Post by Sunny Acres Ranch on Jan 19, 2011 20:58:33 GMT -8
Ask any horse owner what they fear the most with their horses, and most of them say colic! We had a major colic last Friday at the ranch. In fact, it is the worst colic I have ever seen and the horse survived. I'm talking about Freckles/Friend. He truly is a walking miracle, but as usual, it makes me wonder WHY did this happen, (probably because the weather changed from 17 to 60 within 24 hours), what preventive measures can be taken to avoid it happening again, and it blew the theory of you must walk a colicking horse.
I had always heard and believed that you must keep a colicky horse on its feet and moving. If you let them roll, it was almost a sure death sentence since it could cause a twist. I gave banamine intramuscularly as soon as we discovered the colic, along with 20cc's of Dynapro. That has usually settled most colics down or even stopped them in their tracks. Not this time. It took four of us nearly working ourselves to death to keep him up on his feet until the vet arrived. He then got another dose of banamine intravenously, a separate anti-spasmodic drug, and tubed with a gallon of mineral oil.
In most cases, when they get this many drugs into them, they are fine within the hour. Friend got worse....and worse. By 10:00 that night, it took 6 adults to try to get him to his feet to move him to a better spot. There was no keeping him on his feet. He was thrashing so violently, that I was scared someone would get knocked out if they got near him. I was a bit freaked out, because again....a colicky horse that rolls is going to twist.
Our vet assured me that he was not twisted, and whether he rolled or laid down was not going to affect the outcome at this point. He also told me that there is a new school of thought that it is ok for them to roll with some colics. He mentioned a colic caused by an enterolith and a gas colic in specific. He said in those cases, the horse needs to get the gas or enterolith to move, and rolling helps. Very interesting to know, and news to me!
So, we let him roll, thrash, and contort, (as if we could have stopped him!) and it went on through the night. For more than 13 hours! At 5am, I went to check on him and see how he was (at this point, it was more to see if he was still alive), and he was standing on his feet, quiet, and finally warm under his blanket.
We had a terrible time keeping him warm through the night. His gums were white from being in shock, and he was chilled. We put two blankets on him, wrapped a mini blanket around his neck, put a stocking cap on his ears (they were ice cold), and stuffed towels hot from the dryer under his blankets. I also did acupressure with a photonic light on him, massaged acupressure points, and prayed.
We had some morning coffee, and by 7am, he was pacing the fence wanting his breakfast. So this week, Sunny Acres Ranch was blessed with a miracle, and we are still rejoicing! ;D
We put him on a slow re-feeding schedule starting with hay pellet soup, more probiotics, and a pinch of salt to encourage him to drink. After about the 3rd day of just a soupy mash 3x per day, we started introducing hay back into his diet. We started at 1/2 flake twice a day, and have gradually increased it back up to 2 flakes twice a day now, and will be back up to his full ration of 3 flakes twice a day within another day or two.
I also want to mention that until you have a vet diagnosis on what is causing the colic, you need to do your best to keep the horse on its feet and try to prevent him/her from rolling.
These pictures are from our vigil while he was colicking. You can tell from the pictures he was one sick boy. What have your experiences with colic been, and what "tricks" saved your horse?
Feeling better, and very happy to have his soupy mash!
I had always heard and believed that you must keep a colicky horse on its feet and moving. If you let them roll, it was almost a sure death sentence since it could cause a twist. I gave banamine intramuscularly as soon as we discovered the colic, along with 20cc's of Dynapro. That has usually settled most colics down or even stopped them in their tracks. Not this time. It took four of us nearly working ourselves to death to keep him up on his feet until the vet arrived. He then got another dose of banamine intravenously, a separate anti-spasmodic drug, and tubed with a gallon of mineral oil.
In most cases, when they get this many drugs into them, they are fine within the hour. Friend got worse....and worse. By 10:00 that night, it took 6 adults to try to get him to his feet to move him to a better spot. There was no keeping him on his feet. He was thrashing so violently, that I was scared someone would get knocked out if they got near him. I was a bit freaked out, because again....a colicky horse that rolls is going to twist.
Our vet assured me that he was not twisted, and whether he rolled or laid down was not going to affect the outcome at this point. He also told me that there is a new school of thought that it is ok for them to roll with some colics. He mentioned a colic caused by an enterolith and a gas colic in specific. He said in those cases, the horse needs to get the gas or enterolith to move, and rolling helps. Very interesting to know, and news to me!
So, we let him roll, thrash, and contort, (as if we could have stopped him!) and it went on through the night. For more than 13 hours! At 5am, I went to check on him and see how he was (at this point, it was more to see if he was still alive), and he was standing on his feet, quiet, and finally warm under his blanket.
We had a terrible time keeping him warm through the night. His gums were white from being in shock, and he was chilled. We put two blankets on him, wrapped a mini blanket around his neck, put a stocking cap on his ears (they were ice cold), and stuffed towels hot from the dryer under his blankets. I also did acupressure with a photonic light on him, massaged acupressure points, and prayed.
We had some morning coffee, and by 7am, he was pacing the fence wanting his breakfast. So this week, Sunny Acres Ranch was blessed with a miracle, and we are still rejoicing! ;D
We put him on a slow re-feeding schedule starting with hay pellet soup, more probiotics, and a pinch of salt to encourage him to drink. After about the 3rd day of just a soupy mash 3x per day, we started introducing hay back into his diet. We started at 1/2 flake twice a day, and have gradually increased it back up to 2 flakes twice a day now, and will be back up to his full ration of 3 flakes twice a day within another day or two.
I also want to mention that until you have a vet diagnosis on what is causing the colic, you need to do your best to keep the horse on its feet and try to prevent him/her from rolling.
These pictures are from our vigil while he was colicking. You can tell from the pictures he was one sick boy. What have your experiences with colic been, and what "tricks" saved your horse?
Feeling better, and very happy to have his soupy mash!
