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  Discussion on Stomach Impaction with Hay Ball
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Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Monday, Jul 6, 2009 - 11:54 am:

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place. Of course my gelding would have such an uncommon problem that it doesn't belong anywhere on this comprehensive board!

He's been at the clinic for a week now. He'd been showing what we thought were signs of an ulcer and when we went to scope him, it turns out that he has a mass of partially-digested feed (hay) in his stomach which has balled up and is not passing. He also has moderate ulcers.

He's been lavaged with water, mineral oil, electrolytes, and coke. Next is meat tenderizer for the enzymes. He is responding slowly and positively. The mass is getting smaller and softer, and the ulcers are healing.

I'm just interested to hear of any similar experiences. Thanks.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Monday, Jul 6, 2009 - 4:47 pm:

Dr. O will hopefully have some words of wisdom.

Good luck with this problem, Joni
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Jul 6, 2009 - 5:12 pm:

I don't think there are very meany reasons for stomach compaction. One is when the intestine has been either blocked or strangled off. Has he been checked for stones (entereliths?) The intestine can become stragled or blocked by a lipoma, also. Dr. O. will have more info I'm sure. You might do a search for both of these things if you want to do some reading in the meantime.

I'm glad the lavages seem to be helping. Is he on IVs? It's very common for horses to also be dehydrated with this problem.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 7, 2009 - 7:47 am:

Hello Joni,
Actually I have not encountered a horse with a "gastrolith" nor do I find a case in the literature. This sounds a bit odd but have to take it at face value. Has anyone conjectured a reason for this to form, perhaps the ulcers have cause the duodenum to swell and there is a primary delayed gastric emptying?
DrO
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009 - 1:38 pm:

Hi Joni,

My trainer has a horse in training with a very large gastrolith or mass in his stomach. They thought initially it was a hairball, but have come to think it may be a slow-growing tumor (so not a gastrolith) that catches feed etc.. This horse was diagnosed 3 years ago and is still relatively well, though he is ridden only lightly to keep him comfortable. The thing is quite large, and now causes a visible bulge in the horse, but so far he remains comfortable. He is intermittently on ulcer treatment, but there was no affordable plan to remove the thing, so the idea is to maintain him until his quality of life declines.
Member:
erika

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009 - 10:55 pm:

I've been wracking my brain since I saw your post, Joni. Something rings a bell for me on the "True Tales" in Equus Magazine about a year or so ago.

I tried to Google the story but couldn't find it. It was a story of a pony that ate something that would not pass from the stomach. They had to dissolve it with a different method. Sounds like your case. So sorry, I wish I could come up with it.
For some reason, I think it was in the south US.

Maybe someone else will remember and I will keep searching. It was a particular plant that did this.
Where are you located?
Erika
Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Sunday, Jul 19, 2009 - 5:28 pm:

Erika - I remember that story - it was persimmon fruit and they used (of all things) coca cola. My vet tried coca cola. What's been helping the most is via gastroscopy. The vet passes the gastroscopy camera then used the biopsy forceps to tear it down. He's been home for a week now on no hay, but 16 quarts of a senior complete feed/day. He's adjusting. Our appointment on Friday showed a remarkable improvement the mass is smaller and much softer. We go back in 3 more weeks and I am hopeful it will be all gone by then. Thanks for your help and support! Joni
Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Sunday, Jul 19, 2009 - 5:29 pm:

P.S. - Dr. O, my internist says we won't know anything as to the cause until the mass is gone. He did have some moderate ulceration of the stomach wall. I will post once the root cause is found.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Jul 19, 2009 - 6:39 pm:

Glad to hear that there has been improvement, Joni.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jul 20, 2009 - 8:49 am:

Are they bringing up any of the biopsy removed material and what does it look like?
DrO
Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009 - 6:49 am:

They are not extracting any of the mass with the forceps. The camera resolution is very high and the mass can be discerned as just about all hay. We saw a small leaf and a few stray mane hairs, too. It looks like what happened is that this mass formed and filled his stomach up and stuck all over his stomach walls, even as it was digested. It was digested from the middle out and so the stuff on the sides stuck. So, my vet used the forceps to knock down the loose pieces from the top of his stomach on Friday. And you can tell it's been there for a while. The gastroscopy camera injects puffs of air to clean off the lens. After more than an hour (with Remy standing patiently after the short-acting sedation wore off) the air accumulated enough for him to burp a few times. And you could really smell the off-gassing from the hay fermentation in his stomach; Whew!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009 - 8:23 am:

Good luck Joni, and keep us apprasied.
DrO
Member:
mrose

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009 - 10:57 am:

This is so odd, and very interesting. Thanks for continuing to update. Has the vet said anything about the cause?
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009 - 9:11 pm:

This sounds so interesting.

I had a horse here a year ago who had a colic where things backed up causing horribly bad stinking liquids in the stomach. The contents were projectile each time a tube was passed.

Had the gastric tube not been passed to relieve the pressure several times I believe that he would have died.

After he came home from the hospital post colic, he passed odd oak leaves and weeds, which I had already figured out that he had eaten, and what appeared to be tapeworms,though he was on daily wormer.
Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009 - 6:42 am:

Vicki, his back end seems to be working fine, the manure keeps coming. Thank you for your story, it was exactly the kind of anecdote I was looking for. Also thanks to elk for the story on the gastrolith. The vet hasn't ruled out a tumor as a possibility.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009 - 5:01 pm:

Let us know, Joni -- We are rooting for your gelding!
Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Friday, Aug 7, 2009 - 5:55 pm:

OK, great news! The hay ball is gone and there was no tumor. He does have some Grade 3 and 4 ulcers, which are treatable with Gastrogard. I will try to post the photos from the gastroscopy on Monday. So today was his first time on grass (only for a short time and with a muzzle) since June 28th. What a happy camper. Thanks to everyone for your support and kind words. The vet said is a "chicken-and-the-egg" sort of thing; which caused which. My guess is that we started with ulcers. Friesians are known to be very stoic, plus with his uveitis, he's had lots of Banamine in his lifetime. I think it was the bute to treat a hoof abscess that tipped the scales against him.
Member:
3rsatsmf

Posted on Friday, Aug 7, 2009 - 5:59 pm:

P.S. Vicki - regarding the tapeworms and daily wormer. As I posted above, Remy has uveitis so I had him on daily wormer - trying to minimize upsets to his system to reduce the chance of flares. It seemed to do *nothing* for tapes, to the point where he actually passed some proglotids (sp?)- the calamari-looking things. Zimectrin Gold (with the praziquantel) did the trick for him. Just thought you might be interested.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Aug 7, 2009 - 7:42 pm:

Thanks for letting me know, Joni. This is very important for me to hear because it sounds exactly like my experience with the guest horse on daily wormer who was on my farm that developed the extremely bad colic.

I am glad to hear that your horse is doing better.

All best wishes for good health.
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