Spasmodic Colic

[Katie Whell]

My Mare is 22 now and in the last 2 years has had spasmodic colic 3 times (never before them)- the first time in the middle of summer with v little grass, 2nd was last September after a long dry summer so assume grass started to come through and again on friday. She is on the same grass (v v little) and has hay.

Vet attended and resolved easily but i would be interested to hear any top tips to help prevent it.

She is ridden regularly (although not daily) is never on long or lush grass, fed hay and minimum hard feed.

Apart from when she suffers SC she is fine in terms digestion etc but the recent incidents make me wonder about supplements to help prevent it or perhaps more hay?

Any top tips would be appreciated.

Thanks
Katie

 

[Green Bean]

I have experienced something a little similar. Horse had two bouts of colic, for which I knew the reason (feed change and response to being scoped for ulcers). Then, out the blue, towards the end of the dry season last year, two cases of spasmodic colic within three weeks of each other. Dry conditions looked as a possible but not very convincing reason. Reading that you had it as well makes me think there was more to it. She had colic again over Christmas, but I have a reason for that (not liking the water at the new yard, have since moved from this yard - sounds like a silly reason but my horse's health comes first).
If anyone has access to a vet symposium (I assume they must all get together at some point and discuss trends?) it would be interesting to know if this last very dry summer had a hand in increased colic rates. This will be of concern based on climate change projections.
No top tips, so apologies for that but would recommend wetting your horse's hay to try and offset any issues with dry soils

 

[Barton Bounty]

My friend horse has had spasmodic colic this last week, they are not on grass at all, follows a very strict diet with no cereals etc its just bizarre!

 

[Hollylee1989]

Mine and my sisters horse are prone to gas colic, we feed protexin gut balancer, digestion relief (which is all herbs). When the grass is looking like it's coming through I give 20ml of colikare in the mornings.

 

[Julia0803]

It’s odd you say she’d never colicked before but then has in quick succession.

My cob, 17 this year and owned for nearly 10 years has colicked several times in the last 2yrs/18m. Things that we could understand the reason for- eg getting his muzzle off and gorging (all the incidents have been prompted by him trying to eat himself to death!) But that previously would never have caused an issue.

Thankfully they have all been very mild, resulting in a vet visit and a shot of buscopan/buscopan and a painkiller.

I did ask one vet why (not our usual, just whoever was on call and could get here quickly), and she didn’t really have an answer… possible suggestion was his digestive system is more sensitive/less efficient than when he was younger .

I know it doesn’t tie in with your experience of a dry summer, but I wonder if there’s anything in the suggestion that their digestive system changes as they age?

 

[Hollylee1989]

It’s odd you say she’d never colicked before but then has in quick succession.

My cob, 17 this year and owned for nearly 10 years has colicked several times in the last 2yrs/18m. Things that we could understand the reason for- eg getting his muzzle off and gorging (all the incidents have been prompted by him trying to eat himself to death!) But that previously would never have caused an issue.

Thankfully they have all been very mild, resulting in a vet visit and a shot of buscopan/buscopan and a painkiller.

I did ask one vet why (not our usual, just whoever was on call and could get here quickly), and she didn’t really have an answer… possible suggestion was his digestive system is more sensitive/less efficient than when he was younger .

I know it doesn’t tie in with your experience of a dry summer, but I wonder if there’s anything in the suggestion that their digestive system changes as they age?

I wondered this, my horse had never ever had colic in his life, then in 2021 when he turned 20 he had 3 bouts that year, and last year had 2. Owned him since 2005

 

[doodle]

Mine also had spasmodic colic last week. He is 16 and never had it before. First vet visit with painkillers and anti spasmodically perked him up quickly. He was fine at 2pm and very sore at 3pm. He was then fine at 7.15 pm and very sore at 7.45pm again. I called the vet again. Did the same internal etc and again happy it was spasmodic rather than something nasty. More pain killers and he perked up.
I asked both vets the cause and they said sometimes it just happens and you don’t know why. Nothing had changed. We did bloods at the second visit which again showed nothing. He was 95% better by the next morning. Fine by the afternoon. I’m hoping it really was just one of those things. The only thjng they could suggest is that he is prone to ulcers, although not had them for a while, and maybe his system is just very sensitive.

 

[Hollylee1989]

Mine also had spasmodic colic last week. He is 16 and never had it before. First vet visit with painkillers and anti spasmodically perked him up quickly. He was fine at 2pm and very sore at 3pm. He was then fine at 7.15 pm and very sore at 7.45pm again. I called the vet again. Did the same internal etc and again happy it was spasmodic rather than something nasty. More pain killers and he perked up.
I asked both vets the cause and they said sometimes it just happens and you don’t know why. Nothing had changed. We did bloods at the second visit which again showed nothing. He was 95% better by the next morning. Fine by the afternoon. I’m hoping it really was just one of those things. The only thjng they could suggest is that he is prone to ulcers, although not had them for a while, and maybe his system is just very sensitive.

We ran bloods too and I had him scoped last year, both showed nothing. Frustrating, I used to enjoy spring/summer and now I dread all seasons!

 

[Chianti]

My pony had impaction colic at the end of November and then spasmodic at the end of January. He'd had a mild case in 2021 but that was when he was getting over ulcers. I'm presuming he now has a sensitive gut. I was surprised at the impaction as he's on a track and was eating ad lib soaked hay. The vet must have thought I was an idiot because I kept saying ' but he shouldn't get it- he's not stuck in a stable eating dry hay'. It's now joined the things for me to be paranoid about list. Both cases, of course, were at the weekend.

 

[Birker2020]

Mine used to be very gassy, spasmodic colic literally every week for months, then intermittently, we tried a muzzle, reducing time out, pink powder, strip grazing.

When she had spasmodic colic the vet said said to give two or three bute, put on walker and then stable and check, colic pain would always over ride bute. It saved me a fortune on vets bills.

Redworm often causes colic but this was never detected in worm counts and she was dewormed for this just in case.

One of the vets from the practice years ago suspected ulcers when i called them out. At the time they were offering free scoping to their clients so when I mentioned to the partner that I thought Bailey had ulcers he just laughed because my horse did not look poor or thin (as was the thinking at that time before breakthroughs in ulcer research).

In the end a course of slippery elm (coats stomach lining), giving sloppy feeds and scrubbing and changing the paddock water every three days did the trick. Unfresh water can cause colic, if water in paddock buckets is constantly topped up and therefore never empied and replaced it will harbour bad bacteria. With no other water source available, horses will drink contaminated water but not necessarily at needed levels in hot weather. Besides dehydration, drinking dirty water can lead to diarrhea and intestinal illness and can cause colic. For the last two years of her life Bailey never got colic and I'm sure it was because I made those changes.