Favorite donkey in clinic with impaction. Anyone have good luck with impactions

[donkeyman]

Our favorite donkey is in the clinic with what they think is an impaction. He is to small to rectal, on lots of fluids, has good good color and not visible pain but clearly not quite right. Anyone have any ideas on breaking up impactions?

Did the trainer ride thing...no luck.....

I guess I am just reaching for some ray of hope. It is the husbands pride and joy and if something happens to "Clyde" my husband will be more than devasted

praying for poop!

[tuckawayfarm]

I had one a few years ago. When tubing with oil and water wasn't effective, he spent five days at the clinic on IV fluids and was not allowed to eat anything. (Poor guy :( ) He was either a wimp or very uncomfortable, so he was kept mildly sedated and on pain meds. It was a slow process, but he made a full recovery.

Praying for your little donkey to do the same!

[stryder]

I don't know if it's the same, but I read in Equus recently about some vet students using a carbonated beverage (diet coke?) to break up an impaction caused by persimmons. The pony lived.

good luck, and hearty jingles.

[MunchkinsMom]

Jingles going out for you.

Did they do any sort of ultrasound to find where the impaction is?

My younger gelding just had colic surgery for an ileal (small intestine) impaction, the mineral oil, IV fluids and tranqs were not helping him, so surgery was called for.

[FLeckenAwesome]

Good luck to Clyde!!

The coke thing works great for masses in the stomach, but I don't think it works real well farther down the line, but...I could be wrong.

My horse had a impaction...on grass of all things!! I let him out to graze on the new fresh pasture for 6 hours...(my mare is insulin resistant and I was watching her and she was only out for 1 hour, but I didn't think to worry about him). Apparently he snarfed so much grass up that it impacted. DOh! He was treated with banamine, tubing and oil twice, and no feed. He did fine...took him about 2 weeks to finally recover but there were secondary issues related to ulcers or gas that finally resolved. He did fine though and is back to normal (well...until recently, but that is completely a different issue).

Sounds like your donkey should be fine!!! Good luck though and hopefully he'll be home soon.

[Peggy]

Star's impaction broke up two days after he was admitted and put on IV fluids. His was in the small colon--just close enough to the end to feel it. They did an ultrasound but that didn't tell them how long (far forward) the impaction was--the vet said something about the u/s not distinguishing b/w the impaction and the material was supposed to be in the intestine.

Wishing you and your donkey good luck!

[pj]

My mare had one last year. Vet came and did all the regular stuff but nothing. That was one night, nothing all the next day and I was about to panic. Loaded her up in the trailer and drove up and down (slowly) the roughest dirt road that I knew of. First there was a tiny poop, more driving and then a REAL poop.
Pulling for your donk to poop away and be well.

[donkeyman]

So far U/S showed movement in small intestines and likely blockage in large intestine. Can't tell what he is blocked with. Fluids all night resulted in lots of pee and some oily watery and possible some manure but certainly not enough to deem in poop. He is not visibly uncomfortable. They have tubed him to get some gas out of belly cause he is bloated and it is stinky thus indicating a problem. They are doing xrays of stomach shortly. My gut says it will be surgery but I am praying beyond prayers that like the rest of you all, time and fluids will reach a good result. This is only day 2.5 of fluids. First day was sporadic fluids and full fluid attn since yesterday at 3:00pm.

Thank you for all the kind thoughts, ideas and experiences. They all help provide some form of comfort that time will help.

The one thing he has going for him is that he is so darn cute they spend lots of time on him

[li'l bit]

Jingling for your cute little guy.

[pricestory]

I am sooooo sorry, for you and him. These little guys are so stoic.
I've only had one who didn't perk right up after a little banamine, never an impaction. I did learn that if you have to tube them, a german shepard tube is the right size.
I'm hoping and jingling everything will clear with him.

[Quinn]

Paris had a bad impaction in January '07. 5 days on fluids at the clinic and she was just fine. This summer, Quinn coliced with 180 degree torsion. 2nd day at clinic on fluids and she resolved. Best thoughts going your way.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ballyduff

[Vandy]

My favorite pony had an impaction a few years ago that lasted the longest 5 days of my life. In her late 30s, definitely not a surgical candidate, she was on IV fluids and tubed 3 times. Knock on wood, she's been fine ever since. Here's hoping your guy gets better, and much faster than that.

[pj]

Please do keep us updated.

[equinelaw]

Fluids and more fluids usually help very much. Its about the only think that helps short of surgery. I have known many horses that got impactions and almost all survived just fine after several days of fluids.

I used to sit with horses at night re-upping the IV bags. Its a PITA if you do it at home, but now clinic ave those great coily things that allow the animal to move around.


Its a lot of $$$$ for water, but it almost always works if there is no twist or trapped gut. If there is, they can do surgery.

The worst colics are over way before 2 days. if he has made it this far its just a matter of time and imaging before he some out the other end fine.

My Vet always added Epsom salts to draw all the extracellular water into the gut. I don't know if it really helps, but cheap things that do no harm make us feel better.

I hope you get results soon!

[goeslikestink]

jingles for the donkey

[donkeyman]

Well we were scheduled for surgery, took off work and headed up to the clinic. Got almost there and they called to say that they gave a presurgery antibiotic that can cause some stomach spasms and it caused him to release tons of water, oil and manure....TONS of it. They were very pleased, did another tubing and called off surgery. So far we are waiting for more poop. He is no longer bloated and back to his normal size and shape. All the kind prayers and good words have been working so keep it up......

As of tonight he is resting comfortably. He was able to go for a 30 minute walk where he was alert and enjoyed himself. He is drinking on his own and is showing signs of hunger. I spent about 4 hours today with him and we had fun.

Fingers are crossed....

[austin]

Woo Hoo !!!

[pj]

YEEEEE HAW!!! POOP!!! Donkey goes poop poop poop and we go YAAA YAAA YAAA
Then we put it in a bucket and we take it all out. That's what it's all about!:)
Way to go, Donkey.

[MistyBlue]

Wow...awesome that the antibiotics caused stomach spasms and forced a bunch of stuff out! Good thoughts for your little guy...colic sucks big time.

[pricestory]

Yahoo. Yeah donkey.:yes::lol::yes::lol::yes::lol::yes::):D

[Gayla]

Jingles. I loff donkeys! I am so glad he pooped! Go little dude. :cool:

[monstrpony]

More jingles for continued visits from the poop fairy!!

[decorum]

I'm so happy that Clyde is doing good! I also have a donkey and have been worrying about him drinking enough in our cold weather. So far, so good.

Hope to continue to hear good news.

[LLDM]

Yeah, I'm jingling like heck for the little dude too! Hoping for some more good updates. Hang in their little guy and please stop worrying your humans!

SCFarm

[tazz001]

My two donks are happy that your guy pooped...heres to hoping he keeps pooping...

[Peggy]

Glad to hear the good news and hope he can come home soon.

[donkeyman]

Sorry for the delayed info but Clyde has done really well over the weekend. Saturday he started doing well. Yesterday he was eating and causing grief from braying at every person who passed by. Of course he would give everyone that sweet (I am really hungry) look so he got lots of walks to the grass field to eat. That resulted in two perfect poop piles this am. He gets to come home tonight and I know his soul mate (other donkey) will be so excited because every time he sees the trailer pull in he hollers and runs up waiting for Clyde to come out. I can't wait to see the reunion. I am sure Clyde will advise his friend it would be wise to chew his food more and not gorge on everything they see, including all the trash.

I guess the biggest issue is not knowing what caused this in the first place so I can avoid it in the future. The not knowing is as bad as the knowing.

So wish us well on the home care. I am so glad we avoided surgery. The clinic staff was amazing (I am sure I will get some form of angina when I see the lofty bill) but he is worth it. Although I did have about 5 offers from wealthy farm owners to take him off my hands because he is so darn cute.

Thank you for all the jingles, prayers and kind thoughts...they do work and Clyde will be home for Christmas.

[MunchkinsMom]

So wish us well on the home care. I am so glad we avoided surgery. The clinic staff was amazing (I am sure I will get some form of angina when I see the lofty bill) but he is worth it. Although I did have about 5 offers from wealthy farm owners to take him off my hands because he is so darn cute.


Glad you can bring the little guy home for Christmas! And hopefully your bill won't be as a bad as my colic surgery bill, it's going to take me a few years to pay off that one! But I'm still glad that I saved his life.

[equinelaw]

Yeah!!!!!:D

[trubandloki]

Glad to hear he is doing well.

[pj]

Wonderful news and Merry Christmas to you all.

[LLDM]

Way, way cool. I am so glad he is coming home! Guess it will be a wonderful Christmas at your place! :D

Thanks for the update.

SCFarm

[pricestory]

Huraay!!!
Your experience has made me ever more diligent about getting my donkeys to drink during this extreme cold.
Have a good trip home and a great reunion.

[Invite]

My mare had a horrible impaction which she pulled through after spending 8 days or so at the equine clinic. Thank goodness for the diligent veterinary care. Secretly, I think it might be their yearly Harry and David's holiday gift ;)

When Emily came home, she was on Ulcer Guard for 14 days. She now gets a daily fiber supplement. About September through April (and any days that have a bit of a chill) Emily gets warm drinking water 4 times per day. Obviously, the water is with her at all times, but she gets it fresh and warm 4x. I have her on Triple Crown Senior as it is high in fiber, low in carbs, and very easy to digest. She also gets alfalfa cubes for the calcium which may help ulcers and she always drinks well after eating them.

We did discover her colics seemed to be linked to her heat cycles. Obviously Clyde doesn't have this problem, but Emily is on hormones to make her heat cycles less difficult on her body. Knock on wood, we have been colic free for a year.

[li'l bit]

Yay!! So glad he's doing better. Do you have any pics? Would love to see this little munchkin.

[donkeyman]

Not sure if the link will work:

http://greyfoxfarm.webs.com/apps/photos/photo.jsp?photoID=19157285&prev=1

We picked him up last night. He did NOT want any part of the trailer so we had to back him in blindfolded and it took 4 strong people. He got home and he ran to his soul mate. His soul mate made these whinning sounds that were so sweet that you just know he missed him terribly. He then proceeded to smell him all over and lick him. A nice homecoming for sure.

The bill was not as bad as I thought and he is worth every penny!

[trubandloki]

The priceless moments they give us are worth every penny they cost us, that is for sure. It sounds like you got one of those moments.

[equinelaw]

He survived the colic and you survived the bill. Excellent result!:lol:

[goeslikestink]

ecellent keep kim on a light diet for a few days,and small meal little and often rather than big sitting

hes so cute mind you they both are
now go and do your shopping and have a good night rest your selves
and enjjoy christmas

[FillyMe]

Donkeyman, so glad to read the good news. The weird thing is unless you are in Davie, FL the same thing happened this weekend to the mini donkey at the barn where my friend boards. She told me yesterday that the mini was given some antibiotic and all of a sudden he started passing manure and started getting better. He is home doing well. A coincidence, wow? All good news!

[bf1]

Just saw this thread - thank goodness it resolved! Merry Christmas to all!