This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Colic in Horses » First Aid for Colic »
  Discussion on Mild colic?
Author Message
Member:
leec

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 7, 2007 - 9:16 pm:

Hi Dr O,
This PM when I arrived home at 4:30pm, Hanah (the mare with the on-going thread on WLD) was listless. When I fed, she ate a few mouthfuls of hay, left it, assumed a 'peeing position', but did not pee, pawed mildly a couple of times, then stood in a normal relaxed position with one hind foot cocked. This is not her, she is 'Miss Piggy' at feeding time. I went down into the pasture and noted a couple of piles of diarrhea. I am assuming they are from her, as my other horse is not off. I also noticed that the two horses consumed more water than usual today, however, we had above zero temps today. I took the hay away from her and my first thought was mild colic. However, I read your article, and her temperature is up to 104.9, which concerns me. I am waiting for my vet to return my call - I do have some Banamine, but I am reluctant to give it without first talking to a vet. A few minutes ago (at 6:00pm) when I checked on her, there was a fresh poop, which was normal. Since she does not appear horribly uncomfortable, should I just not give her any feed and watch her carefully until I hear from my vet?
Lee C
Member:
dres

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 7, 2007 - 10:00 pm:

Lee, I hope your vet has called you by now.. I don't have any suggestions other then what you have done all ready.. I am inclined to believe that she has contacted a virus of sorts with a temp.. she is pooping so that is a good sign..

Keep us posted..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.
Member:
sonoita

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 7, 2007 - 11:25 pm:

Lee,
I would not give any grain until you know what you are dealing with.
I hope by now your vet has come.
Good Luck,

Any other signs of colic, gums, gut sounds ?
Member:
hwood

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 7, 2007 - 11:45 pm:

The fever is worrisome to me . . . and Ann may be right that it is a kind of virus. Has she been on antibiotics lately? I wonder if she has a gut upset (ulcer?) and needs a couple of tablespoons of yogurt mixed with a little bit of soaked feed. Do wait until you check with your vet, though to be sure it's not colic. (Colic doesn't usually have a fever, does it?)
I hate it when the horses are sick . . . my stomach gets all twisted and I can't concentrate until I know what is causing the illness and have some way of relieving their discomfort. I feel for you, Lee, and hope the mystery will be solved soon.
Member:
freshman

Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 12:01 am:

Hope that you've been in touch with your vet and will have an update here soon.

I'd be pretty concerned about the fever and the suspected diarrhea in combination with the appetite change and colic signs. If for whatever reason you've not been able to speak to your vet, I'd be sure to withhold feed and keep her in a stall or small paddock away from the other horses so that you can monitor her and her feces. Obviously, make sure that she has water available, and you may want to give it to her in buckets so that you can measure how much she is drinking. Some horses seem to appreciate warm water when it's cold, so you could try to offer her some and see if she'll drink more.

The fever sounds pretty significant, so you may want to continue to check it. If it stays the same or spikes any higher, I'd go ahead and give the banamine while you wait for your vet's advice.

Hope your mare is doing ok! Keep us updated!
Member:
leec

Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 12:06 am:

Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas. Hanah rested quietly until about 8:00pm, and in that time had another lovely poop. Just after 8:00pm, she perked up and started to look for food. Was advised to save my only dose of Banamine to use only if her condition worsened. Her temp came down to 103.8, which although still high, is an improvement. Oh, and she had gut sounds and wasn't sweaty - she didn't show any signs of dehydration. I was told to give her only half her portion of hay for tonight (she doesn't get grain). Just checked on her and she is eating per her usual self. I will probably not sleep tonight... Luckily I can see her from my beDrOom window with my high-powered flashlight - less trips outside... Will call the vet again in the morning with an update and/or if her condition worsens tonight. From there we'll try to figure out what was the cause of the symptoms etc. Will keep you all informed.
Lee C
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 5:58 am:

Hello Lee,
to put the three together, fever-colic-diarrhea, colitis comes to mind first. But this may have been a primary fever event and the posture coincidental. In the meantime things seem to be righting themselves and at this time I don't see medication that important. Hay only until the vet makes sense. While the horse looked so bad last night, I would have advised my clients to use the Banamine as depression and lack of interest in feed is as bad ad I want any horse to feel but discuss this with your vet. Let us know what (s)he finds.
DrO
Member:
leec

Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 4:07 pm:

Hi all,
Hanah’s temp this AM was 100.2 and she was happy to see her breakfast, although perhaps not quite as excited as thought she’d be after only getting half her hay last night. However, she pooped as much as she normally would overnight in her paddock and they all looked normal. Her water tank has a water heater and it was almost down to its usual morning level (probably didn’t drink as much, as she didn’t eat as much). Last night I was reading about poisonous plants etc., trying to find something that might make sense of her symptoms. I then skimmed over Founder and ‘fever, diarrhea...’ jumped out at me. This morning I went out to my hay shed and started to break open some bales. I was shocked to find in 1 of the 3 I opened, a large amount of clover and alfalfa. This hay is supposed to be 100% grass and it seems it was until I came to this part of the stack... It was all purchased from the same supplier at the same time, but somehow I guess some legume mix bales got put in the wrong stack as they came off different fields – I don’t know. So, in discussing this with my vet, what probably happened yesterday is I fed from one of the bales containing a large amount of legume. Hanah is dominant over my 2 year old, so she could have consumed a fair bit of 'the good stuff'. It is unlikely that my 2 year would have been affected even if she’d had some, as I feed her alfalfa at night when they are separated. It doesn’t appear that Hanah’s feet have been affected (so far). They are not hot or sore. She is not reluctant to move around is standing normally. I took today off work to keep an eye on her and it is now 1:00pm and all is still well. My vet wants regular updates over the next few days and to be called immediately if she goes off again, no matter how minor it seems. I’m still in shock that this happened – I am one of those who always changes feed even more slowly than what is recommended. I also keep an eye out for weeds, sticks, plastic etc. in the hay and still somehow this got by me. It is semi-dark when I feed in the morning, so from now on I’m going to pre-open the bales in the daylight and I’ll never again assume the hay I buy is only/all what I’m told it is. I urge you all to take similar precautions.
Lee C
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Feb 9, 2007 - 6:43 am:

While a change in forage can cause colic and legumes are often associated with loose stools, it would not cause the fever Lee.
DrO
Member:
leec

Posted on Saturday, Feb 10, 2007 - 12:07 pm:

Yes, we're still wondering where the fever came from. It's possible she was running it prior to the 'episode', but she showed no signs that indicated to me that something was not right. Her temp has been normal since Feb 8th. We could run tests, and I would if she had not come out of it so quickly. You don't think she would have run a fever if she had a very mild case of founder? The vet comes up in March to do vacs, flu and de-worming, as well as an overall annual check up, so we'll see if she wants to do anything extra with Hanah then.
Lee C
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 11, 2007 - 8:41 am:

You have that backwards Lee, some causes of fever can cause founder but founder does not cause fever.
DrO
Member:
leec

Posted on Sunday, Feb 11, 2007 - 12:06 pm:

Ah, thank you for the clarification, Dr O.
Lee C
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC