Poor Sport has been suffering from mild cases of gas colic as the weather keeps changing. Usually resolved with a banamine shot, but last night required the vet and tubing.
I am working with his vet, but I was wondering if others have had this experience with the sensitive types and whether there are any preventative measures that you use to ward it off.
Had similar a couple of weeks ago - essential to keep horse hydrated, electrolytes, and warm water. I had bought in a load of new hay a month prior, mixed it up with some of the old hay, and she still got an impaction,
which is not quite the same, but gas colic can lead to it. Vet said it can take up to three weeks for a horse to adapt. I’m feeding beetpulp and adding salt to it…she seems fine now, willing, active, working, normal. Poops beautiful.
But the barometer had dropped suddenly when a Hawaiian Express roared through.
Not sure why, but vets seem to think there is a valid theory there.
My mare used to have episodes of gas colic when the weather changed. It was never anything terribly dramatic - we’d find her lying down while everyone else was eating their grain - and Banamine and walking pretty much always fixed it. I found that putting her on probiotics reduced the frequency pretty significantly.
I have had good luck with feeding soupy beet pulp when the weather is really cold or the weather is going to change drastically. I feed mineral salt granules every day with feed.
I had a few years of serious gas colics including a few displacements when the weather changes quickly … I put him on the SmartPak Ultra combo pellets … since then, we’ve only had one episode in 2 years. He is on free choice alfalfa/orchard grass 24x7, turnout as much as weather permits, and is generally a pasture pet so not much stress. I did track barometric changes and saw that it did appear that when there were significant changes, he coliced.
Does anyone know why colic would be associated with a change in barometric pressure? I work at a fairly large equine clinic that does a decent number of colic surgeries per year. Our surgeon always says that it’s not the weather change per say, but because they don’t drink enough when the weather swings, especially if it gets really cold really fast. Add that to possibly changing the routine due to the weather, and them spending more time inside, and you can have an increase in colic. For what it’s worth, we tend to see mostly impaction colics during the weather swings, and I wouldn’t discount the possibility that it is misdiagnosed as a gas colic at home in some cases. We also have a horse at the barn where I board that is prone to nephrosplenic colic and his owner and the barn owner swear that he’s better with a cup of mineral oil mixed in his feed during a weather change…not sure I buy that at all, but any who.
Regardless, for prevention it can’t hurt to try adding some salt to his feed to encourage him to drink properly, as well as light lunging or riding if he is standing inside longer or just not moving around outside due to the weather. Best of luck.
Soup every day whether it’s beet pulp or hay cube doesn’t matter, just something to get water into them.
Soaked hay.
Pre+probiotic daily.
1/4 cup baking soda daily.
Warm water 2x day.
Knocking on wood, that’s my secret. It wasn’t easy getting there though with a picky horse. I still add 1 scoop of orange Gatorade powder to her soup plus about a pound+ of carrots apples and pears every day. Every. Day. I did manage to wean her off the molasses I had to use initially though. Also took a while to work up to soup from starting with dry broken up cubes to slightly damp to wet to soup.
I started soaking hay when she had a sore throat. She now prefers it, so while the weather remains cold/changeable I will continue to do her bidding as I can soak a day or two’s worth without it starting to ferment on me.
Good luck. Horse bellies are such worrisome things.
Mine always have soaked alfalfa hay and a soupy mash of high quality hay stretcher, beet pulp and flax meal when they have to stay in because of weather. When it’s very cold, they do drink better if the water is warm, too.
I put the hay in a clean muck bucket, hose it down really well, and let it stand a few hours. In very cold weather, I pull it into the tack room so it doesn’t freeze.
We have snow tonight. I will go out late this evening and throw a bucket of alfalfa cubes soaked in warm water for a midnight snack. It’s a good excuse to take a walk in the snow for me. I’m sure that deserves an evil eye from New Englanders especially, but as a Southerner born, snow is still a holiday for me.
I asked my vet about this and he said the same thing as the previous poster - that a big temperature change causes the horse to not drink enough and that is what causes the discomfort. What people call “gas colic” is not always gas but a cramp (from being dehydrated) that causes pain - a mild impaction. Banamine helps because it eases the pain, the horse owner is on high alert and offering warm water which rehydrates the horse and all’s well.
He said the most typical situation is a very cold day where they don’t drink b/c it’s cold, followed by a very hot day where they are not accustomed to it and might sweat/move a lot more/get ridden and because they didn’t drink enough the previous day, they get dehydrated fast. If the temperature sinks again fast, horse doesn’t drink b/c it’s cold again and now you’re in trouble.
Soak the feed. My mare gets at least 2.5 gallons in her am feed and the same at pm feeding. She gets a small amount of grain mixed in with timothy cubes (Timothy Balance by Ontario Dehy and distributed by Triple Crown in my area) and timothy hay pellets (Standlee brand from Tractor Supply). Plus she gets a 5-gallon bucket of hot water at nighttime (she drinks 1/4 to a 1/2 right when she comes in - she won’t drink it if it’s cold) and she has a heated tub during the day.
Getting water into them during winter is key.
I’ve got a mare that acts mildly colicky with barometric changes, especially in the winter, but sometimes during the summer.
She now receives a serving of Persevere with her evening meal (soaked beet pulp + ration balancer).
Recently, I received this feed on FB: http://holistichorse.com/health-care/does-your-horse-have-gas%3F/
[B]GOT GAS?
To alleviate gassiness that horses may experience with spring’s fluctuating weather, Dr. Cassie Shuster, an Equine Naturopath, suggests this whole foods recipe. The volatile oils in anise and fennel seeds help relax the stomach muscles and dispel gassiness. B Vitamins in sesame seeds help fortify the liver. Minerals in watercress can help replenish calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, nutrients that can be depleted during times of adaptation and stress.
1 tablespoon anise seeds
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 cups finely chopped watercress
Toss together and feed alone or over moistened hay pellets as a mash.[/B]
I looked up the properties of the seeds, and couldn’t find any negatives about anise, fennel or sesame and horse diets. (No way am I going to have watercress available.) But since the seeds are cheap, I’m thinking of doing a year long trial. The anise and fennel have ancient associations with excess gas in humans.
And for you herbal naysayers, here are your laughing emoticons: :lol::lol::lol:
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. He is on an electolyte daily as we had previously noted that his potential for colic increased when he wasn’t on it. We recently started him on beet pulp.
I will look to increase the amount of water that is in it, but he is really suspicious of changes to his feed and will just stop eating. There is currently nice moisture content, but not soupy.
I haven’t tried probriotics with him, so that might be a good option.
This happens at all times of the year with drastic weather changes, so not just a winter and cold water issue. It seems that once it starts we will have 3 or 4 episodes that usually resolve with banamine and then he will be fine again for awhile.
Overall he is a good drinker of water but he is a worrier when things change.
Xtra-strength Gas-X when any horse shows signs of colic. 1 tab per 100 lbs. We keep it with the rest of the first aid supplies. Our vet has recommended it forever as a first step, and I’ve seen it work plenty of times, along with a shot of banamine. The gas-x can’t hurt them if it isn’t a gas colic.
Mine get soaked feed every single day. I’d say no colics ever but that would be jinxing myself. If you have access to warm water and can let his soaking food sit, (I fix mine right after they get fed and it sits until the next feed) you will be amazed how much water it will soak up and not be soupy- more mushy oatmealy instead. I get 5 gallons in them easily and there’s usually no soup texture. Peace of mind for me.
walktrot. Thanks for the gas-x suggestion, that is along the lines of what the vet was suggesting, but was going to leave something I would need to syringe. He loves peppermints, so if I can get the tabs in something with a peppermint flavour then that would be much easier to convince him to take.
Kasjordan, this is what we are doing and when I think about it, we are getting quite a bit of water in that way and not creating a soup.
We’ve been having so much colic at my barn 
my mare had surgery in August and I’m paranoid everyday that something is going to happen again. I keep gas-x on hand as well as banamine. She has been on Equine Choice pre and pro biotic since surgery. I make sure she gets at least hand walked every day (it’s so icy outside here they tend to not move around at all). It’s frustrating
I have a wee mini mare that colics with some weather changes. The first time she did it I had my vet out, since she was new to me and also coming out of starvation case. After that, when I see her plopped quietly down in the barn, I give her a little Banamine and get her walking. Does the trick.
She has a sow mouth (lower jaw protrudes over top) so she gets warm beet pulp mash every day. Lately she hasn’t been wanting to eat the mash. She’s a funny little gal. She did have a more severe colic episode that went with a sinus infection so the doctor did come out and she did receive a tubing of oil and fluids.
I’m always afraid to try a brain mash. I read once that it’s a myth and can actually caused problems because it’s introducing a new food to the horse that they don’t normally get. So I stay away, but I know people who swear by them. Thoughts?
[QUOTE=maunder;8030507]
I have a wee mini mare that colics with some weather changes. The first time she did it I had my vet out, since she was new to me and also coming out of starvation case. After that, when I see her plopped quietly down in the barn, I give her a little Banamine and get her walking. Does the trick.
She has a sow mouth (lower jaw protrudes over top) so she gets warm beet pulp mash every day. Lately she hasn’t been wanting to eat the mash. She’s a funny little gal. She did have a more severe colic episode that went with a sinus infection so the doctor did come out and she did receive a tubing of oil and fluids.[/QUOTE]
Going off usual feed + past use of banamine would have me treating for ulcers to be on the safe side.
If weather changes alone caused gas colic would not the wild horses of 100,000 years ago gone extinct? My vet, whose opinion I respect, has noted that there is a spike in colic calls during significant weather changes, but not every significant change. So there’s likely something more than just changes of pressure going on.
A strong front, when it passes, will also alter temperature, wind speed, and wind direction. Depending on where you are it can mean an increase or decrease in clouds and precipitation.
Is there any difference between stalled horses and field horses in terms of frequency of colic related to temperature change?
In a barn of 100 horses, how many will be affected (strongly, mildly, not all)?
Having been trained as a Naval Aviator and having experienced gross changes in barometric pressure (like from sea level to 25,000 feet in a matter of seconds) I can tell you that there can be some gastro-intestinal distress. We were specifically advised not to eat Mexican food for a couple of days before a training session. But here you’re talking about several inches of pressure differential, not a fraction of an inch.
Since I’m not a horse my experience might not be perfectly on point but, IMO, it does raise a question of pressure change as the culprit.
G.
