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  Discussion on Colic but not stomach?
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New Member:
Serenjum

Posted on Saturday, Dec 14, 2002 - 7:40 am:

Hopefully this note will find your horse fine. Just in case someone else runs into this, my horse just coliced and the symptoms are remarkably similar to yours. In our case he too had surgery and it turned out to be an epiploic (sp) obstruction. Apparently a portion of his intestine was wedging itself deep into a portion of the body cavity it did not belong contributing to a severe impaction on the left side of his body. The surgery fixed the situation, now we just have to make it through recovery.

Other similar symptoms were a tendency to roll - but only when it rained or the ground was muddy. I think this was his own adaptation to the other similar issue - allergies. I think he rolled in mud to counteract his itchiness. He is a large horse and there is research that suggests the epiploics are related to more body cavity space. A last similar behavior is that he used to turn and look at me all the time when we rode. I assumed he was just nosey, but in hindsight think he may have been trying to tell me he was uncomfortable (he also does not like to have the girth tightened and will bloat regularly to control how tight I can make it). I watched the surgery and cannot help but wonder if your horse was not automatically fixed when the surgeons where looking for the problem. Our vet told us this type of colic is difficult to detect if the portion that is wedged is in a hard to see/reach portion of the body cavity.

If this is read soon, help. My horse currently has edema on both sides of the incision. Is edema the same as swelling? Is there anything I can do for the edema/swelling? When should it go down? Should I be walking him alot? His temperature has been normal and I am not sure how to check is heart rate?

He is on free choice hay with light grazing when we walk. It just snowed here so he cannot eat much grass. Should I be grazing him at all? Should I add anything to the hay? How do I tell if the hay is good? His stall is a dirt floor other than the portion where we feed him which has a mat. Should his food be in a haynet for a while?

Apologize for the rambling. I am worried about the swelling. It looks larger than when we brought him home 1.5 days ago, but seems to go down a bit after I walk him. Thw swelling is about equal on either side of the incision. When should I call a vet and would there be anything they could do for him? There was about a 9 hour gap between the morning walk and the afternoon walk and then a 2.5 hour gap between his afternoon walk and his evening walk. Does the timing of the walks make a difference? I have to work during the day and our barn is not currently set-up to provide the mid-day walks - do I need to move him to a rehab barn for a month or two?

Thank you. Reading through this website makes the not sleeping/worrying productive. Jennifer

Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 22, 2003 - 11:18 am:

I think the increased swelling should be looked at by your veterinarian today to see if there is specific therapy that needs to be instituted. About the only symptomatic treatment would be a belly band but they are hard to apply and you will need help from your veterinarian if he deems it important. As to the other questions, much depends on the specifics of your surgery so should be directed to the surgeon and primary veterinarian on the case.
DrO
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