I am going to mention the B12 and the hay when I talk to them in the morning, for sure. I feel like the B12 isn’t going to mess anything up, even if it doesn’t help this time.
@volvo_240 that makes sense, hopefully he produces enough to satisfy them overnight. Maybe he’s just saving it up (I joke) until he gets home. He has designated toilet areas of his pasture.
This. Anyone ever have a colonoscopy? TMI, but afterwards, it takes me 3-4 days to return to normal habits.
I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed for Bo. Hopefully this is a matter of not enough in to have things coming out. I know this has / can be an issue with me, my cat, and my horse when our systems have been upset. If you can get there to visit him tomorrow that seems worthy of your time. Come on, Bo!!!
Come on BO!!! Let’s poop and get home.
Bo, I meant what I said about still loving you just as much if you were uncomplicated and inexpensive. The less your mom has to pay for the vet hospital, the more she has in her budget for treats and Senior.
Is he stalled right now? Is he getting any movement to help gut motility?
I rehabbed one from a body score of, maybe, 2. Midwest, middle of a stiff winter. All was well for about 10 weeks then ended up taking a late night trip to the clinic due to severe colic symptoms- and thanks to the barn staff for acting in my abcense to get him help. I was 6 states away in the days before cell phones and internet.
Diagnosis was severe impaction colic. Vets told me it is common for horses recovering from long term neglect to suffer impaction and severe dehydration a few months into recovery.
They may produce poops but they are incomplete, failure to empty the bowels kills their appetite and most won’t drink. These MUST get enough physical movement to help the gut, stall is the worst place for them.
Even if living outside, most don’t feel well enough to get enough exercise, they need human intervention via hand walk, lunge, hot walker, treadmill or whatever but they have to move. Least an hour.
Sometimes we stall them meaning to help them but, according to this very well respected clinic, might be the worst thing for them.
Just food for thought. And that B12 supplement can help them feel like moving more, I take it and it does for me. Helped my horses that needed a boost too.
Will continue to keep up with this and jingle.
Nothing to add except DO tell vets about the B12 & hay issues.
You’re the one who knows Bo best from an everyday standpoint. You’re who got him so greatly improved from Ground Zero.
I once convinced my vet to try naquazone (on COTH advice), he agreed, it worked.
Meantime:
Sending more jingles for Bo this morning,
Hoping for some good news for you today. I bet Bo is missing letting himself out of the paddock and kicking up heels with his doppleganger.
Yes and no, respectively, from what I understand. They only get him out to put him in the stocks for tests, and apparently he throws a fit if he’s in the stocks too long. Can’t say I blame him, he’s probably pretty fed up with all this now.
No news yet, but it’s still “early” I suppose (9:30). If he’s going to have to stay another night, I’m going to ask if I can go visit today. It feels like it’s been a year since I left him there, and every day since Friday night I’ve been told ‘we hope to send him home tomorrow’… my soul is tired and I would like him to come home now, please and thank you.
I’m scheduled to take the others in for freeze brands tomorrow. Perhaps I can just sneak him out and stuff him in the trailer with the others. 
Morning update…
So, he was mildly uncomfortable overnight - enough to be given banamine, which seemed to help. He was ultrasounded and has apparently displaced again, as before, they are hoping he will be able to self-correct like he did last time. The belly tap was not productive. She is convinced that he has some sort of underlying cancerous process going on that is causing him to have these symptoms. She said they could do a rectal biopsy to look further into it, or we can just get him to a comfortable place and “manage” him.
I elected to “manage”. TBH I feel like we’re zebra hunting again, but whatever. They are going to work on re-feeding him again today, and if they are successful he can come home tomorrow. I told her about the B12. They are going to start him on B12 just in case, although she speculated about an underlying cause for why he was having bouts of no appetite.
I also asked about the hay (alfalfa, in this case), if he is actually eating it. She claims that he IS, they have only found a few quidded up balls when cleaning the stall. I am dubious about that, considering his history, but perhaps getting his teeth taken care of has helped things. Or he’s just really good at hiding his balls of hay/someone is bad at counting.
So, cross your fingers that refeeding again today goes well and he can come home with his friends tomorrow.
I don’t know that they will do a better job of refeeding than you will. Do you have any sense that you will just bring him home regardless? There is nothing that says you must leave him there to be miserable.
Yay!
You get to visit Bo!!
I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, but don’t be upset if he seems miffed.
If he’s not been able to eat hay for a while and now he’s suddenly eating hay, that would be a bit of a shock to his digestive system, too.
Typing with my fingers crossed for an early visit from the poop fairy, Heinz!
He’s probably confused and missing his mum, too.
I would colic if I were used to living in a big open field and then I was shut up in a box, too. Some of us are bad at stall rest.
Am starting to wonder about doing this. I believe I could get him to eat, and he would be happier in his pasture with his friends nearby. I have banamine on hand and could always take him back in if he deteriorates. He did poop last night, apparently an excessive volume of smelly poop that had likely been sitting in his rectum too long.
I did visit him today, for about an hour. He is not very happy - he was down taking a nap when I arrived, but it was lunch time and he got up when the food came. He ate for a few minutes but ultimately had only eaten a quarter or so of his “mash” when I left, would go back and pick at it but spent most of his time fidgeting, looking out his jail bars, and low key stall walking (one circle at a time, not continuous). The tech told me it was a “salty” mash, and honestly it was more of a paste consistency than what I think of as mash.
Knowing him, if the salt is a recent addition I’m not surprised he’s less than enthused about the food. He kept looking at it with his ‘this is not what I ordered’ face.
He was very itchy, so I scratched a lot. He was also pretty gassy. And nippy about being touched in certain places. And I can tell he wants OUT of jail.
Anyway, I took some pictures and it is technically Monday, so here he is after 4.5 nights in the hospital and 11 weeks in:
It’s definitely not my call to make, but I have to say I’m in the “Bring Bo home” camp. 
I’d bring him home too. A lot of horses don’t do well when they’re taken away from their buds and locked up in a stall with new routines, new caregivers, new food, etc.
Do we need to do an Oceans 11 type heist to free Bo?
All jokes aside…I think all of us will support you decision to bring him home. You have done nothing but the best for our big guy
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