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Colic is a word that makes
most horse owners cringe…
although the term colic actually just means stomach pain, in the horse world it
is usually associated with the extreme pain caused by a twisting or obstruction
of part of the digestive tract – which can quickly lead to death in a horse.
The horses digestive tract is LONG and there are many different locations that
could suffer from colic, as well as many different causes for colic.
The common signs of colic
include:
- Depression
- Lack of appetite
- Restlessness
- Rolling
- Pawing at the ground
- Biting at the flanks
- sweat profusely,
- lie down and get up
frequently,
- roll or lie on their
backs,
- sit
on haunches like a dog,
- have an elevated or below
normal ( with shock setting in ) temperature,
- have an increased
respiration rate,
- have an elevated heart
rate,
- have few or no gut
sounds.
- Muscle tremors or
straining.
The most
common causes of colic are;
-
Intestinal
parasites
-
Dehydration
-
Entroliths
– a mineral coating that forms around a foreign object in the intestine
and enlarges with time.
-
Bacterial
infection
-
Poor
feed management including feeding poor quality or mouldy feed, over feeding,
a sudden change of diet, Spring growth, feeding before a heavy workout
etc… the list is long.
-
Teeth/mouth
problems leading to feed not being chewed properly.
-
Blockages
can be caused by any number of things such as poorly chewed food, horse hair
swallowed while grooming, sand and grit digested when eating off the
ground… the list goes on.
-
Colic
may also be an indictor of other problems such as abscesses or ulcers.
IT
IS MOST IMPORTANT TO GET YOUR VET AS SOON AS COLIC IS SUSPECTED.
THE
SOONER YOUR HORSE HAS MEDICAL ATTENTION THE SOONER YOU CAN REDUCE HIS PAIN AND
THE BETTER THE CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL.
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Colic
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