26 August 2008 10:55
I lost my old horse to eosinophilic enteritis – it started with mild, colic-like symptoms, which worsened until he was admitted to hospital. During surgery, my horse was put to sleep as the vet found his hind gut had burst, despite there being no obvious obstruction. What might have caused this, and how can I stop it happening again?
Answer
By Your Horse
Mark Lingard advises:
Eosinophilic enteritis is an invasion of the gut wall by a type of white blood cell. It can lead to gut perforation, and faecal contents are lost into the abdomen, which causes death by peritonitis. We don’t know for certain why this condition occurs. The main way to prevent this happening again would be the same as preventing any type of colic – a regular feeding regime, changing diet gradually and a regular worming programme. However, you’d be very unlucky to have another horse suffer from this.