Colic last night.... Is she now susceptible to it?

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Chick1989

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My Advanded mare went beautifully round Pontispool yesterday to finish in the top 5 but came down with colic when she arrived home. She was checked by a vet at the time and given some drugs, then walked and checked. The vet was recalled at 11 and the decision was made to take her to the vets where she could be monitored more closely. At the time the vet thought eh operation was highly likely but on arrival her colon has deflated a little and her heart rate was not increasing. They decided not to operate and monitored her over night. It has gone down further this morning and is not so 'gasy' but is still displaced so is staying in for further monitoring to see if it will correct itself... If not, they may have to operate but fingers crossed they wont.

What are the chances of her now being more susceptible to colic if any? If she does have to have surgery what is the recovery period and will she still be able to compete at advanced 3*?

Thanks

PS... to top it off, she has been insured her whole life and I have never claimed as no bill was really high enough to bother... so I cancelled her insurance in July as I cannot afford to insure her for her true value and seemed pointless paying over £130 a month when I have not claimed for anything! BUMMER.
 
In my experience with colic it helps to know why they have it ,a change of routine/diet etc can be the cause.In your horses case, probably the journey, although as a competition horse she is a regular traveller,and maybe standing around for a long day,contributed or caused it.
If you can try to keep some forage in her system at all times,the old idea of empty tummy when competing seems to be a thing of the past with competition horses,although obviously they dont want to be running at that level on a full stomach.
My old eventer would colic if he was not untacked and put away between phases as would not pass droppings whilst tacked up.
I am sure your mare will be fine and may just need a few tweaks to management in the future,I would discuss with the vet.
Colic surgery is so much more successful nowdays and there are many horses competing,at the same level as before surgery,that if it goes well she should be back for next season,just not as early as you may have planned.
I hope she is ok and back with you soon.
 
I keep my fingers crossed you don't end up needing surgery. It is horribly expensive so sorry to add to your woes. This is a "door shut" point but in order to have cover for vets fees, there is no need to insure your mare for her full value. I have £5K per condition (NFU) for my youngster and his insurance is less than half yours. Appreciate there is a large value difference but you could insure your mare for say £5K and have the vets fees in.

There is a view that says once they have had colic they are more likely to get it again.

I think the idea of carefully reviewing your management would help to reduce the risk again. Not to suggest in any way you are at fault but you could find that something triggers this response (like the earlier poster whose horse would not pass droppings while tacked up)
 
Colic is so random - its hard not to worry about it. Yes think about all the stable management precautions you can take but sometimes you are damned if you do; damned if you dont.

I have had one mare for 20 years and she has had colic twice that I can remember.

My other mare I had for 10 years - she had colic twice. Second time killed her. SOmetimes I beat myself up that it was a stable management issue. It was very snowy so not getting any grass but stabled at night but on restricted hay as she was a fatty so I worry was it because her stomach was empty but my other mare was kept exactly the same and she was fine.

The worrying thing for you is IF you try to insure her now will you be able to as this colic will be on your vet record and even if you dont declare it if in the future you have a claim and they ask your vet for history it may show up. Therefore I suggest you speak to your vet about this and ensure for vets fees (even if your horse is undervalued). PS I have £5k vets fees as this is the limit but it really is not enough.

Stay positive :)
 
one of my mares had colic surgery earlier this year. Before they knew exactly what sort of colic it was, they warned me that if we went ahead with surgery it was likely to cost £3,000 if things went smoothly, and could be more if there were subsequent problems or if things were more complicated. It ended up being around £5,000 as she developed an infection and required more care for that.

The prognosis will depend very much on what sort of colic it is, and how early they have been able to get onto things, so you will need to know what sort of colic your horse has, and be guided by the vets as to the likely prognosis.

I found this document quite useful, detailing management factors associated with colic:

http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/1999/96.pdf

and this one:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/2/27

I remember reading somewhere that the abdominal muscles will have reached about 80 per cent of their original strength a year after surgery, so although some progress is relatively fast, it is important to acknowledge that healing is still going on under the surface, and that this needs taking into account whilst bringing the horse back into work.

For my mare's colic (a large colon displacement to the right), the "official" timescale for return to work was that 10 weeks after the operation, she could be introduced to small paddock turnout (having been on box rest or yard rest up to that point, with some inhand walking out leading up the the paddock turnout), and then about a month after that she could start ridden work again. I don't know how much that timescale varies for different types of colic.

Hope she's ok.

Sarah
 
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