BigRed
Well-Known Member
I just wondered if anyone has a horse that had colic surgery. How much was your vet bill, how well did the horse recover and what was the long term prognosis ?
colic surgery
- Thread starter BigRed
- Start date
maddielove
Well-Known Member
My mare had colic surgery 5 weeks ago, and starts her paddock rest this aftenoon!
We are still awaiting our bill, but were told it could be anywhere between 3.5-5 thousand. We've beenbilled for her meds etc which was £500 ish and another £500 for the vet visits before and after surgery when she was at home.
My mare developed a nasty infection which is well on the way to healing completely over which was treated with anti-b's and cleaning.
She has coiced once since the op, which we think was caused by a chane in feed (although it was done slowly, her tummy is just really sensitive)
Long term things look good. She's a completely different horse since the op, it's almost as if she nows she's had a second chance!
We very nearly lost her she had a twisted large colon and her gut was so distended it was pressing into her lungs and she couldn't breathe. The vet said that if she had been 1/2 an hour longer, she'd have dropped dead in the lorry.
PM if you need to know anything else x
We are still awaiting our bill, but were told it could be anywhere between 3.5-5 thousand. We've beenbilled for her meds etc which was £500 ish and another £500 for the vet visits before and after surgery when she was at home.
My mare developed a nasty infection which is well on the way to healing completely over which was treated with anti-b's and cleaning.
She has coiced once since the op, which we think was caused by a chane in feed (although it was done slowly, her tummy is just really sensitive)
Long term things look good. She's a completely different horse since the op, it's almost as if she nows she's had a second chance!
We very nearly lost her she had a twisted large colon and her gut was so distended it was pressing into her lungs and she couldn't breathe. The vet said that if she had been 1/2 an hour longer, she'd have dropped dead in the lorry.
PM if you need to know anything else x
flyawaywish
Well-Known Member
Please feel free to contact me if you want any advice. i am semi-expert on colic now! My mare had surgery (cost around 2k) and has been a chronic colic sufferer, touch wood (lots of times) i finally seem to have her diet/management etc sorted. She is on Pro-Soothe permanently which has helped a lot, i highly recommend it. Also probiotics (the vet adviced giving both, I was concerned we were ODing her on probiotics!
I do little things like ensure she has a small feed of chaff before pigging out on her hay when she comes in. She always has a good sized bfast before going out in the morning (chaff, D&H equine sensitive, feed balancer and prosoothe) and i give her some soaked hay beofe going out too, even though she has good grazing. No apple, no treats, couple of carrots a day only and the odd polo.
I could go on and on please message me if i can help you, i have made loads of tiny management changes over the last year and finally seem to have her staying healthy.
Good luck
I do little things like ensure she has a small feed of chaff before pigging out on her hay when she comes in. She always has a good sized bfast before going out in the morning (chaff, D&H equine sensitive, feed balancer and prosoothe) and i give her some soaked hay beofe going out too, even though she has good grazing. No apple, no treats, couple of carrots a day only and the odd polo.
I could go on and on please message me if i can help you, i have made loads of tiny management changes over the last year and finally seem to have her staying healthy.
Good luck
Shilasdair
Patting her thylacine
[ QUOTE ]
I just wondered if anyone has a horse that had colic surgery. How much was your vet bill, how well did the horse recover and what was the long term prognosis ?
[/ QUOTE ]
I have a 4yr old who had colic surgery two years ago. My vet bill was £3700 approx, she recovered very well.
Her chances prior to surgery were rated as 50:50, but the prognosis now seems to be that she is only a percentage point or two more likely than any other horse to get colic.
That may be related to the type of colic she had (due to a blood clot on the small colon, with no discernible cause).
S
I just wondered if anyone has a horse that had colic surgery. How much was your vet bill, how well did the horse recover and what was the long term prognosis ?
[/ QUOTE ]
I have a 4yr old who had colic surgery two years ago. My vet bill was £3700 approx, she recovered very well.
Her chances prior to surgery were rated as 50:50, but the prognosis now seems to be that she is only a percentage point or two more likely than any other horse to get colic.
That may be related to the type of colic she had (due to a blood clot on the small colon, with no discernible cause).
S
Enfys
Well-Known Member
My 5 year old mare had surgery (various bits removed from gut) in 1991/2 it cost 2,000 pounds at Rossdales but that isn't really any indication of cost nowadays. She spent 10 days in Newmarket, 2 weeks on box rest, once she had healed she went out for a year to have a foal.
Other than managing changes in diet sensibly she didn't really get coddled at all. She went back into race training, had 4 foals, hunted hard for several years and did the usual fun ride stuff etc.
In all the years I had her she never had colic once and died at 17 due to a field injury.
Other than managing changes in diet sensibly she didn't really get coddled at all. She went back into race training, had 4 foals, hunted hard for several years and did the usual fun ride stuff etc.
In all the years I had her she never had colic once and died at 17 due to a field injury.
jac47
Well-Known Member
my boy had colic surgery in Oct 2005 he had 10ft taken out of his small intestine. He has made a full recovery but we have to watch him as it's not been easy. he coliced quite a lot after surgery nearly every month. We kept a diary on him and found out that he has a high intolerance to sugars so he does'nt get any CARROTS, OR TREATS except a fiber qube.
He comes in for most of the day in the summer as the sugars in the grass is quite high in the mornings and goes out at night. He is stabled at night in winter but never goes out in frost or snow. I give him coligone and probotics.
Good Luck o bill came to aroung 4.5 thousand
He comes in for most of the day in the summer as the sugars in the grass is quite high in the mornings and goes out at night. He is stabled at night in winter but never goes out in frost or snow. I give him coligone and probotics.
Good Luck o bill came to aroung 4.5 thousand
Popdog
Active Member
My boy had colic surgery at the RVC in June. When they opened him up he had to have a fair bit of his small intestine removed due to a strangulating lipoma. The prognosis was not good and I was given a 20% chance of him surviving.
He was very ill after surgery and we really didn't think he'd pull through. My vet told me to prepare for the worst, but within 48 hours he brighter and his gut motility returned.
I took him home after just six days! His wound healed without any infection, he was on box rest for 8 weeks and walked in hand. Then he spent 4 weeks in a small paddock before going out in the big field.
The only problem I had was that he tweaked an old tendon injury in the field when he went back out, he was weak and it is common for old injuries to reoccur at this point. He was turned away for 12 weeks (for both our sanities - we couldn't do more box rest) and he came back sound and chilled out.
He has not shown any signs of colic since, and is now back in full work. I treat him as though he is a normal pony.
It cost about £4000 and I can't thank the vets at the RVC enough for what they did for him.
He was very ill after surgery and we really didn't think he'd pull through. My vet told me to prepare for the worst, but within 48 hours he brighter and his gut motility returned.
I took him home after just six days! His wound healed without any infection, he was on box rest for 8 weeks and walked in hand. Then he spent 4 weeks in a small paddock before going out in the big field.
The only problem I had was that he tweaked an old tendon injury in the field when he went back out, he was weak and it is common for old injuries to reoccur at this point. He was turned away for 12 weeks (for both our sanities - we couldn't do more box rest) and he came back sound and chilled out.
He has not shown any signs of colic since, and is now back in full work. I treat him as though he is a normal pony.
It cost about £4000 and I can't thank the vets at the RVC enough for what they did for him.
Durhamgirl
Member
Hi flyawaywish, my lovely mare came home last week after colic surgery. I'm desperate to do anything within my control to keep her healthy and colic free. Whilst researching online I stumbled across your post from a few years back. I would really love to have a chat if that's ok?
be positive
Well-Known Member
flyawaywish is no longer able to post so you may be best starting a new thread asking any questions and see if that is helpful, I had one that survived colic surgery and went on to have a normal active life as do many horses, I hope your mare continues to do well in her recovery.
Durhamgirl
Member
Thank you be positive
eggs
Well-Known Member
One of mine had colic surgery but as it turns out he was already a very sick horse by the time he got to the RVC. He was only 3 so myself and my vet thought it was worth doing. Unfortunately it turns out he had an extremely unusual strangulation and had to have 18' of intestine removed. This in itself was not a problem but it turns out that he had been going into organ failure due to the toxins flooding his system. He came through the surgery but had to be pts a couple of hours later.
His brother also had colic surgery as a 6 year old but did not need anything resected. He absolutely bounced back from it and you would never know that he had had a serious impacted colic. He was up at Newmarket for a week and then came home. He was on box rest with in-hand walking and then short amounts of hand grazing. We then slowly brought him back into work and he was back out eventing the next season. As his impaction was caused by him picking something up in his field - which he is no longer in, we thing he was eating conkers - his management has not had to change and he is treated just the same as my other horses.
So much does depend on the horse and what caused the colic.
His brother also had colic surgery as a 6 year old but did not need anything resected. He absolutely bounced back from it and you would never know that he had had a serious impacted colic. He was up at Newmarket for a week and then came home. He was on box rest with in-hand walking and then short amounts of hand grazing. We then slowly brought him back into work and he was back out eventing the next season. As his impaction was caused by him picking something up in his field - which he is no longer in, we thing he was eating conkers - his management has not had to change and he is treated just the same as my other horses.
So much does depend on the horse and what caused the colic.
Durhamgirl
Member
thanks for your reply eggs...good to hear such a positive outcome for your horses brother but sorry to hear about your youngster. We don't know what caused my mare's colic unfortunately