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  Discussion on Enterolith formation in horses
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Posted on Friday, Feb 25, 2000 - 3:25 pm:

Is there any information on the length of time it takes enteroliths to form to any substantial size in a horse?

My horse was diagnosed with gastic ulcers after multiple colics 16 months ago. He recently returned from the veterinary hospital after four more colics this past month...only this time, no cause was found.

The people I board with are concerned he may have enteroliths, based on their past experience. Even though the hospital found nothing, I am still very concerned my chronic colic horse may have this serious problem.

He's been on a pellet/grass hay diet for several years. When he started colicking again this past month, he went to an Timothy/Alfalfa hay diet with no pellet or grain....certainly not enough time for the alfalfa to contribute to an enterolith. The only other time he's had alfalfa was five years ago in the midwest, where our horses were fed an alfalfa/orchard grass hay for fuel in the winter.

Could an enterolith have started all those years ago?

Posted on Saturday, Feb 26, 2000 - 6:45 am:

Yes that is possible and though there is a a much greater frequency on enterolith formation with horses fed alfalfa, not all form that way. To rule this out I would try and have radiography and ultrasound done.
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 27, 2000 - 2:32 pm:

He had both ultrasound and radiography...neither of which showed anything. It is my understanding the the make up and positioning of an enterolith does not always allow it to be detected.

We're pretty much at our wit's end with this horse...chronic colic without a cause. He is now resting at home, but we're apprehensive about what comes next. I don't even know if I should ride him; two of the four colics this past month have been after riding....a topic for another part of this site.

I may be posting further on some of those issues later. Any more ideas?
Brenda.

Posted on Monday, Feb 28, 2000 - 6:29 am:

You are right: if you find it you have your diagnosis but if you don't it does not rule it out. But it is much less likely and would be enough for me NOT to have a exploratory done. Have you spoken with your vet about having your own supply of Banamine to prevent too many vet visits, there are some positives and negatives to this technique.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Feb 28, 2000 - 9:54 am:

Yep...banamine is already on hand. As a matter of fact, during all four episodes, we only had the vet out once.

Unfortunately, we had a very uncooperative and uncommunicative vet at the hospital in Gainesville during this visit...one of our MANY unanswered questions was precisely about the use, misuse, and overuse of Banamine.

If we can anticipate future colics, we would like to know what our parameters are.

This is what we've decided our course of action will be: 1) when he colics, first determine that he's in no real danger by checking all his physical symptoms. 2) Administer 10cc of Banamine immediately. 3) keeping checking on him and walking for 5-10 minutes every half hour. 4) If he gets to the point where he needs a second shot, call on the vet. 5) Try not to stress out over it.

We have no idea if this is really correct procedure if he continues colicking on a regular basis... is it safe to administer Banamine if he colics every two weeks? Or every week?

He really got a good rest while he was in the hospital, and he was fasted for 36 hours....it could be his system has quieted down; we're really hoping this will go away.

Any advice on this matter? I'm thinking maybe I should move these postings to the generic colic topic and see what people have to say...

Thanks,
Brenda.

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 29, 2000 - 7:53 am:

Hello Brenda,
Using 10cc Banamine once weekly should be safe for a thousand pound horse. The only thing I would ad to your regimen is to not begin feeding until you get at least one normal bowel movements out of the horse. This helps prevent putting more food on top of an impaction.
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jul 6, 2001 - 10:53 pm:

I know an older mare that recently passed a large number of small (1/2") enteroliths. My vet said taking her off alfalfa would be a good idea. The problem is that she has very poor dentition, and has been eating water soaked alfalfa/oat cubes. My question is, what would be a good diet for her to go onto?
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