Gas Colic with Spasms -- Information please

[hansiska]

On Saturday my four year old mare looked NQR. She'd lay down, stay down awhile, then get up -- but without rolling or looking at her belly. Then she'd stand there with a kind of painful look on her face, but swishing her tail a lot. Then she'd go and lie down again, but no rolling. She did kick at her belly once. After watching this for about an hour, I went out to check her out. She had what felt to me like three hard lumps positioned veritically just in front of and below her left hip. I also found some diarrhea in her tail and on her butt. I couldn't hear much in the way of gut sounds on the left near the lumps. Her muscles near the lumps seemed to be convulsing at times.

I called the vet, who told me to administer Banamine (which I did). I walked her until he arrived, but she wasn't very willing. She did pass manure, pee, and pass gas. Her temp was 99. She really perked up after the Banamine and was a bit difficult for the vet. He heard gut sounds in all four quadrants and said tubing/oiling wouldn't have an effect on a gas colic. (I also don't think he wanted to deal with her to do it). I watched her closely all afternoon and she got more and more comfortable. The spasms seemed to finally stop by late afternoon. She seemed completely back to herself by Sunday morning.

She is wormed regularly. She is turned out alone and is in fact alone on the farm until my new filly gets here at the end of the month (but she's been here alone since August).

The weather here in CT has been strange lately -- 30s at night and in the 60s during the day. I've certainly known horses who colic regularly when the weather changes significantly, but I've owned this mare since she was seven months old and this is the first time she's colicked.

My questions -- and I don't know if there's even an answer for them -- are twofold.
1. How do you prevent gas colic?
2. Should I expect this to become a trend with this particular horse?

Thanks for any input.
Kendra

[sublimequine]

I actually started a thread on preventing gas colic. Look it up, it's fairly informative! :)

I suggest some sort of probiotic/prebiotic/yeast, whichever you prefer. Also, make sure to keep Banamine on hand at all times! :yes:

[Sanity Rules]

Autumn and Spring are the worst times of year for colics! My vet and I were just talking about that. :eek:

Plenty of pasture time, lots of *non-rich* grass hay, lots of water, and of course have that old-faithful Banamine on hand.

If she's colicked once, just be aware of that fact and keep an eye on her from now on. It doesn't necessarily mean she will be a continuous colicker, but just be aware.

[BornToRide]

1. How do you prevent gas colic?

Quit feeding grain to a sensitive horse if you do. Grain is poorly digested in most horses and often ferments in the hind gut leading to gas, especially if the horse gets too much at once.

If it is not grain, she may be be having an allergic reactions to some other feed.

Also make sure she gets plenty of pre & probiotics as well to maintain good gut health, especailly after worming por medications that were given to her.

[Bosspaige]

I also live in CT and had something similar to this happen a few years ago after a big rain. The vet said it was actually the leaves coming off the trees that weren't ready to fall and they contain low levels or arsnic when they start to dry up. My horse almost acted like he was in labor as far as he would get really uncomfortable, then seem to be okay, and it would happen in 4-5 minute intervals. Also had diarhea. I also gave banamine which seemd to relieve the discomfort and it didn't happen again.

[shawneeAcres]

There is some eveidence that the drastic changes in pressure when weather cahnges drastically in spring and fall contribute to horses having gas colic, similar to people who get pressure headaches when the weather changes.

[hansiska]

Thanks for all of this feedback. I did find the other thread and it was helpful, as is the info on leaves and temp changes.

Forgot to add that I did give probios on Sunday.

The spasms were very strange. If she were pregnant (which she isn't) I'd have believed it was a foal kicking. It was in the right place and everything. But she'd have to be about eight months pregnant for THAT!

The vet (not my regular and not one I remotely respect) didn't ask what she was fed or how much and said to just give her her normal dinner Saturday night. I did not. In fact, I've cut her grain significantly (she's NOT happy about this!).

What causes the spasms?

[Xanthoria]

look into buscopan IV or IM!

[equinelaw]

Thanks for all of this feedback. I did find the other thread and it was helpful, as is the info on leaves and temp changes.

Forgot to add that I did give probios on Sunday.

The spasms were very strange. If she were pregnant (which she isn't) I'd have believed it was a foal kicking. It was in the right place and everything. But she'd have to be about eight months pregnant for THAT!

The vet (not my regular and not one I remotely respect) didn't ask what she was fed or how much and said to just give her her normal dinner Saturday night. I did not. In fact, I've cut her grain significantly (she's NOT happy about this!).

What causes the spasms?



Well, since YOU mentioned the Vet I feel safe saying I do not agree even from your brief description. You saw and felt hard lumps. That's not my experience with gas colic. That's my experiences with impactions, displacements, or any of the sub categories of impactions. Which, of course, do not tend to go with diarrhea. You were watching the bad clump of whatever make its way around the twists and turns and out. I think the cecum lays on the right, so that was the large intestine shoving the offending stuff out with force.

I like the leaves theory.

The spasms are caused by the same mechanism that causes your guts to cramp up and rebel if you ate the wrong thing or do not have the normal passage of food through the system. Guts muscles only have 1 choice. . move it along in waves of contractions. If the small normal waves are working then tsunami sized contractions might work. As things work through he system clumps might get caught requiring even stronger contractions of waves.

Is it very much so the long and extended birthing of a pile of poop. With too much gas the gut stretches and signals the muscles to birth that crap out faster. Same with toxins or anything else that just needs to get out ASAP. Flush and squeeze it out in waves.

The really bad ones are when the horse does NOT have contractions and the gut has just given up and slowed down completely. Or things start moving along but a contraction hits right when the large blockage is in the smallest most weak part of the gut.

The body is pretty much a one trick pony. Birthing, digesting, eating, pooping, coughing, moving blood along. . things tend to go in waves of contractions to get something in, down, out or around. There are big waves if the small waves aren't working.

Gas colics ping and are noisy.

Wait until you are in your 40s. You'll understand all about gas and spasms and cramps and slow moving guts:)

Add lots of water to her meals until she is fine for several weeks. Soup meals can't hurt as long as she will eat them.

[hansiska]

Makes sense, equinelaw. I like the leaves theory too.

Funny thing is, I added water to her dinner on Saturday, tiny dinner that it was. I'm thinking of adding beet pulp to her diet. It helps make mush and every horse I've tried on it seems to do well. I've also never had one colic on it.

This one really caught me offguard. The initial symptoms were so subtle.

Oh, and I turned 40 this August and I know EXACTLY what you mean! :)

Kendra

[JSwan]

Forgot to add that I did give probios on Sunday.



Just FYI - Probios is mostly sugar. It's not something I'd give to a horse having colic problems (or any horse for that matter)

If you want to add a probiotic to the horse's diet try Diamond V Yeast or another brand designed as a livestock feed additive. Very inexpensive and will increase feed utilization. Perhaps that might work better. I give Diamond V yeast to all my livestock - including my chickens!

Sorry your mare wasn't well. Recently someone recommended a product called.... equispaz? or something like that. I looked up the ingredients and it's similar to what is put in human anti-gas products. It's an OTC product. I'm not a vet or scientist, but I think the way it works is that it breaks the surface tension of large gas bubbles, turning them into lots of small gas bubbles. Large pockets of gas hurt - and can hurt a LOT. Smaller gas bubbles pass much more easily. toot toot toot.

I was going to buy some "just to have" and kept forgetting to look up the name. (I'm very forgetful) And wouldn't you know it, one of my horses got a bit of a gas colic. Gave him Banamine and he was fine.. .but I would have liked to have tried that product.

Good luck!

[findeight]

My ultra well managed old mare had a bout of colic last week.

Temps swung from about 25f to 75f in 48 hours and she started the NQR, rolling and looked like she'd had 5cc af Ace. Gut sounds, passing urine and feces...and alot of gas. Just did some hand walking and banamine and it cleared in about 4 hours. No vet needed.

Wet hay in reduced quantity for dinner. Normal hay but no grain for breakfast then back on normal schedual. Hand walked her only that second day. She's fine.

Probably only the third time in 8 years she has had any trouble, all minor episodes knock on wood.