10/7/13- D’Artagnan is continuing to look good and pass manure normally. He is comfortable and on his normal feed. We will update if there are any other issues, but for now, things continue to look good!
D’Artagnan had originally colicced last Tuesday, and the vet was called out to assess him. D’Artagnan is allergic to Banamine, a common drug used in colics, so we had to treat him with alternative drugs. He was very dehydrated and his rectum was full. The vet excavated his rectum and gave him some oil to help move things through his system. He looked good and was passing gas, although he had not passed any manure. We did a late-night check on him with the same results.
Wednesday morning we went back out to assess him, but found him coliccing again. We called the vet out again, who tubed him again and also excavated his rectum again. The vet surmised that the rectal blockage was not from a foreign body, but from D’Artagnan’s inability to contract his rectum muscles. After conferring with other veterinarians, the vet believed that this was from a neurological issue, and we started a drug similar to banamine as well as different steroids to try to restart the muscle movement. The vet also showed us how to excavate his rectum, as the manure that was sitting there was causing his dehydration.
Thursday morning we tried to excavate, but D’Artagnan was not cooperating, so we called the vet out again, who once again excavated his rectum and tubed him. D’Artagnan had not eaten in two days at this time, so the vet prescribed a small mash for him to eat to try to stimulate gut movement. Thankfully, that evening we saw the first signs of manure being passed.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday saw continued manure, and D’Artagnan’s comfort level increasing. Monday he was on his regular feed.
We will continue to monitor D’Artagnan and make sure he is comfortable and healthy- we won’t have any further updates as we hope that our big guy won’t scare us again for a while. 🙂
