Mystery Poop from Colicking Horse

I received an email from a reader who was very puzzled about her horse’s death from colic. Unfortunately, she only found my colic treatment protocols after he had died, when she went looking for answers.

Her horse had received standard vet care from 2 different vets before he died; he passed 34 hours after the first sign of distress. The vets administered mineral oil, banamine, IV fluids, and activated charcoal as she initially suspected poisonous plant ingestion. She sent me the photo below and wrote:

“He did pass one large poo (photo attached). At first I thought it was worms but vet looked at it and said oh that is normal when poo has been in the gut a long time. What are your thoughts on this photo of his stool?”

Well yes indeed I found this photo very interesting, because I had never seen anything like this come out of a horse! So I sent the photo to two very experienced horse people – and they had never seen anything like it either.

So then I decided to tag some human doctors and see if they had any ideas…

First, I sent it to a naturopathic doctor (ND) to see if she’d seen anything like that in humans – she said no, but it could be a combination of mucus, biofilm and impacted stool – and perhaps parasites were involved.

I considered this, but I think it’s too thick/ropey to be biofilm (microscopic) or just mucus. To me, it looks like either necrotic (dead) tissue shed out, or mucoid plaque, or sloughing of the intestinal lining (either due to necrosis, or parasite infection).

I did an internet search to see if I could find photos of anything similar. Nothing turned up for horses, but I did find this photo of a bowel movement from a chicken that looks similar:

And my next question is: What causes necrotic intestinal tissue?

“Fecal impaction, inflammation, or volvulus (twisting of the bowel) can decrease blood flow to your colon. If the blood flow slows down or stops, part of your colon dies. This is because it doesn’t get enough oxygen. The low oxygen levels also cause bacteria to grow. These bacteria may make toxins that can destroy nearby tissue.”

It can also be caused by a parasitic infection. So perhaps the issue with this horse, is how much of his intestine was already dead/infected prior to his first colic symptom? In which case, there’s nothing much you can do – short of a major intestinal resection surgery that he may not have survived, especially if the condition was in an advanced state.

I then sent the photo to a medical doctor (MD) to ask his opinion:

Me: This was passed after treatment with mineral oil and activated charcoal. Then no more more bowel movements, despite a second mineral oil flush. And then the horse died within 34 hours from symptom onset. I’ve never seen anything like this come out of a horse.

MD: The intestine could have fibrosed and look like that. That’s what Crohn’s bowel with strictures looks like (white and fibrotic cause it’s all collagen).

Me: So that would mean he shat out part of his intestine?

MD: Yes but that sounds somewhat implausible

Me: That’s what I can’t figure out!

MD: Mixed in with the stool so dried mucus is more likely

Me: I guess without feeling it, you wouldn’t know how fibrous/meaty it was… maybe it just looks like it is…

MD: Things that make you say hmmm 🤔

Me: Yeah this is gonna bug me

Getting back to my theory of mucoid plaque… Many medical doctors say that mucoid plaque is pseudo-science and doesn’t exist, but then how are humans passing things that look like this?

And then this doctor has a very different opinion, based on his extensive experience, specializing in colon cleansing. He asserts that mucoid plaque is certainly real.

Well, I’m throwing this out there to all our horse listeners – Have YOU ever seen anything like this come out of a horse? Do tell…

And regardless of what this horse actually passed after the first infusion of mineral oil, sometimes, when a horse gets to this state, he just may be ready to leave this earth. We keep our horses so safe and sound that they actually have few options of ways to die when they are ready to leave/transition – basically their main options are cancer or colic.

That’s why an animal communication session may be helpful, if you can’t connect yourself. Or you could use medicine/oracle cards to ask your horse’s soul for a message or information. This can be helpful at the first onset of symptoms, or after the horse has passed on.

I also strongly suggest that everyone keeps these colic remedies on hand and ready-to-go. Along with regular probiotic supplementation, and an environment as close to a wild horse’s existence as you can get (nature, herd, room to move, forage/low-sugar hay, etc).

I look forward to your thoughts and feedback and perhaps together we can solve this mystery!