# Somebody please help me!! Constipation in horses?



## nativebeauty (4 November 2011)

Right....My Horse the last few nights has been very down and almost depressed and has been realy struggling to poo, 

Just to give you abit of a run down, hes a 3 year old PBA, he hasnt gone off of his feed, he is drinking his normal amount and hasnt had any rapid changes in feed (hes had stud cubes added again with his chaff but that was done slowley and hes had them before and was fine), he has a large haynet at night, however the hay that was deliverd is of fairly poor quality and you can smell the mold spores in it, he is turned out every day from around 8 till 4 and has a steady exersize schedule in which i dont hammer him about, just a little bit of lunging or long lining and either a mooch round she school or a short hack a few times a week.

everybody at my yard is telling me im babying him and not to worry however i know my horse and he is not the kind to stand in the corner of his stable with his head hung low, he normally cr*ps for britain however this morning there were only 3 lots of droppings in his stable and when i hacked him out earlier this afternoon i could feel he needed to go however he couldnt.
he doesent seem to be in pain although does seem uncomfortable and keeps biting his belly.  

Im very worried hes got impaction colic and would like a few words of advice from all you lovley people and although i have many years of experiance with horses, i dont have much experiance with colic or constipation  (thank god!!)
Of corse i will call the vet out if he is still the same tomorow so please dont scrutinise me for not doing so already
Panic over! thanks inadvance!


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## rockysmum (4 November 2011)

Ring the vet straight away.  Sounds like some sort of colic to me and you cant take chances with it.

I would not feed mouldy hay under any circumstances, even if I had to put a bale in the car, just not worth the risk.

Good luck


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## nativebeauty (4 November 2011)

thank you for the advice! glad im not the only one who thinks theres somthing wrong with my poor boy!


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## Sparkly Snowdrop (4 November 2011)

Phone the Vet. Mouldy hay can cause colic. Not something I would take a chance with!


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## Dancing Queen (4 November 2011)

WHY THE F    WOULD YOU WAIT?

If you think its colic you need IMMEDIATE VET attention.


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## be positive (4 November 2011)

Poor quality/mouldy hay can cause impaction so vet in morning if not back to normal. If he is constipated it will be potentially damaging him and it is not worth waiting, a visit from the vet early enough can prevent the horse deteriorating and needing surgery. 
 I would not feed hay to mine if it smelt mouldy it is not worth the risk,not only colic  but the damage to the airways will be an ongoing concern.


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## ex racer rider (4 November 2011)

Call the vet asap and change your hay supplier


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## Natz88 (4 November 2011)

About 4yrs ago my mums cob become very constipated wasn't eating, drinking couldn't poo etc. We called the vet immediately & he was completely blocked which was caused by him stuffing himself silly on his straw bed, he was horsey hospital for about 3 days he was so blocked. He is now on shavings. So I would call a vet sooner rather than later. Hope he gets better soon


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## noodle_ (4 November 2011)

erm vet.

ive never heard of a horse being just "ill" and having constipation....normally colic!

call the vet asap - like tonight - not tomorow!!!


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## nativebeauty (4 November 2011)

Dancing Queen said:



			WHY THE F    WOULD YOU WAIT?

If you think its colic you need IMMEDIATE VET attention.
		
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Sorry but i do not apreciate your tone, im asking for advice there is no need to rude and disrispectfull of my decisions, as i said, i am going to call the vet first thing tomorow morning.
I have been told by 90% of my yard not to worry and its nothing but i knew that wasnt the case hence why im writing on here. sadly i have just called my vets mobile and they cannot get anybody out till 9 tomorow morning anyway (Great vet aye!)


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## rockysmum (4 November 2011)

nativebeauty said:



			Sorry but i do not apreciate your tone, im asking for advice there is no need to rude and disrispectfull of my decisions, as i said, i am going to call the vet first thing tomorow morning.
		
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While I agree with you on the tone.  Dont wait until tomorrow.  Things can take a turn for the worse very quickly.  If it does tomorrow morning can be too late.  You would never forgive yourself.


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## be positive (4 November 2011)

When did you last check him today? It is late to be asking for advice at 11pm so if you have just been out to see him  how was he ? if he is not right get the vet now it is not something that just goes away it can be very serious.


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## Nickijem (4 November 2011)

I would definitely call your vet tonight. You don't want your horse to suffer all night. He could be a lot worse by morning if it is impaction colic, which it certainly sounds like.


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## Sparkly Snowdrop (4 November 2011)

Change your Vet, if they can't come out to what could be an emergency they aren't worth it. 

Do 90% of your yard have experience of Colic? I do and I wouldn't be waiting till morning.


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## Circe (4 November 2011)

I'm agreeing with everyone else... call the vet tonight.
If its colic ( certainly sounds like it is ) it could deteriate overnight, and its not really fair to leave the horse in pain any longer than needs be.
It can't cost much more to have a vet tonight than tomorrow am?  
Kx


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## noodle_ (4 November 2011)

my horses idea of colic is a quivering lip and shuffly feet

I have been only the person who noticed this 3 times... (Vet out twice as like you the first time we thought it was nothing  - specifically a tantrum!)



colic can show very minor signs as well as very major ones...

I had the vet out on a sat and on a sunday - both very bad times and very expensive. but it could have been a lot worse


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## Chavhorse (4 November 2011)

nativebeauty said:



			Right....My Horse the last few nights has been very down and almost depressed and has been realy struggling to poo, 

he is not the kind to stand in the corner of his stable with his head hung low, he normally cr*ps for britain however this morning there were only 3 lots of droppings in his stable and when i hacked him out earlier this afternoon i could feel he needed to go however he couldnt.
he doesent seem to be in pain although does seem uncomfortable and keeps biting his belly.
		
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Going by the symptoms you describe you need to get on the telephone to the emergency vet and ask him to come out now.

My YO has called the vet out for a horse who has not crapped a lot over the day showing no other symptoms at all, we called the vet out for my horse when he appeared to have trouble peeing, he was munching his hay at the time, vet arrived and diagnosed the beginnings of colic.

Horses do not tend to get constipation they get colic and they can go from mildly uncomfortable to a terrible turn for the worst very quickly.

Please make that call.


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## Dancing Queen (4 November 2011)

TBH i dont care if you take offence or not - You surely now how serious Colic is and you are talking about waiting until tomorrow until the calling the vet. Get over yourself and get the vet. Then when your horse is ok, you can take offence.


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## rockysmum (4 November 2011)

If you really cant get your vet to come out try find another one who will, ask others on the yard if they know of one.  Definately go and take his hay out, it will only make him worse if he eats any more.

Good luck to you and your boy.

And change vets to a decent one with 24/7 cover tomorrow anyway.


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## Circe (4 November 2011)

Sorry, just read your edited post saying you've rung the vet and they aren't coming until tomorrow at 9am.
Do they know that this is potentially colic? If you told them what you said here about his symptoms, then it is disgraceful that they aren't coming out now, and you need to call a different vet.
As for 90% of your yard... are they qualified vets? 
Kx


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## Marydoll (5 November 2011)

rockysmum said:



			Ring the vet straight away.  Sounds like some sort of colic to me and you cant take chances with it.

I would not feed mouldy hay under any circumstances, even if I had to put a bale in the car, just not worth the risk.

Good luck
		
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Agree with this, your horse needs to see a vet


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## Marydoll (5 November 2011)

Have just read your post saying vet cant come till morning ...... thats unacceptable, get another vet immediatly, if this is colic and im sorry for being blunt but, your horse could be past help or god forbid dead in a horrendous way, i wouldnt accept this timescale from any vet with the S&S youve described.


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## Tormenta (5 November 2011)

Impaction colic is a truly horrendously painful and potentially lethal colic, I sat with a mare for over 24 hours, touch and go with this. I am absolutely astonished that your vet has not taken this seriously.

I hope your boy is okay.


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## Pearlsasinger (5 November 2011)

I'm not sure I can believe what I am reading!
Have I got this right?
You have been feeding your horse mouldy hay, the horse has been showing signs of 'constipation' (usually known as colic, in horses) for several days, you have finally rung the vet who refuses to come out until tomorrow morning.  90% of your fellow liveries say they can see nothing wrong with your horse.
If that is right, ring a different vet IMMEDIATELY, throw your hay away and change your hay supplier.  Then get yourself a good reference book about horse health and read it, then lend it to your fellow liveries, who obviously need it.


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## Noodlebug (5 November 2011)

Hmm


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## Alphamare (5 November 2011)

Is this a wind up? I struggle to see how any horse owner can be so blasé about colic!

Colic KILLS!

And op I don't give a **** if you take offence as I am quite seriously stunned you didn't get a vet days ago when your horse exhibits symptoms.

The longer you wait the higher the chance you horse will DIE!

This is not one of those times where it's not always necessary to call the vet immediately. I'm not one that calls the vet often at all but you can bet my horse would have seen the vet the first day it showed symptoms!

Please god tell me this is a wind up. Op I am surprised that you have only had one poster go off at you, I am also vlconcerned that you don't seem to understand the reason for her tone or mine!

I can't put it any simpler than delaying may very likely KILL your horse! Can you live with that? Can you really not see that we don't want you to have to so are resorting to harsh and URGENT tones!

This is a veterinary EMERGENCY!

Fire your vet and your hayman! Shame on a vet practice who won't send someone out to a colic case!


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## Garfield1537 (5 November 2011)

A friends horse has the same if she has haulage, bet called it impactation! Hopefully you have called vet and defo think due to the mouldy hay! 
Logically imagine if you ate food that was mouldy you would be poorly too! Hope horsey gets well soon.


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## Wagtail (5 November 2011)

nativebeauty said:



			Right....My Horse the last few nights has been very down and almost depressed and has been realy struggling to poo, 

Just to give you abit of a run down, hes a 3 year old PBA, he hasnt gone off of his feed, he is drinking his normal amount and hasnt had any rapid changes in feed (hes had stud cubes added again with his chaff but that was done slowley and hes had them before and was fine), he has a large haynet at night, however the hay that was deliverd is of fairly poor quality and you can smell the mold spores in it, he is turned out every day from around 8 till 4 and has a steady exersize schedule in which i dont hammer him about, just a little bit of lunging or long lining and either a mooch round she school or a short hack a few times a week.

everybody at my yard is telling me im babying him and not to worry however i know my horse and he is not the kind to stand in the corner of his stable with his head hung low, he normally cr*ps for britain however this morning there were only 3 lots of droppings in his stable and when i hacked him out earlier this afternoon i could feel he needed to go however he couldnt.
he doesent seem to be in pain although does seem uncomfortable and keeps biting his belly.  

Im very worried hes got impaction colic and would like a few words of advice from all you lovley people and although i have many years of experiance with horses, i dont have much experiance with colic or constipation  (thank god!!)
Of corse i will call the vet out if he is still the same tomorow so please dont scrutinise me for not doing so already
Panic over! thanks inadvance!
		
Click to expand...



You need the vet now. I can't believe you hacked the poor boy out. 

Your horse has impaction colic. Looking at his sides means he is in a great deal of pain. And he is only 3. Poor poor boy. Your fellow liveries are clueless.


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## Ladylina83 (5 November 2011)

Hi hows her feeling this morning ?


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## Rose Folly (5 November 2011)

Only read this morning. Please tell us in due course that you have had the vet, and what happened.

Never NEVER ignore signs of colic. I've lost 2 horses with it over the years, and though I acted quickly it wasn't quickly enough!

I can't understand your vet's attitude. Even if he/she had come last night, putting the situation at its most mundane and ignoring the horse's suffereing, it's better to come out early in the night, administer Buscapan, stay with the horse an hour etc etc., than maybe having to put a horse down, with all that entails, a few hours later.


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## **Vanner** (5 November 2011)

I hope your boy is better this morning or is at least getting the veterinary help he should have had some time ago!


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## Noodlebug (5 November 2011)

I think must be a wind up or vet not had full story!


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## rockysmum (5 November 2011)

Sam100 said:



			I think must be a wind up or vet not had full story!
		
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I did wonder last night if it was a wind up.

However I think you always have to assume its not, the last time it was for real and the poor horse ended up being PTS.


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## noodle_ (5 November 2011)

up. anymore news?


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## Marydoll (5 November 2011)

If this is a wind up im disgusted with them, ive seen horses die from colic and to think this a way to have a bit of fun, they seriously need to have a reality check


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## Holly Hocks (5 November 2011)

OMG - I've only just seen this.  I hope the vet has been called for this horse.....


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## beeswax (5 November 2011)

Hear hear Dancing Queen - get a vet out.  It could have eaten some of the plastic wrapping that goes around the haylage, (before the name calling bridage start - yes i have seen a piece hanging out of a horses ass before so it does happen). Good luck, please dont wait until tomorrow.


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## lhotse (5 November 2011)

I think this is a troll/windup. The OP states that the horse has been off colour for a few days, yet still rode it yesterday. Hmmm.


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## Noodlebug (12 November 2011)

Any update??


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