Colic because of hay or grain????

[suen]

Help! I have a nine month old filly who has had three mild cases of colic already! Never had to medicate her, just very mild cases.... some soft stools, sluggish, went completely off grain a couple of times, but would eat hay, etc. Never went down or rolled, just didn't eat right and could tell by backside her stiools had been really soft. Not anything to really put my finger on, she went off grain completely for a week, would eat hay fine, then one day jsut started eating the grain again. Tried to figure out what was upsetting her stomach... same brand of grain, same hay (brome).

Tonight I came home and she wouldn't eat at all, evidently soft stools as her backside was messy, and then she started stretching out (like a horse will do before urinating). Called the vet, took her in, and he diagnosed her with colic and treated her. She is staying the night at the vets. Came back home and my pregnant mare was down and rolling so made a quick trip back to the vet and got banamine. She now seems fine.

The problem is: what the heck is causing this colic??? I did open a new bale of hay (brome) last night to feed, but also filled my small grain bucket from a bag of grain they've eaten from for the last three weeks or so. So... is it the hay or the grain? the vet seems to thnk the hay could be the culprit since I opened a new bale last night and now have two horses down with colic... but on the other hand, could be the grain too. I am feeding Omelene 400, 1/2 cup to each morning and night. When we bought these last bales of hay we weren't happy with it... threw away every one out of five bales because of mold. Have checked each time I feed to make sure there isn't even a smidgen of mold In what I feed. This is the same people we have always bought from and never had a problem, in fact their hay has always been high quality.

How and where do I go back to square one?????

 

[Matt73]

If one in five bales has mould in it, I'd suspect the hay too (even if you've checked the bales you are feeding). That said, there are a couple of big horses down the road from us that I just cringe at when I see the round bales they eat; they are disgusting looking, mouldy crap. I guess if a horse is used to eating that, it's system is fine with it. But if they are used to eating good quality hay, crappy hay can throw them off. Wishing you and your horses well...

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Could be a combo of both. Hay helps in the aid of digestion but if the hay is poor quality especially if it is moldy it can defintelly cause colic. As far as the Omolene is concerned when the new formula came out I had multiple colics. I had a stallion on the 400 because he was a hard keeper and hoping it would help him but unfortuantly he died from colic after just trying to switch to the 400. After that I no longer feed sweet feed. Others will come on here and defend the Omolene but it is something to think about. Sorry can't be much help. Hope your luck will turn around.

 

[targetsmom]

It could be either, could be weather change, or - especially in the young one - it could be ulcers. The filly really sounds like ulcers to me - I would mention that to your vet and see what he/she thinks about treatment with Gastroguard. If it is ulcers, you need to keep up the treatment for a month at least, even if she improves. Good luck - hope they both get better real quick.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Targetsmom. Sounds like ulcers to. Especially the baby. I have a weaner filly on Gastrogard right now. She just suddenly stopped eating her grain, but would eat hay. That always signals ulcers to me! She never got to the point of colic, but I think I caught it early. She wasn't showing any sign of improvement after 4 days on the Gastrogard, so last night I added sucralfate and ranitidine, and today she's perked up and acting more like her old ornery self. I'll keep her on it for at least a couple weeks. Good luck with your girls!

 

[Minimor]

How much hay are you feeding them? I ask, because I had a friend who was initially having major problems with recurring colic in her colt. I kept telling her to increase his feed & she was afraid to do it. Finally she did start feeding him more, and the colics stopped....she later said to me that she knows now that she simply wasn't feeding enough, and that's why her colt kept getting colic.

You're giving 1/2 cup of the omalene--I would have my doubts that the grain is causing you any problems, just because IMO a mere 1/2 cup of grain isn't enough to cause problems for a horse, even a very small one.

If the hay does have some mold in it, or if it is "off" at all, that could do it. Some horses can eat anything (I cringe at some of the hay I've seen people feed to their horses, and yet they never seem to have issues) and others are very sensitive to mold spores.

 

[suen]

I agree with Targetsmom. Sounds like ulcers to. Especially the baby. I have a weaner filly on Gastrogard right now. She just suddenly stopped eating her grain, but would eat hay. That always signals ulcers to me! She never got to the point of colic, but I think I caught it early. She wasn't showing any sign of improvement after 4 days on the Gastrogard, so last night I added sucralfate and ranitidine, and today she's perked up and acting more like her old ornery self. I'll keep her on it for at least a couple weeks. Good luck with your girls!

I will definately ask the vet when I pick my filly up today. Thats exactly what she's been doing...stopped eating the grain and would eat the hay. And... she hasn't had that "young energy" a filly should have ever since we took them off pasture and started hay and grain. But... is that a coincidence that the mare came down too?

 

[CZP1]

dump the hay and get new soft stemmed hay if you can. I feed a bagged chopped hay and alfalfa pellets to my gelding.

 

[ohmt]

Most colic is due to microbial changes in the horse's hind gut which is usually caused by a sudden change in feed or high grain to hay ratio. I would be more inclined to think it's your hay if that's what is inconsistent. I agree with targetsmom that your filly probably has ulcers too. It's a good cycle-change in feed, change in microbes due to change of pH, old microbes die off releasing toxins, horse colics, horse stresses and gets ulcers, if the ulcers are not treated then they can then make the horse predisposed to colic again. Hope your horses get better soon!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I will definately ask the vet when I pick my filly up today. Thats exactly what she's been doing...stopped eating the grain and would eat the hay. And... she hasn't had that "young energy" a filly should have ever since we took them off pasture and started hay and grain. But... is that a coincidence that the mare came down too?

Has she started doing this since coming off on pasture. Usually ulcers start with stressful conditions, and I imagine if she isn't agreeing with the grain or hay it can cause stressful situations and ulcers can lead to colic. I defintelly think she is suffering colic right now and could have been ulcers but the only way to tell is to get your horse scoped. I would defintelly treat her with GastroGuard now. Now with your mare colicing I would defintelly suspect that its the hay unless your mare isn't use to the grain. Like I said I've had my share problems with the 400 and he wasn't getting that much of it either. Are your horses eating off the ground and could possibly be ingesting sand? Are they dewormed regularly. Sand colic and worms could cause runny stools as well. Your vet may want to run a fecal just incase and it should detect the sand as well and its not that expensive to run.

My gelding was getting fed the mini feed and he went off his food but he kept eating his hay. He had a depressed attitude and his performance declined. He also had a dull coat. He showed colic like symptoms but it wasn't colic so treated for ulcers and after weeks of treatment he wasn't getting any better. Took him to another vet to get him scoped and he had no ulcers. All that he needed was to switch grain and he is perfectly fine now.

 

[HGFarm]

Have your baby checked for sand!! I had a baby one time that used to just scarf dirt and colicked twice! They are worse than toddlers for sticking everything in their mouth!

 

[suen]

At this point I am taking the minis off grain and just doing the hay thing. Hubby went and bought some good quality grass hay this afternoon, hoping to feed a litlle more free hay and see if that helps. At least by taking them off grain if they do colic again its a place to start looking for problems. Vet said he could do a scope, but try this and see what happens....

 

[targetsmom]

Scoping is a good way to see if the issue is ulcers, but be forewarned that in order to do the scoping, the horse must be fasted and that fasting is not good if ulcers is the issue. A Catch 22 (and been there, done that), which is why so many people just go ahead and treat for ulcers when they are suspected, and see if the treatment helps. Good luck - I know how frustrating this can be! Feeding the hay in a slow feeder (not a regular hay net: do a forum search) will help if it is ulcers, or maybe even if it is colic, because it is much more natural for the horse to eat this way. Alfalfa (e.g. soaked cubes) can also help ulcers because of the calcium (like Tums), and can be fed in place of grain to increase the protein level.

 

[MyBarakah]

Knowing from experince and talking with others who have had extensieve problems with this I would deffinately say ulcers! Ulcers can be brought on easily with stress & change... does not take much! Especially with a young one! You really need to get her on ulcer guard ASAP and I always give them Neigh-lox in thier daily feed twice daily. This needs to be treated for several weeks... Ulcers can really cause lots of problems if not treated!

 

[sfmini]

The turning down grain and eating only hay, and the stretching are classic ulcer symptoms. I have never used Ulcer Guard, just Gastro Guard but with that I know it takes a few days for it to work. In the mean time, we use Pepto before feeding to coat the stomach and they perk up and will start eating and feeling better.

Ulcers aren't just a pain, they can be fatal if not properly treated so this isn't something to mess around with. Been there, done that, got a closet full of shirts. We are dealing with them now in two older mares that foaled late and still have their foals at their sides. It has affected their milk and thus the babies who are old enough to wean, but we are going out of town next week and can't wean and leave. So, gastroguard and pepto for all and all are happy and eating and as soon as we get home, weaning will commence ASAP.

The colt is a major Mama's boy and isn't going to take it well, so we really have to be there and take it slow and easy on him. Usually what we do is stall them next to their mommies so they can see and touch but not nurse and it keeps things pretty calm, and the mommies are mother/daughter/best friends so they can share the stall next to the kids. Just can't dump that on the person who will be staying on the farm caring for the animals.

Hope everything goes well for your horses, good luck!

 

[targetsmom]

FYI, Ulcergard and Gastroguard are the same thing except Ulcergard is packed, marked and sold as a PREVENTIVE without a prescription while Gastroguard requires a prescription and a full tube is a TREATMENT dose for a big horse. (1/4 tube is marked on Ulcerguard for prevention). You need to calculate the dose for your mini, but for EITHER ONE it will be around 1/8 tube - more or less - for treatment.

 

[Riverrose28]

so many of you are very knowledgable about ulcers, may I ask this, can ulcers cause occasional loose stools, and would that mean the ulcer is in the stomach or in the colon or elsewhere?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Suen, it sounds to me like it's just a coincidence that your mare colicked at the same time your baby got sick. But I'm no vet! Your baby sounds like a classic case of ulcers, but your mare seems to just have a case of colic. Maybe due to a change in the weather, or to the hay, since you've had some problem with mold in other bales.

Riverrose, yes ulcers can cause intermittent loose stools. I had a weaner one year that seemed to have chronic diarhea, and nothing I tried worked for long. She never acted sick or stopped eating, just always had a dirty tail. I finally treated her for ulcers, and it was like a miracle! After months of having her hiney washed almost daily, she'd still back up to me and stand there like, 'So wash me already!' lol

 

[Riverrose28]

Thank you Ridgerunner

 

[wildoak]

I'd vote for ulcers too, and if they were mine I'd go ahead with Gastroguard now. A few days will generally give you an idea whether it's working, I've seen a major difference with all but one in just 3 or 4 days and we still don't know what her problem was. Lots of things you can do to help with intestinal health in general - a good probiotic (I like Fastrack), Stomach Soother, aloe vera... I feed a lot of Stomach Soother routinely, esp to horses who tend to be a little finicky or easily stressed, and I think it helps prevent problems to begin with.

You might add a little alfalfa as well, it has a buffering effect. Good luck.

Jan