Very strange spasmodic colic - PLEASE HELP

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Gemsie

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Hi There everyone,

I have posted on this forum before regarding my 28 year old retired IDxTB who over the last 12 months has had 3 episodes of mild spasmodic colic. In each case the vet has been a few times and pumped him full of buscapan and pain relief - and within a few days it settles down and he is fine again.

For the last week and a half he has been having on and off spasmodic colic. I have had the vet to him 3 times - again they give him buscapan and pain relief. This time the colic is grumbling on much longer than it has in the past and I am at a bit of a loss what to do with the old chap. I have put him on pin powder 3 days ago for the probiotics - so hopefully these will kick in soon, and have him on liquid coligone which seems to help.

I have enough bute and finadine to keep him comfortable for the next few days - but not sure where to go next!

I have owned him 20 years and the only times he has ever been ill is with this smasmodic colic during the last 12 months.

He is fed a small feed of Hi Fi and Blue chip each day (the full amount of blue chip for his weight) is turned out all day on pretty sparse grass (as we thought rich grass was harder for him to process now he is getting on) he has good quality hay all night, access to fresh clean water 24/7. He is wormed to date, pooh cleared from his field daily, his drinking and toilet (both) are both totally normal. He is in fab condition for his age, coat is great - in himself he is fine cantering off down the field and generally being his normal mischevious self.

Even when showing colic symptoms - kicking, cramping, and generally looking pretty cheesed off and uncomfortable - he is still his cheeky self - whinnying when I walk to him, and cheekily rubbing round me in search of treats (which he is not getting any of at the mo as dont want to upset his tum)

He has had blood tests done for tapeworm, liver function, kidney function, to check for infection etc etc - everything has come back totally clear.

Vet has said that gastric ulcers may be a possibility - but the only symptom of this he displays is this spasmodic colic - so they do not think that this is likely.

if anyone has experienced anything like this in the past - or can suggest anything to help I would be most grateful!

The vets have suggested that there are further tests they can do at the clinic - however this is about 1 hr 45 mins away from where I keep him - and with his being retired and elderly - I am not sure how much stress this will cause and want to put him through as little poking and prodding around as I can,

if anyone can shed any light or has any suggestions I would be most grateful.

Many thanks

Gem
 
I had an elderly pony that had a few bouts of spasmodic colic. The vet thought he probably had some fatty lipomas (sp?) in his gut and that it was something that would probably keep recurring. We took the decision to pts as he had many other problems (laminitis, cushings) and he was 36, which is a fair innings.

But if yours is healthy and happy in himself, it might be worth finding out if he has these fatty deposits. Another friend's mare got rushed to the Royal Vet with colic and was operated on and amazingly survived. The vet there said the majority of colic cases he sees are somewhat overweight and you rarely get a slim horse with lipomas. Not sure if that's any help but might be worth considering.
 
Hi there everyone, thanks for your replies.

Yes I have had bloods taken from him on 2 occasions now - the most recently being last week - and these have always come back totally normal.

Llewelyn - how does the vet diagnose the fatty limpomas? If this is something that can only be traced surgically then its not something I will be able to consider - I think he is too old to have surgery, I dont think he would cope very well with after care at all, plus I also have to consider that as he is a veteran - vet fees are not covered for illness under his insurance - and whilst I can cope with the bill being hundreds of pounds (just about) I would not be able to manage if it ran into thousands.

My poor old boy - its so difficult as when he colics the symptoms are not violent or makorly severe - he is just obviously not comfortable - my vet is confident that nothing majorly serious is wrong - as it has been grumbling on for a while...

I am off to see how he is at lunch time (in about half hour) so will post an update this avo.

Thanks again,

Gem
 
My horse is very prone to spasmodic colic AKA gassy colic. I think it is because our yard used to be a dairy farm for a hundred years or more and although its been used for horses for the last seven or eight years the grass continues to be very rich. My horse is on pink powder too. I have found that temperature fluctuations give him colic, ie. if it has been dry and then it rains a lot the grass becomes very rich quickly and this can spark off an attack. I usually give him 3 or 4 bute when he has a colic attack and put him on the walker for 20 mins and then back in his stable to see how he reacts. If he still shows colicky symptoms then I get the vet out. This is how the vet has advised me to deal with my horse, and obviously this does not mean everyone should do this, but in my horses case it is suitable management as he has had about 30 attacks of colic in 5 years so we know what we are dealing with. I wonder sometimes if my horse has gastric ulcers but I do not want him to be tested for anything colick related as I feel if he ever needs a colic operation I do not want him excluded from the insurance for this particular problem so I keep quiet about it. 30 attacks that I know of in 5 years is not great, but then lots of horses have colic that go undetected anway. He is only out in about 3 acres of very little grassed paddock for a maximum of 5 hours a day which suits him fine, and the pink powder keeps him ticking over nicely. He is 12 years old and a warmblood.
 
Gemsie my old cob also started to come down with bouts of colic at around mid twenties. between bouts he was happy in himself and healthy and my vet also suggested it was fatty deposits that were causing it. Unfortunately I dont think there is much that can be done once they are a problem but it may be that your vet will be able to feel them if they are well down the digestive tract so worth having a feel about internally. Bear in mind the vet can only feel so far in and if they are further up or have popped back after an episode you may never actually get a true diagnosis.

It IS worth asking about these though as if nothing else you can rule out other things if the vet thinks this is whats doing it.
 
I would have suggested gastric ulcers too.

One thing which could make a difference is to split his feeds into morning & evening, if that is possible? Horses are trickle feeders, therefore giving an actual meal is quite unnatural. This would become more of an issue when a horse gets older and their digestive system becomes less efficient... leading to an increased risk of colic. Lipomas would not help matters either as that would further compromise gut function. However, if you split the feeds you are putting less concentrated stress on the system... which may reduce the risk of colic. I would say though that you would need to be careful about making this difference to his routine ~ the change may upset him so it may be something to be done gradually?
 
It may be worthwhile just using sloppy sugar beet (unmolassed) for a while - kick out the HiFi and also the Blue chip - the latter contains grain and soya derivatives. Seen a number of horses with recurrent colic that have done better with no grain. Consider also feeding a mucilage such as linseed meal to act as a buffer and tonic.
 
My horse has had 12 gas colic attack in just under a year.......and now i know how to help the symptoms go away it keeps me on the edge. How do you deal with this I have alot of very supportive horsey friends just wish i knew what causes it and why. Shes been scoped no ulcers lots of accupuncture colligone and danillon on hand. shes even colliced when been out for an hour with a muzzle on...?? have you ever heard of feeding Bicarbonate of Soda. BTW its comforting to read your story. good luck
she gets a speedi beet and HI FI quite wet and soaked hay. She doesnt seem to drink alot of water as she used to. Tried all sorts of things to get her to drink none worked. Shes a real happy laid back mare...........My vet just took some bloods to have tested for intollerance, my claim runs out in 3 weeks and then colic is exempted from my policy which is scary!!
 
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OP has your horse been tested for Cushings? At age 28 the statistics are against him and Cushings can present as all sorts of weird things, not necessarily the long curly coat that everyone thinks of. I would say thought that at 28, this is also the time you may see other age-related illnesses start to show eg cancers etc. I'd share your concern about major abdominal surgery. My veteran is 28 and has Cushings (on pergolide to control) and a severe pollen allergy. Aside from the fact that his lungs are so shot that he can't even be given standing sedation and he isn't insured as there's nothing out there for aged veterans except field injury only, I'd have to weigh up the likelihood of him surviving major surgery and it contributing to a better quality of life. Fingers crossed for your boy x
 
Gemsie said:
Hi There everyone,

I have posted on this forum before regarding my 28 year old retired IDxTB who over the last 12 months has had 3 episodes of mild spasmodic colic. In each case the vet has been a few times and pumped him full of buscapan and pain relief - and within a few days it settles down and he is fine again.

For the last week and a half he has been having on and off spasmodic colic. I have had the vet to him 3 times - again they give him buscapan and pain relief. This time the colic is grumbling on much longer than it has in the past and I am at a bit of a loss what to do with the old chap. I have put him on pin powder 3 days ago for the probiotics - so hopefully these will kick in soon, and have him on liquid coligone which seems to help.

I have enough bute and finadine to keep him comfortable for the next few days - but not sure where to go next!

I have owned him 20 years and the only times he has ever been ill is with this smasmodic colic during the last 12 months.

He is fed a small feed of Hi Fi and Blue chip each day (the full amount of blue chip for his weight) is turned out all day on pretty sparse grass (as we thought rich grass was harder for him to process now he is getting on) he has good quality hay all night, access to fresh clean water 24/7. He is wormed to date, pooh cleared from his field daily, his drinking and toilet (both) are both totally normal. He is in fab condition for his age, coat is great - in himself he is fine cantering off down the field and generally being his normal mischevious self.

Even when showing colic symptoms - kicking, cramping, and generally looking pretty cheesed off and uncomfortable - he is still his cheeky self - whinnying when I walk to him, and cheekily rubbing round me in search of treats (which he is not getting any of at the mo as dont want to upset his tum)

He has had blood tests done for tapeworm, liver function, kidney function, to check for infection etc etc - everything has come back totally clear.

Vet has said that gastric ulcers may be a possibility - but the only symptom of this he displays is this spasmodic colic - so they do not think that this is likely.

if anyone has experienced anything like this in the past - or can suggest anything to help I would be most grateful!

The vets have suggested that there are further tests they can do at the clinic - however this is about 1 hr 45 mins away from where I keep him - and with his being retired and elderly - I am not sure how much stress this will cause and want to put him through as little poking and prodding around as I can,

if anyone can shed any light or has any suggestions I would be most grateful.

Many thanks

Gem
Click to expand...


Interestingly there is a strong link between red worm and spasmodic colic. I wonder if this is your horses case?
 
mine was having spasmodic colic she had never had it before then she was getting them quite often pretty much same as your horse so we scoped ( and she had ulcers) but she wasnt really eating so we had other symtoms but they only have to have one!
 
Dear Gemsie,

I do not know if this will help but I have a 14.3hh connemara who is 18. He has never had colic before in his life but a couple of months ago was struck down by spasmodic colic. He seemed really sore around his bladder. It turned out I was feeding him Alfalfa which is high in protein. The amount of protein going into his gut was too much for him to handle and what happens is the protein causes some problem with the calcium in his system. The protein/calcium buildup makes his urethral tubes swell up and retains more calcium than normal and can create kidney stones as such. I have taken him off any Alfalfa based food and have started giving him some bran (this stops the calcium being absorbed so much by his system). I, touch wood, have had no issues since. This may have something to do with your horse. It is certainly worth a try.

My pony was given anti-spasmodic drugs as well as anti-bi's as the vet thought he may have some kind of bacterial infection going on - well he thought it best to rule this out. I had my pony cathetered and the urine that was taken out was v. cloudy (not strange in horses, but this was really cloudy).

Hope this helps.

vonvonb1
xx
 
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