b'Arizona Ask the VetREAL EQUINE EMERGENCIESCOUNTRY COLIC & ACUTE the magazine DIARRHEA/COLITIS The C word can strike fear into even the most experienced horse owner. Certainly, colic signs should always be Mike Barna taken seriously, but more often than not, colic can be Publisher resolved with minimal intervention.ArizonaRealCountryMagazine@gmail.com Colic is a generic term used to describe abdominal discomfort. It can be caused by a number of different Erika Smith Royal things including mild spasms of the intestines, gas distension of the large colon, an impaction, or a large Editor colon displacement or twist that requires surgical erika963realcountry@gmail.com correction. Every horse exhibits different signs, but the most common signs include not eating, looking at the belly, pawing, curling the upper lip, laying down, rolling, Misty Voitovski restless behavior, getting up and down, and decreasedinstructed to clean the wound as best as possible and manure production. apply a clean bandage until the veterinarian can arrive. Creative Director Often, it is necessary to sedate the horse to adequately If you think your horse is colicking the first thing to doassess the extent of a wound. Small wounds on the body is to remove all feed. Also, if possible, take your horsesand head generally heal very well on their own, but Contributing Writers temperature and heart rate. Make note of all of theseit is always a good idea to discuss specifics with your Lee Anderson, Hannah Hanson, things for your vet.veterinarian. If there is not serious bleeding and your Justin Legler, Charlie LeSueur, horse is not in distress there usually will be no harm if Diarrhea can vary from soft, semi-formed manure tothe wound is not sutured for several hours.Mark Melkowski, Betsy Nunn, liquid feces and can be caused by a number of different Jim Olson, Robert Piekow, things ranging from a change in diet to a potentiallySUDDEN ONSET, SEVERE LAMENESSBill Roberts, Alan Rockman,life-threatening infection. Check to see if there is a feverAny rapid onset, severe lameness such as non-weight and if he is off feed or overtly uncomfortable. Be sure tobearing lameness, toe-touching or an overtly lame Bob Roloff, John Samsill,note if there have been any recent feed changes, travel orwalk should be taken seriously. It could be caused by Hank Sheffer, Buddy Uldrikson,exposure to other horses. If your horse is bright, eating anda benign hoof abscess, a fracture or many things in Joyce White drinking normally, does not have a fever and the diarrheabetween. Hoof abscesses or sole bruising are the most is not continuous, then you should continue to monitorcommon cause of sudden onset lameness in one limb. him closely for the next 12-24 hours. Isolation from otherExamine your horse for any wounds, heat or swelling 801 W. Wickenburg Way horses is always a good idea in case there is an infectiousin the affected limb. Check the foot especially well for a cause.If diarrhea does not resolve or if any of the above- penetrating wound, a foreign body like a nail in the foot Wickenburg, AZ 85390 mentioned signs develop, call your vet for further advice. or for any problems with a shoe. Dont remove a foreign body from your horses foot. It is extremely helpful for (602) 254-6644 LACERATIONS AND PUNCTURE WOUNDS the vet to be able to see it in place and possibly even take If you find a wound or laceration the first things to askan x-ray to determine exactly what structures of the foot ArizonaRealCountry.com yourself are:may be involved. If your horse has been shod in the past few days, it may be a close or hot nail that needs to Is the horse in immediate distress? Non-weightbe removed. If the horse is willing to walk, get him to bearing lame, literally will not use the limb to move ora safe place. If the horse is resistant or appears to be in seems to be in shock.If the horse is in distress, get it to adistress do not force him to move. Check your horses safe place and call the vet for further advice. temperature. The presence of fever with acute onset lameness is a more significant concern and medications Is there active bleeding? Like a large, activelylike bute or Banamine can mask a fever. Your veterinarian pumping vessel or bleeding that looks like you justwill decide the best course of action with the help of your Follow Arizona Realturned on the faucet. If there is active bleeding, apply aaccurate description of the situation.clean pressure bandage or simply hold a clean towel or Country for news, events,dressing over the wound and apply pressure with yourESOPHAGEAL OBSTRUCTION own hands to stop bleeding. If you do not have a cleanIf the esophagus is blocked by a wad of inadequately giveaways and more! pressure bandage use anything available. Do not removechewed feed material you will most often see your horse the dressing if it becomes saturated, just add more layers.coughing, stretching out his head and neck, acting very Removing the dressing may remove any clot that hasanxious and sometimes looking like he is trying to vomit. Arizona Real Country is owned anddeveloped allowing more bleeding. Have a second personActually, in reality, horses are unable to vomit! The classic published by Barna Broadcastingcall for help while you are applying the bandage. If yousign of choke is to find your horse with saliva and or LLC. No person, organization or partyare alone, control the bleeding first, and then call forfood material coming out of one or both nostrils. Horses assistance. Rememberhorses can lose approximatelyprobably choke more often than we actually observe can copy or reproduce the content10% of their blood volume before showing signs ofthem to and probably resolve many of these situations on on our website and/or magazine orshock. Since an average 1100-lb horse has approximatelytheir own without our knowledge. Your vet may instruct any part of this publication without11.4 gallons of blood, then he can lose approximately 1.4you to flush your horses mouth with large volumes of a written consent from the editorsgallons before there is a serious concern. water either by a large dose syringe or by using the hose. panel and the author of the content, asThis will make the horse cough and gag more, but that is Is the wound near a joint or tendon sheath? If it isokay. The goal is to relieve the choke as soon as possible. applicable. The publisher, authors andcall your vet immediately. A wound that enters a joint orMost often as soon as the obstruction is relieved the contributors reserve their rights withtendon sheath can result in a life-threatening infection.horse will want to continue eating.regards to copyright of their work. Prompt, aggressive treatment is necessary. When you call you should be able to accurately describe the location,If a vet comes out they will probably sedate your horse size, and depth of the wound.Usually, you will beand pass a stomach tube to try to resolve the obstruction. continued on page 7ArizonaRealCountry.com November 2019 5'