Cronic Colic

[Pashi]

I have an 8 year old TB mare who has been off the track now for a few years. I just acquired her just over a year now. She has bad heat colic, but comes out of that on her own. She was bred last March and in Sept. of last year started to have severe colic attacks every week. She aborted in Dec. and hadn't had an attack since Nov. This past Sunday she had another very severe attack that lasted almost the whole day. She was given two Banamine shots, one IM the other IV plus a homeopathic remedy. She finally started to come out of it around 11pm to where she could be left alone. She still showed symptoms the next day, lying down and looking at her belly, but then getting up and grazing. My vet said she has no idea as to why they are so frequent or so severe. The mare gets bloated with gas. She gets alpha, Triple Crown complete which is comb. sweet and pellet, she is turned out 24/7, no stall and is not in training as she is a broodmare. One person said it could be equine ulcers, but she does not have any other symptoms other than colic, and no pre-determined criteria. I am scared to death to breed her back again this year, but will loose the stud fee. Any suggestions as to what may be causing this would greatly be appreciated.

[Crystal]

you could have your vet scope for ulcers. but I would contact a local university or equine hospital about any tests they could provide for this mare.

[madelyn]

She could have sand in her gut.

There was a race filly that I heard about with extremely similar symptoms. The clinic opened her up and took nearly 10 pounds of dirt/gravel/sand out of her gut. She had been eating dirt because she was mineral deprived. There ARE supplements to move sand out of the gut.

Note I would take her OFF any sweet feed completely and put her on oats, since a LOT of TB's can't digest molasses. It sits in the hindgut, ferments, and produces gas colic in extreme cases.

[Pashi]

Thanks so much for the info, I have the mare in Pa. and I am in Fl. I have two vets for my horse down here, one for his teeth. I talked to both of them this week and they both recommend scoping her. I think that is what I am going to do so I know for sure. Again, thank you for the info.

[cewright]

Sometimes the cost of the exam is more than the cost of the treatment and I think this may be one of those cases, My vet charges about $40/tube for gastroguard. He says if ulcers are the problem he sees a positive response in 5 days ($200). Compare that to the cost of the scoping along with the added risk of the anesthesia. It may be the treatment is as diagnostic as the scoping and a lot less expensive.

Chuck

[Pashi]

Chuck, Thanks. Your right on that as the equine hospital that she would be going to charges an entrance fee of $200 just to be admitted. It's worth a shot and is a lot safer. If it doesn't work then we know it's not the ulcers. How long could a horse have the ulcers and go undetected? I have only had her a little over a year. And she was brought into the place she is now about 2.5 years ago. Not to sure of her life before that. Her life now is anything but stressfull, but it could have been before he current placement. Thanks again for the help, I am new to the colic world, I have been very lucky up to this point. She is the only horse I have owned that has had bouts of colic and this bad.

[Gerry]

I have a question about your mare...when she has these colic attacks does she still continue to eat? I have a mare here who if I hadnt known lost her foal last fall I would have sworn she is having labor pains..she lays down, looks at her sides, paws the ground and then eats and does it all again. The vet told me she thinks its just a painful heat cycle except I really didnt see the mare in heat...does your mare have any other symptoms?

[Intrinsic Worth]

I knew a broodmare that had similar problems. She had to go to Hagyards and have her intestine sewn into place, as it kept flipping. She had 3 surgeries before they decided to finally do what they did.

[freshman]

I don't know how much the scope will run you in your area, and it may be more cost effective to give the horse a trial on medication. In any case, while horses are sedated for the procedure, not put general anesthesia of any kind. The whole thing is done standing. It is very safe.

[majxmom]

Intermittant pain like that sounds like enteroliths. The stones block up the gut, then move around and release the pressure, then block again. The calcium keeps building the stones until they get huge. They are pretty uncommon in TBs -- Arabs are the most susceptible-- but I'd ask about it. My friends had two horses get them in two months. One had a stone about the size of a honeydew melon, the other had three stones about the size of baseballs. They had them taken out surgically and the horses lived 15 more years.

It's very common in horses with a high phosphorus diet. At UC Davis they told us to throw away our bran can and stop feeding alfalfa.