Colicy Gelding. What could this be?

[WhiskeyFlash]

Hi Everyone,

I have had this gelding about 4 months now. He is a six year old QH gelding that came from a 24/7 pasture and first cut rounds home and had very soft stools.
I started working with him at least two nights a week, but four nights ago I had a colic scare for the first time ever with any of my horses and I am not sure what to think of it.
Before the colic:
He was on middle grade first cut in stall along with a handful of sweetfeed, general mineral and glucosamine. In pasture he had a second cut round bale shared between four other horses who have not shown any similar behaviour or symptoms. I had the bale tested and it does have some mold content so we removed it from the field.
The Night of the Attack to now:
He was standing outside by the bale I brought him inside to his stall and he sprawled out on his belly right away so I called the vet. Walked until the vet came and he passed one bowel movement. The vet did a nasal tube and rectal exam with no red flags, filled him with mineral oil and warm water. All his vitals were normal. He was put on stall rest, first cut and soaked beet pulp with mineral oil. I walk him four times a day for about 20-30 minutes along with short turnout time in the arena with a pasture mate where he walks around and is still social with the other horse. Since then he has passed urine and manure that is now normal consistency, but not as soft as it was before. He is eating almost as good as normal and drinking enough water that I feel he shouldn’t be dehydrated. That all being said he is still uncomfortable when not walking, sprawling out, laying down, light pawing and looking back at his flank even with his normal vitals. I had a different vet out who said he may be moving an impatient along, but all manure is normal and soft thus far.
I am having blood work done this week, not sure if anyone else has had a similar situation and has any advice?
Thanks in Advance

[luvmyhackney]

What’s his temp and heart rate? Are his gums a healthy color? I think I would take him off hay and grain for now and feed him soupy alfalfa cubes multiple times a day. Get as much liquid in his as possible so he doesn’t get dehydrated on you. Did vet give any advice about giving Banamine for pain relief? Not sure where you live at, but any changes in the weather or air pressure with storms coming in or extreme temperature swings? I had one that would get mild colic when storms would come in.

[WhiskeyFlash]

[QUOTE=luvmyhackney;8997348]
What’s his temp and heart rate? Are his gums a healthy color? I think I would take him off hay and grain for now and feed him soupy alfalfa cubes multiple times a day. Get as much liquid in his as possible so he doesn’t get dehydrated on you. Did vet give any advice about giving Banamine for pain relief? Not sure where you live at, but any changes in the weather or air pressure with storms coming in or extreme temperature swings? I had one that would get mild colic when storms would come in.[/QUOTE]

It’s the middle of winter here and we have a few feet of snow which increases the chance of colic, but the previous owner has never had any issues. All of his vitals are normal thus far heart, temp, gums, maneur. He had banamine the first night, but I am scared to hide any signs of his state worsening if I keep giving it to him.

[luvmyhackney]

I’d call the vet and find out how they wanted to go about this and if they wanted you to give more Banamine or not.

Better safe than sorry.

[danacat]

A horse that exhibits signs of (colic) pain for an unusually long time, is cause for worry. Your vet needs to determine if your horse is having any nasogastric reflux ASAP.

I couldn’t tell from your post if vet checked for this, but if there is gastric reflux, then the colic is blocking the small intestine, not the large. Horses can pass a lot of manure that is on the outgoing side of a blockage, thus making the colic appear to be resolved when it isn’t.

[JB]

I don’t understand why food was and is still being given The rule is no food, none, until you see solid signs of mineral oil-coated manure, then start feeding forage back very slowly before giving any concentrates.

He may also have ulcers - that can make a horse look colicky off and on for periods of time…

[WhiskeyFlash]

[QUOTE=danacat;8997557]
A horse that exhibits signs of (colic) pain for an unusually long time, is cause for worry. Your vet needs to determine if your horse is having any nasogastric reflux ASAP.

I couldn’t tell from your post if vet checked for this, but if there is gastric reflux, then the colic is blocking the small intestine, not the large. Horses can pass a lot of manure that is on the outgoing side of a blockage, thus making the colic appear to be resolved when it isn’t.[/QUOTE]

He was rectal checked and tubed with no reflux the first night. I had him off feed for the first two nights after the mineral oil flush. He wasn’t drinking water so the vet said to start giving him small amounts of soaked hay and beet pulp since he was still passing maneur. He is now eating and drinking with normal vitals, but laying down and pawing while in his stall, not as much while he is out. I am waiting on blood results currently.

[WhiskeyFlash]

[QUOTE=JB;8997565]
I don’t understand why food was and is still being given The rule is no food, none, until you see solid signs of mineral oil-coated manure, then start feeding forage back very slowly before giving any concentrates.

He may also have ulcers - that can make a horse look colicky off and on for periods of time…[/QUOTE]

He was rectal checked and tubed with no reflux the first night. I had him off feed for the first two nights after the mineral oil flush. He wasn’t drinking water so the vet said to start giving him small amounts of soaked hay and beet pulp since he was still passing maneur. He is now eating and drinking with normal vitals, but laying down and pawing while in his stall, not as much while he is out. I am waiting on blood work, how can they test for ulcers? Can I give him an H2 blocker and see if he improves? Or do I need to have him scoped?

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Go look at old threads about grain tea and alfalfa tea and Coca-Cola and chia seeds other products to use to prevent colic and to treat colic.

If your horse is not an easy keeper and therefore can eat alfalfa hay, it has a laxative effect. Use it daily.

Don’t use fine hays like coastal bermuda and alicia, use timothy and thick stemmed hays to feed…

Lots of good information on Coth from people who have BTDT with colic prone horses. Use preventive feeding and you won’t have to deal with colic. Flavored water is great. One of my friends buys molasses and coats the bottom of a water bucket with it, then fills the bucket with water. Her QH mare then drinks the whole bucket.

Good luck.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Also my vet always says give 10cc of banamine and if it does not work in 20 minutes, then call back and he’ll come over.

Your vet can oil your horse to help move any impaction.
He can also tell you if it is gas colic or impaction colic.

Giving a level tablespoon of baking soda once a day is supposed to help prevent gas colic.

Go read all the old threads on the search for colic on Coth.

[trubandloki]

This is a horse that had 24/7 turn out before and you are wondering why he is pawing now that his life turned upside down?
Is he simply laying down to take a nap or acting distressed?

If he is eating and passing manure normally I would say that if he still has strange stomach pain it might be time to talk to your vet about looking for other causes. Ulcers?

[Where_sMyWhite]

Also consider sand and perhaps starting on a psyllium supplement.

[fanfayre]

There’s a very recent thread with the words “Ideas”… or something like that. LOTS of great ideas there in a fairly lengthy thread for POST colic treatment and future colic prevention.

It’s been 4-5 days now, and he’s still not right? Time to call the vet out again for another rectal and he may need to be put on IV fluids. Sounds like he still has an impaction. I, too, would not give banamine until the vet says so, and also realize that banamine may cause gastric ulcers.
Good Luck with this boy and hoping he sorts himself out!

[WhiskeyFlash]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8997796]
This is a horse that had 24/7 turn out before and you are wondering why he is pawing now that his life turned upside down?
Is he simply laying down to take a nap or acting distressed?

If he is eating and passing manure normally I would say that if he still has strange stomach pain it might be time to talk to your vet about looking for other causes. Ulcers?[/QUOTE]

I was really careful to start things slowly with him. He has been here for four months now and started with 24/7 the first month then he was slowly brought to being stalled in the fall because they have to be stalled overnight in the winter at this barn, but are out during the day. We don’t have shelters in the paddock and it has been -10 or less for most of this week with over 10cm of snow a night. I did attempt to put him out for a day, but he soaked his blanket and himself from laying down which I don’t think is the best for him when he’s not feeling great in this weather. In the summer I would let him be out no problem. I do walk him regularly and give him monitored arena time and he will lightly lunge. He is a very patient horse and has never pawed prior and normally jumps up when someone enters the barn when laying down. His training hasnt been overly stressful, 2-4 times a week 1-2 hour training sessions. I have sent all feed out for samples and am waiting on blood work so hopefully that gives a better picture. None of the distress/discomfort behaviors was happening until the initial colic scare a few days ago. Ulcers was my next thought, not sure if I can just go ahead and give him a treatment to see if it works?

[walktrot]

Our vet recommends Xtra strength Gas-x when they show signs of colic. We do vitals, then 1 tablet per 100 lbs. and banamine. This often is enough to turn them around, if not, the vet is called.

[rhymeswithfizz]

Slow, dragging colic makes me think sand colic. I just dealt with one of these and it was a rough road! The discomfort can last a while, since the cause of the colic (sand in the gut) isn’t gone. After we were out of the woods, my vet had me give a half dose of banamine at mealtimes for the next several days.

Once we were a week out, we started on the psyllium, even though he wasn’t fully 100%. If he has normal gut noises and vitals, and is eating again, ask your vet if you can start him on psyllium (sand clear).

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

Start the psyllium pellets. If you do not have them, then buy some Metamucil at walmart and soak it, then add some feed to it for the horse to eat.

[WhiskeyFlash]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8998024]
Start the psyllium pellets. If you do not have them, then buy some Metamucil at walmart and soak it, then add some feed to it for the horse to eat.[/QUOTE]

Oh that’s a good idea, I will try that. The only sand he has contact with is when I am riding or he is let into the arena when I clean stalls. However, this is a new barn I am boarding at and they have really fine shavings in the stalls. Maybe that could be the culprit?

[WhiskeyFlash]

[QUOTE=rhymeswithfizz;8998020]
Slow, dragging colic makes me think sand colic. I just dealt with one of these and it was a rough road! The discomfort can last a while, since the cause of the colic (sand in the gut) isn’t gone. After we were out of the woods, my vet had me give a half dose of banamine at mealtimes for the next several days.

Once we were a week out, we started on the psyllium, even though he wasn’t fully 100%. If he has normal gut noises and vitals, and is eating again, ask your vet if you can start him on psyllium (sand clear).[/QUOTE]

That’s a good idea, if the blood work comes back clean I will definitely try that. I wonder if fine shavings can cause this as well? I am at a new barn and their shavings are very fine.

[Simkie]

Has he passed the mineral oil yet? I’m sorry if I missed it, but didn’t see mention on a couple read throughs.