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  Discussion on Colic episodes in the late-term mare
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Member:
Skutyba

Posted on Sunday, Nov 20, 2005 - 8:00 pm:

I have a maiden mare that is 9 months in foal(due Jan 31, '06). This past week she has had 2 episodes of mild colic. On both occasions, she presented with inappetance, stretching, kicking at belly/behind her, and getting up and down in the stall.
With both episodes, I hauled her in to an equine specialty facility to have her treated. The first time, a blood panel was done showing mild dehydration (pcv 48%), but all else WNL. They palpated her, tubed & administered oil/water, gave mild sedation, and a dose of banamine. She was kept for hospitaliztion/monitoring for 24 hours. I took her home and all seemed well.
5 days later she did the same thing, and I promptly took her in. They repeated the rectal, tubing (mild reflux this time), gave oil/water, banamine. They also did a reproductive ultrasound to rule out infection, placentitis, aborting, etc. All looked good, and the baby is very active. She remained there throughout the day for monitoring.
The consensus is that my mare is experiencing abdominal/colic pains due to the foal pressing on parts of her intestinal tract all times, causing gas to get trapped. I have modified her feedings from 2/day, to 4 split feedings to separate out the quantity she gets at a time. However, she has recently become "picky" and I am having increased difficulty getting her to finish her meals.
Prior to this, her pregnancy was uneventful. She conceived on the first insemination, was ultrasounded 1/2 dozen times, and has been checked monthly since. She has received all her required vaccinations, including her 3/5/7/9 month Pneumobort K's. She is stalled at night, and kept outside during the day. She is in excellent condition, and is kept active with frequent hand walking/free pasture time.
My concern, is that if the growing foal is directly linked with these episodes, is it likely that I should expect future issues/episodes? She is in the last part of her pregnancy, but we still have 2+months to go, and the foal will only be getting larger. Regardless, she is well monitored, but I am unsure as to how concerned I should be (I am very concerned, but holding back the panic).
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 21, 2005 - 7:53 am:

Avoid the panic, this is pretty common in late term mares that then don't go on to develop serious problems. This is not a guarantee just letting know this is not that unusual.
DrO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 21, 2005 - 9:18 am:

As I was rereading your post SKutyba one thing stuck out this time and that is she is becoming picky about eating. That is not so common, have they run lab work on her? How much are you feeding daily? What is her condition?
DrO
Member:
Dres

Posted on Monday, Nov 21, 2005 - 10:24 am:

Dr. O... so if this can be common the mild colic's what do you do to treat / make the mare more comfortable ? Can this happen often / weekly or is it a few time deal and the foal grows 'away' from the intestines ? I have heard about this, but have never experienced it... I currently have a maiden mare in foal/ 5 months along.. she is very short backed and I have been wondering if she will carry this different them my other brood mares...

thanks as always....
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with SPOTS..
Member:
Skutyba

Posted on Monday, Nov 21, 2005 - 10:56 pm:

Dr. O,
Thank you for your thoughts/advice.
I appreciate you addressing her diet, because this is becoming an issue of real concern for me. As a rule of thumb, this particular mare has required a little more food to keep her in quality condition...especially when worked. Now, she is eating 1/2 of what she would be eating if she wasn't in foal.
The pasture quality here is very poor due to the DrOught this summer (Texas). There is minimal grass, therefore she gets hay free choice(coastal) while outside, and a 1 flake at AM & PM feeding. It is not uncommon for her to refuse her food, but eat hay. I have now started withholding her hay until the grain is gone in the AM/PM.
Up till about 1 month ago, she was eating 3-3.5 lbs TDI 12% twice daily & moistened beet pulp. She had started getting less enthusiastic about eating, so beet pulp was added to encourage her to eat, but so as not to offset the mineral/nutrient ration. She began started refusing to finish her meals, so I substituted about 1/2 lb.(+-) of omolene 200 to tempt her. Worked at first, but now it's not so successful. She is also on Strongid C2X (enrolled in the preventicare program).
She is at the point where she should be eating more, not less. While I know that this amount may be fine for most mares, this mare has never maintained this low....much less while in foal (granted, first foal..).
She is now having 4 split meals, but is not finishing them. I am having ever most difficulty with this. She is very non-chalant about eating now; seems to care less, sometimes more, but I can't ever gauge it.
I am concerned because she isn't even at her non-working feed level.
She is in excellent condition, is Appendix, 16 hands. Probably a 6+ to 7 on the body scale. All slick and shiny. Can't even convince her to grow a winter coat...looks like a show horse. I had been riding or longing her leisurely (walk/trot occasionally) 2-3 times a week, but discontinued due to her poor eating habits.
When I took her in, they did a CBC, but I don't believe they did a chemistry. It certainly wouldn't hurt to pull a sample and run it. I manage a small animal practice so could have it sent to the lab, and have the results faxed directly to equine hospital(vs. hauling her).
Her behavior towards food is odd to me. It makes little sense, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried.
I spoke with the vet today about it (she didn't finish her breakfast). They are to get back with me regarding suggestions about if I should add a vitamin supplement, try alfalfa, etc.
I have reduced the beet pulp in attempts to lessen the 'bulk', but this has not seemed to make much of a difference.
Once again, many thanks and all ideas are appreciated.
Member:
Dres

Posted on Monday, Nov 21, 2005 - 11:03 pm:

just curious... ulcers been discussed at all..??

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with SPOTS..
Member:
Skutyba

Posted on Monday, Nov 21, 2005 - 11:59 pm:

Have not discussed ulcers, but certainly wouldn't rule it out.
Just as history...
This being my one and only 'prize' show mare, last Dec. she bust a 1.5 inch hole in a front fetlock joint, requiring 2 surgeries to repair it. Afterwards, she had to be completely stall confined for 60 days. For 30 days post-surgery, she was kept on omeprazole as a precaution & prevent ulcers.

We were able to save her joint, but opted to breed her when given the green light knowing that returning to full time training was not an option in the coming year.

She's a pretty good sized mare. From the side view, most people probably wouldn't think she was in foal...just big bodied. Now, if you look from the front or behind, she's all baby!
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005 - 9:57 am:

Skytyba,

Just a question, is it only her grain she is refusing? She is still eating her hay? Is any other horses getting fed the same grain? Are they still eating it?

Why I am asking is that I was feeding TDI-12 and my mare started to go off it. To the point where if I would leave it all day, she may finish 2 pounds but not much else. After some investigation, it ended up that the mill who was milling the TDI informed me that a batch that was made, didn't get any added mollasses (sp?) in it. I switched her on TDI 16 and she gobbled all of that up.

Could you try her on TDI 16 and see what she does with it? She may just need a change. My mare goes off her feed and for awhile I add in a bit of 16% to entice her.

Just a thought.

Shawna
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005 - 10:21 am:

Skutyba, when you say her condition is excellent how would you grade her on the Henneke scale. You will find it at, Care for Horses » Particular Situations & Procedures » Weight, Condition, and Eventual Height Estimation.
DrO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005 - 10:26 am:

Ann, most of the colics are self limiting and 10 to 20 minutes of duration and not in need of treatment. If the colic is remarkable or prolonged the horse needs examination to determine if this is a simple case of pregnancy colic. Though the onset is almost always in the last 3 months there ere are no typical times or frequencies or pattern. It is best to approach each one individually so if you have a more serious problem you do not miss it.
DrO
Member:
Skutyba

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005 - 3:50 pm:

Her body score is a 6+ to 7. Well fleshed, but not fat. Can palpate ribs with pushing, but not on general stroking of rib cage.
While I don't want her fat, I certainly don't want her to lose weight. I would really like to see her just a hair more fleshed out....but can't quite convince her.

Her colic episodes would last in excess of 2+hours, after that I'm not sure how long they would have gone on, as I had her treated in lieu of waiting.

Shawna,
I have considered changing her over to the 16%. I wasn't going to until her 10th month, but am thinking it might be best to do so sooner. I intend to order it next week....I have to have it shipped in as a special order, therefore can't get it sooner.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005 - 6:46 pm:

Geez SKutyba,
8 is just too fat for healthy, I like a solid 6 myself for good health. The reason she is not eating more is because she has a better sense of what is healthy than you do. Keep her at a 6 or you are at increased risk of founder for the mare and developmental orthopedic disease for the baby.
DrO
Member:
Skutyba

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005 - 8:23 pm:

Dr. O.
Went to the henneke chart to double check my values, as I was a bit startled by your response. As I mentioned before, most people do not assume she is pregnant (from side view). She is not overweight, and appears in "working condition"...I had to remind the vet the other day that she was 9 months along. By no means do I want her overweight, for the specific reasons you mentioned.

She is, by the Henneke scale, a 5.
"Back is flat (no crease or ridge); ribs not visually distinguishable but easily felt; fat around tailhead beginning to feel spongy; withers appear rounded over spinous processes; shoulders and neck blend smoothly into body."
---this describes her condition
I apologize for my error regarding the body score scale...it has been a while since I have referred to it.
I will try to attach a photo of her...don't know if it will workGrace
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005 - 9:56 am:

I agree a 5 or a 6 I would say and she looks very good in the image. I see not reason to try and push more concentrate on her. Instead I would start adding or replacing parts of the coastal with alfalfa hay or cubes. Most horses like it better than grass hay and it helps make up for the lower protein and calcium of the coastal.
DrO
Member:
Skutyba

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005 - 2:44 pm:

thank you dr. o
the hospital called and has recommended the exact same thing....to replace what she's not eating with additional hay/alfalfa. We may also add a supplement, but not sure it's necessary since she is on the TDI, and it is specifically tailored regarding minerals/vitamins, etc.
Once again, many thanks & sorry about the confusion.
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