Poop Watch

Awareness of the outside world. The Robot Report: Ingenuity helicopter completes 50th flight on Mars, Wessling, April 18, 2023.

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Milton spent last Wednesday night at the vet clinic. He’s fine. He was probably fine when he stepped off the trailer at the clinic.

Timeline

Tuesday evening. Looked punk. Refused cookie from me. Took cookie from his minion. Vet consult. Banamine shot. Stood quietly while we stripped the stall. After a while, perked up! So, something had been bothering him enough to be affect by the Banamine.

Poop watch. 5pm. Recent pile in run-in area. Given the location, probably Milton.

Into the stall you go, my lad. Every leftover twig of hay had been removed. He was! not! pleased!

Poop watch. Nothing.

Poop watch. Nothing.

Poop watch. 11 pm. Poop!

Poop watch. Overnight. Checked every few hours. Poop on alternate viewings.

Hard to see, as it was ground into the shavings by Milton’s moving hooves. Definitely stomping about looking for food rather than pacing in distress.

Milton was napping several times. Again, looked content rather than thrashing about. Since Rodney was also meatloafing, we weren’t worried.

Poop watch. Morning. Happy to see it. Looked good from a distance. When I went to pick it up, it seemed small, both in total volume and size of bolus.

Per vet orders, gave a small amount of hay & turned everyone out. Contented grazing.

Later, Milton was back in the barn, lying down. Rodney out grazing. This was unusual, but a long night was had by all.

More later. Minion checked as he headed off to work. Milton was laying down again.

Enough of this. Time for an expert opinion.

The fastest way to get him seen was take him to the vet, instead of waiting for the vet to have time to come to him. Then, if we had a problem, there would be lots of resources at hand.

Poop watch. Getting on the trailer. Standard, especially if he hasn’t shipped in a while.

Poop watch. Arrived at clinic. Open door. Second pile. A big, solid poop. The kind you want to see.

Clean exam. Vet found nothing. Possibly had an mass or slowdown in the large intestine. If I followed the anatomy lesson correctly, the large intestine is easier to clear than the small intestine.

Kept overnight for observation.

When we left him at the clinic just over four months ago, we woke up to surgery. So, some tension chez nous overnight. [When The Poop Emoji Is Your Favorite, Patient Report #1]

All fine. Brought him home on Thursday.

Well, the horse was fine. The people, not so much. The vet clinic is nice enough to let folks leave trailers. When we drove off in the truck, the lights were still connected. Thursday morning was spent installing a new plug.

So, does trailering help a colic? The American Association of Equine Practitioners thinks so. “A trailer ride also jiggles the bowel to achieve similar relief for a simple colic.” AAEP: Colic: Updates and Prevention.

Are we obsessed with horse poop? I prefer to think of it as an appropriate attention to the details of equine health.

💩

Onwards!
Katherine