Wait a minute, this scenario is familiar. Uncomfortably familiar.
Yes, Stella colicked again this morning. It wasn't anything dramatic, but it was enough to get my attention again. The other episode(s) I've seen this summer could very easily be attributed to the heat: the first time was an unusually hot day in June after a cool spell, and the second was a record breaking scorcher. This though, this didn't fit the usual picture: it was cooler than normal today with a strong breeze, her fan was on, she'd had plenty of food in front of her all morning, she wasn't dehydrated, she wasn't in heat...all she did was get her feet done.
I had forgotten that the farrier was coming today so when she called me at work I was a little embarrassed, but she was kind enough to do Stella without me there. LBM was great for her the last time, despite having had some problems with feet trimming in the past couple years. I expected little in the way of excitement. Wrong. I get a call an hour later at work. Farrier said she was great until she released her, at which point Stella dropped and rolled violently, got back up looking uncomfortable and lethargic, then went to lay flat out in her stall, groaning all the while. A fellow boarder, upon my request, administered some Banamine and let her rest; I called my dad and asked him to check on her, and of course she was fine a few hours later.
However, this starts us back to square one: WHY does she keep colicking?
Ouchie....
The simplest explanation is usually the best one, so we are back to ulcers. Her diet is not consistent with ulcers based on poor feed management, she is wormed consistently as needed, she has access to some sort of forage almost 24/7, and she is not shown regularly or in a highly demanding exercise program. But, she has shown to be gut-sensitive, far from the iron gut that Ernie was (although he likely had ulcers too, but he never once colicked). My theory is that stress at the right time causes a flair-up, which causes the colic. Perhaps the farrier visit was just enough.
She's scheduled for a endoscopy Friday at 10:00AM. I made that decision pretty quickly, given we didn't do it the last time and this time I actually want to see what's down there, if anything. If it is ulcers, we'll go back to a GastroGuard regimen for 30 days and then I'll likely have to put her on a permanent supplement (TBD) to promote gut health and reduce stomach acid.
Poor Mama...
How much turnout does she get? - movement is very helpful for gut health Does she get grain meals once or twice a day? - many horses do better with continuous access to forage and with little or no grain, and if they do get any grain preferably use a low starch/NSC feed or just a vitamin/mineral balancer pellet. Is her manure normal? If it's loose, it's possible she has a hind gut issue that won't show up on endoscopy.
ReplyDeleteChecking her for stomach ulcers is a very good idea, also have teeth checked. Probiotics can also be very helpful for horses like her. I keep all my horses on precautionary UGard pellets 2x a day since they are stalled at night.
Good luck, and keep us updated!
Hi Kate: great minds think alike, I went through many of these questions last year when all this started. Stella is in a walk-out stall so she is at liberty to move 24/7. She gets grain meals twice a day, a ration balancer and an alfalfa pellet to act as a natural antacid. Her stools are normal, always have been and she usually passes manure while she's in the midst of a colic. Her teeth were last done in late April, she's been getting them looked at twice a year since she was 3...
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the simplest explanation is usually the right one, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one!
Good luck with the scope Friday.
ReplyDeleteI had a horse who suffered from recurring colic episodes. His episodes would be faily mild with rolling (never off his feed or water) and a look of general discomfort but always pooped normally. I had him scoped, nothing found as far as ulcers. I started him on probiotics and a feed through wormer but he continued to colic at least 2 times a month. He was oiled over and over again. Finally they got to the point of occuring every week I decided to have him xrayed - they found many many pounds of sand in his intestines (from eating on the ground?). He was put on a 30 day sand purge of 1 lb of psyllium a day and tons of mineral oil in his grain bucket and I started to feed him out of tub and lined his stall with mats. That did it! The colics stopped.
Good luck, you will figure this out eventually! :)
Heather