Sweetie's Saga- Rest In Peace Sweet Mare

[IPEsq]

As far as the mouth open chewing you describe, I have seen that with a horse who fractured a tooth. Vet came out and pulled out a chunk of tooth with his hand (it was a Sunday, and I was doing some daily care for this horse for its owner), and flushed the mouth well. They followed up with a real dental appointment later, but horse was able to go back to eating hay normally.

Since you know you’ve got a bad tooth, maybe something has happened with it that needs some intervention before the 11th if she still has a problem eating hay.

[RedHorses]

Do you have a stethoscope so you listen to her gut noises? Gas colic can be very painful. If there’s a big bubble it sometimes won’t move along, but poop can get by. Antigas helps break the bubble into smaller bubbles that can move through the gut. The bubble of gas alters the guts noises. Squeaks and pings are adjectives used. I find it sounds like the noises are echoing in a hollow space (gas pocket). I keep a bottle on hand for my horse who tends to get gas colic.

A mass die off of encysted strongyles would irritate her hind gut, and the dead worms could easily affect the bacterial population and prompt gas production. The good thing is that if you can break up the gas bubbles the horse recovers quickly.

[Obsidian_Fire]

@carman_liz

or it’s her heart working overtime.

I hope not. But thinking on it, she is “suddenly” having more food than she’s used to, and a lot of water. If she does have heart issues, that fluid level could indeed put stress on the heart. Just like in humans. Hmm. When will the vet see her again??

[carman_liz]

What is ‘antigas’? Never heard of it! She has alot of gut noises, grumble grumble gurgles. I can hear it from outside her stall.

[carman_liz]

Not really suddenly but probably more fluids than she is used to. Vet and dentist are supposed to come out Nov 4th to pull her tooth. Unless something happens that I cannot handle at home n she has to come out sooner.

[carman_liz]

Soonest the tooth can come out is Nov 4th at 11am. 3 Weeks is a long time and if she continues this behavior I will get the vet out and maybe be able to get it pulled sooner.

[RedHorses]

Antigas is a bit like Pepto. It’s actually a cattle med but is used off label for horses. It’s name is “Antigas” - here in Ontario anyway!

[carman_liz]

Hmm I googled but did not see it anywhere sold locally around here. I did read that they can be given peppermint gas x, 4 to 5 tablets 2x a day. May ask my vet about it. Heading home in ten min and just have to see how she is doing.

[carman_liz]

Poops back to the runs, temp is 99.9 with one thermometer and 100.1 with the other. Hb is 57bpm, still breathing heavy. No sweat but I still pulled her sheet off for now. Slurped down her latest soup, drank a good half bucket of water while I was at work this morning…

[trubandloki]

@carman_liz

Hb is 57bpm, still breathing heavy

What does your vet say about that heart rate?

[carman_liz]

Said she is going to come back out this afternoon, check her for heaves. Said diarrhea may be from the electrolytes I gave her yesterday if she was a little overloaded. I can’t win I swear…

[rubygirl1968]

Jingling for her and you!

[Warmblood1]

Is she still eating hay? If she is only eating the very soaked pellets then I can see her getting loose stool.

Do you have any probiotics you can give? Her gut flora may be unbalanced with the parasites moving through and deworming.

[carman_liz]

She is on probios daily. She is also eating the hay soaked, I would say the parasite die off isn’t helping anything. Wondering if the loose stool is because of the gatorade n all that I gave her yesterday though. Maybe I will come home to firmer poops this afternoon.

[BlueDrifter]

Equi-Spazz is an “anti-gas” Like DiGel for horses, relieves gas, but will not mask a colic if it is more than gas related discomfort. Amazon sells it.

[SusanO]

I was going to suggest the possibility of heaves for the heavy breathing. Aren’t you in the southeast? This is the bad time of the year for pasture heaves in the southeast - late fall warm humid air. Conditions are better after the first frost. Of course it could be something else.

[candyappy]

You are throwing a lot at her with all the added " helps" ( gatorade, oil, etc) and remember that up until week ago all she was used to was bad quality pasture. Sometimes simplicity in feeding is best. Keep it simple and consistent.

Now her system has to adjust to all the new feed as well as the stress from being moved , even if it was just 2 hours.

Deworming an emaciated animal is dangerous as well. I know it must be done but it is still a risk.

With her age and compromised health due to starvation and now the weather/ temperature changes she may have pneumonia or something else brewing. Hopefully not.

ETA: Seasonal allergies can cause heaves like symptoms. Can you hear a wheeze to her breathing?

[carman_liz]

My vet just swung by n said yes her heart rate and respiratory rate are slightly elevated but it could just be her heart working a little bit harder because she is so skinny and said she doesn’t hear anything in her lungs that indicate heaves at all. She doesn’t have any mucus everything sounds good no discharge no cough at all n said just keep doing what I’m doing and keep my fingers crossed.

Also said her back leg looks like an old injury that wasnt wrapped so it is scar tissue and arthritis, she also stands with that stifle slightly popped out. Keep same feeding regimen, souping her feed especially where it is going to be in the mid to upper 20s tonight and she needs to stay well hydrated, keep wetting her hay. She agreed it could be the electrolytes that caused the runs today, or the banamine, or the worm die off, or a combo of all 3.

She understood why I gave gatorade n all that so she would drink well and in case it was a brief colic episode, said everything we kinda have to do with her at this point is going to be a calculated risk but to try to keep her as steady and stable with feeding types n times and hope these random flare ups of issues and hopefully strength in her hind end will work themselves out as she gains muscle n fat back.

[carman_liz]

She was getting 3lbs of triple crown senior at her prior home, and an lb, granted not sure how they measured…of alf pellets 2x a day. But they were dry, and she was full of worms so much of the nutrition was not getting to her at all.

[lenapesadie]

Hopefully the elevated heart rate and respiration will pass quickly