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colic-colic-colic

5K views 28 replies 8 participants last post by  farmpony84 
#1 ·
So the other day I noticed Pistols poop was really runny so i sand cleared for the week (it was time anyway)... I noticed last night that his poop was kind of hard so I've been watering down his senior feed. Today he was shivering (which is actually normal for him if it's windy or rainy or just cold) and he was quiet - which my horse is not quiet so I put him in the stall for the day. I havent decided there really is an issue yet but since I had to go to work I figured it'd be a good idea to lock him up so I can check out his poopie activities...

I hate colic... I just paid a $280 bill for his colic last month! Ugh.. I can sometimes go 2 full years w/out an issue with him and then he'll go through a stage where it's everytime the temperature changes....

So... Since I THINK he might be heading down that road... can anyone give me some ideas on some preventative maintenance? To see if he is borderline colicy to try to "fix it" before it actually happens?????
 
#4 ·
G&K's Mom said:
If he's only slightly "off", turn out would be better than being in a stall. The more he walks around the better it will be for his gut, it will keep things moving.

I would also "force feed" some fluids, make up some really watery mashes.
Absolutely! I forgot to mention the turnout thing :)
 
#6 ·
ok. I'll call my vet, that's a good idea. I actually just changed vets about a year ago (I had used the same vet for 10 years before I finally left him - his emergency response time is awful because he's a one man show). I'll banemine him when I get home, - I'll just use the paste, I started to do it this morning and then decided I'd wait... The only reason I stalled was because I wanted to see how much he pooped while I was at work. Do you think I should warm his water? It's 65 today and rainy... I geuss I could blanket him w/ sheet?

This is my new vet... (I'm on hold right now)
http://www.oldwaterlooequine.com/
 
#7 ·
I hope your guy gets feeling better soon... Does your turnout have a shelter for him to go into? I would hate for him to be in the rain not feeling well, I would blanket him though even when he is in. It will help keep him warmer...funny we have like 60s and its raining also.

good luck, let us know what you find when you get home.
 
#8 ·
I talked to the vet. She told me to go home and take his temp. Normal should be around 98-100.5 and that if he's slightly off then give him a dose of banemine for about a 500lb horse (he's about 800lbs and she did ask his height and weight). She said to check his gums and make sure he's hydrated and then watch him. She didn't say in or out. But I will sheet. My paddock has an overhang and I have 2 stalls that have dutch doors, I keep those two stalls open all the time so they can run in and out so he'll have shelter.
 
#10 ·
he had one good pile of poop when I got home and he had pee'd. He was a little more chipper but he did have pine shavings on him from laying down, course he could have been bored. I gave him a dose of banamine to be on the safe side and fed him watered down grain. I went ahead and opened his door so that he can go out. He's still kind of not right but he seems better. He has gut sounds and wasnt shivering, although his water bucket was completely full. The vet had told me that older horses don't drink as much as they should all the time, which is why I watered down his grain. I'll do it again tomorrow. He seems ok-ish but not perfect....
 
#11 ·
Well I'm glad that he's better, but hopefully he is less than his usual self only because he had the "24 flu" so to speak. If he isn't drinking enough, does he have a blue block out away from the other horses? Or maybe, put a few large chunks of blue block in his feed dish so some of the salt will get into his food and encourage him to drink more. Did he seem dehydrated to you? If at all, it takes A LOT of water to re-hydrate.

Still doesn't explain what happened, does it? Maybe you did prevent a full-blown colic. Hopefully he will pass a good night and drink some more in the morning just to be a good boy!
 
#12 ·
he's still a little off but he ate better this morning, he was mad because I put water in his grain but he finally ate it... I gave him hay today... we'll see... still not quite right though.....i'll try the salt block.
 
#14 ·
Anytime you think a horse has colick remove all hard feed from them for at LEAST 24hours

if your horse is having colick problems remove all grain products from his diet and find a feed that is fiber based IOW low or NO GRAIN
 
#15 ·
Peggysue said:
Anytime you think a horse has colick remove all hard feed from them for at LEAST 24hours

if your horse is having colick problems remove all grain products from his diet and find a feed that is fiber based IOW low or NO GRAIN
he's on equine senior and i thought about taking his grain away but he has really bad teeth and only chews his hay into a cud before spitting it out. He's already dropped weight from last months colic (because I took the feed away for days). It's kind of a hard situation.....
 
#16 ·
farmpony84 said:
Peggysue said:
Anytime you think a horse has colick remove all hard feed from them for at LEAST 24hours

if your horse is having colick problems remove all grain products from his diet and find a feed that is fiber based IOW low or NO GRAIN
he's on equine senior and i thought about taking his grain away but he has really bad teeth and only chews his hay into a cud before spitting it out. He's already dropped weight from last months colic (because I took the feed away for days). It's kind of a hard situation.....
I called the vet back to tell them he's a little better but still blah and they said they've actually gotten alot of calls in the last couple days and it's possible that the barametric preasure is effecting them. because they have several that are not quite but maybe heading towards colic that are on watch right now......
 
#18 ·
i'm going to the feed store after work tonight. a beat pulp mash would keep his weight up wouldnt it?
 
#19 ·
Purina Equine Senior is not the best senior to have a horse on especially if they have weight or teeth issues it is grain based

there are many GREAT senior feeds out there that are grain free

Triple Crown Senior is one

You can also get him some beet pulp or alfalfa pellets and soak thost,,,
 
#21 ·
if he were mine I woudl make him a beet pulp alfalfa mash adn before serving I would top it off with WARM water so it is soupy... mine LOVE when I do this for them ...
 
#22 ·
the feed store has a beat pulp with mollases 40 lb bag for $16. I can go get that tomorrow. I didn't get it tonight because I left my wallet on my desk at work so now hubby must come w/ me.... He'll now know what I spend on feed... anyway... do I just mix it with water?
 
#23 ·
Yes just mix it with water some horses like it soupy some like it just wet for your guy I WOULD TRY to get it as wet as he will eat it soupy would be best
 
#25 ·
....I PROMISE I AM NOT A BAD HORSE OWNER! :oops:

I think I know what his problem was... I buy round bales because they are $50 and they last a month (because I keep them INSIDE the barn and I PEEL them morning and night). So I peel it layer by layer and I put out about 8 piles of hay for 6 horses that are split in seperate paddocks...

ANYWAY...
I was on poop patrol and I got lucky enought to watch Pistol poop... His poop was hanging under his tail like it was attached still... And I know this is gross, but I pulled the string that was attached... it was like a plastic string, like fishing line. I pulled as much of it out as I could before it broke off. I don't know where he would have gotten fishing line BUT... I was thinking, that plastic stringy stuff that they tie the round bales off with... MAYBE he ate some of that? And that's why he was so off? He's so much better today. I think he passed it.

I had let him out the other day to graze freely, which I do quite often, well, that day I screwed up and put him and blue together, which I can't do, because together they are runners... seperate they stay in the yard... they took off down the road to the neighbors while I was not paying attention so I had to go get them...He could have eaten the plastic line at their place, but they have horses too so I doubt it... He could have gotten a bit of that stuff off the round bale though while he was roaming freely around my barn though....

I'm BAD BAD BAD... but he seems like he's doing much better... he's much much more chipper but he's dropped tons of weight so I may have to add some weight gain. I'm going to do the beat pulp idea first though....
 
#26 ·
Oh Wow! Glad you found out the culprit, but I hear you about feeling bad. Truth be told, that's only one of several reasons why I won't feed round bales. But you were even careful as you peeled it off -- go figure. And, who knows -- like you say he could have picked it up elsewhere.

I am in constant worry about stuff I find in my pasture. Seems like every year there is something new that pops up.

Luck was with both of you this time! Whew! Go hug each other!
 
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