Please Poop!

[Kelly]

Yes, the link worked, thanks! Very interesting that Prebiotic, I’ve never heard of it before. You don’t give them very much, small dosage.

No signs of colic, id say Thunder is completely back to normal and as cute as ever

 

[Cayuse]

I forget if you said he gets hay, but wetting the hay will get more moisture into his gut and help move things along. And if the vet thinks it is gas colic, ask about giving Gas-X (the human gas tablets) at the first sign of discomfort. Your vet may or may not like this idea but I was told years ago by my vet to try it on my gassy mare and it worked. I have used it on my minis and pony too. But ask your vet first, since Thunder is already having issues.
Hope he continues to improve!

 

[Kelly]

Thanks! I will keep this in mind. What a great idea!

 

[Kelly]

I gave Breezy hay this morning and later I noticed he wasnt eating it, he was laying down, I thought, hmmmmm that’s weird. So I said to myself, I’ll just keep an eye on him. The next thing I know he is outside laying down while everyone else was eating their hay, which is weird for him. He is such a little piggy, his nose is ALWAYS in the hay. Then he follows me into the barn, poops and lays down again and again. Ugggg….. so off we go for a walk. When we get back to the barn Thunder lays down, then gets up and lays down again! Is this really happening? Do I seriously have 2 horses colicing??! I put Breezy in the stall and Thunder in the barn aisle separated so I can monitor if either poop. A little later Breezy poops!! And is acting totally fine!! Woohoo!! So out he goes to the dry lot with the others and Thunder goes in the stall. Now I’m thinking Breezy just had an upset tummy and is fine, maybe Thunder has an upset tummy too? IDK, so I wait patiently for Thunder to poop which he finally does, woohoo! Ok, out he goes with everyone on the drylot. Later I look out my window and see he is laying down again. Back in the stall. He continues to lay down, get up, lay down, roll around, get up. Off to the vet we go…. Thunder pooped in the van on the way and was acting almost completely normal by the time we got there. Up the nose again, poor little guy!



I asked the vet if I could give him gas ex from the drug store and she didn’t want me doing that. But she did give me a prescription for gas ex for horses. She taught me how to give a horse a shot in the muscle. Yikes!! The only shot I have ever given was to my hubby and that was a shot of peanut butter whiskey!! I also asked her about giving him prebiotics. She said that is a great idea, so I will be ordering those later tonight, thanks Marsha!

Breezy is completely fine, back to normal. Thunder is in his stall for the rest of the night and he is now acting completely fine. I haven’t changed a thing!! They get no grass right now. Vet said the colic might be due to the weather.

 

[Kelly]

Ohhhhh….. and both of their poops were nice and green and moist!!!

And hubby had the song “The Thunder Rolls” playing when I got home from the vet!

 

[Willow Flats]

Glad they are ok! ❤

 

[HersheyMint]

I’m so glad he is feeling better. After your first post of gas colic , I was reading up about gas colic and prebiotic and read beet pulp acts as a prebiotic. Anyone ever hear of this?

 

[Taz]

Never heard that about beetpulp but I feed it a lot and it does other good things, interesting.

I'm so happy they're both doing fine now. I don't know if you want to or if your vet wants you to but I always have paste banamine on hand. At the first sign of anyone having a tummy ache they get banamine. My current vet and multiple others have told me to do that, they normally work it through on their own faster with the pain meds(they relax) and I've only had one horse that hadn't by the time the vet got here. Normally if banamine makes them feel much better they aren't that bad and come through it on their own. Always check gut sounds! If they are really gurgly and 'pinging' it's gas not an impaction. If you don't hear anything or very little take them out and trot not walk them for a few min. It gets their gut moving better than walking. It's OK for them to lie down and role gently, anything severe is a red flag. Always leave water with them but take away all feed for even a couple hours after they have pooped and are normal again. Keep us posted on how they're doing?

 

[Kelly]

Everyone seems to be back to normal this morning. Thunder was a little pooping machine last night

The shot I have to give Thunder at the first sign of colic is a combo shot of xylazine/buscopan. If I’m remembering correctly it’s a little sedative along with the gas ex to help him relax. If he isn’t normal in one hour from when I administer it, I am to call the vet right away.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Everyone seems to be back to normal this morning. Thunder was a little pooping machine last night

The shot I have to give Thunder at the first sign of colic is a combo shot of xylazine/buscopan. If I’m remembering correctly it’s a little sedative along with the gas ex to help him relax. If he isn’t normal in one hour from when I administer it, I am to call the vet right away.

Interesting. So much to learn here.

 

[MaryFlora]

I’ve been following this carefully and as Marsha states, “so much to learn here”! I had a thought/question on horses and activity. Is it correct that horses can develop stress related ulcers leading to colic? I thought someone mentioned ulcers earlier but don’t see the quote now.

I think your horses have an absolutely amazing life, Kelly, so this is just a question that “bubbled up” as I was reading the posts and your experiences with Thunder and Breezy.

Hopefully you have given yourself a shot by now!

 

[MaryFlora]

I lost a mini to colic about 15 years ago and miss her still. So I try to keep learning and stay alert to my little herd.

Lots of learning in this thread!

 

[Kelly]

MaryFlora, are you saying that I stress my horses out??… by taking them roller skating, for walks by themselves, to parks, to PetCo, and by snuggling them?? HaHa, we’ll you are right LOL LOL JK!! I’m not sure about stress related ulcers leading to colic, I’ve not had a horse with ulcers before either so this is all new for me. I am learning so much, so please keep the info coming

And thank you for this…

I think your horses have an absolutely amazing life, Kelly…

I think we all do our very best to give all of our horses special treatment and the absolute best life that we possible can.

Ive had a couple of shots already by now

 

[MaryFlora]

I’m just jealous! All of those lovely parks! I’ll go have a shot myself now!

Yes, keep the information coming please! It’s such a helpless feeling when your horse goes down and help is miles away.

Sometimes knowledge seems like a moving target! Ideas change, protocols change, tools change, understanding changes...this community is a terrific learning tool!

 

[Taz]

Yes, stress can cause ulcers. I'm not sure of the number but it's 80-90%(70-80%) of all horses have ulcers, most not diagnosed. It can even happen with a weanling from the stress of being weaned and/or sold and moved. It's so common that all the vets here will hand out ulcer meds if you just say the word. There are really good treatments available at tack/feed stores, if you think it might be a problem you can grab one and give it a try, you will see the difference if they have them. I have an old donkey living on nsaids and I put her on one to prevent ulcers, a few days later I figured out she already had them and was feeling much better.

 

[MaryFlora]

That is a staggering statistic, Taz, I had no idea! While I would expect a foal or mare or stallion to experience stress, and show horses as well, I have not considered that any of my little group could have ulcers. Their show years are over and we have a pretty quiet rural life.....in my eyes anyway.

I am taking your words to heart and doing some online searching for ulcer meds.

Phantasy, my silver dappled mini that died in 2006 as a result of colic was always a bit nervous at shows but at home seemed relaxed and comfortable. After stumbling across the remark on ulcers somewhere on this forum and now reading your excellent response, am wondering if she had ulcers the entire time and would that have triggered a colic episode?

I’ve always wondered what caused her one and only colic episode and realize I will never know. Learning more about the possible underlying reasons for colic in general is a good thing.

Thank you very much, Taz! ❤

 

[Taz]

Forgot to answer the bit about can ulcers cause colic, 5 months of foal watch is catching up with me .
Yes, ulcers can cause colic. I've known more than one with severe colic from ulcers and a couple who died because of it.
MaryFlora, so glad that helped you! I have too many to do it but I think ulcer treatments for any horses who have done more than just stand in a field and not be touched is a good idea even if it's just short term(6 months) while they get to heal You could be preventing a bigger problem from starting and saving them some chronic pain. I've used both Omega alpha and Mad Barn with very good results. The Mad barn is peppermint flavoured, I have one who wouldn't eat it no matter what, the omega alpha is liquid and was better tolerated. It is possible that could have been the cause for Phantasy, 'ulcers' wasn't a common diagnosis then. I lost a very special horse to it in the 90's when ulcers were unheard of in horses, if only we could go back knowing what we do now.....

 

[Kelly]

Oh wow! Now y’all have got me researching ulcers

Marsha said it took her prebiotics a couple of months to kick in. I should be getting those any day now. I think my game plan will be to start him on the prebiotics and see how he does. I am a one thing at a time kinda gal. I like to see what works and what doesn’t work. If the prebiotics don’t seem to be working, then I might have the vet scope him to check for ulcers. Thunder is a nervous little fellow, that is just his personality, he has always been that way. I am always telling him, “how are you gonna be a therapy horse when you are scared of people?!” LOL! Hubby tries to pet him and Thunder wants no part of it. He only really likes me handling him and nobody else, I guess I kinda do push the limit with him as far as taking him out on the town He is just so stinking cute!!

 

[Kelly]

Well it’s been more than 2 months, so I guess it was time for Thunder to colic again IDK, maybe he misses Cappy??

He was fine at feeding time this morning. Later I went out to ground drive Breezy and Thunder was down. I know, I know horses lay down. So I went about my business of ground driving Breezy. Then Thunder got up and screamed at us, then back down. I put him in the stall to monitor him, and he started backing up. When he backs up that is his sign of colic, besides laying down. Every horse displays signs of colic differently. So then of course I start FREAKING OUT!! ‍ I gave him that shot from the vet at 10:45 this morning. I am suppose to wait 1 hour and he should be back to normal or I have to take him in. The shot seems to be working!!! He seems to be back to normal!! Now I am just gonna wait till he poops. I’ll probably leave him in the stall all day so I can monitor him….and all night too.

Maybe it’s the weather?

 

[Abby P]

Kelly, am I right that you mentioned before that he's a dwarf? Is it possible that he has bite abnormalities that are causing him to not be able to chew his hay properly, and that's why he keeps colicking? Hope he's fine now!