Does anyone have a clue?

[lovethelittles]

This is a long story so please bear with me. I purchased a mini stallion at an auction in August, he had been breeding so he was very thin. He kept rubbing his butt on the stall walls so I figured he needed deworming which I did. On October 19th, he was very listless and wouldn't eat, then he started rolling and I know colic when I see it. I gave him banamine and headed for the Vet. After tubing, more banamine and the vet saying that's all she could do I took him home. We got up to check him every hr during the night and gave him more banamine whenever he looked uncomfortable. After about 3 days he was out of the woods and well on his way to recooperating and I noticed a open wound on his back end under his tail, it was about the size of a quarter and looked very infected. I cleaned up the wound and put triple antibiotic ointment on it, started him on penicillian and got that cleared up after about a week. Yestday I went out to feed and there he was standing against the wall rubbing again. I put his food in and he would touch it. I felt around on his backside to see if maybe he had gotten a splinter (which is what I thought cause the first one) and felt a small soft bump. I didn't have a way to contain him so I could get a look at it, so I was waiting for my daughter to get home to help me. In the meantime he layed flat down on his side with his head out like he was dying. I got him up, gave him some banamine and started walking him. When my daughter got home we got a look at the bump, by then the banmine was taking effect so she lanced the bump and I squeezed about a tsp of yellow pastey stuff from the cut. I washed it up, put triple antibiotic on it and later gave him another dose of banimine. Today he seem just fine again. I truly think we avoided another all out stress colic attack. Has anyone ever had any experience with these bumps/boils? When the weather gets better, I'm going to get him to the vet to do a culture, but for now I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about this.

 

[kaykay]

I have had pregnant mares get splinters near the vagina from rubbing but they are very quickly resolved and not that stressful.

If he was mine I would have blood pulled by your vet and see if something else is going on like anemia. If a horse is rundown they will come up with all kinds of odd things like boils etc.

Please be careful giving so much banamine. Is he eating now?? Remember a horse that refuses to eat is a very sick horse and things can go downhill very quickly.

Sending good thoughts

 

[lovethelittles]

He seems to be back to normal today. He ate all his breakfast and wanted more when I checked on him at noon. I wished I would have saved some of the stuff I squeezed from the wound, I could have had my vet do a culture on it. We're keeping a close eye on him.

I have had pregnant mares get splinters near the vagina from rubbing but they are very quickly resolved and not that stressful.
If he was mine I would have blood pulled by your vet and see if something else is going on like anemia. If a horse is rundown they will come up with all kinds of odd things like boils etc.

Please be careful giving so much banamine. Is he eating now?? Remember a horse that refuses to eat is a very sick horse and things can go downhill very quickly.

Sending good thoughts

 

[REO]

Just throwing out ideas

Many times they will rub their butts if a mare has crud between her nipples and a stallion (gelding) if he needs his sheath cleaned out.

With that much Banamine (and for his tummy issues) I think some Probios would be good to give him.

Something tells me he may still need to be dewormed again. (Don't use Quest)

Could the rubbing and pain be a kidney stone?

Something is causing him a lot of pain in there.

 

[Carolyn R]

I too think worms may be a culprt. I purchased a large horse a few years back. Two years old, beautiful, she was a dream to handle. Had her for about 2.5 months, she became slightly lethargic, wouldn't eat, some rolling, but not aggressively, and a slight fever. The vet that came out said it appeared to be potomic horse fever. Had prescribed doxycycline, and said to pull her off the feed, but offer her hay, she would end up with a massive case of the runs due to potomic.

She got worse, Different vet came out that night, she ended up dehydrating and impacting, started her on IV fluid, tapped her cecum, took her to the animal hospital. She was medicated, hydrated, lubed, you name it, it was done. She started passing manure after a few days.

A few days before Christmas ( few months later) it happened again. We did the same thing, this time we started the fluids at home for a few days, there wasn't any improvement. Christmas day we took her to the animal hospital.

Finially after the 11th day she passed manure. The culprit was worms.

She looked healthy, had a health exam before I purchased her, in total it took 5 vets to get it right. She was not a typical wormy horse with a cough or a rough coat, runny eyes, drippy nose, nothing.

Her fever, well she was normally a degree warmer than the strandard, but during the impaction, it would elevate. It is not uncommon for it to happen when a horse has a bout of enteritis (swelling, inflamation in the intestinal track). She never coliced immed. after worming, but a couple of weeks later. The worms that did die off were still attatched to the intestinal walls, as they began to decay and let loose, they would let off toxins, causing the snowball effect. The first time she impacted they still did not suspect parasites. It was only during the second impaction that they thought it may be the issue. This theory was proven true after she passed manure during the second impaction, it was loaded with dead worms that had shed from her intestinal walls.

Her origonal owners never wormed her, (I was the 3rd owner) I gave her plenty of good nutrition, she looked healthy, but the worms also blossomed. I was religious about my worming schedule, but the vets all agreed I could have wormed her until the cows came home, it wouldn't have mattered, she needed a much more agressive worming regimine, and regardless of the worms shedding from her intestinal track, she still had many more live parasites that needed to be dealt with.

I think that the bump under his tail is unrelated to your horses colic episodes, unless he is riddled with staph from an open wound, but I HIGHLY doubt that.

Please don't dismiss the idea of it being worms, take a fecal to the vet, before you worm him, see what the egg counts are. Each time this horse impacted, it started with her being slightly off, then not eating or drinking, then the lethargy, then the rolling. It was not an immediate red flag like gas or sand colic.

We were all puzzled because there were a ouple of months in between episodes, even though I wormed every 4-6 weeks.

Carolyn

 

[Marty]

I'd be putting this boy on ulcer medication for 30 days too and quit the banamine. Good luck.