she keeps getting colic -help

kerrieberry2

kerrieberry2

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My 26yr old mare tb x conny keeps getting signs of colic. I have had the vet out twice in the last two weeks both times on a monday evening! last night she seemed really mild so spoke to the vet to said I was okay to give her 2 bute and see if that helped, she happily walked around the field following me and even started trotting if i ran! but when we stoped moving she'd lay down!

she went to toilet so wasnt too worried and seemed like she was being a mare because I'd put her muzzle on! so took it off and she done a really big fart and got up and started eating! she was eating for 15-20 mins without rolling so vet suggested sectioning off a small section and going back to check her in an hour! so done that and she was standing but went down, just laying up right on her chest, so i walked her round some more and asked the vet to come out!

vet got there and gave her an antispazmodic and pain killer and done and internal examination and found nothing!! her gut sounds were normal, heart rate was normal and this was the same 2 weeks ago! she was wormed with equitape a couple of weeks ago so not tape worm!!

she done the same thing this time last year and the year before and none of the times have they been able to find anything wrong with her!!

last year the vet said he thinks she just scoffs her face and gets belly ache but when you see your horse on the floor flat out and looking like they are going to die you can't help but think its not just belly ache!

anyway check her this morning and she seemed happier but hasnt been to poo since, just one tiny bit on the grass so have spoken to the vet and she said that this is very strange so she might have to come back out at lunch time if she hasn't been to poo by then!

has anyone else had a similar experience? what would you suggest? my insurance wont cover colic as she's had it in the past and today I have been told that I have to leave my job at the end of the month! so very stuck on what is the best course of action!

i also wonder, the last 2 times this has been 2 days after I have ridden her and she might be 26 but she thinks shes about 4!! she still has as much go in her as any young horse i know but i wonder if her mind still wants to go but her body is maybe not so keen?
 
What a worry for you. I have heard of horses that seem to get "seasonal" colic. At 26 maybe she has something wrong inside that is hard to diagnose, there is obviously nothing acute or the vet would have found it, but possibily she is just showing the signs of old age.
I know she is full of life when you ride her, but it could be a case of the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak!

I suppose all you can do is the normal things of checking the teeth and paying attention to the diet, but maybe a good long chat with your vet would be a good idea too, as to the prognosis.
 
yeh I hadn't thought about her being old and wanting to go but her body not wanting to go anymore until i spoke to my mum and she said our older springer was the same, she always used to go made when she was out legging it about everywhere but would suffer from it for days afterwards!!

yeh i will speak to the vet again at lunch time, I havent mentioned this age thing to her yet, so will see what she says about that!! hopefully she will have gone to toilet since i have checked her this morning! finger x'd!!

my vet did ask about how she is when she's in season but I said I havent noticed her in season for a good couple of years, she's been out with only mares until about 4 months ago! but do they get to an age like humans where they don't have them anymore? I dont know?
 
My 32yo gets this, usually spring and autumn. It is usually due to dehydration. I give him dry hay(makes him thirsty) and plenty water with horsequencher in it. It works and hes usually sorted in a couple of days. He was scoped at Rossdales about 6 years ago, and they said parts of his gut are not working properly just due to age. Also give a pre/probiotic either in feed or seperate, and make feeds wet. I use Allen and Page Veteran Vitality (a new veteran feed) and the effect on condition and his tummy have been second to none. He will not come off it! Can you bring her in overnight? I know its a faf when you like 24/7 turnout, but my boy has been much better since and I can monitor his water intake better.
 
oh thats interesting, when my vet examined her she said that she didnt feel dehydrated inside or anything

she is also on vetran vitality because she had a serious choked 2 months ago when my friend fed her but I don't think she wet her feed enough! but agreed, she wont have anything else now. However she is a pig as has a belly on her so I have stopped feeding her for now!!

I could bring her in, we have a stable but she won't go in! when I first got her she'd been stabled 24/7, i started bring her in a night during the winter but she got so stressed out, kicked the door, dragged me back to the field and went metal when she was back out, so started leaving her out and she was a million times happier! now I cant even get her to walk through a stable door way!! thats the only thing she refuses to do!

she's sectioned off now with a large bucket of water so I guess I can keep an eye on her water in take that way? and without stressing her out???
 
Sounds a good plan. If you find she isnt drinking enough, the HorseQuencher does work (no I dont work for them, I use it for my young horse at comps who goes on drinking strike:) Its about £30 a tub - but lasts ages or £3 a sachet if you want to try first - google them. I used the Dengie Natural vitality pre/probiotic - this was recommended by Rossdales, not the cheapest )£27 i think) but lasts. The reason we went down the dehydration route was his bloods came back with slight dehydration. We usually find he doesnt wee overnight right before a bout comes on, so we get an early warning:D Since doing this and not stressing him (he hates busy yards, toing and frowing) he hasnt had a bout (touch wood) in nearly 2 years. He was having around 10 a year at one point!
 
ah okay sounds good, thank you!!

but omg 10 a year, I dont know what I could do, execpt cry a lot!

my friend has txt me saying she's poo'd twice since I checked her at 8, so pleased with that! but the farmer told her she was rolling at 9am but she seems okay now! so ill pop and check her again at 12 i think! god its a good job i love this horse!
 
I always keep a tube of Coligone and at the first sign of discomfort give it to my horse. This year I have also added to his feed brewers yeast and yea sacc (both from Natural Horse Supplies) so far this year he has been colic free (touches wood just in case).
 
Without wanting to sound harsh, your pony is 26, so she is an old lady. Plenty of elderly horses get colicky as they get older and for many, it is the deciding factor in them going to heaven - because they will be considered too old for a colic op. My friends 24 yr old pony had a colic op because it had a lipoma which is not uncommon for older equines. She had the op because she could afford it. The pony recovered well, but 2 years on, she has twice yearly colic problems which the vets cannot identify, other than they feel they are bacterial type infections which needs large amounts of anti-b's to sort out.

I am NOT suggesting you have her pts or anything, but I suspect that age is a huge factor.
 
My 35 year old got colic last year, in the snow when he hadn't been out for a few days.

I too think dehydration was a factor, sometimes his poos are very small and hard.

I seem to have improved it by going back to the old ways.

I bought straight bran and his feeds are now a very sloppy mash. I feed sugar beet with it to balance the calcium phosporus thing but to be honest at his age I would do it anyway. He also gets conditioning cubes

I cut out the chop so basically all he gets now is a bucket of mush with supplements twice a day. If you make the feed a bit before giving it the nuts also melt into the mush.

I've also given him a large bucket of water as he likes to soak his own haylage, quite a feat to pull it all out of a haylage net and them dunk it. It means the water in his automatic waterer is not so disgusting.

So far he seems to be fine, except for the disgusting slurping noises at feed time.

Good luck with your girl
 
Mine had colic 3 times in 6 weeks - turned out she was stressed...!

Have you changed anything recently?

see... mine had nothing changed.......but couldnt cope with being in a big field with loads of horses .....!

shes now in a single paddock and happy as :)
 
yeh her teeth are okay, have been checked.

she is a stress head, but nothing has changed for her, she doesnt get on in big herds so i am on a yard on my own with my 2 horses!! i can only hack out alone because she gets so wound up if there is another horse out with her, will jog the whole way and bolt if we try to have a canter, i have her in a waterford dutch gag now so i can stop her but i couldnt years ago with a mullen mouth pelham!!

but now you mention i do wonder if maybe she is feeling stressed? she is very much a drama queen!
 
BigRed said:
Without wanting to sound harsh, your pony is 26, so she is an old lady. Plenty of elderly horses get colicky as they get older and for many, it is the deciding factor in them going to heaven - because they will be considered too old for a colic op. My friends 24 yr old pony had a colic op because it had a lipoma which is not uncommon for older equines. She had the op because she could afford it. The pony recovered well, but 2 years on, she has twice yearly colic problems which the vets cannot identify, other than they feel they are bacterial type infections which needs large amounts of anti-b's to sort out.

I am NOT suggesting you have her pts or anything, but I suspect that age is a huge factor.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with Big Red. My 25 year old had colicky symptoms which started quietly on a saturday night, not bad, just pawing, not eating, unhappy and lying down. After 3 days there was no improvement and she started to sweat up slightly with a few colicky spasms. I knew she wasn't going to get better and couldn't bare the thought of her getting full blown colic so she was pts. I think something was happening with her gut that was purely age related.
I would never have put her through a colic op but I still ended up with a £1200 vet bill.

I hope your pony gets better - 26 is a good age and she sounds like a very spritely old lady.
 
maybe she is getting a wee bit stressed, i would ask for other tests such as cushings to be done, just in case.
perhaps you could look at a calming supplement? x
Personally i would invest in some buscopan tablets and bran - in the past my now sadly deceased mare would start to look colicky so i would give her a tablet and a hot/warm bran mash - this worked for my mare.
There is no substitute for immediate vet attention in these cases. xx
 
so could cushings cause this sort of reaction? She does have a very thick coat and have wondered on occasions if she does have it? last time the vet was out 2 weeks ago she'd noticed her coat because I had clipped her and said to get her tested for it when she has her vaccinations done but also that she prob doesnt have it but its worth checking! She malts like theres no tomorrow but as she has connamara in her she is really fluff in the winter.

with the barn do you just give it to the horse when she is looking poorly or all the time? as she doesnt need feeding at the moment, i just normally give her vetran vitality and feed in the winter months!

I wondering if she got stressed because I was feeding the other horse and moved her into a small bit by the field shelter so she didnt get to his feed and thats when she started pooring the ground and laid down! maybe she's getting upset that she isnt being fed now and he is? also when i put her grazing muzzle on she laid down again and we did think it was because she was annoyed that I was stopping her from grazing!!

the more I think about the more I think she is stressed but I cant keep feeding her as she will be the size of house in no time!
 
Im not a vet, so be guided by the professionals. I'm just relating what has worked for me in the past.

I could tell when my mare was due to have an attack, sweaty, increased HR/BR and sore to the touch belly, at which point i would crush up a buscopan tablet and give her a small warm bran mash.

I would suggest getting as many tests done as quickly as you can and ultimately you cant put a price on the moment when the vet sorts the problem out and eases your animals pain.
 
ookay cool, thanks for your advice, its just nice to hear what other people do!

the buscopan, do you just buy the human tablets or can you get special ones for horses? as I can only see the injectable kind on google! if human stuff, how much do you give?
 
i use the human tablets from boots and generally just 1 used to work for my mare. good luck.

I would suggest perhaps giving her a little treat if the other one is eating. it seems unfair to watch someone else tuck into a nice steak and you have a lettuce leaf on your plate. I would just give her a handful of chaff, or a carrot chopped up in a bucket. xx
 
okay cool thanks, i will get some at lunch time then :)

yeh she did have a bucket with chopped up apples in it but I know what she's like, she is a pig and probably wouldnt have been happy with only that!

i dont like to give her chaff as this is what she choked on a few months ago, was giving her a tiny amount of vetran vitality up until last week but shes really doesnt need anything extra, so have taken her off of it! and to be a pain the other horse wont eat his dinner if he's away from her!
 
He comes in at night so he actually gets it twice a day in his morning and night feeds.

It might be the answer to giving her something to eat when you feed the other. A bit of very sloppy bran will keep her quite, no risk of choking and bran has no feed value to speak of.
 
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