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  Discussion on Gelding eats his shavings
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New Member:
Larkspur

Posted on Friday, Jun 30, 2006 - 3:32 pm:

I'm a new poster here, with a dilemma. I have a 12 year old, TWH, gelding. No prior health problems. We noticed he would occasionally have shavings on his muzzle after feeding time, thinking he was picking up DrOpped food, we kept the shavings away from his feed box. Three days ago he started to colic, we administered banamine, walked him because he kept losing his backend...to the point of nearly toppling over...in obvious pain. We called the vet who arrived and administered a stronger sedative/muscle relaxant and performed a rectal exam. He got handfuls of moist shavings. A full exam revealed no obstruction as far as the vet could reach, vitals were fine, gum color fine as well. He inserted a nasogastric tube and pushed water and mineral oil. His belief was that with moderate treatment the gelding would be fine. Within two hours the horse was drinking gallons of water and nibbling short grass, seemed to feel much better. The following morning he was not as good...called the vet who directed 12ccs banamine and continued observation. Yesterday he was down in the paddock and clearly not feeling well. Loaded him in the trailer and took him to our regular vet who had been out of town...examination showed that the cecum (spelling?) and colon....hope I'm saying this correctly....are full of shavings. Our vet pulled two handfuls of the same shavings from his rectum. Hes been there 36 hours now...no manure produced despite 4 bags of fluid and another dose of water and mineral oil. Nothing is moving, interior of the intestine is fairly dry and the shavings don't seem to be going anywhere. We have to make a decision tomorrow on what to do with him.

Any experience with this to be shared would be greatly appreciated...any thoughts as well. I'm not real hopeful at this point..can't imagine surgery to clean out an entire digestive system!

Thank you in advance,

Missy @ Larkspur Ranch
Member:
Sjeys

Posted on Friday, Jun 30, 2006 - 4:13 pm:

First, I will be of no practical help, but wanted to ask if you were going to (obviously) switch out the shavings with something else. I know some types of shavings are poisonous to horses, but assume the vet would have mentioned that. This is very odd, very scary and will soon be very expensive. I'm sure the great folks on this board will help you out. best of luck and I hope your horse gets better soon.
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Saturday, Jul 1, 2006 - 11:55 am:

I hope you hear from someone today. What does your local vet say? I've had horses that sample their shavings when I first put them in their stalls, but never just eat them as yours must have been doing.

What is the condition of your horse otherwise? What is he fed? I'm wondering if he's getting enough roughage, or if he's confined in his stall all day and is bored?
Member:
Tuckern

Posted on Saturday, Jul 1, 2006 - 11:20 pm:

Hi Joe, have you heard anything from the vets about your gelding? I hope everything works out for you, you and your gelding are in my thoughts.

Although I've not been through what you are going through with your gelding, I do have a horse that will eat shavings and straw, pretty much any kind of bedding. My horses are in a large paddock 24/7, and I thought I'd be nice and try to put shavings down to make a soft place for them to lay, but my mare has other plans with the shavings, she likes to eat them, lol, so no more shavings for her.

Best wishes,
Nicole
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jul 2, 2006 - 6:33 pm:

Welcome Joe,
Sorry to meet you over such serious problems. Cecal impactions can be tough to get to move because the cecum is like a huge blind pouch. Most other impactions have a good chance of moving but cecal impactions only have a fair chance of moving. The main question is whether or not you would have surgery done on this critter. Only then can you go to the next step of what should be done. Reviewing the Overview article and the First Aid article in the Colic section will help you this decision I believe. If after reviewing them it is still not clear post your questions here. The easiest way to get there is using the navigation bar at the top of this page clicking on » Colic in Horses ».
DrO
New Member:
Larkspur

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 12:09 pm:

Thank you to everyone who replied, its been a very trying week and unfortunately things didn't turn out well. The shavings began to digest into a sticky, stinky, paste...which also would not pass...after 4 days of fluids and medications he still had not passed any manure...we held out hope as he had not become toxic, was eating and drinking, and his color was good....unfortunately it was taking more and more pain medication to keep him comfortable. We made the decision this morning to put him down. Very painful but definitely the right thing to do for him. Its been a learning experience. Surgery was a risky option at best...and we ultimately felt it was unfair to the horse to put him through it.

We have 117 horses here at the ranch so we probably see more of these things than most people. We learn something each time and it never gets easier. We are very grateful to have found this forum, again thank you all so much.

Missy
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 1:31 pm:

Joe & Missy,
So sorry to hear about your gelding, but know that by posting here, you may help save the life of another horse or many horses.
You are in my thoughts
Kathleen
Member:
Vrich

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 2:09 pm:

Oh! I was so hoping that things would turn out differently! I just hate the hopelessness of not knowing how to help. I'm so sorry, Joe.
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 3:48 pm:

I'm so sorry about your gelding.

Your posts have been an eye opener. I never heard of a horse eating shavings to the point of a serious impaction. I often see a horse sniffing and "sampling" shavings when they are first put in it's stall. I'm going to keep a very close eye on horses that do this from now on!
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 6:12 pm:

Joe and Missy, I'm so sorry for your loss. I too thought that horses sample anything new...and I will also keep a closer watch.
Member:
Kthorse

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 7:14 pm:

I am so sorry for your loss. It does not matter how many horses you own or are in charge of. Its extremliy painful. ( spelling)I remember in detail all our horses that have passed for various reasons and I still shed a tear for each and every one. What a strange reason though. It makes you question why did he like shavings? I am stumped.
Wish the outcome was different
New Member:
Dorene

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 9:49 pm:

My first post. I think with being horse lovers each horse we deal with becomes a part of us and a bit of us goes with them when they leave our lives. I also had a shavings eater. It had a much happier out come but I learned a bunch. Long story made short. My 3yr old Haflinger was getting very depressed and had a lot of personality changes. Then went into what seemed like a laminitis. after ruling out everything from Lyme's to diabetes, we found out he has an amazing amount of ALLERGIES. 5 different trees, 3 different grasses, wheat, corn molasses mosquito's, dust, you name it. Anyhow it caused an allergic laminitis. The barn I was boarding at was saving a $ and was getting shavings from a local lumber mill. The shavings are very dusty and not kiln dried, I'm assuming that caused some sweet tasting sappy shavings. We caught everything in time. still treating all the allergies. But my Dennis the menace fully recovered. We now bed with straw!!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 5, 2006 - 10:52 am:

My sincere condolences Joe and Missy.

Dorene, it needs to pointed out that experiments with both blood testing and provocative skin testing for allergies in horses does not yield accurate results with both false positives (identifying things a horse is allergic to that he is not) and false negatives (missing the true allergen) are not just common but the usual result. Yes provocative skin testing works in people but we have not worked out the kinks just yet with horses.
DrO
Member:
Stevens

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 5, 2006 - 11:28 am:

Please accept my condolences for the loss of your gelding. It's so hard to make that tough decision, but I sincerely believe that it's part of our responsibility as good care-takers of these wonderful creatures.

My thoughts are with you.

Chris
Member:
Frances

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 5, 2006 - 12:23 pm:

Joe & Missy - I'm truly sorry to hear of the loss of your gelding despite your best efforts.

My horse is inclined at times to eat shavings in preference to hay, especially when the shavings are new and fresh. The stable help often (but not always) digs the fresh shavings in with the previous day's, which seems to deter her.

A vet once told me to empty a couple of bottles of vinegar over shavings to make them less appetising, which appeared to work, but isn't really something you could do on a daily basis.

Your bad news is a warning to all of us to take such behaviour seriously. Thank you, and my condolences once again.
Member:
Corinne

Posted on Thursday, Jul 6, 2006 - 1:18 am:

Our thoughts are will you as well! God Bless. Sorry for your loss!

Corinne and Demetrius
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