DDD - DH & Dr. G this week

[witzend]

Your hubby would totally be eating his bran muffins if he had seen Dr. G, Medical Examiner this week. EWWW!

Her programs always make me promise to change my evil ways!

[GoingNorth]

DH was a chef, and he was firm believer in tasting his creations. He lived for butter and cream, and meat drippings and the like. His diet appalled me.

When he died, I had (according to his wishes) an autopsy done. His coronary arteries were as clean and slick as a whistle. Only thing I can figure is that there was so much grease in his bloodstream that nothing stuck, LoL.

When I envisioned that, I imagined him looking down and smirking at me.

I don't even want to think about the state of my vascular plumbing, and I eat a fairly good diet

[witzend]

OK - think about a horse with a twisted gut and a great big stone in it called an "intralift". Think about ignoring your constipation for a few days or a week and having that stone burst through your intestine and dying of sepsis within a matter of hours. ACK! Watching Dr. G is ALL ABOUT going to the doctor instead of toughing it out!

[GoingNorth]

Yeah, the stones in horses are called 'enteroliths'. They are caused by minerals crystalizing around backed up fiber in the horse's gut. (the only good thing to be said about enteroliths is that if you slice them and polish them, they make a pretty gemstone)

I did the nearly dieing of instestinal blockage and leakage a few years back. I don't recommend it at all.

It nearly killed me, and horses are the mammals most prone and sensitive to blockages. Their guts are sort of built by committee, and unlike all other herbivores, the equine family lacks the specialized fermentation chambers and other mechanisms that break down fiber.

[DDD]

Good Grief, I think it may be a good thing we don't get Dr.G where we live.
DH probably would have been scared to death. Btw, he is a happy camper now that nature has taken it's normal course (with the help prune
juice, lol) and he is no longer uncomfortable. Eww both horses and humans.
Thanks for thinking of him! DDD

[Star*]

well I'll add my sad little eye opener - although the opener was really at the other end of the horse...

Horse went down, I called the vet - vet said get vaseline, Metamucil, a hose, mineral oil and .....you're going to have to grease up your arm and dig out the impaction. I said - "Won't she bite?" - he spit out his coffee and said -"Not from that end." BELIEVE ME - You never want to be doing that at 2:00 AM....and after that you have no problems buying Metamucil by the case. Ya do gets a few strange looks at the register, but if you ask your x to go get something out of the car and then whisper to the cashier - "I don't know why this bothers him - he's so full of ."

[GoingNorth]

Gak, Star! I've had to perform the same...uh...procedure on a few horses as well. Nowadays vets insist on doing it because the rectal wall is so easy to rupture. If you find blood on your glove from this, you might very well wind up with a dead horse if the tear can't be repaired or infection sets in.

It just goes to prove that horses are incredibly fragile animals (and that horse owners are nuts)

[Star*]

This is what happens when you own horses in OH all your life then move to FL. - No one tells you about horses eating sand. Horses in Ohio don't eat sand with their grass. Quite a lot of new things to learn when you move.

Then again - the nuts part was right.

[GoingNorth]

Yep. that is why in certain areas they recommend horses be fed from raised feeders and square bales as opposed to the round kicker bails on the ground.

I always wondered why Arabian horses, bred to live in a very sandy climate, were so prone to enteroliths.

You can check for sand colic by taking a "sample" and mixing it with water in a large ziploc baggie. The sand will sink to the bottom. If you see sand, you need to change your feeding procedures and start adding metamucil or similar to the ration

[Shari]

I've always heard that horses in the wild don't have half the problems the pampered pets have and are actually fairly hardy and efficient animals. but hey, who knows.

The nuts part, tho...agreed. I am nuts.