Help me please don't know what else to do.

[TheCaseFamily00]

Thursday morning my mare Emma (14 yrs old) started to colic,gave her a shot of banimine.Gave her another shot late thursday .She was shivering on thursday morning, had stopped fairly quick.got her warmed up.She was doing slight pawing and swicthing left to right hind foot. Friday evening still showing signs of slight discomfort so I gave her another dose of banimine.Saturday gave her mineral oil,succesfully,vet recommended She seemed comfortable,no banimine. Sunday comfortable,nickered to me,no banimine.This morning she was wet,either sweat or from laying down maybe both.Called vet ,they came out and gave her iv,said her gums made them think her circulation was messed up,her tongue seems weird to. I'm sorry about my typing hope it makes since trying to hurry to get back to her. Also said give epsom salt water in syringe,did that. She said if no improvement in 24 hours that it's not good may have to consider options. We've had big horses forever and never had colic like this.I have seen a bowel movement each day,less than usual but she really isn't eating. Vet said oil again tonight. Any ideas???????????

 

[Marty]

If its impaction colic are you able to keep her up and walking about?

Did the vet leave you with any meds and is he dosing her enough?

Sometimes they need to be "jiggled" around to get things moving along. I've gone as far as loaded up a horse and drove and drove up and down the roads trying to get things going. You know how they always seem to poop the minute you load them up. Maybe you can just load her and see if anything happens. I have also stuck some out on the end of a lunge line asking for a big extended hard working trot too trying to force a good poop or at the very least hope they would pass some gas. Sometimes it can take just 30 minutes and other times a lot more. You run the risk though of wearing them out so that's a judgement call.

I hate you are going through this and wish the best outcome for you.

 

[Matt73]

What did the vet give her through IV? Doesn't sound like she did much in the way of ascertaining if it was an impaction, gas, etc. I'd be really frustrated and po'd if I were you. I'd get her or another vet out asap. Thinking good thoughts...

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

She seems exhausted so i'v not pushed her. I'v gone back and forth on this because I don't want to stress her but moving will help. I think I will go walk her.I think it was 3 cc is that right for shot. I did the paste for 500#.

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

Impaction colic,The IV was to help hydrate her no drugs. This is not my usual vet this one is on call.She asked if I wanted to send her to Purdue for them to see her.The surgery for big horses is $5,000.00 I'm just not able to do that and it breaks my heart.I'm not about to give up her and I don't have alot of faith in this vet,even the diagnosis.

 

[Miniv]

I'd get a second opinion. If she's pooped a bit every day, something else is going on. You may have ulcers happening and/or hyperlipemia (fatty liver disease) because of her not eating much.

Try feeding her some karo syrup a few times a day to keep her blood sugar up. (About 60cc if possible) The syrup will also help coat her stomach. But I would consult with another vet if I were you.

Wish you all the best.

 

[Knottymare]

What they said and I'll just add:

Banamine, good... but keep her moving and don't give her too much. If she is 500lbs, dose for 500lbs but you don't want to overdose the banamine. If she's worn out, just go slow but keep her moving for like 15 minutes, then a brief rest. Also, if you can get some warm water (few gallons) and put a 1/4 cup of either karo or molasses in it and a handful of her grain and a tablespoon of salt... just to flavor the water and encourage her to drink, that's really important.

I understand the part about not spending $5K on a surgery but if she is passing something, it doesn't sound like she has a total blockage. You'll not want to let her eat. I'm REALLY surprised your vet did not attempt to palpate an obstruction or to use a soapy enema... doing rescue, I've seen my share of partial obstructions break up and pass with the soapy enema.

Hang in there.

 

[Knottymare]

Also, are you hearing any gut sounds?

Is she bloated?

The sweating to me sounds like pain... poor baby. Did you take her temp?

Another vet???

Praying for you guys.

 

[Riverrose28]

You stated that she was alternating standing on hind feet! Could be laminitis, (founder) the pain casued the colic symptoms. Is she in a stall? If she is maybe she should be standing in heavy sawdust. Did the Vet check her feet. If she has gut sounds I would suspect founder. If you don't have a sawdust for her to stand in, you could try packing her feet with cotton and holding it in place with duct tape. Hope she feels better, I had a pregnant mare last yr. that I thought was colicing and it turned out to be founder. The only one I've ever had, but I was feeding her too much.

 

[Sandee]

Don't have anything that will help but am wondering what do you feed her (you said she's not eating--not eating what?)? Does she have any gut sounds? If she's lying down but not rolling, could be something other than colic. If it's not colic then try getting her to eat soaked beet pulp. It has molasses and by soaking will get more water into her.

If it is colic then as everyone has said moving around and the oil should take care of it.

Have you taken her temp? Is she grinding her teeth - indication of pain, which could indicate ulcers (ulcers can cause them to reduce their food intake and will cause pain but no temperature)

If you can afford to get another vet, then I'd be calling another vet. You may need blood work to tell what's going on.

Prayers for you and her.

 

[HGFarm]

Ulcers? How much has she been eating and drinking?

I have two on meds right now as they didnt drink enough during last weeks cold snap, despite my hauling hot water from the house to help with the water temp. So they are now getting electrolites and 8 oz Mylanta once a day, per my vet's instructions. They are still pooping and peeing too, but very little since there is not much intake. Hopefully this will get them back on their feet quickly.

How much oil did you give her? My vet comes out and tubes- a LOT of oil. Last time I had a bad colic like yours, the vet had the horse on IV 24/7, oiled the crap out of her and gave her banamine and another drug that made her very sleepy and really helped relax the innards. It finally broke loose- and holy moly- dont stand behind her.

I dont think surgery is the way to go but this horse needs some aggressive treatment NOW before her body starts to shut down or something. I hope she feels better!!!

And P.S. Marty's suggestion may help too- I know other folks who have taken a sickly horse for a trailer ride and it did the trick.

 

[wingnut]

{{{ hugs and prayers }}}}

 

[ohmt]

I second everyone else and like Marty and Laurie, we walk walk walk (she may not feel well but if it's going to save her life then the discomfort of walking her is worth it) and LOTS of oil! I would get a different vet asap and ask them for a very thorough check-over to make sure she does not have something else going on. If they still say impaction colic ask for a more aggressive treatment than what the other vet was doing.

 

[Riverdance]

I have found if you oil the snot out of them, it will usually loosen up the blockage. Expect loose stools for a while afterwards.

It usually takes up to 24 hours for the oil to work. (oil should be mineral oil). Also some electro lights and water too.

Good luck, I hope everything goes well.

 

[uwharrie]

Her symptoms sound much like what we dealt with when Dreamie got sick this past fall. The first symptoms looked like impaction colic but since she was pooping we knew something else was going on. Turned out she had salmonella. IV fluids for almost a week, several antibiotics ( since we started treatment before we knew for sure what it was), Bamamine and gastroguard. Not sure the antibiotics helped or not, but there is no doubt the fluids saved her life.

 

[epetrilli]

I want to add here that I agree with what others have posted especially about the possibility of Ulcers and hyperlipemia, I had this happen to a mare of mine in the fall and after the first round about a month and a half later it happened again. We were able to get our mare comfortable with malox and rinitidine (human grade over the counter generic brands from walmart) and then continued to give her a 450lb dose of rinitidine for 10days to ease her pain. She presented like colic however like your mare she was pooping a little bit each day. She was sweating and loosing balance in her hind end from the pain. Feel free to PM me if you would like all the details, it is worth a shot and from my experience the rinitidine has been really safe and I have been told it really cant hurt if given correctly.

I will continue to send good thoughts for you and your mare!!!!

 

[epetrilli]

Edit to add:

We also gave the gastroguard along with the rinitidine as well as electrolytes. I actually crushed the pills and resuspending them in gatorade and syringed them to her to increase her sugar levels for the lipemia...

After her second bout of this and a full 10days of treatment we have not had a reoccurance and she is back to being very happy and normal. Best of luck!!!

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Hope things are going better for both of you.

I just wanted to add that 'colic' is a symptom, not a diagnosis. It occurs with GI obstructions of many kinds (impaction, torsion, rent, volvulus, etc..), but it can occur with liver disease, kidney disease, peritonitis, pleuritis, ileus, colitis, and on and on...

It would seem to be a good idea to have a Vet be more involved, either the previous one or a new one.

Good luck.

Dr Taylor

 

[AnnaC]

So sorry to read this. I have nothing to add except to say be careful with any walking/exercise as, in my opinion it can exhaust a sick horse quicker than you realise, and then you have the exhaustion to deal with on top of the 'sickness'. Also maybe a folded blanket over her loins to keep some warmth in this region and help relax her - horses in pain can get very tense in their backs and this doesn't help if you are trying to get her to relax generally. But apart from anything else, I would certainly call for a second opinion.

Sending prayers.

Anna

 

[Carolyn R]

Did she have a fever at all? The shivering, colicy symptoms, lack of enthusiasm when eating, possible sweating would lead me to having bloodwork drawn. Could be ulcer related, could be something brewing (infection, viral, bacterial....). I would be curious to see what her red and white counts were as well as how dehydrated she is. I would want to rule out something that may be treatable with a broad spectrum antibiotic.

I hope she turns around soon.