Colic surgery.. would you put yours through it?

Not for me no.
She's not insured for it anyway but even if she was I wouldn't. She's arthritic, a good doer and prone to jumping out of her stable/pen when contained so I don't think it would be a good option, plus of course all the usual risks with that sort of surgery etc.
With a different horse, different circumstances maybe but it's such a major surgery I'm doubtful it's something I'd ever want to put a horse through.
 
No. Never have. Never will.

Have I had a horse put down for colic? Yes. My beloved Fell pony.

Did I seriously consider surgery? Yes. I was so incredibly on the fence because I really didn't want my pony to leave me.

Reason? He was 19yo he lived out 24/7 and had colicked for no reason at all. I could not ask him to stand in a box for any length of time.

It is personal choice and no doubt my resolve will be sorely tested again but I have always and will always say No.
 
I have had two home breds go through colic surgery. The first was three years old and the vet thought it was definitely worth doing. Unfortunately it turned out to be a lot more serious than was originally thought and he had to have 8 foot of dead intestine removed and was pts in recovery as he had gone into toxic shock. My other horse was 6 years old who had an impaction from eating conkers which did not require any intestine removal. He made a very good and easy recovery and 8 years on is in great shape. Both horses were kept at home and quite used to being stabled. I was also able to organise the yard routine around them.

Now that my horses are older I would think very carefully about colic surgery but I wouldn't rule it out.
 
the box rest thing is another case where there is so much variation between individual horses. One of mine did about a 4 months stint for an injury and she got very frustrated but I wasn't able to manage her mental state very well, having only one horse in livery at the time.
The one I'd fall on the side of doing surgery for now, I already move mountains to keep her happy in the stable so my whole set up revolves around her and I think it wouldn't be so bad for her as a result.
 
Aimeetess said:
"Once discharged home, ongoing care such as stable rest is required for around 4 months to ensure they rest and allow the abdominal (belly) surgery site to heal."

If that is correct. Up to 4 months box rest? I wouldn't put any of mine through it. Mine had a op with 6 weeks box rest and then sedated in a pen, he still jumped out twice.
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Both mine had 6 weeks of box rest (or small grass pen rest) designed to stop them jumping around like idiots and opening their wound. That seems to be the norm. Getting a horse back to fitness would take 4 months, though - as you'd be starting with careful walk work etc.
 
No.

Apart from anything else I'm a good 5 hours (in a car, not towing) from a vet horspital now... although they might do surgery at a place 3 hours away... not sure... and the road is awful. But it isn't a top option for me anyway. Granny was too old and The Beast is just so humongous in the body even when she's having a slim day I can't imagine everything knitting back together well and I'm sure she would be one that had awful complications afterwards.

Losing Granny horse to an unexpected colic was the worst day I've had with horses. It broke my heart and I'm still struggling months later. But if I'd dragged her down the road to try and keep her alive and it had failed meaning her last hours were stressful as well as painful I'd be distraught.

It would have to be really exceptional circumstances involving not living where I do and a very positive prognosis for me to really consider it an option.
 
That entirely depends on the horse and their temperament, the type of colic and the prognosis. I wouldn't say yes or no either way, it's a decision I hope I never have to make but it would be one I only make in the situation when presented with the full circumstances.
 
One horse yes, the rest are too old, have digestive problems or have previously colicked after surgery so no.

The love of my life was PTS with colic, I doubt any vet would have operated on her as she was 25, but if they had agreed I still wouldn't have as at 25 she didn't deserve to be carted about to a strange place where ultimately she could have never come round from surgery. She deserved to go at home, quietly surrounded by her friends and I loved that horse more than anything but I couldn't let her suffer just because I couldn't bare living without her. I still don't question or regret my dicision but I don't think I'll ever get over it.
 
Orchard14 said:
That entirely depends on the horse and their temperament, the type of colic and the prognosis. I wouldn't say yes or no either way, it's a decision I hope I never have to make but it would be one I only make in the situation when presented with the full circumstances.
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The problem with this is that you do not know the full circumstances until after they have cut the horse open.


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Shilasdair said:
Here's some information https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/equine/common-conditions/colic/colic-surgery/
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I am very concerned about recovery statistics. They have improved and improved. But the advice has been to get them to hospital quickly, because the sooner they get them open, the better the prognosis. And we have all heard of horses which were supposedly on their last legs who have recovered . So it seems to me to be absolutely certain that at least some of the improvement in recovery rates is due to operating on horses which don't actually need it and were going to survive anyway.

The other problem I have is that you rarely see any figure than recovery to discharge from hospital. The figures I want are the numbers alive to resume work, then at one year and five years and how many times they colic again in that period.


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NO. I have had several horses go to horspital with colic but each one has been on no surgical proceedure terms. One we were on the phone with the vet proposing pts when a vet nurse came in and said he had had a poo so the decission was no longer needed.
 
So here's a quote from one bit of research:


The long-term (>12 months) survival rate for 204 horses
discharged after colic surgery and for which follow-up
information was available was 84%.

So immediately, at a year, we have 80% alive on discharge but only 84% of those alive at discharge still alive a year later. So for a year, survival rate is 84% of 80%, 67%

Meaning that one third of all horses operated on will not still be alive a year later, and many of those will have gone through pain and discomfort during that year, only to die anyway.


That's too high a percentage for me.
 
ycbm said:
The problem with this is that you do not know the full circumstances until after they have cut the horse open.


..
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well it's always going to be an educated guess, as with so many things - but at least when the horse is on the table the decision can still be made to let it slip away rather than continuing so not really any extra suffering caused by that stage.
 
milliepops said:
well it's always going to be an educated guess, as with so many things - but at least when the horse is on the table the decision can still be made to let it slip away rather than continuing so not really any extra suffering caused by that stage.
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Accepted, but with the horse open, surely it must skew the decision towards continuing when the odds are against you and you might not have accepted those odds before the operation was started?
 
Prompt referral and admission to horsepital is vital. If a horse doesn’t respond very soon to treatment for colic on first call out, my vets prefer to save time by referring straight to Leahurst (which is an hour away), rather than make a second home visit to assess the horse for themselves. Though they’d attend to stabilise the horse for travel if necessary.

Initially I thought colic surgery was miraculous. Sadly now I know of too many horses who have had the surgery and died on the table or within a few months of surgery. Cost is only part of it, but a £10k bill for a dead horse is something to factor in.
 
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ycbm said:
Accepted, but with the horse open, surely it must skew the decision towards continuing when the odds are against you and you might not have accepted those odds before the operation was started?
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no idea. I would imagine that would depend on the discussion that had taken place between vet and owner.

When one of mine had a GA a couple of years ago it was on the understanding that they would be in touch if things looked worse than anticipated in an outcome-changing way and I'd expect the same feedback if it was a colic.

ETA. fear of a surgical-type colic is what makes me continue to insure and also partly what made me choose my vet practice. I genuinely don't think they would let ego or overenthusiasm be the deciding factor in whether to complete an op. I am confident that I can trust them to make the right call.
 
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milliepops said:
well it's always going to be an educated guess, as with so many things - but at least when the horse is on the table the decision can still be made to let it slip away rather than continuing so not really any extra suffering caused by that stage.
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Agreed. If it was more complicated than we realised then the horse wouldn't be woken up. I have done this with a horse under GA for a tendon operation.
 
No, for a few reasons.

Like a few others on here, I have a 'No big spend' policy for my pets, which I make relative to vet cost/the health of my finances at any one time. Neither the dog or horse are insured but I have savings and 10k available on a CC should I need it.

What I would be willing to spend is something I think of often - it's very difficult. For my horse I don't think I'd be willing to throw more than 3k upfront at anything. Most likely the same for my dog - and this is for things where the vet would tell me the prognosis is very good. There are also certain ops I wouldn't even consider - KS surgery and colic surgery to start.

Broken legs in horses is also something I wouldn't try to rectify - basically anything that involved a long stint of box rest. I've always said I'd never put a horse through that - I don't think it's fair. My current horse would probably be a bit of a nightmare anyway - he has a thing of jumping out his stable and field when he is stressed/excited and becomes a handful even with a few days off.
 
Wouldn't do it for the 15yo mare, she's got a few issues to start but the main one being her osteoarthritis, prolonged boxrest would be awful for her. I'd have her PTS.
Now the 4yo, that's a different kettle of fish. I'm very attached to this one, as she is me. She's done three months boxrest as a yearling (laceration to a leg) so I know it's do-able. So it is something I would consider, but very carefully in conjunction with vets opinion of prognosis. If it were a bad prognosis, I'd do the kind thing.
 
I always said I wouldn't but when Arabi got colic last month I would have done anything to save him, I know he would cope with the box rest whereas my other one wouldn't so I would have to seriously think about that one.
 
Shilasdair said:
I should also add that every owner needs to think now about what they would do, and be prepared. I have no patience for people who leave their animal suffering, until the gut dies, before operating or putting to sleep.
Make up your mind beforehand - then act upon it swiftly.
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Totally agree with this. I had a month away abroad and it made me think about these things as I needed to be able to leave instructions should something occur whilst I was away, espscially as I was in a totally different time zone. When my lovely B colicked in October, it really helped that I had thought about what I might do, even when my emotions and stress levels were high. I decided not to put him through colic surgery, he was quite a big older horse who could be quite stressy. I have never regretted my decision although I still feel very sad to have lost him.
 
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