friends mini needs help ....please.....

[lucky lodge]

my friend has a mini horse that has colic.....

ok whats happening day 1 horses name/ cinders/ has been drench with oil and water and she is straining to poo oil coming out but poos are like pellets.she is still eating but rolling and still acting colicy.....day 2 still straining to poo but only solid poos but no oily cow paddys that you would think...day 3 drenched again still straining to poo again and oil coming out but just oil...and solid poos ...hope this is making sense... sounds like a blockage to me but you would think the oil would be softning the poo ..any advice or ideas would be great......please help

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

I have no advice but to call the vet. Not to say you haven't, but if you haven't had answers or solutions, call another vet. Hope it all works out!

 

[lucky lodge]

thanks...the lady that owns her hasnt got any money to take your to the vet as she just paid 5 grand to get a c section on the same horse about 6 months ago

 

[Carolyn R]

A few things need to be determined, and I by no means am judging anyone what so ever. First is what level of care is she prepared to go to......meaning, is she willing to do surgery if needed, or is she content with managing the horses pain, keeping her hydrated and lubed and seeing what happens? The horse may need an IV put in with a constant drip in order to hydrate her more effectively and to monitor and administer pain meds. If she does not have the ability to do this at home with a vets instruction,then the horse may need to go to a clinic where they will ask her what level of care she wants. Here, many vets that have a good client relationship will leave an IV in place, cap it off and leave fluids for the owner to run every few hours or if the owners capable of running a hinged arm with a swiveling holder in the stall, sometimes an IV with a constant drip can be hooked up.

With that said, the hardest part about bringing a horse to a clinic is determining if surgery is an option if needed. There is no shame in telling the staff that she only wishes to do pain management, monitoring, oiling and hydration therapy that surgery may not financially be an option. The good news is,the oil IS working its way through, the horse IS passing some manure. Has she asked her vet about milk of magnesia, not mylanta, but milk of magnesia may be able to loosen the stools and get things moving more effectively. The dose for an adult mini that is around a 32"-34" weighing around 200 lbs would be approx. 1.5-2 average size bottles. Yes, that much. I will edit this post with the size of the bottles.

The milk of magnesia bottle are 12 oz bottles.

I was instructed to use 3-4 bottles on my gypsy colt when he was dealing with a constipation/ colic episode shortly after I got him. He weighed around 400 pounds. He was hydrated, oiled, given banamine, and I was instructed to use the milk of magnesia if things weren't moving along as efficiently as they should be with the manure. I started it the next day, it takes anywhere from 12-36 hours to see real results in the manure production.

 

[lucky lodge]

thank you so much,,i dont think she has the money to do surgery...but i have the pain killers and know how to drench them ,,iam trying to get a old trotter friend of mine to see if he can run iv drip as i have that stuff just dont know how to put the needle in

 

[bevann]

MY vet has tubed Minis with epsom salts to break up a blockage.If you have a friend who has had trotters those race horse people can tube a horse slick as a whistle.They it all the time to"Milk Shake a Horse"before racing.You might nhave ty go to the hardware store to get a tube small enough to go in a Mini.They sell the tubing by the foot in the plumbing area I think.It is clear and comes in various sizes.Years ago I ordered my own foal size tube from a catlog to deal with vets who had only big equipment.Hope the little one gets better

 

[Carolyn R]

Any update for today?

 

[ruffian]

I AM NOT A VET! However, I've had minis for over 25 years. Based on a study from a vet school, I do not ever oil. Water only. Oil will not dissolve manure, water does. I use warm water front and back. I also keep them off ALL food (hay, grain etc) until ti's coming through nicely. I also given enemas until I get results. I use warm water with a little bit of mild soap. Best of luck!!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Epsom salts will not break up a blockage either but I actually think this mare is in pain due to lesions form the c- section and I am afraid your friend just needs to get a Vet or consider the alternative. It is not fair to allow an animal to continue in pain unless a professional is involved and can tell you that, beyond reasonable doubt, the pain is worth it and will pass.... Sorry.

 

[Minimor]

A vet can also give a stool softener that can work wonders on a blockage, assuming that the blockage is manure and not something more that the horse has ingested, or a tumor or a twist. Since this horse is not passing anything but a few hard pellets of manure it does sound like a blockage--even the oil is not getting through, and that is a very bad sign.

Has there been any change in the horse's condition? If this hasn't resolved by now....

The longest colic I had to deal with was a Morgan mare who was in pain off & on for 5 days--she was partially blocked for whatever reason; the vets here do not like to oil so I dealt with it myself--she would have pain free spells, and then spells where she had serious pain and was trying to pass manure, she'd pass a few lumps and then be more comfortable again until the next episode. Her gum color remained good, and she did not get dehydrated. I gave her banamine as needed and made sure she kept drinking--gradually the spells of pain got further apart & then she was back to normal on the 5th day. Had she not started to show some small improvement I would have had the vet out to euthanize before she suffered from the periodic pains for too many days.

 

[Carolyn R]

I had a horse that came to me several years back with issues (unknowing to me). I think it was 8 years ago. She coliced once, did pain management and IV therapy, there was no manure at all, then after four days she passed manure. All was well, she came home, vets thought she just didn't drink enough and impacted due to the change in seasons. A short time later she impacted again. Surgery was not an option. We did pain management and IV therapy at home for a few days, just wasn't enough. She also had to have her cecum tapped. My vet did that, then we took her to the animal hospital to continue IV therapy and pain management. She was not turning around, and by day seven, I told them if she did not pass the blockage by the next morning, I would surrender her to a knowledgable owner or put her down. If a KNOWLEDGEABLE person wanted her, I would sign her papers over and pay the bills up till that morning, it broke my heart. The vets sister took her, she continued with the IV therapy and pain management. The horse passed the blockage at 11 days! According to all the vets, I had done everything right, feed, hay, vaccinations, worming.......but she had tapeworms prior to me getting her. She was on a nutritious diet, so the worms blossomed. There were no visible signs when I purchased her, had a vet check done and all, healthy coat, bright eyes, no discharge, a little lank, but that was it. Hind sight, vets said both impactions were linked to her being wormed, then getting colicky up to two weeks later when the worms were breaking down in her system. The first incident had no signs of parasites, the second impaction was filled with tapes when she passed the blockage.

To date, to my knowledge, she is still doing great. It killed me to let her go, but she was in good hands if she had a relapse, it was financially draining (owned her 6months and paid over $5000 to the animal hospital, and about another $1500-$2000 to the practice I usually use) and I was on a emotional roller coaster with her. I had to let go. It still amazes me, 11 days till she passed the blockage. That year, The family spent Christmas eve in church praying for poop on my behalf while I sat at home running bags of lactated ringers. Took her to the animal hospital on Christmas day.Gave her away on my wedding anniversary a few days after Christmas.

 

[Hosscrazy]

Carolyn - thank you so much for posting your experience above... it sounds like you were in a tough situation and you did the right thing by choosing what was best for the horse. I can only imagine how hard that must have been, and I admire you for making the decision that was in the horse's best interest. Thanks for sharing...

Liz N.

 

[Carolyn R]

Carolyn - thank you so much for posting your experience above... it sounds like you were in a tough situation and you did the right thing by choosing what was best for the horse. I can only imagine how hard that must have been, and I admire you for making the decision that was in the horse's best interest. Thanks for sharing...

Liz N.

I learned more than I ever wanted to know about colic and parasites through that ordeal. I will never judge when someone needs to place there family and finances before a repeat medical case with a horse. Seeking help but being firm in a course of action is never something someone should have to feel ashamed of, ever.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Carolyn do not feel bad about it- I had Rabbit in the hospital with a blockage. He was not in pain, he was not colicking, but he was not really eating or drinking and he was not pooping at all. They had him on an IV drip all night and in the morning he passed enough adult tapeworm to fill a margarine tub! I was mortified- this was a horse I bred and was, at the time 28 years old- how ever long had he been carrying that thing before it all went pear shaped (probably literally!) poor baby. All my horses are now tape wormed twice a year, but I had no-one to blame but myself. I have to admit I just gave them my card at the door and told them I would remortgage the house if needs be, but Rabbit is a once in a lifetime horse, I would not do that for just any horse, there is usually a limit, and surgery is the limit. Having taken a horse through colic surgery I would not do it again. She was OK, and she lived another eight years , in good health, and had three more foals (vets advice to stop the lesions forming) but they don't tell you about the lesions and they don't tell you all the possible problems- they are usually very good on the prognosis and all that sort of thing, but a horse can die two- three years later, from the surgery and they do not tell you that! Amira lived eight years, but it caught up with her then, she had had fifteen feet of gut removed, and she got a gut infection that she just did not have the ability to fight off (obviously I had the Vet involved and we did try everything the Vet could think of) by the time I had her put down two weeks later her poop was water and, once she was actually dead I could see just how thin she was- life seems to hold everything together, somehow. I wish I had put her down two weeks earlier.

The time Amira was operated on she was insured- it was an arm and a leg but I did not pay it. I too would never criticise someone for putting their hands up and saying "I cannot afford that" so long as they are also prepared to call a halt to the horses pain.

 

[wingnut]

When our then weanling colic'd in Dec. '09, the thing I think helped her most was the combination of the pain meds and sedative. The vet gave her a sedative and the pain meds before dosing her with the mineral and warm water. The combination allowed her to *relax* which I believe was key in the end. I would at least consider having a vet come with meds if at all possible.

P.S. surgery wasn't an option for us either, so I know what it means to have to make such hard decisions because the funds simply aren't there.

P.S.S. our one and only time with colic (thus far, because I know there will eventually be a "next time") was colic due to worm impaction. I don't think she was wormed 100% properly where we got her from and I had wormed her twice at that point and was planning to worm everyone that weekend. In thinking back to the previous months' worming, I remember she spit a considerable amount of hers out.