Another Colic Episode...

Everything was normal when I let the horses in this morning, and thankfully I puttered around a bit in the barn before running back inside to get out of the heat. Within a few moments, I heard Sweetie pawing and knew immediately she was beginning to colic. I put a halter on her and walked her into the yard - she was not interested in grass, and laid down and rolled up on her side. I watched her for a few minutes, and things did not seem to subside, so went in for some banamine. When I got back out to her (laying down), I heard the strangest noise - it sounded like she was trying to burp - a very fluidy burp - from her chest up in to her neck. I watched a few minutes more as she got uncomfortable, and stood up - the burp sound continued rhythmically, and she looked more stressed and stretched her neck out. Some green slobber dripped from her mouth and a tiny bit from her nose - which seemed like a choke, but she wasn't coughing or attempting to. I called the vet and let them know I would be on my way - and asked if it was okay to give her the banamine, which they said so long as it was IV it would be okay. I gave her the shot and then ran to get the trailer hooked up. I pulled the trailer around to the barn, and by then Sweetie was standing calmly by the fenceline - I went over to check her out, and if she looked completely normal, I would not have taken her to the vet. But I heard that weird burp/fluidy sound again and was not taking any chances - I have had Sweetie 19 years, we've been through a handful of colics that have all been very similar, and I had never heard this noise. I prayed it wasn't reflux.

Sweetie did not want to get on the trailer - I couldn't really blame her. I pulled out the lead with the chain which always did the trick when she was younger and more energetic - and that did it first try. Just knowing it was across her nose was enough to coerce her to get in.

By the time we got to the vet's (15 min later) she seemed pretty normal to me and was no longer making any weird throat noises. They drew blood which had a normal PCV (37 I think?), and did a protein test that was slightly high at 6.8, but not horrible. She tubed her, there was not any obstruction at that point (if there had been), everything seemed normal. She got a gallon of mineral oil and some water. The rectal palpation was also normal, everything was soft, no large amounts of gas or fluid anywhere, all seemed pretty dang normal.

What I was worried most about was some kind of obstruction, either in her neck, or something that would cause a reflux (fluid to come up from her stomach into her mouth, that would only happen in the most serious of colics where there was an obstruction). So my worries were calmed, and I decided to go ahead and take her home and watch her. My instructions were to not let her eat until tomorrow morning, and then start her on a half ration of her grain. Well, that, and I could hand walk her once this evening and let her graze on grass.

Everything started about 9am, and we were already home by 11am. But by 3pm, Sweetie had not drank a single sip of water while in her stall. She normally doesn't, the water was fresh... she prefers other water sources. So we grazed for 15 minutes at 3pm and then I took her to the trough where she sipped 3-4 gallons of water. But still not as much as I'd hoped for. I put her back in her stall, hoping to see at least one bowel movement. By 4:30, she still had not drank any water from her bucket, and still no poop. But the water issue was more concerning than the poop at that point - the vet had pulled out a fair amount during the palpation. If she wasn't going to drink water in her stall, we'd have a lot more serious issues to deal with soon - talk about impaction! So, I made the decision to let her out in the field with everyone - and pray that there was not anything seriously wrong with her. Sweetie went straight down to the pond and drank for 2-3 minutes before moving on. I also have a trough that I keep fresh water in, but I guess the pond water was cooler. (It is 104 here today). She looked completely normal as she grazed on the grass, and wandered off with our little herd.

I just went out to check on her - about 9:30pm - in the beautiful moonlight! And she was just fine, munching on some grass with her pals, not a worry at all. I am so thankful that she is doing well, and I know that I made the right decision for my horse. Every time in the past when she has had a mild colic that she has worked through, I have always let her back out in the pasture with grass, skipped a meal and then started back with 1/2 or less the next meal. She has always done fine that way, and I hope that she always will!

But if she does start colicing more frequently - weekly/monthly, then we may need to scope her to look for ulcers. But they want to keep them without food/water for a while before that - and that just doesn't make any sense in this heat (or at all for that matter- horses are supposed to eat all the time, I don't want to interfere with nature). So, it would have to wait until a cooler season at least, if I ever were to go that way. If I do get concerned about ulcers, I'll buy some Stomach Soother (half the cost of scoping) and go from there. I've already seen that work great on a rescue horse.

I also got a call tonight that my hay guy will be baling tomorrow, so we will be loading up 100-150 bales tomorrow in 100 degree heat. And drinking LOTS of water! But I will save 1.50-3.00/bale by doing it this way - that works out to $300-450 in savings! Gotta do it while the price is right - and this may be my last chance to get any hay this year out of the field. The drought down here has been horrible on crops of all kinds. Here's hoping for rain soon!