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  Discussion on Gut motility and impactions
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New Member:
marcita

Posted on Sunday, Dec 23, 2007 - 9:52 pm:

I have owned this horse for 3 1/2 years and in that time he has coliced 8 times. Three were minor and passed quickly. Four were impactions that required the vet. Two out of the four needed equine clinic care. The other colic was a mild gas colic. In 2007 he had four colics since July. He stops drinking when it gets hot. Normally he drinks less than other horses. His last colic, which was a week ago sent him to the clinic. They did ultrasounds and saw some poor motility in a section of the small colon. THey put him on Cisapride to stimulate motility. He is doing fine now and will come home in a couple of days. My question is has anyone had experience with a motility problem and does it cause impactions or poor drinking? The other thing he does is go off his grain. Prior to the impactions he goes off his grain several weeks before. It seems as though there is a connection.

Has anyone had experience with motility issues? Do his sypmtoms sound consistent with motility problems?

Judy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Dec 24, 2007 - 7:16 am:

Hello Judy,
Primary gut motility diseases are not well defined in horses. What would constitute appropriate diagnostic criteria for such a condition is not established. Whether what they saw was the cause of the problem or the result of the problem can't be known at this time that I am aware of.

Gut motility is effected by many factors and can change remarkably from moment to moment. It would be surprising if motility effected water consumption unless it results in discomfort. Judy can you tell us exactly what they found that lead to the conclusion of a motility disorder and what you have tried to do to control the colic problem after past episodes? What is your current feeding and watering program like?
DrO
New Member:
marcita

Posted on Monday, Dec 24, 2007 - 8:39 am:

Hi DrO,

Thank you for your quick response. What lead to the conclusion, which is not a definite conclusion but a possibility, was a long discussion of Darwins other colics as well as the results of their blood test and other tests. He sounds like a classic ulcer candidate but he's been scoped and they found nothing. Also when he goes off his feed I give him treatments of ulcergard and it never helps. His blood work shows no problems. They do belly taps when he gets to the clinic and those are normal. They've done rectal ultrasounds and abdominal ultrasounds. On the abdominal ultrasound they have found a portion of the small colon that doesn't have good motility.

A few days after he was at the clinic this time they started him back on grain and hay and he had a painful spasm episode. It last a couple of hours and they think he resolved on his own. They had started him on Lindocaine but he didn't get much by the time he got better. They felt that was a motility issue from what they saw on the rectal ultrasound.

The other thing that is interesting that I haven't discussed yet with the vets is that he always colics after breakfast. He usually has a little breakfast and then starts to get painful. I wonder if because there is a long time between eating at night check and breakfast that indicates something.

After he colics we monitor his drinking and manure. He drinks between 5 and 6 gallons of water normally, sometimes less. When its less I give him molasses water, which he loves and usually will drink a couple of gallons. We also will add a gallon of water to his feed. He drinks that too.

But he also goes off his feed. When I move him to another barn he will go off his feed. But sometimes for no reason that I can find he just will eat half of his beakfast, and skip lunch. His dinner he usually finishes because he has all night. He is getting XTN. We just increased his feed from 6 quarts to 7. We took a month to make the increase. He also gets alphalpha cubes soaked at night check. He gets 5 flakes of hay through out the day. He is turned out all day, which is generally from 8:00 to 3:30. Its a small private farm and there's only two other horses. He gets his grain 3 times a day and always has fresh water available. This farm is meticulously clean. They get warm water in the winter.

There seems to be some connection between him going off his feed and colicing. But he doesn't always colic after an episode of going off his feed. Prior to the colics he has always gone off his feed. I'm thinking he is starting not to feel good.

Sorry for the long answer. Its just so complicated. I appreciate any insights or suggestions.

Judy
Member:
sunny66

Posted on Monday, Dec 24, 2007 - 10:34 am:

You've already tried the things I was going to mention. I wish you the very best in figuring this out.

Good luck!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 - 10:33 pm:

It is normal for some horses to go off feed somewhat when moved. But when there have been no changes I would suggest a possible cause for going off feed is he is having a mild colic episode Judy. If it is just mild he may only show a decrease in appetite. Sometimes he recovers (the impaction passes) on it's own. Other times the impaction worsens and then you get the full blown colic. The physiology that leads to a decrease in water consumption with some large bowel impactions is well understood.

But I am still trying to understand the current diet:
Is that 6-7 qts 3 times daily or divided into 3 daily feedings?
What is XTN?
What type hay does he get?
Is there any grass in the pasture?
What is the condition of the horse?
DrO
New Member:
marcita

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 - 11:01 pm:

He gets 6 to 7 once a day. So that is divided into 3 feedings of 2 quarts. XTN is a complete feed produced by Nutrena. It is high in fat, 12%. I'm not sure what kind of hay, I think a blend of timothy and alphalpha. He gets pasure spring, summer and fall. Before the last colic he was in good condition. He had gained weight and is worked 5 to 6 days a week. We do dressage. He is a 16 yo Hannovarian.

Judy
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 - 11:40 pm:

Hi Judy,

Dr. O is your best resource here, but I'm very curious about what this turns out to be. Would you mind listing a day-in-the-life of this horse (complete w. turnout schedule, feeding time/feeds/volume, contact with other horses) and mark where his colics typically occur? Is it always after breakfast? How long is he w/o feed overnight? etc..

I sure hope this is something you can handle with management changes. Seems like this boy is causing gray hairs for you.

- Elizabeth
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 - 7:39 am:

Feed management looks good Judy and if I interpret the above correctly, essentially forage is always available and you do not feed coastal.

What is your deworming program with appx dates and the products used.

Note: Judy and others who have not filled out there profiles completely. There is a place in your profile to place information that makes it available in every post you make by clicking on your name. By filling out your profile we can get to it by clicking on your name.
DrO
New Member:
marcita

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 1, 2008 - 4:32 pm:

DrO,

Sorry for the delay in responding but Darwin came home on the 26th of Dec. and also the holidays have taken some of my time.

His worming program is from my local vets. He gets Ivermectin in April, then Pyrantel and Oxibendasole, in July Moxidectin and in Nov. Ivermectin gold.

The first 4 days he was home he was drinking much more than he usually does. He would drink 1 to 2 buckets of water just at night. He is not on any medication. Then Sunday night he only drank half a bucket. Last night one third. Today I gave him a dose of Cisapride. He has a salt block in his feed bucket and he was really licking it. That has stopped too. He is eating half a quart of trotter for breakfast and a quart of half trotter and half XTN for dinner. I also switched his hay to second cut grassy hay which he loves.

I am worried about his decrease in drinking. But hoping the Cisapride stimulates him to drink.

Happy New Year!

Judy
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