Page 767 - The Veterinary Care of the Horse

• looking round at the flanks

• getting up and down, rolling and stamping the feet
VetBooks.ir • the horse may be unusually quiet and off its food

•
the gut sounds are reduced
• the horse may become dehydrated as the disease progresses.

Figure 17.8 Horses with impactions often lie flat out

This type of colic is normally diagnosed following rectal palpation. Treatment will include

some of the following:
• withholding hay and concentrates until the impaction is relieved

• then feeding small meals of grass or bran mashes to keep the gut moving

• gentle exercise may encourage peristalsis

• in some cases administering osmotic laxatives such as Epsom salts or strong saline which
draw water into the lumen of the gut and soften the impaction are helpful.

These are given by stomach tube.

• fluids given orally and by stomach tube

• intravenous fluids may be used in horses that are dehydrated or do not improve as