Colic Series Part 3: Prevention

This is Part 3, and the conclusion of our Colic Series. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here for a basic overview of equine GI anatomy, the difference between medical and surgical colic, and some colic causes.

 For what to expect financially from a colic episode, how to plan, and some of the more common causes of colic we see here in Colorado, click here for Part 2.

 Today, we’ll be talking about what you can do as horse owners to help prevent colic.

 

In part 2 of the colic series, we covered the “common” causes of colic on the Front Range, particularly here at Mobile Veterinary Services.   Unfortunately, there is no ‘magic’ formula to keep colic out of your barn, but there are a few precautions that can certainly reduce your risk.

Consistency

The first and most important rule is to understand that horses thrive on consistency.  Keeping their routine as routine as you can is imperative -from feeding amounts and times to their turnout and exercise program.   If you do have something that is changing (a new load of hay for example), monitor them closely and try to make that change over several days.

Weather can be a trigger as well -with winter firmly settled in here in Colorado, our weather fluctuations are constant and unrelenting.  It’shorseblizzard common to see 5 below zero one day and 50 degrees 2 days later.  These constant changes are terribly difficult on horses and their bellies!  Consistency in every other aspect of their lives can help to mitigate the effects of the things, like weather, that we cannot change.

Horse Drinking from Stock TankWater

Water is imperative to all life.  Domesticated horses who live on hay have had most of the water they would naturally consume (via live grasses) removed from their diet.  As a result, our horses need access to liquid water at all times, whether this means keeping the ice off in the winter so they always have access, or keeping plenty of it available in the summer.  Restriction from water for even as little as 2-3 hours can drastically increase chances of colic issues. 

Dietary habits and changes

Hay diets and domestication have also led to horses eating larger, more infrequent meals.  Horses are designed to graze all day, and a horse on pasture or in the wild will be grazing 18-20 hours per day.  This constant eating keeps the large colon full and occupied, and the GI tract working optimally.

Although domesticated horses may be “getting enough calories,” they are consuming them over a much shorter period of time, which could potentially increase colic risk as the GI tract experiences being full, then empty, then full – not a normal state of affairs for the horse.

Parasites

Parasite infestation is a known risk factor for colic so deworming is a very important part of not only good husbandry, but also good colic prevention!

 Fecal egg counts can determine whether your horse is a low, medium, or high shedder, allowing you to tailor your deworming program accordingly to your horses’ needs (instead of blanket deworming which can contribute to parasites building resistance to dewormers, rendering the dewormers ineffective).

Sand

With good preventive measures, sand can be eliminated as a risk factor.  The problem simply needs to be identified.  In our practice area, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have “sand” where your horses eat.  We have seen horses in the mountains of Colorado living on a hillside end up with sand in their colon.  Decomposed Granite (DG) can act just like sand!!  Commercial  preparations of psyllium hulls fed on a regular basis can squelch the issue.

Dentition

Photo Courtesy PugnoM on Flickr
Photo Courtesy PugnoM on Flickr

Like deworming on an appropriate schedule, regular and appropriate dental care is imperative to a good colic prevention program.  If your horse can chew his food well, it can reduce his colic risk, not to mention increase feed efficiency.

Senior horses can be particularly prone to this issue, but it can affect any horse of any age. Horses under the age of 5, and seniors should have their teeth checked every 6 months. Horses in their prime with good mouths can probably go a year.

There is no way to eliminate the risk of colic in horses… unless you are on a carousel.  But with good management and some preventative measures, you can significantly reduce the risk.  Again, the best advice we can give is that horses thrive on consistency, and the more consistent we are in all things we do “horse,” the happier our horses are!

Colic Series Part 2: Planning, Costs, and Common Colics in Colorado

This is Part 2 of our Colic Series. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here for a basic overview of equine GI anatomy, the difference between medical and surgical colic, and some colic causes.

 

Today, we’ll be talking about planning for colic, costs of colic treatment, and some of the more common causes of colic we see here in Colorado.

 

Colic Planning – Before it Happens

 

Colic is an issue that we as horse owners and veterinarians just have to live with.  If you own horses long enough, you will eventually get to deal with a colicky horse (hopefully just a little medical one), and knowing how you are going to handle the situation can ease the stress and panic of the situation.  You should have this conversation with both your veterinarian and your family.

 

Planning with Your Veterinarianveterinarians-739365_1280

 

With your veterinarian, you should discuss knowing when to call and how urgent the situation may be, as well as the kinds of information your veterinarian is going to need from you – things like temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, discomfort level, etc.

 

Your veterinarian can guide you in how to get this information, and how to prepare before colic occurs with anything you might need, such as a thermometer and a knowledge of your horses’ baseline vital signs.

 

Your veterinarian can also talk you through the escalating steps of colic, and the probable outlook for your horse in each. For example, if your horse needs hospitalization, what would that entail? If your horse needs surgery, what are their odds of survival, and their ability to thrive after surgery?

 

Different scenarios can mean different long-term outlooks. Some surgical intervention is minimally stressful on the horse and has a very good long-term outlook, while some surgical interventions may involve cutting away dead tissues that could affect your horses’ long-term survival in a negative way. You should understand what these scenarios would look like, and what your decision would be in each.

 

Planning with Your Family

 

child-931154_1920With your family, you should plan for whatever situation you may face, while you’re not in an emotionally heightened frame of mind.  This conversation should include both talk of a budget and the limits of “what you want to put your horse through.”

 

Hopefully your situation would just be a simple medical colic that is treatable in the field.  But there could be occasions when your horse will need more help than we can give in the field.  If your horse needs hospitalization, that doesn’t necessarily mean surgery, but it could. Would your horse be a candidate for hospitalization and supportive care? Would your horse be a candidate for surgical intervention? You must know your limits both financially and emotionally.

 

Each of these can be progressively harder on the horses, but also on your budget.  Each of these steps can cost significantly more than the one before, and as much as we’d like to not have money be a factor with our horses’ care, the brutal truth is that it is. Surgical intervention can cost upwards of $10,000. A hospital stay can be over $4,000. Can your budget handle these large expenses?

 

As with most things “horse,” planning is crucial.  It is far easier to have discussed and planned before the crisis occurs.  At the time of the colic, emotions run high, and emotion-based decisions, whatever they might be, can be regretted.

 

 

Common Colics We See in Colorado

 

Gas Colicthe-horse-484614_1920

 

Here at MVS, the vast majority of the colicky horses we see are “simple colics.”  Usually there has been some kind of change – feed, environment, even weather.  These changes can lead to “spasmodic” or “gas” colic.  In essence this is “indigestion” in the large fermenting portion of the colon.  This indigestion causes cramping and discomfort, which present to us as “signs” of colic.

 

Left untreated, the horse may quietly work his way through the issue, with no assistance. Alternatively, the situation could worsen.  There is no way to know which direction each individual horse or individual episode will go.

 

Impaction Colic

 

Here in Colorado, worsening is often due to dehydration.  Because of the gut pain, the horse is not eating, and in most cases they are not drinking either.  Dehydration, along with the “indigestion,” can lead to impactions, the second most common type of colic we manage here at MVS.

 

An impaction is essentially constipation.  The drying out of the body due to dehydration dries out the contents of the gut, making it more difficult to pass manure.  As the gut tries to move this mass, it creates discomfort.  Impactions generally take a little more care and time to get through.

 

Displacement Colic

 

The more severe colics are the exception rather than the rule.  These horses look far more uncomfortable, and need more medical help.  These more severe cases are usually the displacement colics we mentioned in Part 1, and should be quickly referred to a hospital so the horse has the best chance of survival. Waiting only runs down the horses’ energy reserves, strength, and immune system, making it that much more difficult to survive a surgical intervention.

 

Any colic we as horse owners or veterinarians face can be daunting, but thankfully, with quick response and appropriate attention, most can be quickly squelched.  Stay tuned for Part 3 of our colic series, which will focus on what we as horse owners and veterinarians can do to help prevent colic episodes.

 

 

Choke – What is it?

Choke in humans is often an obstruction of the trachea leading to a restriction in the air passage into the lungs. In horses, “choke” is an esophageal obstruction that’s a serious condition but most of the time not an immediately life threatening one. That said, there are complications that can arise secondary to the choke, which can become life threatening.

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VS Update from State Veterinarian’s Office – 7/2/2015 Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) – Positive Diagnosis in Two Colorado Counties

animals CDA bannerSTATE VETERINARIAN’S OFFICE (VS) – Positive Diagnosis in Two Colorado Counties Tips for Livestock Owners and Veterinarians Horses on two Montrose and one Delta County premises tested positive for the disease and have been placed under quarantine. Colorado has become the fourth state in the country to have confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in 2015. Previous positive cases of vesicular stomatitis this year have been diagnosed in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

On July 2nd, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory reported positive tests on samples submitted from horses in Montrose and Delta Counties. The initial Colorado disease investigations were accomplished by field veterinarians from the State Veterinarian’s Office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

“The primary spread of VS is thought to occur through insect vectors; the horses involved in these cases have no history of travel,” said State Veterinarian, Dr. Keith Roehr. “Vesicular stomatitis can be painful for animals and costly to their owners. The virus typically causes oral blisters and sores that can be painful causing difficulty in eating and drinking.”

A 2014 outbreak of VS created 556 livestock investigations in Colorado resulting in 370 quarantines with the final quarantines released in January 2015. Livestock owners who suspect an animal may have VS or any other vesicular disease should immediately contact their local veterinarian.

Livestock with clinical signs of VS are isolated until they are determined to be of no further threat for disease spread. There are no USDA approved vaccines for VS. While rare, human cases of VS can occur, usually among those who handle infected animals. VS in humans can cause flu-like symptoms and only rarely includes lesions or blisters.

New for 2015 VS Investigations: A notable change in the 2015 State response to VS has come from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) delisting of VS as a foreign animal disease in horses; VS continues to be listed as a foreign animal disease for cattle and other livestock. This USDA procedural change will allow greater flexibility in how VS is managed in respect to equine cases. The primary change will now be that quarantines may be released as soon as 14 days after the onset of clinical signs of the last affected horse on a premises.

“Science has shown that the transmission of the virus is for a brief period of time after the initial clinical signs of VS. Our goal is to appropriately adjust our response to this disease to reduce the negative economic impact to the equine community,” continued Roehr.

With the delisting of VS as a foreign animal disease, Colorado veterinarians may now take a lead role in the management of the disease in equine cases. In earlier cases, CDA or USDA field vets were required to perform the disease investigations on horses; the delisting now allows local veterinarians to perform the initial investigations, collect samples, and collaborate with animal health officials regarding movement restrictions and quarantines. The Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has been approved to perform VS tests on horses in Colorado. This will provide a more timely response on test results.

Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) Signs and Transmission:

VS susceptible species include horses, mules, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, pigs, and camelids. The clinical signs of the disease include vesicles, erosions and sloughing of the skin on the muzzle, tongue, teats and above the hooves of susceptible livestock. Vesicles are usually only seen early in the course of the disease. The transmission of vesicular stomatitis is not completely understood but components include insect vectors, mechanical transmission, and livestock movement.

Tips for Livestock Owners:

Strict fly control is an important factor to inhibit the transmission of the disease. Avoid transferring feeding equipment, cleaning tools or health care equipment from other herds. Colorado veterinarians and livestock owners should contact the state of destination when moving livestock interstate to ensure that all import requirements are met. A list of contact information for all state veterinarians’ offices is available at: http://www.colorado.gov/aganimals. Colorado fairs, livestock exhibitions, and rodeos may institute new entry requirements based on the extent and severity of the current VS outbreak. Certificates of Veterinary Inspection issued within 2-5 days prior to an event can beneficial to reduce risks. Be sure to stay informed of any new livestock event requirements.

Important Points for Veterinarians:

Any vesicular disease of livestock is reportable to the State Veterinarian’s Office in Colorado – to report call 303-869-9130. If after-hours, call the same number to obtain the phone number of the staff veterinarian on call. With the delisting of VS as a foreign animal disease, Colorado veterinarians may now take a lead role in the management of the disease in equine cases. In earlier cases, CDA or USDA field vets were required to perform the disease investigations on horses; the delisting now allows local veterinarians to perform the initial investigations, collect samples, and collaborate with animal health officials regarding movement restrictions and quarantines. In livestock other than equine VS is still considered a foreign animal disease, any case with clinical signs consistent with VS will warrant an investigation by a state or federal foreign animal disease diagnostician (FADD). When VS is suspected in livestock other than equine the FADD will gather the epidemiological information, take the necessary blood samples, collect the necessary fluid or tissue from the lesions, and inform the owners and the referring veterinarian as to necessary bio-security and movement restrictions.

During the event, important VS disease prevention procedures include minimizing the sharing of water and feed/equipment, applying insect repellent daily (especially to the animal’s ears), and closely observing animals for signs of vesicular stomatitis.

For additional information, contact the Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office at 303-869-9130 or to view the current location of cases and other important updates and information you can visit: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2Faphis_content_library%2Fsa_our_focus%2Fsa_animal_health%2Fsa_animal_disease_information%2Fsa_equine_health%2Fsa_vesicular_stomatitis%2Fct_vesicular_stomatitis.