Re: Daily elyting vs impaction colic

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Tracey, have you had the water quality checked?  It's *totally* abnormal that a horse at rest shouldn't drink, given water that tastes okay.  I'm wondering if there are some dissolved solids or something-or-'nother in the water, or some other reason why he shouldn't want to drink a normal amount.  Something about the water container, or its location or *something*....no way should a horse stop drinking if you stop forcing him via elytes.

 

Worth looking into?

 

Susan G

----- Original Message -----

From: Tracey

To: RIDECAMP

Sent: Monday, April 30, 2001 3:31 AM

Subject: RC: Daily elyting vs impaction colic

Following the recent thread on daily elyting not being advisable (and I understand the reasoning), and because we are going into winter, I decided to stop giving daily elytes to the horses, and instead to elyte only if they had been in hard work and sweating.  I stopped the elytes on Wednesday, and Friday night Toc colicked.  Bad impaction.

 

Unfortunately, I had minor surgery on Thursday, and couldn't check on his water in the stable Thursday night or in the paddock on Friday, but I suspect that he has drunk next to nothing.  My vet, when he did a rectal, said that he doubted he'd drunk anything at all on Friday.

 

So, he had a bran mash on Saturday morning, lunchtime and night, and Sunday morning, and is back on daily elytes, and is once again drinking (not huge amounts, but at least he's drinking).

 

PG's water consumption didn't change at all when I stopped elyting him, so I'm keeping him off of them until he needs them (before a show). 

 

 

Tracey