Sand Colic

[Dave's Mam]

On Monday Dave presented with some rather explosive runny bum. Very smelly. Generally appearing fine & put it down to change in diet, as I was introducing hay prior to coming in at night on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, fine, playing, eating, normal Dave.
Came in first night overnight on Tuesday & when I turned out on Wednesday morning all fine, playing, eating.
Within half an hour of getting home, I have a message to say he's just standing, not eating & shortly after, another to say that he's down in the field by the gate.
Yard Manager then phones me to say they're trying to get him in, but he's going down, very poorly.
Vet out & he has raised heart rate, high resps, normal temp. Vet did a sand test on his poo & it's laden with sand. He was tubed with epsom salts & electrolytes. Pain relief & sedation.
We're on sandy land & thinking the floods last few weeks have washed it down onto the grass.
Bottom line, after 2 call outs, he's now in Horspital trying to get kilos of sand out of his gut.
If you're on sandy land, please do sand tests now & then, all it needs is a clear container, even a plastic glove, a bit of poo & water. You will catch it & then you can use Psyllium to get it out before your pony becomes so poorly he or she needs to he horspitalised like Dave. He deteriorated so quickly it was terrifying.
He's well on the way to recovery now, but please do the free test just in case.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Oops

 

[nagblagger]

Sorry to hear about Dave, hopefully he will be home soon. Have any other horses at the yard been affected.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Only one a few years ago. I've told everyone to do the sand test.

 

[nagblagger]

Dumb question - how do you prevent it?
Only curious as I'm not on sand.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Dumb question - how do you prevent it?
Only curious as I'm not on sand.

Not really preventable, as they take it in as they graze, but maintenance with psyllium husk which turns to gel in the gut & lifts it up & carries it out in poo once a month is what I have been advised to do.

 

[MereChristmas]

Glad Dave is feeling better now

 

[MuddyMonster]

Poor Dave and how frightening for you! I hope he continues to make a good recovery X

 

[SEL]

I'm so relieved he's on the mend.

We used to get sand colics when I was up in the Midlands. More hay if the grass is grazed down was also recommended along with the poo tests. Every few months there would be a clear plastic bag full of water & poo hung outside each horse's stable to see how much sand separated - you could definitely never guess by looking at the horse.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Oh heck, how scary, I’m glad to hear that he’s on the mend.

That is a timely reminder to give another preventative 5 day course of psylium husks to my 3. I get mine from Feedmark or Global Herbs, whichever is cheaper, and feed it every 3 months.

 

[scats]

So glad Dave is on the mend xx

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Really glad he is recovering x

I'm on mostly sandy /loam and I do Psyllium every quarter to be on the safe side.

 

[Reacher]

That must have been scarey. I hope Dave is better soon

 

[MrsMozartleto]

So scary. I hope he's better very soon.

Sand colic is the reason I'm not using sand for our all weather loafing paddock.

 

[southerncomfort]

Oh heck! That must have been frightening how quickly he went downhill. X

 

[Snow Falcon]

Hope Dave's hooves are trit-trotting about home soon.

 

[TinseLeneHorse]

Hope Dave is ok. What a worry for you.

A few years ago a pony at our yard was operated on due to sand colic and went on to make a full recovery.

 

[Haniki]

Sorry to hear about Dave. Hope he makes a full recovery.

 

[Surbie]

Not just sandy soil - mine's muzzled on short grass. With the wet weather I've noticed soil in his muzzle recently and will be doing a sand test more often.

So glad Dave is recovering, I hope the sand shifts out soon.

 

[humblepie]

Glad Dave is recovering x

 

[Fjord]

That must have been so scary. I hope Dave is home soon.

 

[PurBee]

Sorry to hear about sweet Dave, what a relief he was seen to quickly.
It’s interesting it occurred after you started introducing hay, as according to studies i read a few years back now, they discovered that hay was more effective than psyllium for removing sand as it acts like a broom and literally sweeps it from the gut.
(I researched this as was considering sand footing in a loafing/feeding area and wanted to know sand ingestion real risks and remedies)

This broom-like action probably caused the explosive poops you describe as once in transit the body would reject the old sand/hay mixture.
Psyllium is sticky and likely allows a bit at a time to be removed, in comparison to hay which can cause dislodging of more sand because it’s stalky.

Speculating here that if the sand has been sitting in the gut for weeks/months and not shifting much due to a soft diet, it likely has some bacteria grown within it, hence the colic and explosive poops once it is shifted from the gut with introduction of hay.

If he’s been at grass for months, without hay, grass is much softer and doesnt act like a broom as much as stemmy hay.
If you like your yard, but you now know there’s a sand gut risk, it might be worth keeping him on a wee bit of hay regularly even during the months at grass so it can be sweeping any ingested sand out regularly.

The UK had a much rainier summer this year than usual, so is likely those on sand grazing have ingested more sand than they normally do, like you said - the sand will get washed/splashed/trodden on the grass if it remains wet and rainy.

Fingers crossed Dave continues to recover well…please give him a smooch from me

 

[Dave's Mam]

Sorry to hear about sweet Dave, what a relief he was seen to quickly.
It’s interesting it occurred after you started introducing hay, as according to studies i read a few years back now, they discovered that hay was more effective than psyllium for removing sand as it acts like a broom and literally sweeps it from the gut.
(I researched this as was considering sand footing in a loafing/feeding area and wanted to know sand ingestion real risks and remedies)

This broom-like action probably caused the explosive poops you describe as once in transit the body would reject the old sand/hay mixture.
Psyllium is sticky and likely allows a bit at a time to be removed, in comparison to hay which can cause dislodging of more sand because it’s stalky.

Speculating here that if the sand has been sitting in the gut for weeks/months and not shifting much due to a soft diet, it likely has some bacteria grown within it, hence the colic and explosive poops once it is shifted from the gut with introduction of hay.

If he’s been at grass for months, without hay, grass is much softer and doesnt act like a broom as much as stemmy hay.
If you like your yard, but you now know there’s a sand gut risk, it might be worth keeping him on a wee bit of hay regularly even during the months at grass so it can be sweeping any ingested sand out regularly.

The UK had a much rainier summer this year than usual, so is likely those on sand grazing have ingested more sand than they normally do, like you said - the sand will get washed/splashed/trodden on the grass if it remains wet and rainy.

Fingers crossed Dave continues to recover well…please give him a smooch from me

Yes, this sand has been building up for some time. I initially thought it was the transitioning to more hay, but realised later that I was wrong.
According to the vet who did an X-ray, there's years' worth of sand in there, kilos. Just need to get it out.

All smooches will be passed on with pleasure.

 

[Dave's Mam]

If you like your yard, but you now know there’s a sand gut risk, it might be worth keeping him on a wee bit of hay regularly even during the months at grass so it can be sweeping any ingested sand out regularly.

Yes, I love my yard, so preventative measures will be undertaken, hay and psyllium.

 

[tda]

Gosh, hope he's able to get it all passed thru no problem. Vibes from us xx

 

[ycbm]

Just to warn people that I know of sand colic in two horses who were on very sandy soil, out overnight 15-16 hours and in with hay during the day who got sand coic in spite of the hay. It's a very big risk on sandy soil with short grass and regular psyllium treatment is really advised.



DM I hope Dave gets it all hoovered out soon, what a worry!
.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Update. 3B is day 3, second update. They tried to ultrasound at first, but due to his "good condition* (fat) couldn't see anything, so vet went to something she'd heard done but not done herself & x-rayed him. Found a huge mass of sand.

"Dave Update 3B.
Eating, pooing, gaining a new fan club.
Staff have discovered that a garlic lick will assist in squirting psyllium down his throat! Wish I had thought to tell them of his love for these.
Poos are now beginning to have form & be less splatty. They are also sandy, so it's coming out.
Plan is to X-ray on Monday morning & see how the sand is then.
I said we just wanted him home, we miss him, and was told he's a pleasure to have around & that makes me rather happy.
Come on Dave, keep pooing."

 

[MrsMozartleto]

Update. 3B is day 3, second update. They tried to ultrasound at first, but due to his "good condition* (fat) couldn't see anything, so vet went to something she'd heard done but not done herself & x-rayed him. Found a huge mass of sand.

"Dave Update 3B.
Eating, pooing, gaining a new fan club.
Staff have discovered that a garlic lick will assist in squirting psyllium down his throat! Wish I had thought to tell them of his love for these.
Poos are now beginning to have form & be less splatty. They are also sandy, so it's coming out.
Plan is to X-ray on Monday morning & see how the sand is then.
I said we just wanted him home, we miss him, and was told he's a pleasure to have around & that makes me rather happy.
Come on Dave, keep pooing."

Sending all the keep pooing it out vibes!

 

[Dave's Mam]

All checks good this morning. Been eating well overnight & was "sassy" getting his psyllium this morning. Sassy is good.
Poos more normal, but still very sandy, going to X-ray again in the morning.
Need you home soon FuzzyPants!

 

[nagblagger]

Fingers crossed for tomorrow..