written and moderated by an equine veterinarian."> ">
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 Old mare colic? and I think I did the wrong thing :-(
Author Message
Member:
scooter

Posted on Saturday, Jul 10, 2010 - 11:04 pm:

Flash was out in the pasture today as usual, we put hay in the barn today and I saw her off and on all day saw her poop and pee ect.

We took all the wagons back and when I went out to feed she was flat out in the pasture, I thought maybe she was taking a nap. Called her, she got up and started walking up for supper, she actually cantered up the hill. I put her feed in her pen and went about cleaning the paddock, closing gates ect. When I went in to get Flash's feed pan it was still full(Including her carrot) and she was laying down quietly in her "stall". This is VERY not normal. She always wolfs down her supper and never refuses a carrot.

After getting her up I saw she was sweating profusely, her resp and temp were normal? I went in to get some banamine, when I came back out she was lying down again, gave her 1000# dose of paste...she goes about #800. got her up, she started pawing and backing up. Put the halter on and started walking her, which she was fine for, checked her gums, refill was fine and they were pink. Cold hosed her legs to help her cool down, it was hot today...for here anyway. When we were walking by some tall thick bushes she dragged me over to them, faced her butt to them and started rubbing it kind of maniacally, don't know what to make of that????

Put her back in her stall, tried the carrot test again...refusal and pawing.. tho not as bad as before... another walk and she was passing some gas. Back to paddock, still don't want carrot but is calm and itching with Hank over the fence. According to poop in the pasture she has gone normally all day... I cleaned her side of the pasture this morning so know what is hers from today, she is in turnout alone right now.

Her eye is bright and from what I can tell gut sounds are normal... So she seemed OK, threw her some hay in which she went right after. Came in here and read this article...which by the way is awesome...wish I would have read it 1st, but didn't think of it because I was slightly paniced

Was it a mistake to give her hay???? This all happened around 7pm, I just shined the flashlight out and she is still munching her hay, going out shortly to check her thoroughly...should I take her hay away???
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 12:32 am:

Last check she seemed just fine, took a big drink of water while I was out there, ate her peppermint treat and kept following me begging for more. I had let her in the drylot so not sure if she pooped, too dark, so while I was out there I put her in the paddock/ stall area so I can tell in the morning.... keep fingers crossed this has passed whatever it was... would over heating act like this?? It really wasn't overly hot out, and the humidity was NOT terrible, but she is old and does seem to have problems with thermoregulation occasionally. She had eaten all of her hay so was too late to take it away
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 8:17 am:

Diane,

Has there been any change in her eating schedule over the last 72 hours. I usually find that it takes between 24-72 hours for gastrointestinal problems to show up, if they are going to bother the horse significantly.

Her rubbing her butt make me think she might have had a slight impaction that she was trying to dislodge. It may not have had anything to do with the hay you fed her and it may just be that her old age and hot weather is wreaking havoc with her insides.

Lets hope this was very mild and that Flash continues to improve.

Rachelle
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 8:35 am:

Diane,

I swear our weather has been causing tons of problems with my horses lately. Hot, wet, cool, wet, keeps changing so much. Grass, no grass? Lock up, turn out? Grrr...

I think Flash will be just fine. I've had both Gem and Willow go through something like that lately; laying down and acting uncomfortable. Not eating their pellets. And if Gem is ignoring her handful of pellets, yikes! She's very greedy!

Both mares were fine after a bit and I am thinking maybe they don't adjust to the weird weather any better than we do?

Do you give a Tbsp of salt to each horse every day? That is one thing I have started doing on top of what they have free choice. I do think they are drinking more since I started that. It might help.

Hope she's o.k. today.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 8:37 am:

No Changes Rachelle, She pooped 3 times over night.. in about 7 hrs. they looked normal. She seems fine this morning, so thankfully it was something transient it seems. Possibly a gas colic.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 9:24 am:

Diane, the article specifically answers your questions.
DrO
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 10:57 am:

Glad that she is now doing well, Diane. It sounds like her gut is working pretty normally.

For a time she obviously was feeling uncomfortable enough to be distracted and not well enough to eat.

As many colic cases are due to it, I wonder whether she may have picked up some parasites at pasture a couple of weeks ago. Also, the attempts to itch the hind end could be because of pin worms, that can be a very resistant problem.

My Veterinarians never seem to want a horse with colic to have hay until the colic has cleared. And for the first meal thereafter, I seem to recall a preference for a reduced ration of both grain and hay. Having them turned out on grass seems to be safer than having them in eating hay.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 11:11 am:

Thanks Vicki, I don't think worms are the problem, once she improved the itchy butt went away.

Angie maybe it is the crazy weather, the bugs have been driving all the horses nuts, the B2 bombers are out now and the face flies, well all flies are horrid, they do wear masks. The other horse were quieter than normal last night and this morning didn't even want to go out in the pasture after their hay, even after I fly sprayed them..

Flash is back in the yard pen, the bugs don't seem to bother her as much out there. I think she is OK and back to normal. She has only coliced once in the 20 some years I have owned her and it was mild like this one, if I recall it was a gas colic.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 1:04 pm:

If the biting flies are bad there's no doubt that will make a horse miserable.

It's hard for them to think of anything else when they are bad, so maybe Flash was worn out from the annoyance.

Those "B2 bombers" (I always think of them as B52s) were horrid here for a while. Does anyone have any idea of what they are really named?
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 2:42 pm:

Actually Vicki they are called HORSE flies nasty buggers, their stinger or whatever you might call it is HUGE.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 3:05 pm:

Oh I was going to pass this along, I was reading about fly control somewhere and someone said they poultice the horses butt to keep the horse flies from biting them, I thought that was ingenious!

I have been poulticing the mares legs and she isn't bothered by flies biting her legs at all, and it last a couple days if you don't wash it off...natural fly repellent. I might try that with all the horses. a cheap clay poultice is cheaper than fly spray and it works!! Might save these chips and cracks I've been getting in the hooves, I know Flash likes the fly protection of it.
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 3:21 pm:

Actually, I always thought they were well aimed torpedos....
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2010 - 6:07 pm:

Horse flies are all types of Tabanids, but there are so many different ones. It would be interesting to find more detailed information about those found in a particular area so as to know what types of diseases each tends to transmit. There's even one that bites at night. In Florida there are 35 species that are deemed "economically important." Hawaii, Greenland and Iceland don't report having them!
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