The Equine Digestive System

A young filly in a stall at a high-class boarding stable lay down in her stall, got up, and lay down again, with dull, glassy eyes. She tried to roll before the caretaker caught her and haltered her, walking her slowly until the veterinarian could come to see her. When the veterinarian arrived, she listened to the filly’s gut sounds with the stethoscope to see if they were abnormal, and diagnosed the filly as having a case of colic (a disease of the digestive system*), which can result from improperly digested feed. The veterinarian gave a dose of mineral oil and some anti-inflammatory pain relief medicine to the filly to help move the feed through her digestive system and to relieve the pain experienced by the filly. She also instructed the caretaker to feed the filly only hay until the next day.