Yes, the vet did tap the abdomen to
see if there was any food matter there, which would have told her that his
stomach had ruptured. She got a little blood, but no food, but needless
to say, we were watching him pretty closely that first night.
Rae
From: Don Huston
[mailto:donhuston@xxxxxxx] Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006
11:50 AM To: Rae Callaway Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] Old horse -
impaction
Hello Rae,
Very sad, I have dealt with 4 of these no pooping situations. I would first get
a belly tap to see if he has ruptured a gut and if so then put him down right
away. Next would be an xray for stones. If okay I would start giving him lots
of movement, 2-3 hour steady walks, put him in a trailer and take a drive, make
sure to wet down any food (not all soggy just damp) and feed small amounts
every 4-6 hours. My experience was 2 were ruptured and put down, 1 had 3 huge
stones and put down but 1 stepped in the trailer to go get xrays and sprayed
crap everywhere while me and the owner cheered. Good Luck,
Don Huston
At 08:16 AM 9/2/2006 Saturday, you wrote:
One of my boarders is a 23 year old gelding. Last weekend
I noticed that he wasnt that interested in his feed, so on Monday, I had
the vet out, thinking he had bit his cheeks up again. Turned out that he
had aserious
impaction that was just out of reach of the vet to be able to manipulate.
She refluxed his stomach, then gave him water, electrolytes and laxative by
tube. My orders were to not feed him until he pooped and keep track of
his water intake. The ownerdid not want to send him to the equine hospital for
fluids. Well, its been almost a week now, hes had 3 laxative
treatments and no food at all and he still has not pooped. The vet says
theresnothing
else she can do here and the owner still does not want to spend for him to go
to the hospital. I cant take not feeding this guy anymore.
Hes dropped so much weight in just a week. Starting yesterday
evening, Ive put him out on the yard so he can graze. I still kinda
hate to give him pellets & hay, which are dry, but Im hoping the grass
will help get him moisture and maybe something in his stomach may help geteverything moving again.
Any suggestions out
there? Is there a point where I need to tell his owners to think of
putting him down? Have we already passed that point? Is there
anything else I can give him or do?
