horse got into bag of moldy feed

[al6517]

Great news good for you and your horse, after today I think you can rest easy for sure, I bet your happy it wasn't worst than it was we are happy for you.

AL

 

[dewey]

Glad to hear she's ok.

 

[welsummerchicks]

"she has a messy stall"

You oil her or tube her with soapy water or....?

 

[farmmomofmany]

We used herb lax its called cleaned her right out. I am a Shaklee distributer and there are a few products that we have used in the past and heard others use and worked like a charm. I already give the animals basic H as used in the pamphlet Shakleeizing your farm alot of good studies in there. We gave the herb laz before even calling vet. I am glad glad she is fine.
Of course non of this is endorsed by Shaklee but several farmers including amish have used it for 30+ years.
I have copies of the Shakleeizing your farm if anyone is interested I will send you one.

Blessings
Thank you all so much
Amy

 

[welsummerchicks]

As of today, you now have been informed that this treatment is extremely hazardous and dangerous in the case of equine colic, and can result in the loss of many a horse's life.

Your endorsement and sale of this treatment here and elsewhere for colic emergencies, could lead to the death of many other horses. Your Amish customers are unlikely to resort to legal means or to view their horses as other than work animals and the loss to be nothing more than a minor financial inconvenience. But everyone else is very unlikely to react that way. Most other folks pay an awful lot of money for their horses or are very emotionally attached to them.

Very. And all they have to do is tell anyone you sold them an emetic or laxative for an equine colic emergency and many of them will make a very vigorous response.

This 'treatment' in many cases has caused fatal ruptures in cases that could have been turned round with simple, non surgical treatment that anyone can carry out as well as afford.

It is an extremely painful death and not a quick one.

The laxative causes more vigorous peristalsis(contractions) in the gut and in many colic cases, there would have been a dead horse.

In this cases, there was no indication that the horse was actually colicking, though there was no information put up here about pulse, respiration etc - basic information that anyone must have before making decisions of how to treat ANY colic.

But that could be why "the treatment worked". Because there was no colic. But please do be aware that even without an ongoing colic, this 'treatment' has killed horses.

 

[EweSheep]

Welsummerchicks, are you talking about the deadly impacted colic? If so, laxatives are BAD if they are impacted or the intestines are twisted up badly that the tissues are dying. It would be deadly, that is for sure. If one is not quick enough, or face the uncertainty of what kind of colic we are dealing with, surgery either would help or make haste with the horse's maker to its death.

Any horses that colicked, I'd rather have the vet come out and go broke than losing a horse even I have some experience in vet medicine. I don't want to play Russian Roulette with colic, no matter how minor or major the horse has.

I had a Paso gelding which he did show signs of colic but the vet said he has gut sounds but with the weather, which it rained alot with grass, it made his stomach upset possibly from the field run offs. Vet went ahead and tubed him and told me to keep an eye out, making sure he is pooping. Yep a messy job but gelding was fine. Even he may not need to lube up the gelding but to be on the safe side for the err of margin, it could not hurt at all trying. That was the only time I've had horses that colicked or possibly colicked on me for years but the vet is a good friend to have when you have horses. It gives me a peace of mind as well.

Self treatments, they do have their place and you know the risks so OP is very lucky there and hopefully the feed bin will be locked up or put a spring on the door to keep the horses from getting into it. We all take chances when we self medicate livestock and if the animal dies in our care, then we have to own up to it and learn from it what if it would have been done differently. I won't beat on OP for her decision but just say that she is very lucky there. VERY lucky.

IMO, I would not self medicate a horse with colic. I'd rather call up the vet on a false alarm than something that will go downhill fast or crippled forever.

In my vet schooling days, colic is not a quick death. Its very painful and horses DO need our help when crisis occurs. Amish vets are not the same as our equine vets even they may have gone to the same school but the Amish view horses as transportation, a beast of burden and they don't devote all of their resources and time on their horses as prima donnas like we do for our own horses. They make money off of their Standardbred broodmares, churning them out to be broke to buggies, rarely ridden. Same for draft horses. One horse dies, well, they just get a back up by borrowing a neighbor's horse until they can get the resources to buy their own horse. We dont live too far from many of the Amish communities and many of them of the drivers think of their horses as commodities, nothing else. Very few Amish folks would "treasure" their own horses, giving them the best feed, etc. and treated them kindly, making sure their legs are not puffy, or going lame. They don't judge colic on basis what is happening to the horse, "oh, a gallon of this oil will cure it all". Not all would do this method but most of them do. Most of them could not afford or have the luxury to have surgeries on their horses. Amish do NOT "humanize" their horses like we do or have the tendency to do with our horses and pets.

 

[welsummerchicks]

It is not just an impaction that the laxatives will kill. When the gut is in an abnormal state a laxative can be fatal.

The laxatives can in many other cases as well, throw the gut into severe spasms and rupture the gut.

When the vet's medication that relaxes just the gut wall would just allow the gut to relax and normalize.

Farmers used to give laxatives a hundred and more years ago for colic and kill a good many colicking horses. This is nothing new.

I used to collect old veterinary books as a hobby - it was warned against time and time again two hundred years ago and more.

 

[EweSheep]

Yep I remember those old vet books and believe it or not, they are sooooooo outdated! Its neat how primative those treatments are and how far equine medicine has come. Even the stuff I learned in vet college, it is no longer in use or strongly recommended. I'm too lazy about going back and read up on the new fads and treatments and its all a blur to me. Blame it on career changes LOL!

 

[farmmomofmany]

Geeze I didnt mean to upset you!!!!. DIdnt mean to offend anyone and wasnt trying to sell anything. My apologize

 

[welsummerchicks]

I am not in the least upset. This is not something I get upset about - if I did, I would be upset every day, all day, because this sort of thing goes on all the time.

People who know have a responsibility to let people know the facts about what you are selling. This is something that comes up year after year, over and over. It is nothing new. People who know have to try to help those who don't. If it can save one horse or reduce the suffering of one horse, it is worth it.

I first read about this issue as a young child in a book about being a country vet.