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  Discussion on Colitis: are my other horses at risk?
Author Message
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 - 6:26 pm:

Dr. O, I just lost an apparently healthy 11 YO TB gelding to colitis. This happened Friday night and the lab cultures aren't back, so I don't yet know whether bacteria was implicated, but due to the rapid onset of symptoms and shock, my vet suspects clostridium. The horse appeared normal at his Friday morning feeding (6 am), had drunk his usual amount of water over night, but hadn't eaten his usual hay (although this horse never emptied his manger, so the amount he did eat wasn't a dramatic difference and didn't cause me alarm). He was alert and friendly. I was a little short on time in the morning, so I did not muck after I fed and watered. I returned home at 1:30 pm to turn-out and muck and found him lying in his stall in severe discomfort. It looked to me like he had been lying in one place for a long time and had not been pacing around his stall, or lying in several places in the stall, just the one place. He was difficult to get up. He was sweaty, had rapid respiration and had severe body shaking. He had 6 piles of manure in his stall and run, all "normal" except 1 that seemed a little loose. I took him immediately to my vet, who gave him banamine and a sedative and sent me to the equine hospital because he did not like his elevated heart rate. The horse had pale gums, a normal rectal temp, but my vet thought that during his internal exam the horse felt hot inside. I got him to the hospital by 3:00 pm. At the hospital he presented with a slightly elevated rectal temp. They tubed him. He had no reflux. They administered mineral oil through the tube. They drew blood samples and started him on IV fluids (I don't have my bill so I'm not sure what was in the fluids, but they hung 4 large bags. The horse peed in the treatment stall and it was very dark. The blood work came back with very low protein levels (I'm recalling something like 6.5) and the vet told me that we weren't looking at colic surgery, we were looking at colitis and a treatment with pain relievers, antibiotics and fluids. He was not responding well and they put a second IV line in him. He never demonstrated diarrhea. Long story short, they couldn't get fluids into him fast enough to ward off shock, and I euthanized him at 8 pm.

Should I keep my other horses out of his pasture for some period of time? I was going to sanitize his stall with a clorox solution. Would you recommend something else? He was nose to nose with his neighbors. Do I need to worry about them? My vet didn't indicate this was a communicable disease, and when I asked him if I should take precautions with the other horses at home, he indicated no. It seems reasonable that if the colitis was accompanied by a bacterial infection perhaps the bacteria was picked up from somewhere?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 - 7:48 pm:

wow, Christine! What a shock for you, and how quickly this all happened. I'm so sorry. Like you, I'd be concerned about the other horses until you know more from lab reports. I'm surprised your horse didn't have diarrea, which I thought was a main symptom of colitis. I'll be doing some reading and waiting to hear what Dr. O has to say so I can learn something.

Again, I'm so sorry.
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 - 8:28 pm:

Thanks. It's definitely not something I'd wish anyone else to go through. This was a lovely gelding who never even had a tummy ache in the 6 years we'd owned him. He belonged to my older daughter who left for college this past Monday. (The phone call to her was a tough one to make). I was with my younger daughter at a show Friday morning for her warm-ups, instead of being at work. The show grounds are right next to the equine hospital, and everyone at the show knew this horse because my older daughter had shown him for 6 years, so word spread quickly Friday afternoon of his critical condition and even more quickly Saturday about his passing. I worked the hunter gate Saturday and Sunday (today) and they were really difficult days since I couldn't help but think of his competition days. I'm just so thankful that I came home mid-day Friday and was able to help alleviate his pain. Ordinarily I'd have been at work all day.
Member:
hpyhaulr

Posted on Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 - 8:44 pm:

Christine,
WHat a shock... so so sorry.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 6:43 am:

My condolences Christine,
I agree with your veterinarian, I have never seen salmonella that did not have a bout of diarrhea first but have had two cases of clostridial colitis, what use to be termed colitis X, that never broke with diarrhea and death was due to hypovolemic shock despite aggressive fluid therapy. Essentially I was unable to supply fluids fast enough to keep them alive.

All the clostridial cases I have seen have been individual occurrences and associated with antibiotic use or stress in the horses life. We think it is likely the clostridia are part of the flora of the bowel but some event has allowed them to outgrow their normal population and it is the release of toxins that actually seems to cause the shock that kills the horse and not the damage and inflammatory reaction of the bowel. Usually there is only a mild colitis visually evident on necropsy.
DrO
Member:
frances

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 9:16 am:

Christine, my deepest sympathies. Words are meaningless, I know, in cases like this, but I am truly sorry for your loss.
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 9:38 am:

I can't think of what might have stressed him, other than the hot weather all summer. He was just the easiest horse. No colics, no colds, no injuries other than one popped splint in 6 years of jumping 3-foot plus fences.

So I don't need to worry about the other horses on the property? The equine hospital said his incurrence wasn't a management issue, but I just want to be sure I shouldn't do something different on the property or to his stall before I put another horse in there. (I'm not sure I'm ever going to put another horse in the stall -- I lost my 25 YO Arabian gelding 2 years ago to an impaction colic when he was living in that stall so I think it has bad juju . . .).
Member:
lilo

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 11:53 am:

Christine - my condolences. It is clear that this horse was a valued member of the family, and especially beloved by your daughter.

So sorry about your loss,
Lilo
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 12:33 pm:

So very sorry to hear of your loss, Christine.
Member:
quatro

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 12:34 pm:

Christine, so very sorry for your loss.
Suz
Member:
leilani

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 4:09 pm:

Christine,

My condolences. I truly understand how you are feeling. Leilani
Member:
shirl

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 4:15 pm:

Kathleen,
So sorry.
"On Eagles wings I fly on high. Remember spirits never die. I run forever in clouds of dreams waiting the day we will meet again." Kim McElroy

Take care,
Shirl
Member:
dres

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 4:30 pm:

My thoughts are with you ..

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

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 4:38 pm:

My apologies - I meant to say Christine on my post, not Kathleen. Need more coffee.

Again, I'm sorry.

Shirl
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Monday, Aug 27, 2007 - 8:03 pm:

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 - 7:46 am:

Christine, I don't know if there is something to worry about on your property but clostridial colitis is not typically considered a communicable disease. For your piece of mind you should thoroughly examine your property, not looking for anything in particular, but for everything that does not seem norma. Before making a final decision that all is OK you need the necropsy report to confirm the diagnosis.

I would like you to take note of the now advanced therapeutic regimen of hypertonic saline described in the article. I now keep one on my truck, replacing it as it goes out of date, looking for that next hypovolemic crisis.
DrO
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 - 11:24 am:

Christine, my condolences, I'm so sorry.
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 - 11:56 am:

Thanks Dr O, I'll take another look around his stall and pasture for something that doesn't seem quite right. I didn't think to request a necropsy, and I don't know if the equine hospital would do that as part of their routine. I'll call them to see if the fecal culture is back and what it showed.
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 - 9:44 pm:

Dr O, I didn't think to ask for a necropsy and that's not the hospital's routine protocol, so that opportunity is passed. I did speak with the attending hospital vet today and he had preliminary lab culture reports that eliminated clostridium p and salmonella and other pathogens whose names I don't remember, but wasn't yet determinative on clostridium d. The vet thought he would have a final report tomorrow. (He kindly did not treat me as a neurotic crazy woman insistent on getting further information even though he already told me he was confident we weren't dealing with a contagious situation). In reading your articles on colitis, Clifford demonstrated the clinical signs you identify and rapidly fell into your "grave" category (other than the diarrrhea). Unfortunately, it seems that I didn't find him in time to allow the treatment he was given to be effective. Hopefully I'll never face this again, but I'll remember your advice on the hypertonic saline so I can mention it to the vet if (God forbid) there's a next time.

Anyone who's interested can see Clifford as he was and as I'll remember him at my You Tube channel, horseafire. (He's the red horse).
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007 - 6:50 am:

Christine someone has misinformed you of the usefulness of fecal cultures: negative results do not eliminate the diagnosis for salmonella or especially clostridia. You have about a 20% case of growing salmonella and it would be very unusual to be able to grow, isolate, and identify, pathogenic clostridia out of a fecal culture. Also of note just to confuse the diagnosis further: isolating the organism is not definitive for a cause as they can be rarely found in normal horses and more often when other gi disorders appear.
DrO
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007 - 9:01 am:

Hmmm. I guess I just assumed the fecal culture was useful (otherwise why would it be done), but perhaps it offers value just to the living horse to see what's going on and not to the dead one to figure out what happened.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 - 12:52 pm:

It is not that it is not a useful test, we recommend running is cases of colitis. If you do get a return on a pathogen, it greatly raises its suspicion, expecially if found in abundance. But often the cultures don't return a pathogen or occasionally return salmonella in low numbers. The point that it is not diagnostic when negative or as you put in the former post: eliminate a diagnosis when negative.
DrO
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 - 4:03 pm:

OK -- I understand. Thanks DrO.
Member:
5691

Posted on Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 - 4:42 pm:

Dear Christine,

Please accept condolences from my daughter and me on the loss of your beloved Clifford. I too, am a "show mom" who is up to my eyeballs with my daughter and her horses and I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to call to tell her that one of her beloved horses is failing. (There is nothing in the parenting books that prepares you for that)

May the compassion and understanding from all of us at HA help with your grief and healing during this difficult time.

Hugs,
Debra and Rachael
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 - 6:11 pm:

Thank you so much Debra and Racheal for your kind thoughts. (This beautiful horse belonged to my daughter Rachel). I don't know what it is about these magnificent animals that creates such a deep and lasting bond, but it's sure hard to lose one. As one of my sisters told me, the pain of loss is a reminder of the abundance of joy already experienced and the realization of how much it will be missed. It's comforting to be able to share with people who really understand!
Member:
mrose

Posted on Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 - 10:19 pm:

Christine, it seems you have very wise sisters.

How is your daughter doing?

"I don't know what it is...." It is something about their eyes and the way they look into your soul. They are so much more than "just a horse." They freely offer friendship, they accept you for who you are, all they ask in return in fairness and good care.
Member:
cnichola

Posted on Friday, Aug 31, 2007 - 1:13 pm:

Sara, unfortunately my daughter is away at college and I haven't been able to speak to her face to face. She was very upset when I spoke to her on the phone before and after he was euthanized, and her trainer (who was with him during his euthanizing because I lacked the courage) had a long talk with her that evening. The trainer said they both cried a lot. It may be a blessing for her to remember him as she last saw him, healthy and happy in his pasture.
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