Colic (!) Recap and Healing Technology

Instead of whipping up a big ol’ introduction to Cruz (but don’t worry, that’s coming too) let me dive in instead with a recount of one of the weeks before Christmas, where the poor girl couldn't catch a break and we wound up in a colic episode.

After an exciting 8-week check in with Tufts Large Animal on Monday that week, where my little filly-bomb was given the approval to begin tack walking as part of her rehab, we found ourselves with a stomach ache that put the stoic filly in a real slump. Cruz very fortunately pulled through, but not before thoroughly wearing some humans out.

Although it was a hectic series of days, it provided a unique opportunity to see first hand how Bemer and Red Light Therapy aided her colic recovery.

This story starts on Thursday night, when Cruz and Factor both had Bemer and red light sessions planned with Soaring Horse Holistic Equine Therapy. Cruz was additionally getting massage, as her increased workload after months of stall rest (as well as a growth spurt) had me thinking she was sore and tender in her body.

As the session got underway, it was noted how incredibly tight Cruz was in her back and hindquarters - at the time, we attributed this to have gone on the trailer ride to-and-from Tufts on Monday and being on stall rest. She seemed fidgety and uncomfortable, but by the end of the session was happy enough. We returned her to the stall for her hay net and dinner.

Day 1 - Friday

Friday morning, the barn owner contacted me to say that Cruz looked a bit tired that morning, and not quite like herself. She was off her feed and drank a little less than usual through the night. Given that the overnight was in the teens - one of few cold snaps New England had so far this year - this seemed reasonable, if atypical for the girl.

Thru the daytime, Cruz seemed herself, though was was only peckish at her hay. During her rehab walk time, she was animated and her usual lively self. She turned her nose up at her dinner. I got a phone call at 9:30 that night saying she really wasn’t right, and that I really should come take a look and see what I thought in person.

When I got to the barn, it was evident that she really wasn’t happy - she kept pawing with her front legs, adamantly trying to stretch something out. We spent an hour walking after a dose of banamine, and though we were certainly moving, Cruz didn’t try any of her antics typical of an adventure out of the stall. By the time we were done, she seemed tired but more herself, passed a bit of manure, and I left her for the overnight.

Day 2 - Saturday

In the sleeping hours, Cruz definitely wasn’t having a good time. There was significantly reduced water intake overnight and decreased manure passed. When the barn owner went out for morning hay and breakfast, Cruz was laying down in an uncomfortable way. She wasn’t given her breakfast or a hay ration. When I got to the barn for morning chores, I gave another dose of banamine and walked around the indoor while I called the vet.

After a discussion on the situation, I found myself on a mission for ulcer guard and the barn was on alert monitoring Cruz’s water intake and general comfort. As the banamine started to kick in, I left the barn in search of meds based on a working hypothesis that the vet trip Monday and the changes (including a saddle) to her rehab walks since might have induced an anxiety streak and ulcer flare that ultimately started her colic. Add to that decreased water intake through the cold snap, and we maybe had an impaction.

A full tube of ulcer guard later, she was happy and looking for her in her stall, but it was clear that even with the banamine she was uncomfortable. By lunch, it equally evident that Cruz had not hydrating enough. With the temperature swinging back into the low 50s (less than 48 hours from a mid-teens overnight) she was using more energy to walk and her reserves were flagging.

Cruz medicated by the Vet, Saturday afternoon, ground tied and not moving

The vet was called to assess.

By mid-afternoon, the vet was on site, Cruz medicated, and at the very least her overall discomfort had alleviated slightly. In short order, we determined there was an impaction, possibly in her colon, causing a lot of pressure on the various organs around it. We discussed options and the best step forward, gave Cruz 8 liters of fluids, and I was left with more banamine and some expectation that the next week would “be a touch and go few days, but as long as she’s staying hydrated and comfortable, we need to just let the impaction pass” - obviously signs of increased distress would be reason to have Cruz looked at further or get her on my trailer to the clinic.

The positive side of the situation was that throughout the vet visit, Cruz still had gut sounds, even if they were diminished in expected frequency. She also spent probably the most time out of her stall walking on Saturday than she had since her bone broke.

Day 3 - Sunday

This was, by far, Cruz’s worst day. No water intake and no manure overnight (though with fluids on Saturday, not totally surprisingly) - in fact, no manure through the entire day. Her urine was a darker colour than usual, and far less frequent. When I arrived out, she was given more banamine and another tube of ulcer guard. We fasted her through the day, though I syringed water into her, and she seemed at least to be…mostly comfortable.

We kept walking.

After discussing the situation (in between walking) with various folks in my horse network, I set off for alfalfa hay cubes and more ulcer guard. The former was a hunch, a whim, a wishful thinking moment, and the later was in direct response to how much the ulcer guard seemed to improve Cruz’s outlook and overall comfort.

I returned to the barn with an electric kettle and the hay cubes.

What we’ve come to call “Hay Cube Soup” (or just Cruz’s Soup) around the barn:
- one quart of hay cubes to one gallon of water
- two peppermints
- one scoop of electrolytes

For the initial mixture, I added just one or two big hay cubes to a one-gallon bucket of hot water, and was able to entice my girl into drinking water just based on the smell of hay alone - this was the first thing to break her tight-lipped stance on Sunday. She drank about a liter of fluids before calling it quits, but this concoction has proved to be her sick kid’s Chicken Noodle Soup.

Another critical milestone down, I set out into the world to find the ulcer guard. While on my travels, I touched base with Soaring Horse to give an update on how Cruz was fairing. Since our massage Thursday night, we’d been keeping in contact about her status. Through a fluke of circumstances and the good-hearted kindness of others, suddenly Cruz had access to a Bemer horse blanket and red light therapy.

After picking up the equipment, I again returned to the barn. Cruz had consumed more of her soup, and was looking brighter. I set her up next to her soup bucket, and put on the Bemer blanket.

Within five minutes, I heard some of the loudest gargling sounds I have heard from a horse’s stomach.

I laughed out loud at how ferocious it sounded, this sudden muffled road of hungry dogs. We walked more after the Bemer blinked itself off, and then we returned to her stall. Cruz got another soup mixture - this time with a peppermint melted in - and I left feeling the beginnings of relief.

Day 4 - Monday

I woke up to a message Monday morning with some of the best news all weekend:

The face of a filly feeling at least a little better (Monday morning)

‘Cruz had passed manure overnight, drank up the rest of her soup, and was clamouring for breakfast.’

When I arrived at the barn, Cruz had her ears pricked on me and an expectation on her face. She clearly was proud of herself; admittedly, I was too - and how do you say no to that face? —>

Cruz was given another hay cube soup with a bit of bran to make it thicker and with some enthusiasm she set to slurping, possibly equally brought on by a desire to rinse her mouth of the taste of ulcer guard. Although she continued to produce manure, she was also clearly still feeling some pressure in her stomach and gut. Cruz was given more banamine and a morning Bemer session.

We walked and walked, and spent the day repeating the experience. In between Cruz would lay down and curl up like a kitten in her stall. The barn owner and I kept having panics thinking she might be down and cast or down and thrashing, but mostly she appeared to just be a tired baby who needed sleep. At least once she woke up from her sleep and went to stretch out…only to get herself cast.

In the evening, Cruz was given another hay cube soup for dinner, a second Bemer session, and some targeted red light therapy. Same as the day before, her stomach gurgled loudly, and as it worked at whatever it was working on the anxiety lines left her face.

Day 5 - Tuesday

After the longest weekend, by Tuesday my girl seemed to have reached a turning point. She had a few manure piles in her stall through the overnight, and drank a bit as well as finishing her cube soup. With a morning Bemer session to help her gut get rolling, Cruz seemed bright and alert. We dosed her back to just half a dose of banamine as she continued to show some stomach discomfort on and off throughout the day.

She rested a lot, laying down in the deep bedding, but getting up every time she saw someone come check on her.

Assessing the situation and her general demeanor, the barn owner and I opted to give her a quarter flake in her evening net along with her hay cube soup. She was given the last tube of ulcer guard and her first scoop of her new daily ulcer preventative. As she munched, she wore the Bemer, and even passed some manure. The red light point she seemed most satisfied to exist under was just in front of her left hip, extending down her gut and ribs.

Day 6 - Wednesday

Enjoying a hay net with her Bemer, accented by some feral gut sounds

With her first looks at hay (not just soup) in five days, Cruz responded well and her gut continued moving through the night. She drank more, along with finishing her soup, and was eager for more hay when the barn owner came out in the morning.

As she worked through a breakfast hay net, I put the Bemer blanket on her to start activating blood flow through her gut. For the first time since we started using the blanket, Cruz got noticeably agitated. She began fidgeting and not standing still. I turned the blanket off, and found her much calmer with the focused red light therapy on a point over her right side.

After letting her settle and giving her some time while I rode Factor, I returned to try another Bemer blanket session. Instead of putting it up at full strength, I did a lesser setting, which she seemed to tolerate better.

While she certainly was showing her hunger, we continued to taper the banamine down with just a quarter dose. She continued to drink water through the day, and ate her hay in between naps through the day. By the evening Bemer session, which we did on the lower intensity, Cruz was showing us enough consistency that we were talking about reintroducing food in a day or two.

Day 7 - Thursday

Thursday morning’s message from the barn was the second best:

‘Lots of water! And a messy stall!’

Cruz had finished her evening soup, her hay net, and a good third of her water bucket. As everyone began clamouring for breakfast, she waited patiently for her net to be filled. By the time I arrived to give her a Bemer session, the barn was clean and the owner laughed at me that her stall was “back to normal - which is just so disappointing in comparison to how tidy it was during her time sick” and we laughed about the paradox of that line of thinking.

But the thru and thru was that Cruz clearly was improved. When I offered her red light therapy that day, instead of settling herself under the light and letting it sit for a minute or nudging me back to a place, she was just happy munching away. The Bemer continued to produce feral gurgle noises, but even that she only wanted for part of the initial time and intensity.

With her daily ulcer preventative on day three, hay intake up to about normal, and her gut function clearly continuing as normal, the stress was finally off. When I took her outside for her walk, she was downright feisty - as opposed to walking listlessly around the outdoor, she was determined to show how well she could spook instead.

At the end of the day, though, all the stress finally settled into exhaustion, and all I wanted was to catch up on sleep.

In Reflection

So now that it’s been long enough from Cruz’s colic episode for me to reflect on it (and the holidays have past, providing me enough “free time” to actually write it all down…) there were some incredible moments of interaction with my filly as we tried to communicate and find healing for her.

We followed the vet’s advice but additionally considered the thinking that dealing with an impaction from “upstream” isn’t nearly as impactful as attempting to break it up from the inside. For example, human kidney stones can be broken up using lasers; in parallel, Bemer uses the circulatory system to enhance blood flow to some of the hardest-to-reach places, including deep in the gut. The theory is that it’s this circulation that helps break up the impaction, along with the traditional medicines prescribed and keeping the horse hydrated.

Having access to the Bemer blanket was incredible - in fact, that first session on Sunday night might really have been the turning point.

True, we can also attribute getting water into her with hay cubes as a trick to get fluids into her gut. But seeing how Cruz responded every time the blanket was on her - gut noises increased, noticeable release of tension in her body and face - was repeat proof multiple times a day that the blanket was helping her out. And it cannot be ignored that Cruz was finally able to pass manure after her first Bemer session on Sunday evening.

Though even less mainstream, red light therapy also played a roll in Cruz’s recovery. I mention it a few times in my daily notes, but targeting red light on points of tension as guided by the patient was live-time proof that Cruz was experiencing relief. Over the five days we were able to use the lights, Cruz’s discomfort moved from directly over her hips to the right side of her gut, then the left, and finally back right, nearer to her belly. When I suggest that these points were unique, it is because Cruz would move herself in relation to the light and then still under it when she found a point that helped.

Sometimes there was licking and chewing, other times there was just stillness - and for a 2 year old thoroughbred who’s been on stall rest for five months, stillness is a sign.

It should also be noted that the information I offer here is the very surface of understanding Bemer and Red Light Therapy - I am by no means an expert, and cannot speak from any perspective other than what I’ve learned through others and my own experiences.

Additional Resources

https://thewellhorse.com/2018/08/13/sustainable-treatment-for-ulcers-gi-inflammation/

https://soaringhorsetherapy.com/