COLIC - desperate for help

I agree with previous poster. IF you are not happy with how she is right now, i.e if she appears to be in pain, then you should ring your vet and describe to them whats happening. Be guided by their advice. If they think that a simple spasmodic colic should have settled by now then they are right to suggest that she needs further investigation if this is the route you want to take. If she begins to get dehydrated then her body will not be able to help itself and will go into shock. It's really hard, I know, but you have to do right by her, be strong and make the decisions. She can't do it for you and neither can the vet, they can only advise you on your options, however they can tell you what they think is best for her.
 
Last edited:
Please don't leave her for too long. A colicing horses condition can change rapidly, please try and check her regularly if your set up allows. In hospital they are checked hourly when they are like this. If in doubt ring your vet and get advice before you sleep.You have not said what she has been doing for the last 3 hours which is prob why posters on here are concerned and trying to offer help.
 
I don't often post on here but went through this with my mare last year. Same situation, she was severely colicking through 2 lots of strong painkilers/anti spasmodics. My vet advised us to take her to the surgery in the middle of the night which we did (this in itself was an ordeal, me and OH had to hitch up trailer in pitch black whilst my poor horse was threatening to throw herself on the concrete she was in so much pain). They were certain she'd need surgery but thank god she didn't. They just monitored her closely and did a belly tap which was clear. She was in for a couple of days and then back to normal.

However, it's made me really paranoid and I would always get the vet out for colic however mild (she originally presented with very mild symptoms which deteriorated rapidly). She is also muzzled with any change to her grazing (even after a heavy rain) as it was a grass related colic.

Good luck to the OP and hope the horse is OK this morning.
 
Hope you have seen an improvement. Have to say that having gone through this recently,two lots of painkillers having no effect the vet recommended my horse was PTS as he was in such pain, was not offered choice of taking for colic surgery but this happened late evening so perhaps was not an option anyway. Thinking of you
 
hi my horse had a severe bout of colic a few weeks ago, he also was not responding to treatment and a couple of times nearly had to have him pts, i had the option to send him for referal but as i am a vet nurse the vets were happy for me to monitor 24 hours through the night with a view that the th vets would be thier if needed, he came through although it was touch and go for a few days he has come through and doing well, how is your horse?? uopdate please
 
I had an awful 18 months or so with my horse and impaction colic. I think we had about 6 episodes and he went into the vet's each time, for IV fluids, liquid paraffin, pain killers, etc etc. Never, at any time was it suggested he was PTS.
We never found the cause, although we are now very careful with any change of routine and monitor his water intake carefully too. At the first sign of anything that might be a warning sign he gets a painkiller in his feed, and then if in summer, turned out (Dr Grass works wonders) or if in the winter, he is free schooled.
I know impaction colic is different to other causes, and my horse has a very low pain threshold (the vets are always surprised at how much pain he displays for what they can see clinically), but I am surprised that no other treatment has been offered in this case. I hope there has been improvement.
 
Unfortunately Colic can strike so quickly. I hope your mare is ok and on the mend now. I am surprised at your vet not coming out more than twice. My old mare suffered a bout of colic and i stayed with her all night and called the vet out 5 times, in the end the vet got a bucket and from what i remember put some liquid parrafin in a mixture of water put a tube up her nose and pumped it into her stomach. This did the trick and she pulled through. If your vet wont come out when they are clearly needed then swap vets.
good luck to you xx
 
starting to wonder if this was just a hoax!

Does this person even have a horse? Had to ask what PTS meant? seriously?

If there is a horse with colic, and its left in a field, with little help with from owner or vet? Mmmm what will happen, it will die a slow agonising death?

Are you the sort of person who would put a plaster over a severed leg? and hope it all gets better with time?

Pull your finger out and get it sorted!
 
The vet was right. If this wasnt a hoax then the owner was not capable of caring for her own animal and to keep calling out to give pain relief without treating/diagnosing the problem would be wrong. The horse needed referral/hospitalisation. I dont know why she felt the need to ask what to do on a forum. If the horse was as bad as she said and the funds werent there to treat then PTS is the right answer not leave the poor creature to suffer overnight.
 
Snopuma you should be band from this forum for such unkind, unthought sadistic comments and are mean. My horse was put to sleep at 11am yesterday morning, I owned her for 15 years, she was my soulmate, and I loved her and she loved me unconditionally. I broke her in, I owned her from 2 years old - HOW DARE YOU. My beautiful mare was put to sleep yesterday, and all my time, effort and energy has been in trying everything in my own, and vets power to get her through the ordeal that finally took her from me. I am absolutely devastated, I miss her so much, today I have been so unmotivated, my house is a pig stye and I dont care, life right now is ****. But I did what was right for my horse in end, her stomach had become trapped, her temperature was increased and at the vets advice I allowed her to be put out of her pain. For anyone who DARE imply this is a hoax I truly feel nothing but deep sadness for you, as you must be a very uncaring, hurtful thoughtless being.
 
snopuma said:
starting to wonder if this was just a hoax!

Does this person even have a horse? Had to ask what PTS meant? seriously?

If there is a horse with colic, and its left in a field, with little help with from owner or vet? Mmmm what will happen, it will die a slow agonising death?

Are you the sort of person who would put a plaster over a severed leg? and hope it all gets better with time?

Pull your finger out and get it sorted!
Click to expand...

Im beginning to think the same Snopuma.
 
JETsCaribbeanMalibu said:
Snopuma you should be band from this forum for such unkind, unthought sadistic comments and are mean. My horse was put to sleep at 11am yesterday morning, I owned her for 15 years, she was my soulmate, and I loved her and she loved me unconditionally. I broke her in, I owned her from 2 years old - HOW DARE YOU. My beautiful mare was put to sleep yesterday, and all my time, effort and energy has been in trying everything in my own, and vets power to get her through the ordeal that finally took her from me. I am absolutely devastated, I miss her so much, today I have been so unmotivated, my house is a pig stye and I dont care, life right now is ****. But I did what was right for my horse in end, her stomach had become trapped, her temperature was increased and at the vets advice I allowed her to be put out of her pain. For anyone who DARE imply this is a hoax I truly feel nothing but deep sadness for you, as you must be a very uncaring, hurtful thoughtless being.
Click to expand...

Dear, dear JETsCaribbeanMalibu
I had been racing through this post to hopefully find a happy ending...but sadly for you...there was not one.
My heartfelt sympathy to you..for your ordeal...for your mare's ordeal...and for dealing with such a distressing time...on your own..with a little help for the good eggs on this post.
Best wishes
Bryndu
 
Bryndu said:
Dear, dear JETsCaribbeanMalibu
I had been racing through this post to hopefully find a happy ending...but sadly for you...there was not one.
My heartfelt sympathy to you..for your ordeal...for your mare's ordeal...and for dealing with such a distressing time...on your own..with a little help for the good eggs on this post.
Best wishes
Bryndu
Click to expand...

Thank you Bryndu, both snopuma and glenruby have been reported by me to Horse and Hound forum. I wonder how many other people they have caused unecessary distress to. I love my horse, I will always love my horse, and I would never have done ANYTHING that would not be in her best interest. I am destroyed right now. Your kind words are well received. x
 
A great number of us on this forum have been in similar situations, some have even had to have their horses shot in the road when they have been hit by cars. I know for a fact how bad losing a horse is as I lost my mare from colic 8 years ago having been up all night with her. the problem here I think is that you did not come across very well on the forum. It appeared that she was just left out in the field and all the vet would do was give her a pain killer. When you are dealing with a very sick horse most of us would not have time to come on the forum. I am sure Snopuma did not mean to sound nasty and neither did I but it was the way your posts were worded. She is not sick or sad she just did not understand what was going on

I am very sorry for your loss but it sounds to me and I am sure to all of us on here that you have done the right thing. There is only so much any horse can take when it comes to colic. I had owned my horse for 20 years right from a yearling and she was 21 when she died and it broke my heart but we can only do our best for our animals. I am sure your horse had a lovely home with you.
 
So sorry your mare didn't pull through, I can imagine you are beyond devastated, take some time to collect your thoughts and you will find the strength to get back on track and cope with your grief. :(
 
onemoretime said:
A great number of us on this forum have been in similar situations, some have even had to have their horses shot in the road when they have been hit by cars. I know for a fact how bad losing a horse is as I lost my mare from colic 8 years ago having been up all night with her. the problem here I think is that you did not come across very well on the forum. It appeared that she was just left out in the field and all the vet would do was give her a pain killer. When you are dealing with a very sick horse most of us would not have time to come on the forum. I am sure Snopuma did not mean to sound nasty and neither did I but it was the way your posts were worded. She is not sick or sad she just did not understand what was going on

I am very sorry for your loss but it sounds to me and I am sure to all of us on here that you have done the right thing. There is only so much any horse can take when it comes to colic. I had owned my horse for 20 years right from a yearling and she was 21 when she died and it broke my heart but we can only do our best for our animals. I am sure your horse had a lovely home with you.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I am not an author, only a horse lover (especially my horse), I asked people for help - not abuse. My grammar may not have come across brillian as I cannot write my entire situ down in speed and was purely desperate for help and advice from other horse people with knowledge that I could feed from - my horse was certainly not abandoned in a field - the vet took bloods, she tested fine for her liver, stomach, she had rectal examination, her heart rate was 84, her temperature high, it was not really an option that she could even be sedated as would not get through that, let alone an operation. Most on here were fantastic, alas there is usually one.
 
Can I please thank all the kind people for their advice and well wishes. I did not get my happy ending. Today I have a big gaping whole, and my heart aches terrible, I don't know how I will get through this, but I know I must and will. I am closing down from here as there is nothing to add to the end - it has ended now. However, 15 years of true love and companionship from my beautiful Appaloosa mare will never be forgotten, and to ease my pain, with strength I intend to write about her life story, with me, with all the fond memories and adventures we had and troubles we overcame, and prove she only ever had kindness in her life, and for all her noble, kind ways, she was a Star on this planet that will not deminish lightly. She is not a fairy-tale like Black Beauty. She "Jets Caribbean Malibu" existed, she pulled me through many unhappy experiences, as I did her, we gelled. NO-ONE can take that. I will write her story, it will take me time as there is a lot we covered in our 15 years, but then anyone who thought otherwise will be proved wrong, and then maybe they will understand the pain in my heart right now. I love and miss my horse, I love and miss Malibu.
 
The op was on her own ,late at night with little support from her vet and probably no knowledge of dealing with colic.
Yes in an ideal world maybe thing would have been handled differently but the end result ,sadly would have most likely been the same.
Colic is difficult to deal with, it is a simple word with numerous meanings. A horse can suffer a mild case of gassy colic, easily treated and quick recovery, to a full blown twist, a whole different scenario.
To the inexperienced person who has never seen colic in any form, most would think tummy ache call the vet he can fix it.Sadly this is not always possible.
The op did as advised by her vet, but had no help at the time so possibly made a few errors.
So often in the horse world we learn from our experiences and it is very easy to be critical of others without the same knowledge.
The right thing was done and the horse pts.
I send my best wishes to the op and hope she can move on without feeling that it was in anyway her fault.
 
The posts are not always clear on internet forums. it was the part where she said she was going to leave her colicking horse in the field overnight and go to bed that prompted me to say the horse should be hospitalised or euthanased that night not left til morning. Tbh, the temperature, WBC result nor "stomach" issue does not really fit with the sort of colic suggested so a decision had to be made. The OP is not a novice owner but may not have had experience of dealing with the baove situation before - its something most one horse owners are lucky to avoid. Im sorry for your loss. That said, just last week I had a horse seen to be colicking th previous evening referred to me at 11am the next morning. It came off the lorry and collapsed dead at my feet before I had a chance to insert the catheter. That is not the way a horse should die. I did not want the same for yours.
 
Last edited:
Glenruby I was also shocked that horse was left in field ,as I think showed at the time when a few of us were "talking" to the op.However her vet had been treating the horse and very often they do not raise the possibility of pts.
I assisted a neighbour with a very poorly colicking pony and I had to say pts as the vet skirted round not wishing to upset her.
Not all vets can handle traumatised owners as easily as they can the horse.
 
I'm sorry OP has lost her horse. I'm even sorrier for the horse. No colicking horse should be left, not in a field, nor in a stable, however tired the owner is. In this situation, you have 2 options a) get the horse admitted/referred to an equine hospital or b) pts if the horse has not responded to Buscopan/Finadine and surgery is not an option.
 
Last edited:
I am so, so, very sorry for your loss. My Welsh D Jet came down with colic in 2008 - he was on the floor in the field - luckily one of the other liveries saw him, brought him down and called the vet - the vet came out 3 times in one day doing the same tests - in the end i called him and said 'he isn't getting any better can he please be referred' so we got him to the hospital at 10pm that evening and for the next 7 hours i was in a hysterical state. I was lucky - he pulled through (it was one of the worst case of sand impaction the vet had seen) and a year later was enjoying unaff XC. I had accepted in my heart that he may not make it and was utterly traumatised. I came close to losing him but for someone who lost their horse - i can only just begin to imagine what you must be feeling. My heart goes out to you.

xxx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top