Colic Surgery

If I had a fit and otherwise healthy horse I would always put them on the table and open them up to see what we were dealing with.
From there the choice of PTS on the table or continue to operate would be made.
They would however not be subjected to a second operation.

Once a horse is getting on in years or has significant other career limiting conditions then no, they would be PTS
 
Having nursed two horses through post ops for colic (neither survived past 12 months), no; I would not put my own horses through colic surgery. Just because you can, does not mean you should.
 
My stance with my current horse has always been no colic surgery he is a neurotic Welsh D who doesn't cope well with change, won't box and is frightened of most vets so he just wouldn't cope with it and would get far too stressed out. I actually have it written down if ever I'm away that yo and my mum have auth to pts rather than put him through colic surgery. He's also now 20 with cushings so any surgery away from home I'd probably say no to.
If it were a younger horse with an easier mind id possibly think about it but would probably still be very reluctant due to the trauma of the after care and I'd never be able to relax as I think I'd just be waiting for it to reoccur potentially at night when no one is around.
 
Mine had colic surgery at Leahurst 8 years ago now. She was fit and otherwise healthy at the time. She was showing minimal signs of distress and it was only when they scanned her that they realised she needed surgery. She was a fabulous patient and is still wonderful with the vets. She has no fear of vets or needles. She recovered wonderfully and there has been no sign of any colic since.

However, mentally she has suffered quite a bit. She withdrew and went very into herself - so much so that she got concussion laminitus from standing so still when she was on box rest. She went from being a good loader to shaking when she saw the lorry and she will absolutely not hack off the yard anymore. But otherwise she is fit happy and healthy now.

In the same circumstances I would do it again with her. But I wouldn't have with my other horse as she hates being in her stable and I don't think she would tolerate the box rest. Both are too old now to consider any sort of surgery for them. I wouldn't have put her through another colic surgery if it had recurred soon after.
 
I always thought I wasn't sure if I'd do it, but when I was actually faced with the 'decision' I didn't give it a second thought to not go through with it. My otherwise healthy horse there infront of me.... no reasons for it to go wrong....it didn't even cross my mind not to do it.

As it happened he was one of the 2/100 who don't take well to anaesthetic, so I lost him anyway despite the surgery going swimmingly.

I think I'd do the same again though unless there was a good reason not to.
 
I am not sure what I would do to be honest. I would probably not go through with surgery as I live 3 hours from the vet hospital which is a very long journey with a colicing horse. I wouldn't put an old horse through it either. If it was a young healthy horse and I lived near the hospital I would probably do it though.
I have lost 2 horses to colic. Both became very ill very quickly and both were elderly with underlying health issues. she
 
I had always said that I was uncertain if I would but I had to make this decision with my 13 year old gelding at the end of Jan. He suddenly started to behave oddly and started very quickly to colic late one evening whilst I was with him. He got very prompt attention by vets and got him to hospital in good time so if things had worked out, things were in our favour. I had that drive to decide what I was going to do but further tests didn't give good outcome and vet recommended PTS. I am just so grateful things didn't start an hour later with him as goodness knows what I would have found in the morning.

PM showed it to be right call - EFE colic 15ft of small intestine. This colic has very poor outcome compared to other types.

Insurance folks paid out no problem but we opted to have the PM done after speaking to the insurance company to prove it was the right call. Made things less stressful and PM gave us peace of mind too so worth the money just for that reason. Insurance companies have to follow BEVA guidelines for destruction of horses so horse owners should be aware of these.

My thoughts after going through this experience are that I would take the same approach - take the age/health of horse into consideration, the temperament and of course the type of colic is a big one so would listen to my excellent equine vets practice advice and make an informed decision on what I was dealing with.

However, I do say it is a hard thing to deal with. I honestly don't think if I had made a pre-planned decision not to take a horse to colic surgery and got him PTS then and there that night then I wouldn't have felt so certain it was the right call. Hope that makes sense!
 
Damnation said:
I wouldn't.

Nearest horsepital is Edinburgh nearly 2hrs away, I couldn't put her through that journey in pain let alone the actual surgery.
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Its actually at Stocksfield, about 35 miles from Carlisle, less than an hour. My horse had her surgery there and is nearly 2 years on now
 
Nope, I wouldn't.
I had my beloved bonkers orange pony pts last month. At that time of day, Leahurst would be at least 3 hours away and I honestly don't think I'd even have gotten her in the trailer, she was in such a state.
I don't regret my decision to pts but for the rest of my life, I will regret letting the vet pts by injection, instead of calling the knackerman. I thought it would be quicker. Wrong. I'll never, ever risk putting another horse through that.
 
I was relieved when the vet who came out to my mare, when shed an impaction, warned me that she was too big and too old to consider surgery. I was, of course, even more relieved when she recovered after treatment at home but it would only have made the whole thing worse, if I had felt that I had to go against vet's advice, in order to not put her through surgery.
 
I've had two horses with devastating colic and had both PTS once it was obvious the painkilling and antispasmodic meds weren't working. One was my horse of a lifetime and I was absolutely heartbroken. However, a horse I loaned out had colic surgery and, 3 years later, is doing really well. I still don't think I would put a horse of mine through it though.
 
I believe the long term recovery rates of colic surgery are much better now than they were even 5 years ago.

I am aware of number of horses that have made full long term recoveries, as well as some that haven’t.

I have chosen not to insure my current horses, and wouldn’t put either through colic surgery, as neither would do box rest.

But if my horse was young and otherwise healthy, and vet said the prognosis was good, I would.

The person who said the insurance wouldn’t let horse be put to sleep with 1% chance of recovery, and insisted on surgery, where horse died; TBH once horse under anaesthetic, it would feel no pain, and if there is no cost to owner as insurance supporting decision, and alternative is PTS there is little to lose.
 
I have been here once and my horse, who had a major twist, would have been completely stressed out by travelling and didn't stay in a stable happily at the best of times so it was a fairly simple decision to PTS. Of course, I have questioned myself ever since but I know in my heart it was the kindest thing to do for him.

Current horse would cope with box rest but I really don't think I would want to put him through the stress of travelling, strange places etc so I suspect my decision would be the same. When I took the decision not to insure him, the thought that I would not opt for colic surgery was one of the reasons.
 
I had this very discussion with a friend who was our vet until she went off on maternity leave. I said i wasn't sure i'd do it to my horse as he's stressy likes his own stable and can be a pig to handle for people he doesn't know and he hates vets. She said you could categorically not send him to stay in the vets if he didn't kill someone he would do himself serious damage. So that plus a horse on our yard that is recovering from colic surgery that has gone for a happy cheeky little horse to something that looks dreadful and spends most of its time miserable at the back of her stable has made the decision for me
 
If you search back my very first thread under this name was on this topic. My mare (5 at the time) had spasmodic colic that ended up with a night-time 'mercy run' to the nearest equine hospital (several reasons for this - the main one being that she's allergic to Buscopan and the local vet didn't have a clue what to do). She was insured.

I will preface this by saying I absolutely cannot fault the care that she received and if we'd continued treating at home then I think I would have lost her.
However, I ended up nearly having a row with the vet at the hospital because I said straight off the bat that I was not willing to consider colic surgery, regardless of his opinion of the likely outcome or what the insurance said. He finally backed down after I explained that I didn't give a shiny **** about an insurance payout or his stats, I just wanted what was best for my horse. She was there for 3 (or 4, I don't actually remember now) days and didn't need surgery in the end, but I will never forget how hard I had to fight to get him to respect my opinion - I can imagine that a lot of people would be swayed by his arguments and may end up making decisions that they later regret. I personally think he saw a young woman (I was early twenties at the time) on her own and thought that he could pull on my heartstrings to make me change my mind - I cannot guess at his personal motivations for this but have had some less-than-charitable thoughts in private!
 
wingedhorse said:
I believe the long term recovery rates of colic surgery are much better now than they were even 5 years ago.
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DirectorFury said:
If you search back my very first thread under this name was on this topic. My mare (5 at the time) had spasmodic colic that ended up with a night-time 'mercy run' to the nearest equine hospital (several reasons for this - the main one being that she's allergic to Buscopan and the local vet didn't have a clue what to do). She was insured.

I will preface this by saying I absolutely cannot fault the care that she received and if we'd continued treating at home then I think I would have lost her.
However, I ended up nearly having a row with the vet at the hospital because I said straight off the bat that I was not willing to consider colic surgery, regardless of his opinion of the likely outcome or what the insurance said. He finally backed down after I explained that I didn't give a shiny **** about an insurance payout or his stats, I just wanted what was best for my horse. She was there for 3 (or 4, I don't actually remember now) days and didn't need surgery in the end, but I will never forget how hard I had to fight to get him to respect my opinion - I can imagine that a lot of people would be swayed by his arguments and may end up making decisions that they later regret. I personally think he saw a young woman (I was early twenties at the time) on her own and thought that he could pull on my heartstrings to make me change my mind - I cannot guess at his personal motivations for this but have had some less-than-charitable thoughts in private!
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Recovery rates have improved, I have read, because of early intervention. I have read in all sorts of places now, 'the earlier you get your horse to the hospital the more likely it is to survive.

Which, when put together with this post, begs the question whether recovery rates are improving, at least partly, because they are now operating on horses which would have recovered without an operation anyway?
 
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It's a tough one isn't it, in that moment what we'd decide to do for our beloved horses.
For me it sort of depends on the horse. For the two I have now, the little mare is a no brainer - she would not survive well from it, her gut is too weak, and I know that in the moment I would not be at all tempted to send her for surgery for this reason. The big lad is trickier....physically he would likely have a good prognosis, but emotionally I don't think he would, but I think it would be much harder to stick to that conviction in the moment. I hope that I would resist the urge though, rationally I know that I would not like to put a horse of mine through it
 
I have always thought that I wouldn't chose surgery for colic but when I got a phone call at 2am when I was away in the French Alps, from my friend asking for me to give my consent to the vet to either operate on or euthanise Tiger as he had a huge impaction, I chose the surgery strangely without hesitation. I think that for me it was the fact that I couldn't physically see him to make a decision and needed to try.

Turns out the once he was upside down strung up from his hooves it actually helped to clear the impaction and he never did require cutting.

Last year, however an old pony on the yard that I was on went down with terrible colic and the vet recommended surgery. The owner had very little money and no transport and called me to ask if I could take the pony in my box up to Leahurst (nearly 2 hrs away), which of course I agreed to. I took the partition out of my small box and left the pony loose. It was a horrible experience for me, the owner and definitely the pony. We managed to get him there but he collapsed whilst being led round to surgery and the owner thankfully made the brave decision to PTS.

After going through that I think that I would go back to my initial feelings of not putting one of mine through the surgery but unless you are in the situation it is very hard to say.
 
I think its an incredibly tough decision, and depends so much on the horse and situation.

I remember reading this thread last year, and at the time I knew I couldn't put my old boy through it. He then colicked in December and we took him to Liphook. For what its worth, they put no pressure on us to operate and were so kind.

It was the most horrible decision I've ever had to make - but I always knew that I could never put him through that kind of surgery. The biggest problem was that the vet didn't know what was going on despite multiple different scans throughout that day and the next. If things had looked more positive I can't be certain that I wouldn't have agreed to surgery when it came down to it. It was honestly the hardest thing and I miss him more than the world, but I had to do what was right for him and not me. He gave me so much, and he waited for me to say goodbye, and told me he was ready. He couldn't have given me more. A post mortem showed his small intestine had massively ripped - which is very rare and untreatable so an operation would not have saved him. I'm so grateful I have that closure, but making the decision to PTS was the worst experience and I can totally understand whatever an owner chooses.
 
Depends. I would have Old Cob PTS if we were in this situation. He is approx 30, has no previous history of internal problems and does not do box rest in any circumstance. I would assume that there was probably an age-related and fundamentally serious problem so the only reasonable outcome would be to let him go.
My son's horse showed all the signs of colic a few years ago - a mystery as in 9 years no horse on the yard had colicked, he lives out 24/7 and there were no changes in his management. His problem turned out to be a fatty tumour wrapped round his colon (pedunculate lipoma). He made an excellent recovery and was out eventing again the following season. In his case the surgery was life and career saving. The vets were absolutely excellent throughout and talked us through the prognosis and risks very clearly. Surgery took place very promptly after the onset of his symptoms so fortunately this helped to prevent further complications.
 
It's so tricky. I always said I would never agree to colic surgery. But when my beloved boy was faced with either being PTS or surgery (which he was not insured for) I just had to try. He was 8. His surgery was clockwork but he broke a leg standing up. Would I do it again? Probably.
 
Have had two homebreds go through colic surgery. The first was 3 years old and it turned out he had a serious twist when he was opened up. Unfortunately he was pts in recovery as he had gone into toxic shock. His 6 year old brother was operated on for an impaction but this did not need a resection. He bounced back from surgery, had a text book recovery and now at 12 years old has never had another colic episode.

Would I do it again? I've always said I wouldn't put an old horse through colic surgery but a young and otherwise healthy horse I probably would.
 
I wouldn't and didn't. Very recently (3 weeks ago) my daughters pony went down with colic. She was 23, had melanomas and arthritis. As she was on loan I had to consult owner, we were both in agreement that it would not be fair. So she was pts. It was horredous the speed she was rider at 12 and dead by 10 pm! But we did the right thing for her. So no I would not put any of mine through it.
 
My old boy had colic surgery I can't remember what for now it was a hike ago but he recovered 100% and (touch wood) has never had colic again. Went on to event 3 seasons before I sold him for a younger sportier model. Would definitely do it again if horse was insured.

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I have read all comments with interest. Can anyone who has gone ahead with surgery advise what kind of cost the surgery was and also how long the horses were on box rest for? One of mine would not cope well with box rest. Thanks
 
DSCC said:
I have read all comments with interest. Can anyone who has gone ahead with surgery advise what kind of cost the surgery was and also how long the horses were on box rest for? One of mine would not cope well with box rest. Thanks
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It was a 16 week recovery process overall, which I think is pretty standard. The first few weeks box rest, then in-hand walking and grazing in-hand and eventually turn out in a small stable size area.
 
DSCC said:
I have read all comments with interest. Can anyone who has gone ahead with surgery advise what kind of cost the surgery was and also how long the horses were on box rest for? One of mine would not cope well with box rest. Thanks
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Cost was around £3000 - in our case surgery for a pedunculate lipoma was straightforward and he was home again after 5 days. As all the horses live out 24/7 we opted for fencing off a small field shelter so he was right next to his brother and other herd members and could see them all the time. He was in there for around 5 weeks with in-hand grazing once his stitches had healed. We were warned that keeping him confined while the the wound was closing was absolutely critical due to the risk of a hernia or worse if the stitches ruptured. He could have started some gentle walking exercise after around 6-8 weeks but as my son was away horse was turned out with the herd for another 6 weeks and then brought back into work slowly without any problems.
 
Roo had 2 months box rest one month field rest and then back out as normal - building fitness obviously. Previously a super stressy horse he actually coped really well. I'm sure he knew he was 'poorly' and took it completely in his stride. He has turned back into a pain in the stable lol
 
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