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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
  
| I lost a horse to colic in december and now my 3yr old showed signs last night & christmas eve there was another mare who coliced as well
Keep in mind the temperatures here are bi-polar.
They have winter blankets
Shelters
The water is cool but not cold
They have all been fed different hay from different vendors that is maybe 20% alfalfa- which is really low compared to what i normally feed.
The weather goes from -30 with a wind chill to -16 then drops to -5 then cold again all within a week.
So last night I gave her an IV shot of Banamine, let her walk loose around the arena, she layed down before the banamine was given after she didnt try to lay down at all. She was put in a stall with her buddy overnight, drank a bucket of water (hard to tell who drank it with two horses but her buddy is a weanling) she pooped a million times.
They are wormed every three months.
The water on the property has been tested, the hay has been checked....
What the heck am I missing??? |
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 Water Weight Barbie
Posts: 6829
 
Location: Oz, Kansas | Hydration is the biggest issue with colic. When the temps get cold a horse should drink more water but if it's not readily available or to their desired temperature then you have a problem. I was told to feed my daughters colic prone horse a flake of alfalfa a day. It acts as a sort of stool softener. I also give him a GI Conditioner to keep his gut regulated. I would recommend electrolyte paste or powder on their feed to keep them drinking. Other than that there's really not much you can do but pray. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| Maybe try brannning her a few times a week? But I don't know how fast warm bran would freeze in subarctic temperatures like that.
I would also put them on a feed through daily probiotic.
My daughter's pony coliced mildly in November and severely in December when our weather got really cold, -13 with the wind chill. The vet had me give him warm bran twice a day for two weeks and started him on FORCO and beet pulp everyday. He hasn't had any digestive problems since and I don't know if it's the FORCO or the beet pulp but the pony's hair coat looks amazing now!
Edited by cyount2009 2014-01-08 10:09 AM
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | Are they eating or picking up sand or dirt? Sounds like my horse when he had sand colic.
Also, he had a gas colic over the summer, so I ran a tub of digestive supplement through him. (Probiotic and enzymes, called Digest-it) |
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 Famous for Not Complaining
Posts: 8848
Location: Broxton, Ga | I feed the alfalfa cubes........soaked.....to me that helps keep things moving............ |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | I always have THE Electrolytes around and THE Colic Rescue. Whenever we are having crazy weather changes I just give her some electrolytes to be safe. Then I had one horse that was colicing weekly. I was completely freaked out. THE Colic Rescue always brought her back to normal in 30 minutes but I knew something else was going on. Found out it was ulcers that were causing and put her on THE GastroPlus for a month and haven't had a problem sense. After I finished the GastroPlus I started her on a bran mash with some mineral oil in it. She gets that twice a week or more often when the weather is acting up. Knock on wood, good so far. Just keep your horse hydrated and change the diet as little as possible. Also get them out daily so things can be pushed around inside.
Edited by Cowgirl Kat 2014-01-08 10:50 AM
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| Thanks everyone, she isnt eating any sand as the ground is frozen and they are fed out of a feeder.
It stresses me to no end, especially in a horse that has never had any issues. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| I have nothing to add, but we lost my daughter's mare after colic surgery in December as well. It's been awful. Now we are so worried with everyone else. It definitely changes your opinion of poop. We are now very happy to have lots and lots of piles of poop to clean every day. |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | Karlaw - 2014-01-08 10:52 AM Thanks everyone, she isnt eating any sand as the ground is frozen and they are fed out of a feeder. It stresses me to no end, especially in a horse that has never had any issues.
just something to think about... mine was turned out on a sandy/dirt area. He ate the sand all on his own (was not fed on it).
It can stay in their colon a long time and cause issues long after they have consumed it. (ie at a weather change).
i just feed sand clear now, and no issues anymore. :) It was something I would have never thought of since he was not fed on it. And it would have saved me a lot of money and worry if I had known lol! |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| barrelracr131 - 2014-01-08 9:58 AM
Karlaw - 2014-01-08 10:52 AM Thanks everyone, she isnt eating any sand as the ground is frozen and they are fed out of a feeder. It stresses me to no end, especially in a horse that has never had any issues.
just something to think about... mine was turned out on a sandy/dirt area. He ate the sand all on his own (was not fed on it).
It can stay in their colon a long time and cause issues long after they have consumed it. (ie at a weather change).
i just feed sand clear now, and no issues anymore. :) It was something I would have never thought of since he was not fed on it. And it would have saved me a lot of money and worry if I had known lol!
Im going to have a look when i get off work, thanks for the idea! |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | my horse is special. lol Hopefully that is not your issue, but figured I would throw it out there.
I hope they are doing better! :) |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| barrelracr131 - 2014-01-08 10:15 AM
my horse is special. lol Hopefully that is not your issue, but figured I would throw it out there.
I hope they are doing better! :)
thank you :) |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I had one who colic'd when the weather changed I gave banamine when he displayed symptoms. He had gas colic. My horses have water in the stock tank, and it is heated by a water heater. They are also on free choice hay.
I had one who had an inverted bowel, the vet manipulated it back into position, then she was off all feed till she was drinking adequately, and pooping. Then she was on a handful of alfalfa six times a day till poops were normal, then we could gradually increase her feed till she was on full feed.
Some people believe probiotics help decrease the incidence of colic
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | I give my senior horse soaked alfalfa cubes and soaked beet pulp along with senior feed every day, and the two others get soaked alfalfa pellets with their feed. I know it's not a lot of extra water, but it's better than nothing. When it gets really cold, I also sprinkle some table salt in their feed to promote drinking. However, "really cold" to me is anything below freezing because we don't experience as bad of weather here in Texas.
When their water freezes over, I make sure and scoop out as much ice as possible after busting it up so that they don't have ice cubes floating around. I'll add hot water if needed to bring the temp up at least a little and make the water more desirable.
It's important to get water in their gut. |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| barrelrider - 2014-01-08 9:54 AM
I have nothing to add, but we lost my daughter's mare after colic surgery in December as well. It's been awful. Now we are so worried with everyone else. It definitely changes your opinion of poop. We are now very happy to have lots and lots of piles of poop to clean every day.
isnt that the truth, I swear I am poop obsessed after my first one died in Dec. I check everyone all the time. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1066
| We had a gelding who used to colic mildly, but frequently through the winter. It ended up being that he didn't like drinking unless his water was the perfect temperature, and was a huge wuss who wouldn't stand and drink if the wind was blowing in his face. We started feeding him soaked beet pulp twice daily through the winter, and added a glug of canola oil to help keep things moving, and we never had an issue with him again.
Note: this is also SUPER handy in the summer if you're on the road and they decide not to drink somewhere.
Good luck. There's nothing worse than constantly worrying about them. |
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 Firecracker Dog Lover
Posts: 3175
| Water is the key. Can you put a tank heater in the trough? I used to argue with my husband about a lot. He didn't like it plugged in 24/7 and I argued it was better for my horses so they would drink enough. I had enough of the arguing and unplugged it. Sure enough my mare coliced from not drinking enough. It took an emergency trip from the vet in a blizzard and the words from her to get my husband to realize that plugging that tank heater in was a much cheaper option. The tank heater is always in and on 24/7 this time of year at my house. They do make nice ones that have auto shut off when it reaches a certain temp. Good luck! |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| brlraceaddict - 2014-01-08 11:44 AM
Water is the key. Can you put a tank heater in the trough? I used to argue with my husband about a lot. He didn't like it plugged in 24/7 and I argued it was better for my horses so they would drink enough. I had enough of the arguing and unplugged it. Sure enough my mare coliced from not drinking enough. It took an emergency trip from the vet in a blizzard and the words from her to get my husband to realize that plugging that tank heater in was a much cheaper option. The tank heater is always in and on 24/7 this time of year at my house. They do make nice ones that have auto shut off when it reaches a certain temp. Good luck!
thank you, she does have a sinking tank heater, i put my whole arm in it yesterday, it was cool but not cold. Its so frustrating! |
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I Am a Snake Killer
Posts: 1927
Location: Golden Gulf Coast of Texas | I had another post going about the hydration hay blocks from Purina. Just had an old broodmare do this. SHe always does when it is either too hot or too cold. I really think it is dehydration problem. But another thing to check is have a stool sample done. Make sure your wormer is doing the job. I have to do that ever so often because the parasites are sooo bad down here.
Edited by mreklaw 2014-01-08 2:00 PM
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Water Weight Barbie
Posts: 6829
Location: Oz, Kansas | mreklaw - 2014-01-08 12:59 PM I had another post going about the hydration hay blocks from Purina. Just had an old broodmare do this. SHe always does when it is either too hot or too cold. I really think it is dehydration problem. But another thing to check is have a stool sample done. Make sure your wormer is doing the job. I have to do that ever so often because the parasites are sooo bad down here.
Every time my daughters horse coliced his worm count was high. I was diligent on worming according to the schedule for my area but it wasn't working. I finally gave up & started taking a sample in every 6-8 weeks & only wormed when the count got above 90. |
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | I think most everybody covered what I would have thought of and I can only add something I learned from an article on FB yesterday. It had to do with blanketing in cold weather but with temps that you guys are looking at, I don't know if there's much you can do.
One of the basic parts of the article was that a horse warms up all over and not just in spots. The colder the horse is on it's head, legs, etc. that are not covered, the more the body works to try to equalize the heat and get the body to one temperature. When they have to really work at trying to generate that type of heat, it causes them to be too warm under the blanket and that can upset their digestive systems and cause a whole host of problems trying to regulate body temperature.
So, with it being that cold, they might be generating more heat under those blankets than you realize. It's just something you might monitor because I don't know what you can really do that different when it gets that cold. If they've been used to blankets, pulling them off is probably going to be worse. It's just a thought though as something to monitor. |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| Red Raider - 2014-01-08 1:32 PM
I think most everybody covered what I would have thought of and I can only add something I learned from an article on FB yesterday. It had to do with blanketing in cold weather but with temps that you guys are looking at, I don't know if there's much you can do.
One of the basic parts of the article was that a horse warms up all over and not just in spots. The colder the horse is on it's head, legs, etc. that are not covered, the more the body works to try to equalize the heat and get the body to one temperature. When they have to really work at trying to generate that type of heat, it causes them to be too warm under the blanket and that can upset their digestive systems and cause a whole host of problems trying to regulate body temperature.
So, with it being that cold, they might be generating more heat under those blankets than you realize. It's just something you might monitor because I don't know what you can really do that different when it gets that cold. If they've been used to blankets, pulling them off is probably going to be worse. It's just a thought though as something to monitor.
Huh that makes a lot of sense, I have a temp gun (because of work) i am gonna try it out! |
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Veteran
Posts: 160
| I'm a tech and where I work we always see more colics Nov-March than any other time. Why i cannot say but it happens every year. You can do everything right, free choice hay, clean water available all time, good worming schedule and colics will still happen. We've seen drastic weather changes here and colics are happening with the changes. There are just things that happen that are beyond your control. For example their gut slow or stop moving altogether. You can prevent that. It just happens sometimes. Continue good management practices - that is the best you can do for prevention but always be on the lookout. Colic will still happen. |
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Veteran
Posts: 256
| Karlaw - 2014-01-08 9:34 AM
I lost a horse to colic in december and now my 3yr old showed signs last night & christmas eve there was another mare who coliced as well
Keep in mind the temperatures here are bi-polar.
They have winter blankets
Shelters
The water is cool but not cold
They have all been fed different hay from different vendors that is maybe 20% alfalfa- which is really low compared to what i normally feed.
The weather goes from -30 with a wind chill to -16 then drops to -5 then cold again all within a week.
So last night I gave her an IV shot of Banamine, let her walk loose around the arena, she layed down before the banamine was given after she didnt try to lay down at all. She was put in a stall with her buddy overnight, drank a bucket of water (hard to tell who drank it with two horses but her buddy is a weanling) she pooped a million times.
They are wormed every three months.
The water on the property has been tested, the hay has been checked....
What the heck am I missing???
Oats! I have 5 horses in a wind break corral right now no sheds no blankets they can get out of the wind with the wind break corral, temp dropped to -52 celcius with wind chill the other night and for the last week we have rarely been above -40 factoring the wind chill in. They get 10 gallons of whole oats with liquid equilix About 1.5 cups poured on the oats, free choice hay alfalfa/brome mix, automatic water bowl and 5 gallons of oats at night if it is really cold out. It seems to keep them moving around good Also 2 of the horses came from texas this past november and have adapted well to the cold. Grain will usually keep them loose and they seem to drink better with a feed of oats Good luck! |
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  Making the post season
Posts: 7288
Location: your guess is as good as mine | I can empathize - I've lost 2 to colic in the winter...one in December and one in January. I feed soaked beet pulp to my 2 younger ones and soak my older mare's senior - I use warm water and also add sea salt (1tsp) each feeding. While I have electricity at the pasture I rent I don't have running water, so I have no way of getting water from my house to the pasture when it's this cold. All I can do is make sure the pond & creek have ice-free areas for them to drink and keep a close eye on them. |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| Thanks everyone, I gave her another dose of baniamine and will do one more tonight. I am going to try beet pulp again but last time she wouldnt eat it just played with it. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1066
| Karlaw - 2014-01-09 8:44 AM Thanks everyone, I gave her another dose of baniamine and will do one more tonight. I am going to try beet pulp again but last time she wouldnt eat it just played with it.
When we're trying to get new horses onto beet pulp sometimes we will give it every day, twice a day for a week before they start eating it, but once they're onto it they're good to go. First off, try not to make it too runny for horses that are new to it. Second, sprinkle oats (or some other appealing feed) on top of it. Third, leave them with the beet pulp for an hour or so before feeding hay so it gives them time to play with it and decide it tastes good.
Good luck! |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| Tys-ol-lady - 2014-01-09 9:02 AM
Karlaw - 2014-01-09 8:44 AM Thanks everyone, I gave her another dose of baniamine and will do one more tonight. I am going to try beet pulp again but last time she wouldnt eat it just played with it.
When we're trying to get new horses onto beet pulp sometimes we will give it every day, twice a day for a week before they start eating it, but once they're onto it they're good to go. First off, try not to make it too runny for horses that are new to it. Second, sprinkle oats (or some other appealing feed) on top of it. Third, leave them with the beet pulp for an hour or so before feeding hay so it gives them time to play with it and decide it tastes good.
Good luck!
I was thinking of watering down some sweet feed and adding propel to it, i know she will eat that?? |
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Member
Posts: 8
Location: Kansas City, MO | We have a great product for colic... It comes in a paste and a daily feed. The paste is great to have on hand for a full colic episode or just preventative. The pellets are more for preventative. The paste is called Immediate Response. Its all natural and an amazing product. www.orthoequine.com
or call 816-353-8660 |
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Colic...what do you do