EQUINE COLIC - IT HAPPENS

(Usually at the most inconvenient time possible)!!!

Colic is one of the most dangerous and costly equine medical problems - estimated to occur in 1 of every 10 horses each year.  It is the NUMBER ONE killer of horses.  It is not a disease but a combination of signs that alert us to abdominal pain in the horse.  Colic is a general term indicating abdominal pain usually caused by spasm or blockage of the intestines and the reaction of a horse to abdominal pain - such as kicking, rolling and sweating.   The digestive system of a horse is a complicated series of intereactions among many different organs.  The small intestine alone is 60 feet long in your average size horse.  Equine Colic can originate from the stomach, the small intestine or the large intestine.  The entire digestive network is suspended and nourished by a thin membrane called the mesentery.  Any malfunction, displacement, twisting, swelling, infection, or lesion of any part of this complex body system is what we recognize as colic.  Many conditions causing colic become life-threatening is a relatively short period of time.

The main causes of colic are intestinal distension and reduced blood supply to the intestinal tract.  Peristalsis (the waves of contractions along the muscular walls of the intestine that propel the content along) of the intestine is reduced and distention will occur due to reduced movement and absorption of water and nutrients.  The pressure which results from this lack of passage of material through the digestive system results in a reflex action, which causes adjoining areas to contract in spasm.   Distension and reduced blood flow may be due to an accumulation of gas, fluid or feed, digestive disturbances, intestinal obstruction, internal parasites, or twisted intestine (torsion and volvulus). 

The primary causes of abdominal pain is the distention of the stomach or intestines, pain is produced when the peritoneum is stretched during a attack of colic.  The first response the body makes to distension is to INCREASE the secretion of digestive juices, which increases the pressure, and causes dehydration and imbalance in the chemical systems of the body.  The paralysis of the intestine also allows toxic material to escape through the stretched walls and enter the abdominal cavity, where the horse can be poisoned by his own intestinal contents.

Signs of Colic will vary according to the severity of the particular conditions.  In the horse abdominal pain is usually sudden.  Few horses exhibit all the signs at one time.  Signs associated with colic include:

  • Pawing the ground
  • Sweating
  • Looking around at the belly
  • Restlessness
  • Lack of appetite
  • Stamping of the hind feet
  • Lying down

As the colic persists and pain becomes more severe the symptoms usually escalate and horses may:

  • Paw the ground violently
  • Appear drawn up or bloated in the belly
  • Muscle tremors or straining
  • Kick violently
  • Sweat profusely
  • Lie down and frequently get back up
  • Roll or lie down on their backs
  • Have few or no gut sounds

As a owner with a horse in colic you have desicions to make that are life and death for your horse:

  • You can begin walking them and give them pain killers
  • You can call your vet and hope they can come and help you
  • You can walk to your medicine cabinet get your bottle of EQUINE COLIC RELIEF and administer it to your horse and know that it will start working immediately to solve the problem.

EQUINE COLIC RELIEF is a single dose (4 ounce liquid) that you administer by mouth to your horse at the first signs of colic.  It immediately goes to work dissolving the impaction, rehydrating the muscles (so they can move), relieving distention, and disipating methane gases.

HORSE OWNERS YOU NOW HAVE A CHOICE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COLIC 

ECR can't fix a twisted bowel, it can't fix a perforated colon but it can STOP a NORMAL bout of colic using all natural ingredients and without additional trauma to your horse. Many people are skeptical because there has never been a product available to STOP COLIC - but Equine Colic Relief does work and will STOP colic and it will sit on your shelf for 12 YEARS doing nothing until colic strikes.

WHEN COLIC HAPPENS -WHAT'S ON YOUR SHELF??