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  Discussion on Young mare abdominal pain
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New Member:
clauee

Posted on Monday, Feb 16, 2015 - 4:52 pm:

Hello! We keep a 4 year-old mare with a history of abdominal pain, which I wonder if it really is digestive "colic":
This mare showed obvious signs of pain when in heat since she is one year old: she will try to releive the pain by pushing her belly against a post or a wall with all her weight, and when she was kept in a barn with limited turn-out, this behavior was continuous 24/24 for 6 days every three weeks... She would also kick a lot, become angry, obviously in pain.
Currently she is kept out 24/7 on a 16 acre pasture, seems like more movment has helped, the behavior has decreased and almost ceased, but she still shows signs of pain in that moment (won't tolerate being touched as much, gets a little more dominant than usual, her breathing is a little stiffer and she is generally more tense...) Lately, with the winter, she tends to get mild colic (gas + dry feces), and we wonder if it is related to the increased hay consumption or the heat period: The first colic episode was diganosed by a vet as a mild tendency to impaction in cold weather, probably because the mare does not drink enough... So we supplemented her with salt, encouraged drinking with gatorade and took her to the waterer often to remind her. But it seems she does not get "colic" every time it is very cold or she eats more hay... Also, the waterer is heated and kept clean, she is dominant and always gets first access, and hay is good quality, too.. On six horses kept together, she is the only one with colic symptoms. Lately we correlated the colic episodes with the heat period by writing every episode on the calender... Could it be inflammation due to heat period that cause colic or dehydration?
Member:
moxshi

Posted on Monday, Feb 16, 2015 - 5:28 pm:

Claudelle, during the winter, I often soak my horses' feed, and while it doesn't provide all the water they need, it does provide some and maybe mimics summertime grazing of juicy grass. If you feed grass hay or alfalfa, maybe you could add some hay cubes or alfalfa cubes soaked. I find the warm water soaks into the cubes much faster than cold water, and I think the horses appreciate the warm feed on cold days.

I had a mare that got painful during her heat cycles. The vet said that her ovaries weren't releasing the eggs, and he put her on Regumate which seemed to solve the problem.

Also, I wonder if she might have ulcers and the heat cycle would make the pain worse?
New Member:
clauee

Posted on Monday, Feb 16, 2015 - 6:07 pm:

Thank you Holly,
Unfortunately it would be difficult for me to soak the hay due to the amount we feed every day (and instant freezing!). Our horses live outside 24/7, and we currently have very cold weather (-20C) so hay is unlimited and available at all times... Also, I have an irregular work schedule so I don't give concentrates or regular "extra feed" because I don't have the consistency in the schedule and I fear this could upset the digestive track...? We feed only once a day, spreading half the hay over the snow (all over the pasture, when weather permits, to increase movment) and the other half in feeders (wood feeders with integrated slow-feeding nets). The horses have complete mineral blocks and salt blocks available at all times, and a supplement (purina equalizer) after work. The owner of the mare gives weat bran mash (very small quantity with lots of water) as a treat after work also... Regumate is not an option for the owner as she would like to breed the mare eventually. What is the diagnosis procedure to confirm if a mare doesn't release eggs from ovaries? I will also ask for ulcers, last time the vet came it's not something he considered...
Member:
paul303

Posted on Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - 9:59 pm:

Claudelle, I have an App/QH mare I acquired years ago. She showed extremely painful episodes that we at first attributed to colic. This very mild mannered mare would become extremely aggressive to our other horses, THROW herself to the ground and bite intensively at her side. One side would become rock hard and spasm from her withers to her groin. The vet did an exam and a sonogram that showed she passed a really large follicle. We found that by administering a dose of Banamine at the onset of symptoms, she would get relief. If she was in a really bad way, pulsating water therapy would help until the Banamine kicked in. As she has become older, the episodes have greatly diminished. I have to say, that as many episodes that she had when she was younger, and as severe as those episodes were...it only ever took one dose of Banamine to relieve her.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2015 - 10:44 am:

Hello claudelle,
If your mare is doing this in the winter it is not likely it is due to estrus and ovulation as most mares do not cycle in the winter. Lee describes the diagnosis of this condition above. For more on diagnosing chronic colics see HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Colic in Horses » An Overview of Colic.
DrO
Member:
clauee

Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2015 - 11:17 am:

Hi Dr. O
Thank you for your response. This mare and her sister (they are two 4-year-old friesians) have had estrus all year round, every 21 days like a clock, since they are one year old...
Apparently their vet said this was not anormal, and their breeder has the same cycle pattern on all mares they have (even though the two have moved out when purchased at age of one).
She said the symptoms would probably diminish with age, so nothing has been done for this one mare who showed obvious signs of pain for 6 full days every three weeks... Now she doesn't show as much pain with 24/7 movement (she won't throw all her body weight on a post all day anymore), but she becomes gassy and a little incomfortable and more dominant at that time.... we thought it was winter (dehydration) colic at first, because it's the mare's first winter out and maybe she doesn't drink enough when she eats more hay, but on the calendar it happens every three weeks and not on other cold days in between the cycles...
Member:
clauee

Posted on Monday, Feb 23, 2015 - 8:49 am:

Hi Dr. O
I was reading on the other posts and I found you wrote this:
"The gas in the cecum could be primary or secondary to:
1)pain from other areas that results in abnormal motility and gas accumulation
2)obstruction from fecal impaction or enterolith"
Can the painful cycles be enough to cause gas colic when the mare eats more hay (in cold weather)?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 24, 2015 - 6:52 pm:

Pain, especially chronic or intense pain, of any cause can cause bowel motility problems.
DrO
Member:
paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 4, 2015 - 7:30 pm:

Yikes! Speak of the devil...after a year and a half of no trouble my mare had an episode last week. Started out attacking my other mare, and then throwing herself on the ground on her bad side. Got her back foot hung in her winter blanket and had me out there in single digit temps massaging and pounding her rigid side until Banamine paste kicked in. She produced two piles of fairly normal manure during the episode. My neighbor, who handles the injectable Banamine we purchase jointly, was not home to give the injection ( I don't do injections ). The injections work much faster. I thought I was past this, she's 24. Rats.
Member:
moxshi

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 4, 2015 - 9:37 pm:

How's your mare now, Lee? So sorry to hear of her episode.
Are your horses okay for injections? It's not hard to do if the horses are calm. I had to use Banamine 2 weeks ago for a pony that was feeling under the weather for over 12 hours. Since she had diarrhea, it was very different from other colics I've experienced. I knew her tummy was hurting, though, because she didn't want to eat and was up and down, up and down. I finally got hold of the vet later in the afternoon, and he recommended 8 ccs of Banamine. Recently, I've been warned vehemently about giving Banamine IM, but after talking with my vet at length, I can see that IM Banamine is better than oral, and since I don't trust myself to give it IV, especially to a fractious horse, I washed the pony's neck really well with alcohol and using a new syringe, needle and clean bottle of Banamine, gave her the injection. She immediately started shaking her head (I think it stung because of the alcohol) and kept pumping her tail . . .then went to the far edge of the pen and laid down on her belly with her knees flexed and her front feet stretched forward . . . and stayed that way for 5 minutes. Then got up and was perfectly fine. Her manure turned to normal, and she's been fine for the past six days.
That Banamine is a godsend.
Member:
paul303

Posted on Friday, Mar 6, 2015 - 1:41 am:

Yeah, Holly, I thought her episodes were over. Guess I have to think again. Jazz is fine. As usual, once the Banamine kicked in, the muscle spasms stopped and she has been perfect. My horses are great with injections. I'm bad. Can you believe that? After nearly 40 yrs as a Dental Hygienist, I have to admit that I can't abide injections or stitches. I can handle surgeries, extractions...ANYTHING...but injections and stitches. Go figure.
Member:
clauee

Posted on Friday, Mar 6, 2015 - 9:06 pm:

Lee, these episodes are scary! Glad the mare responds quickly to Banamine,... but I can imagine your stress as you have to catch it quickly...!
Here we are doing fine, a little stressed because the mare should get her cycle this week... yet her symptoms are nothing like your mare! We had just mild episodes of gassy/discomfort/increased dominance but nothing like when she was kept in a stall... the dry manure and gas are the red flags when cold weather arrived though she never stopped eating or seemed depressed/low energy/sick... Seems like there are more then one contributing factors to get a "colicky" episodes now: heat cycle + weather extremes combined...Mabe we should try banamine next time and see if it relieves her altogether?
Member:
paul303

Posted on Saturday, Mar 7, 2015 - 12:45 am:

Claudelle: As long as your mare is not sensitive to Banamine and can tolerate it, it might be something that could be considered. If she responds to the Banamine, it could be a helpful clue to her diagnosis. If it's all right with your vet, I would try it. Just to be clear: my mare shows NO symptoms until her episode is in progress. She eats fine, she poops fine...then, >massive pain,>irritability...stomach kicking and side biting and aggressive behavior toward the other horse. Once I administer the Banamine paste, it takes at least 40 minutes for it to kick in. When it kicks in, her relief is profound.
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