Woke up to colic this morning.

[slonewbt]

. Sand colic. We just put new flooring in the barn and one of my guys is such a little hoover. In an earlier post I mentioned that he's been eating his manure...he must be picking up sand/gravel with it. Vet came out, tubed him and recommended more stall mats or grazing muzzles. Just ordered an assortment of muzzles to try.....may as well turn them out if they have to wear muzzles. I don't like to leave anything on their heads when turned out though....ugh....dilemmas.

 

[Capriole]

Oh no!! I hope he's ok. Poor, little guy...

 

[Kelly]

Oh no, poor baby! I hope he feels better soon. Colic is so scary!! Mine eat dirt too and probably poo when I’m not looking LOL I give them all Sand Clear once a month for a week or so. Thunder who is now prone to colic also gets a squirt of Prebiotics every night.

How is he gonna get dressed up and go trick or treating if he isn’t feeling good?

 

[Taz]

If you're worried about them getting their muzzles caught on something you can tie a shoelace/50lb cable tie/anything that brakes easily onto the ring then clip the throat latch onto that. If you have the velcro type then only do up one side of the velcro. I do this all the time, I'm paranoid about halters not braking when they need to. Hope he's feeling better soon.

 

[Willow Flats]

Slonewbt - Sorry to hear this!!!! Always scary. Are you feeding them on the mats? Mine stay over night and also spend some time in a dry lot daily that has sand, but there are mats in their shelters where they are fed, which I sweep every morning. It was an initial expense to get the mats, but they last for a very long time and that way they are not eating off the sand.
I also had one that was eating manure and I started feeding 3 times a day and that stopped him. So when my pasture is dry they go out for a lot longer, but on the days it is too green I make sure to feed them the 3 times a day. Not everyone is able to do that with work etc. I just can't leave mine on turnout or hay 24/7 or they get huge so this is the best I have come up with for us. Just spacing the feedings a little closer helped them not to feel hungry. I use the EQUUS Psyllium Fiber Blend now because I had one that would not touch Sand Clear. They all love it because it tastes like licorice.
Hope your horse is feeling better!

 

[slonewbt]

Slonewbt - Sorry to hear this!!!! Always scary. Are you feeding them on the mats? Mine stay over night and also spend some time in a dry lot daily that has sand, but there are mats in their shelters where they are fed, which I sweep every morning. It was an initial expense to get the mats, but they last for a very long time and that way they are not eating off the sand.
I also had one that was eating manure and I started feeding 3 times a day and that stopped him. So when my pasture is dry they go out for a lot longer, but on the days it is too green I make sure to feed them the 3 times a day. Not everyone is able to do that with work etc. I just can't leave mine on turnout or hay 24/7 or they get huge so this is the best I have come up with for us. Just spacing the feedings a little closer helped them not to feel hungry. I use the EQUUS Psyllium Fiber Blend now because I had one that would not touch Sand Clear. They all love it because it tastes like licorice.
Hope your horse is feeling better!

He's a tough case b/c he's a quidder and has Cushings so can't have alot of things (including much long stem anything)...we finally got him sorted out on a pelleted feed but it's only 1 lb per feeding and it's gone in a flash - he has a portagrazer on stall mats so it's not his feed that he's ingesting sand with. I catch him all the time rifling through the flooring - it's coarse sand...more like road base so I didn't think he'd actually EAT it. I know he's just hungry b/c of the cushings but I have to keep his weight in check as he's prone to laminitis as well. Honestly...he's a problem child in many regards! I think getting out and walking/driving him more will help...and turnout will definitely help - I just need to make sure he doesn't eat too much. Ah, the trouble with having problem minis!

 

[slonewbt]

If you're worried about them getting their muzzles caught on something you can tie a shoelace/50lb cable tie/anything that brakes easily onto the ring then clip the throat latch onto that. If you have the velcro type then only do up one side of the velcro. I do this all the time, I'm paranoid about halters not braking when they need to. Hope he's feeling better soon.

I'll see how they fit when they get here. They are so fluffy right now, I would think they could actually get the muzzle off if they got caught up....just hoping they don't figure out how to do it on purpose. This is a good time to try it though when the pastures have nothing but rained on dead last year's grass

 

[slonewbt]

Oh no, poor baby! I hope he feels better soon. Colic is so scary!! Mine eat dirt too and probably poo when I’m not looking LOL I give them all Sand Clear once a month for a week or so. Thunder who is now prone to colic also gets a squirt of Prebiotics every night.

How is he gonna get dressed up and go trick or treating if he isn’t feeling good?

Yes, all of mine get a flavored psyllium pellet supplement monthly as well. Vet said some just build it up more in their gut than others. He's colicked before so maybe he's just one of them. :-(. He's on an immune builder supplement w/ prebiotics as well twice daily.

 

[slonewbt]

Oh no!! I hope he's ok. Poor, little guy...

Vet tubed him and gave him banamine...he's doing much better. thanks!

 

[Willow Flats]

Slonewtb - Poor guy he has a lot going on! And they love to eat.
So hard. How old is he?

 

[Kelly]

Geeeez so then why are we ALL feeding Sand Clear/psyllium if it isn’t even working?? I guess it is for the owners, so we feel better?

 

[chandab]

How big is he? How many meals per day does he get? I'm used to feeding twice a day, so I automatically see just 2# feed daily, and that isn't much. You might try one of the treat balls in a water tub, put hay pellets in the treat ball, and he has to roll it around to eat the pellets, so it takes longer; they go in dry so you do need ot find a softer pellet if you want to try it.

 

[slonewbt]

How big is he? How many meals per day does he get? I'm used to feeding twice a day, so I automatically see just 2# feed daily, and that isn't much. You might try one of the treat balls in a water tub, put hay pellets in the treat ball, and he has to roll it around to eat the pellets, so it takes longer; they go in dry so you do need ot find a softer pellet if you want to try it.

He's 32" and just under 200 lbs and 2# feed really isn't much but his weight is good and we finally got his laminitis and cushings in check so I don't really want to feed him more. I feel very badly for feeding him just twice a day. I try to give him a handful of hay in the early afternoon for him to "play" with. He'll eat the very fine stuff but wads the coarse stems up and spits it out like a true quidder (yes, his teeth have been checked....he's done this for years and no one really knows why).... He gets his pellets in a portagrazer so he has to move the inner section around to get them all (kind of like a treat ball). He's a very complicated little guy health wise. I might try a treat ball in a kiddie swimming pool...not sure he'll get in it but it's worth a shot. I think I have one for the dogs I could try.

 

[slonewbt]

Geeeez so then why are we ALL feeding Sand Clear/psyllium if it isn’t even working?? I guess it is for the owners, so we feel better?

hahaha...I asked the vet the same question. He said there are mixed studies on whether or not it really does anything. He thought in mild cases it probably does some good as a maintenance thing but some horses just ingest and build up sand. In theory it sounds good, right?

 

[slonewbt]

Slonewtb - Poor guy he has a lot going on! And they love to eat.
So hard. How old is he?

He's 21 and has always been one of the more sensitive/problematic minis. I've only had him since January and since then we've discovered the cushings (prior owner had no clue but I noticed he acted a bit different than any other mini's I've had and was drinking alot so had him tested), we had a very severe case of laminitis (thought we were going to have to put him down) - we got him better from that....and now this! His prior owner said he's colicked before and has always been one of those emotional, sensitive types. I have a 30 yr old who is super healthy - it's crazy how they are all so different.

And YES THEY DO LOVE TO EAT!!!! They are such little hoovers. Even today, when he started feeling better, he had feed in his feeder and he was still rifling through the sand looking for tiny tidbits. The muzzles I ordered can't come soon enough!

 

[HersheyMint]

Good to hear he is feeling better. I hate reading about that "C" word.

 

[chandab]

He's 32" and just under 200 lbs and 2# feed really isn't much but his weight is good and we finally got his laminitis and cushings in check so I don't really want to feed him more. I feel very badly for feeding him just twice a day. I try to give him a handful of hay in the early afternoon for him to "play" with.

If he is indeed 200#, 2# of feed/forage daily is absolute bare minimum for gut health (it's only 1% of his bodyweight). Usually we shoot for 1.5-2% of bodyweight daily in food. What do you feed him? perhaps a few adjustments could be made to allow him a little more quantity without excessive calorie increase.

 

[slonewbt]

If he is indeed 200#, 2# of feed/forage daily is absolute bare minimum for gut health (it's only 1% of his bodyweight). Usually we shoot for 1.5-2% of bodyweight daily in food. What do you feed him? perhaps a few adjustments could be made to allow him a little more quantity without excessive calorie increase.

He’s eating Hygain Zero along with a cushings supplement (cushings-S from balancedeco solutions) and an immune builder supplement every 3 days. Vet and farrier are very happy with his progress (we almost lost him due to severe laminitis in march). I give him a handful of orchard grass occasionally but he’s a quidder so pretty much just plays with it and spits it out but at least it gives him something to do.

 

[slonewbt]

Good to hear he is feeling better. I hate reading about that "C" word.

lol. Which C word? We’ve got cushings and colic.

 

[chandab]

He’s eating Hygain Zero along with a cushings supplement (cushings-S from balancedeco solutions) and an immune builder supplement every 3 days. Vet and farrier are very happy with his progress (we almost lost him due to severe laminitis in march). I give him a handful of orchard grass occasionally but he’s a quidder so pretty much just plays with it and spits it out but at least it gives him something to do.

Hygain Zero is meant to be fed with pasture or hay, so he probably should have some hay in his diet (he's also getting a bit more than the recommended daily amount for a horse his size, so perhaps backing off to the recommended amount for his size and adding in some hay pellets or cubes, or long stem for the rest of his diet). Or perhaps hay pellets.
Do you soak his feed? Or feed it dry? If you don't mind soaking, Triple Crown Timothy Balance cubes are low carb fortified hay cube ( do feed some dry, but only the cubes that can be crumbled by hand).
screen shot from the Hygain website page discussing Zero (bottom paragraph).