parsnipbun
Wise Old Thumper
We have had to rush Carnation-Lily-Lily -Rose into the vets today. She was totally cold and not eating this morning (seemed fine last night when put to bed at 6pm).
Her stomach is large and doughy and no stomach sounds at all.
After long discussion with vet and much feeling of stomach etc we think the most likely cause is the bale of straw we gave them on Sunday to help shield from wind/rain etc
At this time of year we shove in an entire bale into each 'chalet' and usually have no problem - however this year the bales we got have a lot of heads of grain still left on them for some reason - and CLLR is a guzzler for food - (she was literally starved before we rescued her and now overeats to compensate).
Looks like she spent the last couple of days hunting through the straw bale for all the heads of grain and stuffing them down and then drank loads (the water bowl was unusually low yesterday evening) and ended up with really bad swelling and impaction (though not a complete blockage).
She has been on a heat mat and drip all day (as well as meds obviously) and the vets are hoping that it is now easing . . . but we are still very worried.
The raw grain is very carbohydrate/sugars rich and will also dry out the stomach and make them drink a lot and then swell up with water . .
so the moral of the story - either buy cheap chopped straw that does not have a lot of grain heads in it - or just use hay bales even though straw stalks hold the warmth better . .
we just hope CLLR gets better overnight . . . but I thought I would post this warning
Her stomach is large and doughy and no stomach sounds at all.
After long discussion with vet and much feeling of stomach etc we think the most likely cause is the bale of straw we gave them on Sunday to help shield from wind/rain etc
At this time of year we shove in an entire bale into each 'chalet' and usually have no problem - however this year the bales we got have a lot of heads of grain still left on them for some reason - and CLLR is a guzzler for food - (she was literally starved before we rescued her and now overeats to compensate).
Looks like she spent the last couple of days hunting through the straw bale for all the heads of grain and stuffing them down and then drank loads (the water bowl was unusually low yesterday evening) and ended up with really bad swelling and impaction (though not a complete blockage).
She has been on a heat mat and drip all day (as well as meds obviously) and the vets are hoping that it is now easing . . . but we are still very worried.
The raw grain is very carbohydrate/sugars rich and will also dry out the stomach and make them drink a lot and then swell up with water . .
so the moral of the story - either buy cheap chopped straw that does not have a lot of grain heads in it - or just use hay bales even though straw stalks hold the warmth better . .
we just hope CLLR gets better overnight . . . but I thought I would post this warning
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