seems fine its only 222cm.
any one have any ideas?

hes only turned out for 30mins- 1 hour twice daily, and vet advised me to increase this so tried 2hrs out and he came in very uncomfortable, so we've now moved onto an hour and a half with a grazing mask, although there's not a huge amount of grass on the paddock. he only gets fed happy hoof, and a general purpose supplement, but is on added pink powders at the moment, so nothing really in feed, have been suggested global herbs restore supplement?
Any advice gratefully received:)!! :confused:
becky
 

ScarlettLady

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I had considered ulcers but was told that gut inflammation would have shown up in the bloods?
As for tapeworm I was told he'd be much thinner?

Being reviewed by vet again tomorrow from same surgery but different vet, as other vet now on holiday will be interesting to see if there's a different opinion.

Thanks! :)
 

deicinmerlyn

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Plenty of horses don't lose weight when they have a tape worm burden, also the only way to show whether a horse has ulcers is to scope it. I hope you get to the bottom of it though.
 

ScarlettLady

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Thanks, living on the Isle of Man not sure we scope horses over here, but its on my list of questions to ask! Will be asking for repeat bloods if not improved by wed this wk, so will definately be asking for tapeworm then.
Thank you!
 

ScarlettLady

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Hi guys, just a bit of a rant now afraid and update. Nearly 3 wks on since colicky symptoms started, my poor Mr Pee is no better, over last few days seems to be requiring more analgesia too :-(
Unfortunately just feel that my vets aren't taking this seriously. bloods were taken again on Monday, still no results? and also email case sent to 'a specialist' in the UK, have been trying to get in touch with vet dealing with case for last 2 days and no joy!
Just wondered if anyone else had experiences like this with their vets. I don't want to appear to be nagging, but this is my baby, who's been in pain for almost 3wks, and they're not exactly doing it for free!
Sorry people, just needed to have a rant n:eek: :(
Becky x
 

Box_Of_Frogs

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Becca - Not sure quite how things work on the IoM but if I had the same situation with my horse, ie low grade colic, worsening as the days go by, and my vets were still faffing about, I'd ask for an immediate referral to a specialist centre. Is your ned still eating and pooing? Is he scouring/constipated or normal? I would be very afraid that something was building up in his gut somewhere that might be out of control in the very near future eg impaction, twisted gut, god knows what. Referral. Now. Fingers crossed.
 

brucea

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What ^^ said! Referral if possible

Sounds like a front of stomach colic - we had this and it rumbled on for weeks before it settled and needed several doses of buscopan to setle.

Eventually I worked out my guy had prtoblems wiht cereals and when we took them out he never had colic again (perviously it was monthly)
 

Rowreach

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I wouldn't be happy with it going on this long and would definitely be seeing another vet, but do appreciate it is not easy for you on the IoM.

One thing I would suggest is taking him off any form of chaff including Happy Hoof. A good few years ago we were having a number of low grade colic incidences with hunters just coming back into work. My vet (top horse vet in south of England) told me to stop feeding chaff and chuck a handful of bran in with every feed. The colics stopped straight away, and I have been doing this ever since (prob 15 years now:)).

It might be something more serious though so I would act now and get some more investigations done. Good luck:)
 

applecart14

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Hi,
I have an 11yr old shire x gelding, who for the past 2 weeks has been having reccurrent bouts of low grade colic. :-( increased respirations and 'heaving' and gurgling stomach.

Vets seem a bit stumped, thought it was infestation of small red worm at first, but no evidence of anything in stools on worming and faecal worm count was negative.
Bloods were done 10days after first onset and these have come back normal, with the exception of some muscle damage which my vet assures me is normal for most horses. vet was concerned there was some fluid in his abdomen, and it seems slightly swollen, when he's uncomfortable at the widest point his stomach is 232cm and when he seems fine its only 222cm.
any one have any ideas?

hes only turned out for 30mins- 1 hour twice daily, and vet advised me to increase this so tried 2hrs out and he came in very uncomfortable, so we've now moved onto an hour and a half with a grazing mask, although there's not a huge amount of grass on the paddock. he only gets fed happy hoof, and a general purpose supplement, but is on added pink powders at the moment, so nothing really in feed, have been suggested global herbs restore supplement?
Any advice gratefully received:)!! :confused:
becky

Sorry to hear this. I have had quite a lot of colicky episodes with my horse but fortunately (touch wood) he has been ok recently, even after gorging on piles of mown grass cuttings left in his field the other day - grrrr. However I do agree with the others that if you can get him referred this will be the best thing for him. It would be such a relief to you and your state of mind to know that someone else had responsibility for him, plus of course the fact that he would be in capable hands if his condition should further deteriorate. In fact for me I would insist (as I have done on a previous ocassion). Personally, I'd ditch the grazing mask. If he loses it the chance is that he will gorge himself with even more serious implications. This is what I used to find with my horse. He's been on pink powder as a preventative for over two years now, and I rate it very highly. I also give him ad lib haylage in the winter so he has a constant source of food going through his gut. Our grazing was grazed by a pedigree cow herd for years and years before the yard diversified and it became an equine yard so the grazing is very rich, maybe this is the case at your yard and your grazing is just too rich. I really feel for you and I hope you get this sorted.

I wish you the best xx
 
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ScarlettLady

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Thanks everyone.
He's been eating and pooing normally throughout, but acting like a normal horse which just isn't my cheeky character Pee! :-( especially with being in.

Rang the vet this morning, she was in surgery so couldn't talk to me but basically said that she hadn't returned my phone calls because she had no results back yet, bloods were sent to UK on Monday, (last time they were back within 36 hrs so not quite sure why she hasn't chased them or anything?)
but that she was doing alot of thinking about him, when i explained he'd worsened i was just told to give him another loading dose of the danilon, 2 sachets twice daily for 2days, had already had 2 1/2 last night and one this morning, still no improvement.

My instructor is over from UK today and is questioning now whether it is colicky related, possible just respiratory related, although my vet thinks its not respiratory related, just colic but allergy was my initial thought... So she said no more painkillers and tell the vet not ask that they'll review tomorrow am.

Sorry to rant thanks for all the advice, I have some bran, was told to feed it with happy hoof, but will definitely be taking him off the happy hoof now!
and stop with the grazing mask!

Think the biggest problem is that I have to grow a back bone and actually just stop trusting my vets, will definitely be pushing for those referrals.

Thank you all so much! (sorry another long post)

Becky x
 

oscarwild

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I really do feel for you and hope you get things sorted soon.
Your symptoms sound just like what my boy had last week and over the weekend but he starting to feel better. My vet checked him Monday and said that all vital signs were fine so just to keep monitoring him. He perked up a bit now and the symptoms have subsided for now.

Hope you get somewhere with your vet and I would ask for a referral if I was you.
 

Festive_Felicitations

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Don't know if you'd have this problem in the UK but, a friend of mine's gelding kept getting low grade colic. Eventually worke out it was caused by a large (size of a melon) stone that had formed in his intestine. An excess of Phosphorus in the horses diet caused other minerals in his diet to calcify/form a large stony growth.
It was removed by surgery (90% chance of full recovery), they had it cut in half by a stone mason and polishe and it is now a door stop. You can see the layers the minerals were deposited in, it had probably been growing for years.

The excess P came from the lucerne hay and bran, related to fertilisers used and soil grown on.

Might be something to condiser. Not sure what the clinical signs would be apart from the reoccuring colic.
 

seabsicuit2

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Hi, went through this with one of my horses,basically ANYTHING that has sugar/starch in it must be strictly avoided at ALL costs. Sugar and starch can be the trigger!

Happy Hoof is actually full of molasses! I would switch to alfa oil and a generall vit/min supplement ( again, check the feed label v. carefully to check for the sugar/starch content)

Feed only very bland hay, that is well soaked.

Grass- tough one, again full of sugar/starch ( and more of it after there has been rain/frost!) should not allow him ANY grass at all. Can you turn him out in a pen/enclosure/barn 24/7?

Finally would reccomend Probalance pro-biotic-

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/ProBalance-Yeast-Base/productinfo/PROBALANCE/

Basically this scientist analysed the horse's droppings, and found severe lows and extreme highs in certain types of bacteria- the whole balance of bacteria was waaaay out. Was instructed to feed probalance in v. high amounts for the first couple of weeks and then gradually cut down as the months went on.The idea was that the scientist would analyse the droppings on a regular basis to see how the bacteria numbers were doing, and then advise on the correct amount of probalance to feed. He also had some excellent advice on what else to feed/what not to feed specific to that horse.

Wish I could remember/know the name of this guy, but have no idea as it was so long ago now, but he is out there somewhere, my vet referred my horse to him.

ETS- Another thing to try would be silverlining herbs ( google website) they are excellent at helping internal disorders within a horse, they will look at a picture of the horse and then reccomend some herbs ( tis a bit wackybacky but it does often work!)
 
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ScarlettLady

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Just an update! Finally got a PROPER vet to see him today, following my mum's complaints on Saturday, after they finally admitted Monday's bloods had haemolysed, yes it was 6 days later, and I had been ringing every day! which is Shocking.:mad:
This vet seems to agree that the 'colicky' episodes are secondary to something else, he's thinking COPD, or some form of azoturia. I'm thinking more the COPD line, triggered by turnout???
Although the fact that the other vets were trying to treat the colic is making me concerned, and that they had said his chest and lungs were clear... :confused::mad:
He's taken more bloods, tapped some fluid and sent that off too, and started him on ventopulmin.
I'd changed to Haylage over the weekend which was a bit risky, but he was on soaked hay anyway which was making no improvement, and haylage seems to be working a treat, just something i'm keeping an eye on.
Sure my old mare has developed resp symptoms, but vet wasn't concerned about her,:eek: but I'm keeping a close eye on her.

Thanks so much for everyones tips and help!!!!:D

Becky x
 
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