Friday, December 4, 2009

Gotta Buy More Banamine

Got a call yesterday about 3pm from my barn buddy Jodie it went something like this:

Jodie breathless: Hi Jeni - called horses up to feed afternoon grain and Rosie didn't come. I went looking for her and found her standing head down and covered in mud from top of ears to tail. Got her up to barn and she wouldn't eat her oats.

Now.. anyone who has horses knows this is typically very unusual.

Me: Uh oh... she drinking? She sweating? Temperature?

Jodie: Looking at her gums she's a bit dehydrated, not sweating, temp is normal, good gut sounds on both sides - but I can see her stomach muscles cramp.

Me: Oh NO!!! She's never coliced on me since I've got her in July, not even when I changed her feed from 12% sweet feed to oats and flaxseed oil.

Jodie: I know - I gave her 1000 lb dose of Banamine and I've been walking her. She's not making any move to lay down and roll. Not kicking up at her belly or biting at her belly.

Very scarey when any horse colics, but man you don't want a 2000 pound 16.5 HH horse colicing... Good thing is we keep enough banamine on hand to treat two horses her size.

She didn't need anymore banamine and after about 40 minutes of walking she took a healthy poo. We turned her loose in the pasture after Bonnie and Karaat finished their grain. Rosie didn't get her oats last night just LOTS of hay. We haven't needed to put the heater in the water trough yet, but I had Jodie do it last night.

This morning when Jodie fed breakfast she ate her oats and flaxseed oil right up. Jodie said she's visited the water trough more today then she noticed yesterday. So I wonder if she's one of those temperature sensitive horses?

Bonnie has only coliced once in the four years I've owned her and I know what caused that.... So not knowing what caused Rosie to have a big ole belly ache is really troublesome to me.



8 comments:

  1. Oh boy, nothing worse. When I managed a TB farm we had one or two temp sensitive horses. When a cold front would blow through quickly they would always get colicy. Always had to give them banamine. Hope Rosie feels better soon.

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  2. Very scary - we have a couple who need warm - not just unfrozen - water. We use tank heaters in the turnouts and heated buckets in the stalls. For my big mare, who's had impaction colic twice, I add plain uniodized table salt to her feed AM and PM - I don't use electrolytes as they can increase urination. Good luck!

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  3. Colic is always so scary. My horse used to gas colic all the time. Change of weather mostly did it. I finally lost him two years ago to a bad colic that even the surgery couldn't correct. It's one of the scariest afflictions that some horses are prone to. Glad she's doing fine now.

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  4. The other really scary thing is EPSM (http://www.ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/epsm.htm) often starts or is camouflaged in colic like symptoms. Even though Rosie has never been diagnosed with EPSM I have her on an EPSM diet. Her calories come from oil instead of starches and sugars and she gets all the roughage she can consume.

    Now re-reading the ESPM dietary suggestions I see it says to keep flaxseed oil at lower levels then the other types of oil as it can cause digestive irritation... hmmmm. Maybe I'll try safflower oil or soy.

    I sure thought caring for a draft wouldn't be an different then any other horse I've owned man was I wrong. I think this might be another topic for blogging =)

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  5. Oh it is so horrible when they go through that!! I had a weanling do that for 2 days last week!! I was freaking out, he is a colt I have worked years to get and I was SO afraid he had twisted gut...Luckily after I gave him the Banamine the second day he was better! It is definitely something every horse owner should ALWAYS have!

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  6. Very scary.....I had no idea they could colic from weather change!! I am going to check my supply of Banamine.....

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  7. My guy just colicked last night for the first time on me... He seems ok now though.

    Glad your mare is better...

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  8. Thank you Laura and Regina. Rosie has been her normal piggish self ever since. Laura I hope your guy is ok.

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Happy Trails!

~Jeni