Colic in horse is a complication in the gastrointestinal system that causes abdominal pain. It can also involve pain and discomfort in the stomach or abdomen that is not necessarily involved with digestive tract. Colic in horse, unlike colic in babies, has no definitive pattern of when it appears. It seemingly occurs randomly at any age.
It can be fatal in many cases, especially if left untreated. Horse colic is one of the leading causes of death and once you notice the symptoms of it in your horse, you must treat it immediately.
There are many causes of colic in horse. One of the main causes is an impaction of objects in horse's gastrointestinal tract. These can include food materials, gas build up, sand, dirt and mineral deposits they may accumulate over time. Parasites such as roundworms, tapeworms and other common parasitic worms found in domestic live stocks are also known causes of horse colic. Complications in structure of intestines can cause colic but problems in other organs including, but not limited to, kidneys, ovaries and spleen contribute to symptoms of colic.
How can you tell whether your horse has colic? This can be tricky as many horses with colic tend to toughen it out and appear normal to naked eyes. You must pay close attention to its behaviors to catch symptoms of colic. Here are some of the common symptoms of colic in horse: loss of appetite or outright refusal of food, trouble passing bowel movement, rolling on the ground vigorously, fatigue after even a light exercise and excessive lip curling.
There are preventive measures you can take to minimize the risk of your horse developing colic. Most important of all is to get routine medical checkups from veterinarian and deworm the horse regularly. Provide clean and fresh water at all times and prevent your horse from drinking dirty, contaminated water. Feeding the horse with strict schedule helps reduce the risk of colic as well as feeding same diet that is low on grains and carbohydrates. And last but not least, don't allow your horse to eat from the ground to prevent from it eating foreign materials that can impact its digestive tract.
Colicky horse can be extremely violent so you should take precautions necessary to prevent injury to you and the horse itself. If the horse rolls persistently, you should take it out for a walk to distract it from pain and discomfort. When walking the horse is not an option, confine the horse in a small space where it won't be able to roll violently and injure itself. When the symptoms persists or gets worst, you should call the veterinarian immediately.
|
|