Hints, tips and current news about horse colic prevention, management and aftercare. Have a horse colic story to tell or a tip to share? Post it here.
Horse Colic Blog
Injection to Resolve Ileal Impaction
An injection of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) -- a common food additive -- may resolve ileal impaction horse colic. Ileal impactions are common in horses that eat Coastal Bermudagrass hay. Often, these cases are treated medically but surgery is sometimes indicated. Abdominal surgery is risky and recovery is slow.
Christopher G. Alford, DVM and R. Reid Hanson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, ACVECC,…
New Horse Colic Drug
An exciting new development in the treatment of horse colic: Robenacoxib, a new class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that target pain-causing enzymes without killing off intestine-protecting other enzymes.
Currently, the most commonly prescribed colic pain reliever is flunixin meglumine. While an effective pain killer, this drug can cause gastrointestinal problems. Because the colic…
Winter Feeding
In cold weather, increase hay, not grains. Yes, your horse needs more energy to keep warm, but the increased carbohydrates found in grain can lead to stomach upset. Additionally, hay is a more efficient "heat source" for your horse. Your horse digests hay with the help of microbes found in the cecum and colon. These organisms give off lots of body-warming metabolic heat.
There are some very…
Horse Breeds And Colic
If you and your Chihuahua decided to move to Alaska, you would take precautions. You'd buy him a sweater...maybe a heated pet bed. Why? Because a tiny, hairless native of Mexico is not built for the tundra.
The same is true for horses. Some breeds developed in desert-like conditions with very sparse grazing. Lush, abundant pasture may seem like horse-heaven on earth, but in truth, some of these…
Spring Horse Colic
Spring is coming. Create a grazing schedule to reduce spring colic risk.
In early spring, many horses find themselves confined to their stalls. Why? To prevent damage to fragile, growing pasture grass. In theory, this is a good idea: you definitely want a full stand of nutritious grass for summer forage. But when horses are confined during this period of intense grass growth, they are not eating…
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