Hi! I am semi new here. I lurk mostly but now I have a need. I have an 13 year old mini Gelding that I have had for a little over two years. I have owned full size horses for 25 years but this is my first mini. The first night of ownership my mini coliced. I had the vet out and tubed him and gave him Banamine and he was fine and for two years no problems. He was stabled with two other minis at the time. A few months ago I decided to move him to my place because he was getting so fat. He is kind of a bully and always ate everyones food. About 4 days after moving him he coliced again. I did the same routine with the vet and he was fine. Then 3 weeks later he coliced again. This time I opted to not have the vet out and treated it myself homeopathically. He came out of it in 4 hours with zero problems. The weird part is it's not a normal colic. Each time he has coliced he does the flehmen thing with his nose and he doesn't eat and he lays down quietly with an occasional desire to roll up on his back where he is completely comfortable. I don't let him roll for obvious reasons but l was wondering could these be caused by Ulcers? I have no experience with ulcers but plenty of experience with colic. These episodes seem to be directly related to moves or in this case he finally is being put to work and I don't think he handles stress well. If it is ulcers what can I give him until I can get gastrogard? During these episodes his heart rate is never elevated, his respirations are with in normal range. He does loose gut sounds during these episodes but he still has bowel movements. I always insist the vets tube him to be safe but both times my vet has felt that he would be okay without it. Tonight he seemed less interested in food (still eating just not devouring it like normal) and he does this the day before these episodes. I would like to try something for ulcers just not sure what. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated? Oh and I only feed him bermuda grass hay, bermuda blend pellets and some metamucil. He is an ideal weight on this food.
Thanks in advance for any ideas you can give.
Missy
Thanks in advance for any ideas you can give.
Missy