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  Discussion on Feeding a horse post colic surgery when no resection
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Member:
remmi

Posted on Monday, Dec 2, 2013 - 7:04 am:

One of my horses had colic surgery this weekend - turned out to be a displaced small intestine with no complications, so the surgeon simply move the small intestine back in place and sewed him up. There was some swelling of the small intestine from the displacement, but tissue was healthy.

What is the recommended feeding protocol for post surgical feeding when no resection or complications are present? The equine hospital where he is being cared for typically feeds a mash of equine senior (Safechoice). My horse does not like it and has refused to eat for two days since the surgery. Since my horse's normal feed is grass/alfalfa mixed hay and soaked beet pulp with his vitamin mineral concentrate mixed in, I suggested we feed him beet pulp making it very wet, and possibly some hydration hay. The vet indicated that beet pulp is showing to be a cause of impaction colic, so they do not recommend feeding beet pulp under any circumstances, and preferred not to feed hay, even soaked - but instead want him to start eating the pelleted mash. Given how ulcer prone this horse is, I worry he is not eating so we started him on ulcerguard. I am also concerned the lack of food will hinder gut motility returning to normal.

It seems counter intuitive to feed a colic horse a food that they are not used to. I am confused about what is the best protocol.


Thank you!
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Dec 2, 2013 - 8:56 am:

Hi Heidi. I'll be interested to see what Dr.O has to say; but in the meantime I thought I'd share my experience.

Just three weeks ago we had a young stallion that had to have colic surgery; he somehow flipped his large intestine 360 degrees. Through some miracle our trainer just happened to walk down his barn aisle on the way to make coffee at 5:00 a.m. and found him thrashing in pain. The surgeon said another five minutes and we would have lost him.

His was an extreme case, and I know all horses and cases are different. In his case, he was kept on IVs for a week. The vet didn't want him eating solids for several days. Then he was offered handfuls of soft grass hay several times during the day, as well as a chance to hand graze for a few minutes four times a day. He refused to eat for well over a week, then would take a small nibble of grass or hay. As he began to eat a little, a low starch equine senior complete feed was added to his diet. At this point he was still on IVs. As he slowly showed an interest in food and began to eat and drink more, soft alfalfa pellets were added to the feed, and alfalfa hay was introduced after two weeks. Now he is eating a variety of foods - as we are trying to put weight back on him. He must have DrOpped 200 lbs and went from good condition to looking like a bag of bones. The vet said this was to be expected in a case his severe. According to him, it is very normal for the horse to not want to eat, and then to be very picky for some time after surgery. You must be careful about fluid intake though, and not let the horse become dehydrated or the electrolyte imbalanced.

I hope this is of some help.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Dec 5, 2013 - 5:51 pm:

Hello Heidi,
Long has there been worry about beet pulp being a cause of choke or impaction colics but I have seen no work to show this is the case and no experience with this being the case.

Horses having abdominal surgery are prone to ileus where the bowel does not function properly at moving ingesta along. Because of this soaked pellets with low starch (prevent microbial blooms from undigested starches) and a high percentage of fiber (to promote motility). It is likely the senior feed they are using has beet pulp for fiber.

Have you tried flavoring it with apple sauce or small amounts of apple cider vinegar?
DrO
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