A Mare in Crisis on a Cold, Windy Christmas Eve

Vet’s emergency homeopathy heals horse’s colic
by Glen Dupree, DVM

The only two constants for a farm animal veterinarian are that if there is a holiday, there will be an emergency; and, if there is an emergency, there will be bad weather. Both held true for me on Christmas Eve 2001.

That particular day, the temperature plunged over 30 degrees and the cold front brought in heavy winds and a blowing rain. My phone rang about 6 p.m. with a local farmer saying that he had just checked on his stock and found one of his horses had broken into the feed room of the barn and was colicking. This farmer knew nothing of homeopathic medicine, but he knew that he needed a vet and I was available.

A potentially life-threatening situation

I arrived at the farm to find a mare in extreme distress. Her abdomen was distended with gas; her mucous membranes were pale and clammy; and, if she was not being forced to walk by her owner, her legs would draw to her abdomen causing her to crash to the ground with each spasm of pain. Colic in a horse can quickly turn life-threatening if the intestinal tract twists or obstructs (which is more likely if the horse is allowed to lie down and thrash about), or if the horse gets toxic from bacterial infection, or if electrolyte imbalances become too great. I passed a nasogastric tube through the mare’s nose to her stomach to relieve some of the gas (which did not have the characteristic fermented smell of a colic caused by grain overload). Since horses in colic are typically in shock and dehydrated, I also administered a warm electrolyte solution through the tube to give her more energy, to stimulate intestinal motion, and to expand her circulating volume of fluids, thereby helping her cardiac output.

To read the full text of this article, as well as other articles and archives, you must subscribe to Homeopathy Today by becoming a member of the National Center for Homeopathy.

Click here to learn more about NCH member benefits and Join:

If you are already a member, click here to login and read this article: