Chronic colic, any vets that specialize?

[punchy]

This is a difficult thing to deal with. I had a chronic colicer who had his first colic—an impaction due to a fever from a virus going around—at age 8, and he became a super gassy chronic colicer from that point on, until I put him down at 13. So for him, it was a sudden thing. Just to say that the previous owners may be right and he may not have had a history. I later discovered that his half sibling was a colicer also, so maybe it ran in the family.

The best thing IMO is to observe and figure out what works best for your horse. Which it sound like you are doing. They often don’t follow the book, and don’t ‘make sense.’
A good vet will listen, and read your colic journals (keep one—the things that seems to set it off, etc) and work with that information.

Good luck.

[Hoofbeat_Heartbeat]

I’m hoping he stays healthy with the addition of Prascend! He has been on it since September.

[OutsidersOpinion]

Have you gotten him allergy tested?

Found out mine was allergic to pretty much all hay and grain. Once we cut out his allergens all of our stomach issues stopped.

We also have a horse in the barn that can’t have hay, only grass and alfalfa cubes or he colics.

[Pennywell_Bay]

Ask your vet about buscopan.

[walktheline]

I am aware of Buscopan as an anti spasmodic, he’s been given it many times when my vet has treated his episodes medically at home. From my understanding it simply relieves the acute symptoms but doesn’t do anything to address the root of the problem or cause, kind of like Banamine?

[Pennywell_Bay]

They have different effects and are used in different situations:

Banamine is an NSAID that reduces pain, inflammation, and fever, and binds toxins from bacteria.

Buscopan is a short-acting drug that reduces spasms in the horse’s intestinal tract. Buscopan can also relax the horse’s rectum, making it easier to perform a rectal exam. Useful for gas colic.

If your vet already uses it, great. But yeah- they have a different method of action. I’ve found it most useful in my mare who would has colic on a relatively regular basis, with no underlying physiological reason.

[4horses]

I had a couple cases of colic this summer due to dehydration. The horses were sweating off their fluids and not able to stay hydrated well enough on a hay only diet. Grass has enough moisture and doesn’t cause problems.

I moved them from free choice hay to limited hay meals and that helped as well.

Free choice hay works for some horses. Mine can pull hay from the smallest hole and are experts at quickly draining their hay nets. So free choice hay, means all you can eat buffet.

I would watch how this horse eats his hay, compared with other horses. Does he gorge, does he leave the hay when he gets full? How long does it take him to empty a hay bag? How long will he continuously stand there eating hay? Is he easily interrupted or distracted during eating or does he just stuff himself?

I was told by the university to withhold all grain after a colic because grain can cause gas buildup.

I would probably switch to a completely different type of hay and either feed no grain or something like alfalfa pellets.

[amottb17]

To me, if he had no prior issues that says that something about your current situation isn’t jiving with your horse - whether it’s the environment, the hay type, daily routine, training style, etc…It’s wild how much of an impact these things have on horses health and digestive systems.

In my situation, my mare had no prior issues either until she was brought to the barn I kept her at those first couple years. And they immediately almost entirely went away after I moved her out of it, even though it was a fantastic barn with good care. She hated turnout there and I often had to bring her in after only 15 minutes, while day 1 at the new barn she was out for 8+ hours and loved every second of it.

If his diet initially remained the same with you as the barn he came from, that could point to something in his environment as well. Lots of truly excellent boarding barns with great care just aren’t right for certain horses - some thrive in a busier environment, while others prefer peace and quiet. In my mare’s case, she was the latter. She needs as much overall “peace and quiet” as possible and any excessive busy-ness, change, or hustle and bustle causes stress to her that ultimately impacts her GI system. It was a huge sacrifice for me as I had to move her an hour away at the time, and ultimately moved my family to a new town a few months later so I could be closer.

Not suggesting you have to move to a new situation, but it’s definitely a factor to consider when looking at the big picture

Happy to hear you’ve had 3 days colic-free…I totally understand the feeling of what a win that is!