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RE: [RC] [RC] to blanket or not - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.

Thanks for the info, Susan. I do feed about 30-40 percent alfalfa during the winter and during colder spells (low 30s) I feed about 25 percent more hay, but it was someone else wondering about acclimating their horse to colder temps.  Anyway, in reading the article that Patti referenced below, it got me wondering about impactions in the cold weather from horses not wanting to drink very cold water, and someone recently asking about giving fluids rectally. So I wondered, if you suspected a horse were impacted would it help to give a Fleets enema, like we do with the newborns? Or are they too small to be effective? Just curious. 

 

Kathy

 

 

Oops, sorry, couldn’t keep track of who started what questions. J

 

Fleet enemas are way too small to do any practical good.  If the horse is impacted, you really do need a vet to administer large amounts of fluids via NG tube, IVs, whatever.  Note in my previous post re enemas the warnings and risks involved with trying to administer an enema to a horse---about 2 years ago, I was on my way to see a colicky horse at a local barn.  I was maybe a half hour away, the horse needed treatment but wasn’t critical, thrashing on the ground or anything like that.  A local shoer who shall remain unnamed (mostly because I don’t know who it was, for which he should be grateful) told the owner, “Hey, let me show you how to save a $300 colic bill”, stuck a hose up the horse’s behind and turned it on.  When I got there, the horse had a ruptured rectal wall and probably ten gallons of water and feces sloshing around the abdominal cavity.  Yup, the owner saved a $300 colic bill and instead paid it to the woman who hauls away dead horses.  Nice work.

 

As for horses not drinking enough water when it’s really cold, yes, they definitely drink more when it’s a bit warmer than iceberg.  They did good research on it in dairy cows as well (because more water intake means more milk production) and found water intake increases by about 10% (which is significant) when you raise the temp to 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit, or improve the water quality or do anything else to make it more appealing.  I realize warming water can be a good trick in cold climates, but it’s useful if you can figure out how to do it and how to pay the electric bill for having done it.  When my guys were having to break ice to get into their troughs, I’d try to get out at least once a day and bring each a bucket of nice, warm “tea”---some alfalfa pellets dissolved with some molasses in a bucket of warm water.  They slurped it down as a treat and at least got in an gallon or two extra a day.

 

Susan Garlinghouse, DVM

 

 

 


Replies
[RC] [RC] to blanket or not, sherman