Mystery sick pony. Recurrent colic. Vets confused. Ideas?

[Auburn]

)

If he has low gut motility, like my mare does, then try EquiShure, by KER. It has just about stopped the impaction colics that Tess used to get.

Checking for ulcers is a good way to go, too. When you change a horse’s routine, especially the not getting worked as much, then some horses will colic (ie: mine!) It happens more often when they have to stay inside, because of climatic changes.

If you cannot work him, then see about finding someone to lunge him. Movement is a part of the horse’s natural environment. Without it, things stop up, just like it does for us.

Also, ask you BO if you can hang a water bucket, so that you can monitor how much he is drinking. You might need to give an electrolyte to encourage more water consumption.

Good luck! I pray that you find an answer.

[visorvet]

I strongly recommend that the pony be worked up thoroughly by an equine internal medicine specialist, whether that is at a vet school or a private practice. Many likely diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities have been addressed here, but not all. A scattershot approach to diagnosis of recurrent colic usually ends up costing more than a comprehensive evaluation up-front, plus of course it takes longer to solve the problem. While exploratory surgery is sometimes needed to find the answer and fix the problem in such cases, a medical answer is found in most cases so I would suggest that you not let your past experiences with colic surgery color your judgement too much. My guess is that those were horses with acute colic rather than chronic recurrent colic. This pony sounds very nice and I would not go into this with the expectation that you are going to lose him. This is what internal medicine specialists are for!

Best of luck with him.

[armchair_Quaterback]

[QUOTE=zelle;7820410]
He’s low on the totem pole. For sure. He is ostracized by the others. He is a weirdo who doesn’t fit in. He hates the gelding in the stall next to him, also. This is a really sweet tempered pony. It’s not as though he routinely just strikes out. He just doesn’t seem to like who he’s near. Any horse.

…

He doesn’t have his own person. Most of my horses don’t. They are lesson horses. But most horses do fine in that situation and some do not. I find homes for those.[/QUOTE]

These two things jumped out at me from your description. Is he a pony who craves attention? I’d shuffle the stalls around and get him away from that gelding ASAP. Maybe put the pony nearest the office or arena, or in an end stall where he only has one neighbor to deal with.

He might also be lonely. If you have a younger rider he likes, maybe he/she could spend some extra time fussing over him and treating him like the rock star pony he used to be.

[judybigredpony]

Before spending the $$ on GastroGuard get him scoped…if the ulcers are severe he might need Sucralfate as well.
Probiotics absolutely and good for you on the Alfalfa.
You won’t like,this suggestion though…the pony is miserable find him a home he can flourish in and have access to grass which might help end some of this mystery.
Vise vet is correct a Proper full,work,up is best but you did get good arm chair Q-Back suggestions

[Peggy]

[QUOTE=visorvet;7820968]
I strongly recommend that the pony be worked up thoroughly by an equine internal medicine specialist, whether that is at a vet school or a private practice. Many likely diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities have been addressed here, but not all. A scattershot approach to diagnosis of recurrent colic usually ends up costing more than a comprehensive evaluation up-front, plus of course it takes longer to solve the problem. While exploratory surgery is sometimes needed to find the answer in such cases, a medical answer is found in most cases so I would suggest that you not let your past experiences with colic surgery color your judgement too much. My guess is that those were horses with acute colic rather than chronic recurrent colic. This pony sounds very nice and I would not go into this with the expectation that you are going to lose him. This is what internal medicine specialists are for!

Best of luck with him.[/QUOTE]This is how I finally got a usable diagnosis on my horse who turned out to have intestinal thickening. When he want thriving after the latest colic visit to the clinic I set up an appointment for them to look at him on a non-emergency basis. I got a lot more time with the vet and a collection of vet students. This was pretty easy for me since its a five-minute walk to the clinic. My vet was out of town at the time or I would have consulted with her first. In the end the approach I ended up taking worked very well.

[vineyridge]

Vet schools are the best! I’ve had them diagnose things that two different vets missed completely. Twice.

[fooler]

[QUOTE=zelle;7820410]
Thank you for your replies. We are considering a total work up at vet school. But speaking from personal experience, 3 horses of mine have died on the table in the last 15 years, so I am not really into the whole go-to-the-hospital and pay $6k for a dead horse kind of drama and heartache.

He is getting alfalfa hay. And I think that definitely helps because the one day the barn help forgot and gave him the regular hay (fescue) he did colic. Could have been a coincidence.

He’s better this morning and totally starving but I’m afraid to start feeding him. Vet comes this afternoon. This pony is up to $3500 in vet bills at this point.

[B]Things that stand out from the responses:
He’s low on the totem pole. For sure. He is ostracized by the others. He is a weirdo who doesn’t fit in. He hates the gelding in the stall next to him, also. This is a really sweet tempered pony. It’s not as though he routinely just strikes out. He just doesn’t seem to like who he’s near. Any horse.

He looks depressed. Always. Completely low head and sweet and super docile all the time. Doesn’t fit his incredible athleticism.[/B]

His former stable was one of the wealthiest possible horse situations. And my place is pretty plain. Don’t know if that insults his ideas of who he is and where he’s been sent.

He doesn’t have his own person. Most of my horses don’t. They are lesson horses. But most horses do fine in that situation and some do not. I find homes for those.

I think he did get Quest when we wormed in March. But I will check that and make sure. He got Panacure just now and no change.

I will talk to vet about doing GastroGuard for awhile.
We are treating him for sand already and that may have been working.

Already did the Salmonella testing. Quarantined him for that time also. It was negative. 3 fecal samples sent in from three consecutive days.

Did the blood panel. Nothing stood out.

He never got coastal hay. I’ve personally seen the damage it can do and my horses are always on something thicker.

I’ll cover the auto-waterer - excellent idea. He has a bucket but he doesn’t use it because of the waterer. And I love the idea of giving him a flavored water (sweet feed/molasses) as well. Probably a separate bucket.

And I think it might be time to consider a hay free diet. Or keeping him inside always on Alfalfa. Otherwise, it means building him a paddock. He’s the most expensive free pony I’ve ever had!!

ALWAYS look a gift horse in the mouth. Always.[/QUOTE]

It is possible to assign a couple of kids to him? Kids to give him a little extra attention - not always riding, sometimes just extra grooming and love.
Definitely find him another place in the barn where he is next to at least a non-reactive horse.
I would find out who he was stabled next to at the old barn - could be that was his best buddy and he is missing him/her. Also he might benefit from a dog, cat, goat or some other critter.

Glad you are checking on all of the other items. Yeah free horses aren’t always “free”, but they are often a lot of fun once you figure everything out.

[WW_Queen]

Equus Magazine, February 2014. Horse presented with recurrent colic just like yours, multiple vet/equine hospital visits and found nothing whatsoever…until finally an exploratory celiotomy was performed.

Answer: mesenteric lipoma (fatty tumour). Surgery removed the tumour, after 10 days he was home, 14 months later he had been back to work full time with no more colic.

[Zuri]

OP, So sorry you are going through this. My gelding has chronic recurrent colic that is atypical. He has been admitted to New Bolton 8 times in the past 2 years, has had 2 major abdominal surgeries, 1 laparoscopic surgery to place mesh over his nephro splenic ligament to prevent displacement. We have addressed possible ulcers via scope (negative), feed, hay, turnout, exercise, supplements. His colon has been biopsied.
Fortunately, because of Dr. Louise Southwood and her team at New Bolton, my heart horse is still alive and has not colicked for almost a year.

It has been a process of trial and error. Sometimes it is easy to figure out the cause, sometimes not. I would recommend having your lovely pony worked up thoroughly. I hope all works out well. Best wishes.

[Pennylane]

No recommendations from me that haven’t already been made. But, jingles for your pony! I hope he feels better soon!

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

I would also suggest allergy testing for grass types. I have dietary allergies that cause my intestines to swell and it’s fairly painful and sometimes things move a bit too quickly and sometimes things don’t move at all for a little while (like 24 hours ish but my allergies aren’t severe) until the swelling and spasms die down.

A lot of times when you have a colic horse die on the table, it’s a horse in its twenties, that has never had colic before, and it’s SEVERE. It’s usually caused by a strangulating lipoma, which damages a lot of the intestine and requires a lot of bowel to be resected.

So a horse that is a chronic colic case, most likely doesn’t have a strangulating lipoma or he would already be dead (in all honesty). Chronic also implies that it may not be as severe as an acute case, therefore what needs to be done to the horse’s insides may be less involved. Also, although waking up from surgery is always a concern, you won’t have the worries that a horse that needed a fracture set in surgery would. Your horse will be coming out of the surgery fairly healthy, healthier than he was when he went in; and he won’t be capable of easily physically damaging what was just fixed by having a rough time waking up.

[zelle]

Interesting feedback, thank you. Love the looks of TractGuard. And yes, there is an overwhelming number of folks advising a scope for ulcers. Vet said Panacur power pack (which he just had) would take care of cyathostomes. She noticed his incredibly pale tongue and the fact that he feels cold to the touch. And she did acupuncture. I don’t have a lot of experience with that yet so I am not paying a lot of attention, just letting her do it because she believes it and I don’t have a better answer.

He’s had a half a bucket of water in the last 24 hours. And soupy feed.
I have an event this weekend, but luckily it’s a sleep-at-home show for me so I can keep an eye on him.

Found a vet with a long enough scope to check for ulcers. So if I go that route, I’ll take him to this private clinic instead of teaching hospital.

Starting him on Purina hydration hay and later today. Going to take him off all other hay for now.

Thanks everyone!

[vineyridge]

You may be making a big mistake by not taking him to the vet school for a full work up.

[TB_or_not_TB]

I think you’ve gotten some really excellent advice here. I wanted to point out a couple very simple things that got my attention.

[QUOTE=zelle;7819731]
He came from a nice farm where he lived with a muzzle because the grass was lush and he was fat. He was never ill.

…

Upon arrival, he lost weight pretty rapidly. At my barn, in the city, there is no grass. The horses go out at night on baled hay and are inside during the day. [/QUOTE]

As you’re undoubtedly aware, that is a HUGE change on a horse’s system. Even just changing the time of day he’s out could have an impact on a sensitive horse. Or, he just might not do well without grazing. My mare colicked 6+ times during one year. It happened when ever she had a particularly stressful heat cycle. She was stalled with a run and got daily turnout but there was no grazing. It got worse over time the longer she was at this barn.

I switched her to a barn where she lives outside 24/7 with a happy buddy and a shed. She is on grass pasture but it’s not super thick or lush - just keeps her moving and ingesting small amounts continually. She hasn’t had any issues since the move. We didn’t need to change anything else. Her first and last heat of the year were stressful, but she didn’t colic.

So, this is probably not the happiest option to consider, but he might just not be a match to the set up. I believe grazing is supposed to release endorphins, so he may be having a behavioral root to the colic if you can’t find a medical explanation. The stress of not having a person and the herd dynamics might just be pushing him over the edge.

[fooler]

[QUOTE=zelle;7820410]

He’s better this morning and totally starving but I’m afraid to start feeding him. Vet comes this afternoon. This pony is up to $3500 in vet bills at this point.

Things that stand out from the responses:
He’s low on the totem pole. For sure. He is ostracized by the others. He is a weirdo who doesn’t fit in. He hates the gelding in the stall next to him, also. This is a really sweet tempered pony. It’s not as though he routinely just strikes out. He just doesn’t seem to like who he’s near. Any horse.

He looks depressed. Always. Completely low head and sweet and super docile all the time. Doesn’t fit his incredible athleticism.

His former stable was one of the wealthiest possible horse situations. And my place is pretty plain. Don’t know if that insults his ideas of who he is and where he’s been sent.

He doesn’t have his own person. Most of my horses don’t. They are lesson horses. But most horses do fine in that situation and some do not. I find homes for those.
separate bucket.

ALWAYS look a gift horse in the mouth. Always.[/QUOTE]

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but am just responding your posts that have concerned me.
He is depressed - not a good thing. It indicates to me he is not a happy camper at all.
Your comments regarding his last barn and his being insulted by his current digs. I have to wonder how you and your help plus students are treating him. He may be used to a certain amount of human interaction that is mostly positive. Based simply on your comments, I wonder if his human interaction is much less and even worse negative. His last barn situation is not his fault and he should be treated like a horse/pony - not a snob.
FYI - my mare was treated like a queen, just like all of the other horses in a barn run by a retired race trainer and his wife. The horses were fed well and stalls cleaned all day. This in a one half of a rented barn.

So it less a matter of fancy barns and more about different stable management. Just noting your management is different because of a variety of reasons. This is normally not a problem until a horse does not adjust and is physically and possibly mentally not well.

Loads of really good advice already given. I will just suggest you take a step back and review how everyone treats/handles this pony. You say he is a “weirdo”, is that a weirdo that you can accept or is it a weirdo that needs to live in another barn?

Good Luck with him. DH will kill me, but I am about ready to offer him a soft landing if you can’t work with him. There are enough kids in this area that I should be able to find someone to ride him.

[Eventer13]

If its a recurrent small colon impaction problem, I think a work-up at the vet school would be a good idea.

[Foxtrot_s]

A horse Blugal and I know developed a tumour deep in his gut. Even a pre-purchase exam would not have found this as ultrasounds have difficulty going in so deep. Hope this is not your case.

[zelle]

UPDATE:
This pony hasn’t colicked since the last post in October. This is a new record.
He is off hay and only has hay blocks that you soak in water.
And senior feed
And probiotics
And herbs for colic
3 rounds of acupuncture (which he hated as he got better)
He is himself.
He is back to winning events
It’s a bummer to keep him off hay though.
So he gets to eating mild round bales in the pasture at night. This has been ok for 6 weeks.

[weixiao]

YAY!!! Great news!

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=zelle;7979456]
UPDATE:
This pony hasn’t colicked since the last post in October. This is a new record.
He is off hay and only has hay blocks that you soak in water.
And senior feed
And probiotics
And herbs for colic
3 rounds of acupuncture (which he hated as he got better)
He is himself.
He is back to winning events
It’s a bummer to keep him off hay though.
So he gets to eating mild round bales in the pasture at night. This has been ok for 6 weeks.[/QUOTE]

That is the treatment for right dorsal colitis so the fact that it worked seems to confirm that diagnosis.