Watch out for colic - on increase at the moment

[Birker2020]

My horse that has gone sixteen months without any signs of colic went down with it on Wednesday evening.

Despite him being in a routine with little grazing, electric fencing increased by a very small ammount every other day, on a probiotic and watched like a hawk he still managed to get it, I believe it was the rain followed by the mild weather we've been having as this has nearly always had an affect on him previously.

He's always been a colicky horse and used to reguarly get colic at the last yard as it was an ex dairy farm and grazing was very rich. It was always the same colic - spasmodic gassy colic, rectified by giving him bute, putting him on the walker for 20 mins and then back in his stable. This is what the vet asked me to do and saved an awful lot of call outs and wasted time.

I lived by this advice for eight years without problem, each time the colic was very mild and gassy and the time in between episodes increased and we would go many months without a problem. Then last June he had a colic that didn't fit the normal pattern and I called the vet ut immediately and he found a splenic entrapment. This was rectified by lots of exercise on the lunge to shrink the spleen and free the colon and the horse returned to normal by the next day. He even went on to endure two yard moves without a single colicky episode - each time giving him a postage stamp of grass and increasing it by minute amounts each day until he was used to the grazing!

Then on Wednesday after I finished riding him I spotted his very subtle symptoms - I gave him a horse lick in order to carry out his daily post exercise stretches and his attitude was 'not really bothered about licking it'. This is a classic with Bailey! I then tried him with a piece of liquorice and he ate it very slowly and without enthuisasm. Put him back in his stable and he picked very disheartedly at his hay and then stood at the back of his stable head down, shaking his head every now and then and moving his hind legs. I'd decided to call the vet by this point and she was there within 15 mins as she was just round the corner.

As this was his first colic since his splenic entrapment last June it was agreed to give him an internal and thankfully everything was where it should have been, consistency of droppings was fine, heart rate and respiration fine, temp slightly elevated so she took bloods and the result showed he has a possible bacterial/viral infection, but his temp is back to normal now so she said to just hack him gently over the weekend.

We are guessing its the new flush of grass due to the weather so keep an eye out peeps. The vet said there were a lot of colics at the moment due to fluctuations in the weather and the increase in grass.

Interestingly while the vet was there I mentioned that my friend has just lost a horse due to colic and there was a rumour going round that they had been responsible for the death of their horse due to them not managing it properly. She was horrified that people could be so cruel and said that nine times out of ten there is no real reason for colic, and its very unusual for it to be as a result of a management issue. Its just one of those things - weather, flush of grass, lap of the Gods etc.

Please no nasty replies, just trying to warn people.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Thank you for letting us know- much appreciated.

 

[Mrs G]

Yes thanks for the heads up. Can I also ask have you ever had your horse scoped for ulcers? Just thought I'd mention it as your horses history sounds a lot like my first horse - intermittent mild gassy colic which we usually put down to grass changes ( he lived out and was strip grazed when necessary). Then the colicking started being more frequent and severe, colic op found nothing out of the ordinary (no displacement or twists in the gut) but a few weeks later in recovery he colicked again and I couldn't stand seeing him suffer anymore. Post Mortum found undiagnosed hind gut ulcers.

 

[onemoretime]

I do hope your horse makes a full recovery OP.

I have recently lost my lovely young horse due to him eating (we and vets feel this is the most likely cause) hawthorn and a prickle going down and piercing the gut and letting the E coli bacteria which is always in the gut, out. E coli multiplies every 20 minutes and we had a very sick horse on our hands. He went into hospital and was operated on and the gut was found to be very inflamed, vets didn't expect him to come round but he did and got up to their amazement. He was on fluids and AB's after the op and hung for 11 days in the balance, then some results came back from Newmarket showing he had E coli and so was put on Enrofloxacin where he picked up quite a bit but still his temperature and heart rate and also white cell count fluctuated considerably so they put a camera inside to look round and found lots of adhesions, some dark fluid which should have been pale amber and there should be a gap between the spleen and the kidneys and this had completely closed up.

When they operate and handle the gut a glue comes out and this makes the gut stick to other parts where it should not be and the end result was that the horse kept having small colicky turns, about 4 or 5 a day, so when the results of the camera test came through we had to make the dreadful decision to have him put down. He was only 6 years old and I had only had him for 17 months. We ended up with a 10.5k vet bill and a dead horse. I would think twice about having any horse operated on again.

 

[honetpot]

Not this winter but the winter before I knew three people in a small area that lost their horses to colic, which seemed an awful lot. I am sure the changes in the grass growth, very mild weather followed by cold then mild could not have helped the susceptible.
The horses gut is so long and complicated that unless it was a simple colic that could be treated quickly I would not go for surgery, a lot seem to survive the initial operation and then die of the complications and adhesions later on can make further colic more common.

 

[onemoretime]

Not this winter but the winter before I knew three people in a small area that lost their horses to colic, which seemed an awful lot. I am sure the changes in the grass growth, very mild weather followed by cold then mild could not have helped the susceptible.
The horses gut is so long and complicated that unless it was a simple colic that could be treated quickly I would not go for surgery, a lot seem to survive the initial operation and then die of the complications and adhesions later on can make further colic more common.

Agree Honeypot the trouble we had was that my husband and I were away in Italy when we got the dreaded call. We went and booked the next plane home and were on our way down the Italian motorway to the airport when my friend phoned to say the vets had called her to say that they could not control the pain and wanted to operate, there was no time to talk about it, it was either operate or put down and as he was so young I said operate. I hope I am never ever in that situation again and anyone in it has my deepest sympathy, but I would probably say no.

In over 50 years I have never lost a young horse and it will take me a very long time to come to terms with it.

 

[Princess Rosie]

Our vet who is Doncaster based told me on Thursday that she's had an increase in colic at the moment. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your four legged friend. x

 

[leggs]

Yes thanks for the heads up. Can I also ask have you ever had your horse scoped for ulcers? Just thought I'd mention it as your horses history sounds a lot like my first horse - intermittent mild gassy colic which we usually put down to grass changes ( he lived out and was strip grazed when necessary). Then the colicking started being more frequent and severe, colic op found nothing out of the ordinary (no displacement or twists in the gut) but a few weeks later in recovery he colicked again and I couldn't stand seeing him suffer anymore. Post Mortum found undiagnosed hind gut ulcers.

this was also the first thing that sprung to my mind. I had a ulcer horse after having to take medication (bute) after accident. she developed ulcers. As I was in the middle of nowhere I even learned to IV buscopan myself as having an emergency vet out every week was hell for my bankaccount. After starting the omeprazole no more colic...until she died of colic (twisted gut) 6 wks ago, but thus nothing to do with ulcers.

 

[Birker2020]

Yes thanks for the heads up. Can I also ask have you ever had your horse scoped for ulcers? Just thought I'd mention it as your horses history sounds a lot like my first horse - intermittent mild gassy colic which we usually put down to grass changes ( he lived out and was strip grazed when necessary). Then the colicking started being more frequent and severe, colic op found nothing out of the ordinary (no displacement or twists in the gut) but a few weeks later in recovery he colicked again and I couldn't stand seeing him suffer anymore. Post Mortum found undiagnosed hind gut ulcers.

Hi Mrs G. My vets were offering a certain amount of free endescopys about three years ago to check for ulcers (think it was to trial a new treatment) and they were searching for viable horses to use. One of the vets from the practice thought that my horse could 'possibly' have had ulcers as it was having quite frequent episodes of the same type of colic but when the head vet who was running the scoping came out and looked at my slightly overweight and happy horse he laughed and said that there was no way he had ulcers and where had I got that silly idea from. It was quite funny seeing his reaction when I told him it had been someone from his practice who thought my horse had ulcers. However he felt that it wasn't necessary and Bailey didn't have it done as it was considered there were more deserving cases I guess. Wish I had pushed for it more at the time but he doesn't seem like he has them now as he doesn't really exhibit any signs as such. He's not really girthy, doesn't windsuck, isn't tender around his stomach, doesn't look like the typical 'ulcer horse' although I do understand they can be fat as well as thin and not all have the same symptoms. I'm not insured for colic or anything 'stomachy' now either so its a very expensive procedure to carry out with a very expensive treatment. As he already costs me £100 a week I doubt I can go down that line at the moment especially as I am out of work. Of course if the vets did think it was necessary now then I would do so in a heart beat.

 

[Birker2020]

The horses gut is so long and complicated that unless it was a simple colic that could be treated quickly I would not go for surgery, a lot seem to survive the initial operation and then die of the complications and adhesions later on can make further colic more common.

Sorry to hear all your sad stories of colics and lost horses. I don't think I would put my horse through colic as I have heard that a lot don't do very well and as he is 17 and has arthritis and needs to be ridden and turned out every day, weeks of box rest would have a devastating effect on him and I don't think I would put him through it. That said I asked my vet about a year ago what he thought if Bailey needed surgery tomorrow (hypothetically) and he said he wouldn't hesitate to operate on him as he was a happy active horse who was coping very well with the fusion treatment he had received and even after the problems encountered with his suspensory he had come through really well and appeared to be fit, healthy and enjoying life. So it would always be a hard one.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had my first colic in 40+ years of horse keeping last week. (Touching wood madly as I type).
No apparent reason - all the usual triggers abscent - change of diet, change of routine, worms, eating something unsuitable. An internal exam showed no twist fortunately, so 2 vet visits and about 6 injections pony was on her feet again and so far has been OK.

The only thing we could put it down to was the changeable weather, so vet advised that they are stabled overnight, and that is what I have been doing since.

It is not nice and I am constantly checking to see that both are acting normally.

 

[leggs]

Not to whine or anything, just another warning, there is no such thing as a typical ulcer horse.

does this look like an ulcer horse ? (horse in photo is 24yrs old, so you would think, especially with ulcers, you would be able to tell)

because this horse had severe ulcers, she at one point did not ly down to sleep anymore, thus falling over in remsleep every 2.5wks....it was hell, only other sign was colic every other week.
she never windsucked, not girthy, nothing!

 

[Regandal]

I don't think you can scope for hind gut ulcers, I think they just do an omeprazole trial. Could be wrong though. Nice horsey!

 

[Mrs G]

Thats the head vet?! Hopefully he's learnt a bit more about ulcers since then and no longer dismisses concerned owners in such a way! It sounds like you know your horse very well and know what to look out for. Here's hoping Bailey recovers quickly x

 

[Switchthehorse]

Snap, mine has always been a little prone to colicky symptoms but have had a blissful time without any then was piggy jumping Sunday and then depressed Monday, pooing but less than normal, still eating as normal .. Just a bit miserable and rather bloated. Ended up getting vet today on instinct more than anything - thankfully I know my vet really well and I think he trusts my instincts with my horses - she did indeed have spasmodic gassy colic, low grade but enough to stop her passing normal droppings and lingering over days enough to eventually potentially cause problems. He admitted people might not have noticed if not so errmmm well neurotic but glad I did, buscopan and finadine later and she is back to normal. Trust your instinct even if it's low grade belly ache it's worth a vets call out rather than five or so days later it being fatal