I can't comment to the
sounds of a gas colic - they haven't made a hearing aid compatible stethoscope
yet, but I have seen two horses die of a "simple"
gas colic. In both
cases, the gas swelled up the gut and the intestines rose up over the spleen,
then the horse rolled violently and got her insides all twisted. I just had my
own bout with a mare that has never colicked. I thought we were experiencing a
mild colic as she was laying down a lot and wasn't too interested in food, but
she didn't act much in pain. A shot of banamine and she perked up. Then the
next evening, she was back down again.
Another shot of banamine
and she was back to normal. When I got home from work the third day and she
was down again, I got the vet out. This wasn't looking to me like a mild colic
anymore. He came and diagnosed her with an impaction. The first round of
mineral oil, Epsom salts and laxatives didn't do much, so off to the hospital
she went, 3 week old foal in tow. She's home now and doing just fine and is
REALLY happy with the alfalfa/brome mix hay I was able to find for her, but
dang, she dropped a LOT of weight in 5 days
time. The day Scarlet came home, a friend had to put her mare down for
something similar that didn't react to treatment. They don't know if that mare
had an impaction or a tumor, but nothing the vet tried worked. Horse care can
be scary sometimes.
Rae
Tall C Arabians - Central Region
Life isn't like a box of chocolates...it's more like a jar of jalapenos.What
you do today, might burn your bum tomorrow.
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dawn Carrie Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 1:56
PM To: Kristi Schaaf Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] Gassy colic
(Angie)
I'm with Kristi...the couple of times we've had gas
colics (well, it was actually my husband's horse, not us), it was due to
ramping up the horse's amount of beet pulp too quickly. He was gassy, and
*very* noisy. And not just excess "normal" sounds...the sounds
were very sharp and kind of "pinging" in nature, instead of the usual
rumbling and squirting noises. He also seemed very painful. Walking
him around seemed to help...it "passed" in an hour or so, and he
started "passing gas" rather loudly for another hour or so (ok, so he
was farting like a bubba at an all-you-can-eat bean buffet...). Once he
started assing the gas, he was fine.
I may be incorrect in my understanding of gassy colic,
but here goes, and someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Hubby's horse gets gas colic if he gets too much lush
grass, and there are no quiet gut moments like your
horse had. That sounded more like an impaction (??) To
me, gassy colic means that there is so much, well, gas
that listening to the guts sounds like listening to
balloons hissing out air, and sometimes like balloons
popping while poltergeists wail in the background.
When this horse gets a strong gas colic, he will
almost literally attack anyone who attempts to touch
his flank. But, according to the vet, gassy colics are
rarely life threatening unless they trigger other
issues - the horse just THINKS he's going to die
because the gas pains are so sharp and painful.
Kristi
Life's a journey, so enjoy the ride (and try not to fall off)
