Colic Surgery - Would you do it?

[Dyllymoo]

Disclaimer: This is NOT a thread for people to tell others they are wrong for what they would do.

I've seen a few posters note that they wouldn't put their horse through colic surgery and I just wondered why, and what you would do?

I have no knowledge of the surgery/ recovery rates and times and just wondered if someone could elaborate?

I'm assuming age of the horse and temperament (for box rest etc.?) would be a factor as well.

Just a bit of a musing really.

 

[Bernster]

Touch wood I’ve not been in this situation but yes for me, age, health, chances of full recovery, would all factor in to that decision.

 

[milliepops]

I have some I would and some I wouldn't.
I think for me the decision is based on how much I have emotionally invested in the horse & the type of life i have in mind for it afterwards (as well as all the horse's physical circumstances)
So it would be a YES (assuming vet was reasonably optimistic) for my advanced horse and my foal, they are both insured. One horse in the prime of her life and ridden career, I'd throw anything and everything at her to keep her going. the other right at the beginning and it would be sad to let her go without a fight.

It's a NO for my TB - he's got other issues, probably won't be that successful or talented, I'm not so attached to him and he would probably struggle with the recovery
It's a NO for my retirees and broodmare. if they colic and it doesn't resolve easily then I will pts. They've had a good life and I wouldn't put any of them through box rest, there's a reason why they live out and it would set any of them back to be stuck in a box.

 

[vetsbestfriend]

My TB x ID went through colic surgery at the age of 14, he was a regular colicer and in this instance had a multiple twist when scanned on arrival at vet hospital. I was given both options, either PTS or surgery. I asked for their honest opinion of how successful surgery would be and if they thought there would of been any intestine starting to die off already needing a resection. Based on their response, I opted for surgery. I knew he would just about cope with box rest for the 6 weeks post surgery and he was a fighter himself. I knew I could commit to the extensive aftercare and rehab. All of the factors swayed my decision and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world getting back on him 3 months exactly after surgery.

Had it of been my very stressy TB instead, he would not have coped with either the surgery or box rest etc unless doped up to the eyeballs every second of the day. My decision would have been different but obviously the heartache extensive.

 

[dorsetladette]

I personally wouldn't with anything I currently own. B1 doesn't stable well for long periods and has had ulcers from the stress of being stabled for the majority of the day. B2 just wouldn't cope with the hospital environment and would likely do himself other injuries whilst panicking.

I have liveried with a lady who owned an elderly Connemara mare. She had been through colic surgery 3 times (IIRC) had melanoma's coming out of everywhere and a string of other issues to. She was still ridden and in pretty hard work and very much loved, she had a spring in her step and went everywhere with her ears pricked enjoying life. I can't knock the lady who owned her she had the very best life, but I can't say I would of done the same had I been in the same boat.

As others have said it really depends on the individual and the prognosis for me.

 

[Orangehorse]

Having heard tales of horses having had colic surgery and the outcomes, I think Milliepops has summed it up. Yes, if you have a young, talented horse and the prognosis is good (and there is insurance).

No for anything over 20, not surgery.

Having said that, I knew a broodmare in her mid 20s that survived 2 colic operations, the second one following on very closely after the first, and she recovered enough to go home and seemingly well. However, I think she only lived a year afterwards. Other older horses I've known have either died during/after or had a repeat episode quite soon after which proved fatal. So poor horse, having to go through that.

Personally, I wouldn't like to put my old horse through weeks of box rest, plus he isn't insured any longer. He is quite well, but he has arthritis and weeks of box rest wouldn't do him any favours, plus he was a nightmare when younger and had to have box rest.

 

[planete]

I would not put my 22 year old through it but, providing the vets were optimistic about the outcome, I would with my 7 year old. I have insured him adequately for this kind of eventuality. He is just a bog pony but he is young and deserves a chance to live.

 

[SEL]

None of mine presently

The 2 big horses have a tonne of issues and couldn't cope with the recovery. One isn't insured any longer anyway. The other has catastrophe insurance but I'd draw the line at anything involving a GA and long box rest recovery.

The pony has a breathing issue we're struggling to resolve so she'd also be a no right now.

An old school friend is a colic surgery specialist and she is pretty clear that success depends on how quickly they can get to her and the state they are in when they get there.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I have always said no. We don't have the facilities for the aftercare and since we don't insure the cost would be prohibitive. Also having seen colic surgery on TV I really would not put a horse through that. Have thankfully only once had to make the call and that was a definite no as the mare was 23.

 

[TPO]

No, for me it's too big of a intrusive surgery. I've also had two vets say they would never put one of theirs through it.

I know of two horses that went in for the surgery, one survived and one didn't. Although that hasn't had any bearing on my decision.

I've got 8, 13 & 15ish year olds and they would all be pts if colic surgery was the only option.

 

[alibali]

An interesting reasonably recent study into longer term outcomes (one year) though not a huge sample size

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080620301039

What I took from it was roughly 60% of their sample surgical colics survived to discharge and roughly 60% of the survivors were back in the same level of work one year post operatively. So that works out at 36% of horses that underwent surgery returning to full fitness after one year.

To me that's actually not a very large number and I would hesitate to put either of mine through surgery for that reason. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it but I would want the vets to be very confident in their diagnosis of the root cause of the colic and able to tell me that surgery for the root cause had a high level of success in comparison to other surgery types. I would never have an exploratory operation done as once you start the temptation is to carry on to try to fix what you find regardless and cause even more blurring of the line between what's possible to do and what's best for the horse in an already grey area at an extremely stressful and traumatic time.

Just because veterinary science CAN do something doesn't mean that it SHOULD be done, particularly when it involves such major surgery, discomfort and long term box rest on an animal that only lives for the moment and can't understand that box rest will end and normal life resume. However I would never say never, there may be limited circumstances where the vets can be certain of the above and the horses age and temperament are such I might feel surgery is in its best interests.

 

[spacefaer]

No. Never - I personally known several horses who have had it, some of them more than once, and I don't know of a single horse who has returned to the level of work they were at prior to the surgery. Some of the horses have not survived the surgery either.

 

[IrishMilo]

I wouldn't. The op is too stressful and too big for an animal of their size, his life prognosis is already not great and he becomes an idiot when boxed for too long.

 

[tda]

Yes, I have twice, one good outcome, one bad.
First was a gelding in his early teens, I couldn't make the decision so my sister took over and we took him in. The vets rang before we even got home and he was pts on the table. Severe twisted gut
Jan 2019 8yr old mare, was taken into vet with a range of abnormalities, but not showing normal colic symptoms, just very subdued and not eating. Vet recommended surgery after internal exam.
I'd only owned her about 7 months, but she was pretty chilled out in general, and ended up staying at vets for about 4 weeks due to wound breakdown. She has made a full recovery, was not remotely bothered about the box rest and stayed well behaved thru it all.
She was covered last summer and has had a foal this year.
These are my only experiences in 40 yrs of horses. Like others, if horse was not settled or happy on box rest it would be a serious factor to consider

 

[Rowreach]

No, we are at least 2 hours from the nearest vet hospital so it's an absolute no on that basis alone.

But I probably wouldn't even if there was one just up the road tbh.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

No, not for my current horse. He has to many other problems (multiple arthritic joints). As such he is not insured. I would think about it if I had a young fit horse that would cope with the recovery.

 

[Baywonder]

I was only faced with the choice of colic surgery once.

My old boy was in his mid 20's. The nearest vet hospital was a 100+ mile journey away, and the vet told me if he survived such a big operation, he had a 50% chance of it returning again very soon afterwards.

I decided against putting him through all of that, and he was PTS a few hours later. It absolutely broke my heart,

 

[Buster2020]

Nope I wouldn’t as others has said it a very intrusive and the survival rate isn’t good. It also very expensive even if you have insurance they might not pay out because they have strict rules like if you’re ever had colic in the past they won’t pay for sugary.

 

[Squeak]

Having lost a horse from colic surgery - he survived the operation but we lost him to colic a couple of months in to the box rest after getting increasingly worse bouts of it, it would have been kinder to have had him pts to start.

I'm not sure that the success rates have improved enough for me to want to try it again.

 

[scats]

I have done and I don’t regret it. But would I do it again? Probably not.

 

[fusspot]

No ....and nor would my Brother In Law who is a vet.The after care is hard with numerous small bouts quite often happening and a lot don’t make it.

 

[Equi]

If my 20yo hack had colic I’m afraid it would be a no because I don’t think he would survive the recovery for one and for two there is no where in the country that does colic surgery so they have to travel down to Ireland and I don’t think hours in a horse box when colicking is a good idea.

I was at a equine first aid course with my vet a few days ago actually and he said the rate of insurance in n. Ire is approx 5% if that, mainly because we have no facilities for major trauma so vast majority won’t make it as they then need referred to Ireland and travelled long distances. The catch 22 is that if there were more insured horses a practice could potentially open here but the costs involved to open would be very high thus need that garuntee of insured horses coming through.

 

[Carlosmum]

I did opt for surgery, he was insured and though the vet gave me all the figures for recovery I asked them to go ahead. Poor boy came through the op ok but had 25ft of gut removed ( no way of knowing how much was dead before the op). After 3 days his guts still had not begun to work properly and I called time. I have decided not to do it again, it was a very distressing time for horse, me and my OH who stayed with him while the vet PTS. The only light at the end of the tunnel was bringing his body home and burying him on the farm Its been 4 years, I still say hello every time I walk passed!

 

[ForeverBroke_]

My old horse had a multitude of other issues, and would've been down right dangerous to rehab/get through recovery, so it was a no from me.

 

[ycbm]

No.

The number of horses operated on who die under the knife, in rehab and within a year after the op is too high for me to ever agree to one of mine being operated on.

I see people arguing that many more are surviving the operation now. That is true. But it is also true that people are going for the operation more quickly. And true that there are horses who recover spontaneously before they get to the operating theatre, or at home. If you put those last two together, survival rates will be greater than they were when it was only done as a last resort, because some horses being opened up would have survived whether they had been operated on or not.

.

 

[Shilasdair]

Absolutely, yes.
Both my two have had colic surgery as relative youngsters (2 and 5 year old) and both are still here enjoying life 14 and 10 years later.
The colic is painful, but the recovery actually seems surprisingly painless.
I've also had a lot of involvement with horses with lameness - and the pain they undergo with a ligament, or a tendon is much, much greater in my opinion, and the stress higher (for a prey animal, lameness feels like a death sentence).
I wouldn't do a second surgery though - as the odds are against them.

 

[AandK]

For my 23yo, no. I wouldn't put him through anything requiring lengthy box rest and when he had a GA 5yrs ago, he had a seizure coming round.
For my 7yo I would consider it, depending on prognosis etc. The hospital is a 10min drive from the yard, so I could get him there PDQ if needed.

 

[doodle]

For Robin no. He has proved that he does not do box rest. He also heals incredibly slowly. So the thought of 3 months box rest would just not happen. Also the journey there is about 90 mins which would terrify me. He coliced once. He had been on box rest and gone out and forged himself. Vet said it might lead to surgery. I said there and then no. She looked shocked at me. Another reason I switched vets to a much more realistic practice.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Nope. Never have and never will. I have only had to make the decision once thankfully but my pony was 18yo, living out 24/7 on the side of a hill so had absolutely no reason to colic what so ever. The vet could feel a twist and if you can feel it it's not good.

A few horses at work have come through to race again but it is not something I would consider.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

For Robin no. He has proved that he does not do box rest. He also heals incredibly slowly. So the thought of 3 months box rest would just not happen. Also the journey there is about 90 mins which would terrify me. He coliced once. He had been on box rest and gone out and forged himself. Vet said it might lead to surgery. I said there and then no. She looked shocked at me. Another reason I switched vets to a much more realistic practice.

That's because they can do it in house and can make more money from it ? before they could do that they would have just bumped them off as first option!