Horses got into building w/ feed.....

I got home last nite & Charlie seemed to be much better than he was when I was home for lunch around 11:15 yesterday. He was acting more his normal self, nickering, biting & trying to bully my other gelding if he came around him.

I didn't get to load him in the trailer. The lady who has the 2-horse horse trailer meet me 1/2 way to her house & told me her vet said it wouldn't do any good. She also told me that a vet had to tube him w/ about a gallon of oil. I had another woman tell me mineral oil would do just as good if I give it to him by mouth w/ a syringe. I was trying to be strong for my step-daughter & not break down but with everybody telling me different things to do, I had NO IDEA what wud be best and I lost it. I finally ended up calling my vet that tends to my Pitbulls & lost it when I started talking to him.

He told me since I had let so much time go by tubing him wudn't be a good preventative. I read him the ingredients of Safe Choice (the feed that Charlie consumed). Doc seemed to think since the first few ingredients to Safe Choice is fiber, my horse will be Ok and he may just have a stomach ache. Charlie isn't biting at his sides, trying to lay down and he's still walking just fine. I'm going home today during lunch to check on him.
Say a little prayer for my baby.

Thankyou so much for the update!

I think your horse is going to stay healthy...Good for you for calling and talking to your veternarian for advice.

I went home for lunch, both of them were laying down which isn't unusual. This time everyday they lay down for a few minutes. I got Charlie up. He got up without any problems. He was alert, not bobbing his head or having difficulty walking. He had a bowel movement. YIPPEE!!!! What a wonderful thing to be happy about ....

I stayed with him, walked him around for a few minutes. My vet told me that I'm not out of the woods yet. If he starts to founder it will happen 24-36 hours after he's consumed all the food. Is this correct?

If you ask me, trust anything your vet says. They've had many a years of training in this subject...

Off topic: We just named my sisters puppy Missi !!!

aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I'm flattered!!

Charlie seems to be doing better. Some days he acts like himself, other days, I don't think he does. I don't know if it's me just being too motherly or what.

I had both the horses in the barn for the past 2 days because of the weather. I let them out this morning. While I was out there watching Chance run off his excess energy, he stopped, looked at me and cantered to me, ears up. This is the 2nd time he did this. The first time I was standing in the building where we keep his feed, so I wasn't sure if him running towards me then was because of ME or because he thought he was getting feed. Today, I realized it was because of ME (oh, and the apples...'hay' whatever works)

He seemed to have made a 360 degree turn over night. He follows me around. Chance has been really clingy here lately. The other day I was petting Chance and Charlie decided he wanted some attention too. Charlie starts walking towards me. Chance started to move out of his way, but instead of turning away from me to go the other direction, Chance moves behind me. I thought I heard Chance say, "Mom, Charlie's picking on me again."

...

We have a lady at our barn with no thumb...
She was holding her horse and the horse took off, the lead rope rapped around her thumb and it came right off...She assures us though that there was barely any blood or pain though...Lol.

I was just going to say the same thing. Two of ours got into the feed, and both coliced badly. Our two didn't eat near as much as yours did. Now, our feed is now kept inside our house on the back porch under lock and key. We had 4 horses in the barn that gotten into the feed bucket. Two coliced and two didn't.

The mineral oil is a good idea. If possible, it needs to be administered through an NG tube. It expells the gas. It will also help with the digestion and to prevent impaction colic. Also, check for gut sounds on both sides Check the stomach, rear sides of the abdomen (kind of at their back flanks) and the undercarraige as well.

The first thing our vet did when it happened to us was start pain killers. Bute and banamine. NG tube was next with mineral oil to help pass the food through the digestive tract ASAP to avoid the build up of toxins which would then cause founder.

How long shud I keep an eye on Charlie? It's been a week and he still just isn't acting right.

Has the vet been out or have you actually taken the horse in to the vet's office?

Has the horse been treated with mineral oil? (I may have missed where you said that he has/hasn't)

Are you feeding hay?

Has the horse had normal BMs?

How is he not acting normal? Is he lame, is he lethargic?