Ice storm and colic

[Sandra L.]

I had a mare colic right smack dab in the middle of an ice storm. 2 days later I finally got the vet out here. The mare was bloated. We did the mineral oil. 4 days later had to have the vet back. Her heart rate was 72 and he said it was time to put her down, she was bloated even more. I couldn't do it, said I had to give her a little more time. Oiled her for the 2nd time. Called me sister the next morning and told her to come and help me I was going to have to have the mare put down. On the way here my sister had a brain storm. She stopped long enough to get some money and tell me not to do anything til she got back. She came back with several bottles of Magnesium Citrate (a laxative) and a funnel. The pharmacist at walmart had told her to give the horse 1 10 oz bottle for every 100 pounds and follow it with a liter and a half of warm water. We gave my mare 3 bottles of MC and followed with a 2 liter bottle of warm water. I figured since the vet said there was nothing more he could do I would try anything. I also had a friend tell me to give her 3 raw eggs and haul her to town and back. So, I gave her 3 raw eggs that night and prayed a lot. My husband woke me up at 3a.m. and told me all the bloating was gone and there was poop every where. At daylight I was up. There was a total of 19 piles of diarrhea in the yard. All the bloating was gone. I offered my mare a handful of pellets and she ate it all. I don't know what worked and prob. never will, but I am giving God all the credit cause I still have my beautiful mare. I have been giving her a handful of feed every 2 hours since last Fri. this morning I upped it to half a cup and am going to be watching her close.

On top of all the oil and laxative she has had 2 shots of penicillin per day and several shots of banamine. She is off all medication and tolerating food, still has diarrhea, but trying to form now.

 

[muffntuf]

Congratulations on a close call! God deserves the credit!

 

[ShaunaL]

So happy to hear of her recovery!

 

[Reble]

so glad your mare is still here and you did not give up.

Thanks for the info

 

[candycar]

Goosd job. I'm happy everything came out OK! That Magnesium Citrate is powerful stuff

Ask anyone who has had a colonoscopy..... Next time you talk to your vet, ask him about it, if it's OK to give. Maybe it's something we should keep on hand??

 

[Genie]

Good work and thanks for the tips.

As the previous poster said, glad "everything came out" okay. . . . . hahaha"

 

[whitney]

WONDERFUL!!!

 

[Boinky]

humm now that you mention a laxative I wonder why they DON'T use it in horses more often?? if it works and doesn't have many or any side effects ..you'd think they'd try it more often in bad colic cases!!!amazing. i would bet it was the laxative that saved her life. that stuff is truly powerful stuff!!

 

[wildoak]

Pays off sometimes to not give up.......glad you saved your mare! Interesting - I can see what the laxative would do but raw eggs?? Wonder what the purpose of those would be...

Jan

 

[Allure Ranch]

[SIZE=12pt]Congratulations.... Good thing you continued to forge forward inspite of the vets input. [/SIZE]

 

[Elizabeth Pannill]

Sounds like your mare had an impaction colic. Treatment with IV or oral fluids as well as mineral oil is often needed to get the impaction moving thru. This tyoe of colic is most likely the result of the horse not drinking enough water to stay well hydrated. How did you manage to get the mag citrate solution into your mare with out using a stomach tube ?

Elizabeth Pannill, DVM

Staples, Texas

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

I always give 3 ounces of Milk of magnesia at the start of a colic. I give it again 4 hours later and again the next morning.

I also give mylanta anti- gas and a little bottle of those baby simethicone drops each time to combat bloating and also the gas from the laxatives.

I give this stuff and wait an hour before starting the oil. I give it all in a big 60 ml. syringe. It takes a while but it works.

I will remeber about the citrate of Magnesia. Its a rough tough laxative, rather like an explosion( I have taken it for colonoscopies) but better to try it than lose a horse. Just make sure you give something to combat gas and the gas pains that comes with it.

I fully agree about the need for IV fluids and fluids via a stomach tube. I ALWAYS make sure that the fluids are WARMED. I feel that WARMED Fluids via stomach tube help MORE than cold fluids. Cold fluids cause more cramping, and we don't need that!

I offer my vet some gatorade to put down the tube rather than simply plain water. Besides fluid, it offers electrolytes and glucose which helps the horse too.

. I try to decide what I might be able to handle, erring on the more conservative side and mostly calling a vet, but I do have a good eye and pick up subtle symptoms very early, and I can fix a problem before it gets too bad usually.

I also syring gator ade too. AND since I don't let them eat, I give karo or pancake syrup every two hours to help preven hyperlipidemia. Also, too, it always seems that pancake syrup make me want to "go" ( all that sugar, I guess) and I always hope it does the same to the horse.

Robin

 

[Genie]

A List of Meds for a case of Colic

Please review and tell me if I have missed anything........... I have your items and added the ones that I use, and underlined

Milk of Magnesia

Mylanta Anti Gas

Baby Simethicone drops(not sure if this is available in Canada)

Baking soda/warm water- in a turkey baster syringe

Citrate of Magnesia(maybe not available in Canada)

Gatorade

Molasses

Maple Syrup

911

Wormer

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

So glad you stuck it out for your girl. Must be very rewarding to have her on the mend. I would have done the same thing.

Will be printing this for the valuable reference. Thanks so much all.

 

[Sandra L.]

Sounds like your mare had an impaction colic. Treatment with IV or oral fluids as well as mineral oil is often needed to get the impaction moving thru. This tyoe of colic is most likely the result of the horse not drinking enough water to stay well hydrated. How did you manage to get the mag citrate solution into your mare with out using a stomach tube ?
Elizabeth Pannill, DVM

Staples, Texas

Dr Pannill,

We used a funnel to get the mag. citrate down my mare. There is a new vet clinic not too far from me where they specialize in surgeries. They are no longer using the mineral oil for treatment of impaction colic. They are using warm water. I will make a note here, my vet had told me there was nothing that could be done for my mare and recommended that I put her down. I looked in her eyes and I could not do it, she said she wanted to fight.

 

[Sandra L.]

My mare is back to eating and is finally pooping normal again. The only side affect I saw from the Magnesium Citrate was it took forever to get over the diarrhea. My vet was reading about Magnesium Sulphate, but it did say it would dehydrate them. I don't know if that is the same thing we used or not.

I was giving this mare Mylanta gas (crushed the pills and syringed them) and also gave her tagamet. She had so many shots of banamine it was unreal to me.

If you use the Mag. Citrate please follow with 2 liters of warm water. After all of this stuff I didn't want her to get dehydrated so I gave her apple flavored electrolyes, she didn't care for it so I syringed it down 60cc every hour for 12 hours.

I am not sure what the eggs did if anything, but have since found out that some cattlemen use eggs on cattle for just about everything. I still don't know what the eggs do, but those that use it swear by them.

Thank you for all you nice comments. I am hoping that if you ever get in the fix I was in something I have tried will help you save your horse.

 

[Bess Kelly]

I have used epsom salt in warm water with good results for colics. It is a laxative, you know and seems to be tolerated well. It works. A trailer ride often helps them

If they aren't at the down and desperate stages. Let's face it, rarely have you not had to clean your trailer after a haul

Castoria is another that they actually don't mind the taste of.......it's senna, so works but not wicked for them.

Remember that the banamine can by syringed into the mouth (you said you were giving shots).

Also, the gas meds can be purchased in those little on the tongue strips.....they stick, then melt

While the route you took was stronger than most, we need to remember that the vet a given the "put her down" recommendation. At that point, you get desperate. Many yrs back a foal had colic and was bloated. Vet suggested he could do little as there was so much gas & the concern about the usual twisted gut, etc. and recommended I take her to the univer of NC......a 3 hr drive. I asked him why we couldn't puncture like you could a goat and he gave me all the reasons!! But, since he had already suggested the "down" part......I said what have I got to lose?? You are here to euthanize if I must but until then, puncture the cecum. We did that and she laid across my lap for about an hr while the gas came out!!!!!!!! we gave antibiotics and all those things right into the big needle we had used. Extreme but, extreme case. She is a coming 12 yr old mare now. Glad I made that choice.