Great outcome following Colic Surgery

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Toby_Zaphod

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I think I posted when one of our horses had colic surgery in September last year. His name is Ludwig @ 'Wiggy'. He is now in his 26th year, we've had him for 21 years & a few years ago I got his medical history from the vet as we were changing insurers. In the years we'd had him he'd had a small insignificant cut on a hind leg & every thig else was his annual injections. Due to his age he's not been insured for a few years. My wife & I had discussed as he was getting older would we opt for colic surgery. We actually decided no. However when he went down with colic we had the vet out and she gave him jabs & scanned him. She also did an internal examination up his rear & decided he had colic. She told us is wasn't a twisted gut it was that his colon had moved & his insides had moved around & it needed everything to be put back where it should be. She said there would be no need to remove any colon/intestines he needed his insides sorting out & put back where they should be. As there was not going to be any removal my wife & I decided he should have the operation. He went to the vets & he had a 3 hour operation that lasted till around 10.30pm that night. The vet phoned us & told us that it was difficult but it seemed to have gone well & we could come & see him the next day around 1,00pm. After a fairly sleepless night we went to see him. We walked slowly to his stable & peeked in. He was standing in his stable, there was a sparkly in his eyes & I swear he had a smile on his face. We fussed him and eventually left. He came home a few days later & we started his getting better & fit. He spent a few weeks in his stable, then he was taken for short walks. He eventually went out in a small paddock. Later he was long reigned, then short hacks and before doing any of this we checked with the vet. We then included some trotting in his recuperation. It's now 6 months since his operation and a couple of days ago he had his first canter. He went fantastic, he floated & there was tears all over the place because he's back to being what he used to be. I know some people will say that it's too expensive an operation to be done to an elderly horse & I understand that but until you are in this position you realise how much the horse is part of the family & loved. It was expensive, but to have him back feels great, it's taken 6 months of recovery but he's fit & healthy & loves being ridden. He was an affiliated showjumper until a few years ago & he regularly won 'diesel money' at shows. If someone has left a jump up in the school when he comes in he's excited because he wants to jump.

I've gone on a while & I'm sorry it's a long post but what happened to us & how it was sorted may be a help to you should you have to face it & make decisions.
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
I think I posted when one of our horses had colic surgery in September last year. His name is Ludwig @ 'Wiggy'. He is now in his 26th year, we've had him for 21 years & a few years ago I got his medical history from the vet as we were changing insurers. In the years we'd had him he'd had a small insignificant cut on a hind leg & every thig else was his annual injections. Due to his age he's not been insured for a few years. My wife & I had discussed as he was getting older would we opt for colic surgery. We actually decided no. However when he went down with colic we had the vet out and she gave him jabs & scanned him. She also did an internal examination up his rear & decided he had colic. She told us is wasn't a twisted gut it was that his colon had moved & his insides had moved around & it needed everything to be put back where it should be. She said there would be no need to remove any colon/intestines he needed his insides sorting out & put back where they should be. As there was not going to be any removal my wife & I decided he should have the operation. He went to the vets & he had a 3 hour operation that lasted till around 10.30pm that night. The vet phoned us & told us that it was difficult but it seemed to have gone well & we could come & see him the next day around 1,00pm. After a fairly sleepless night we went to see him. We walked slowly to his stable & peeked in. He was standing in his stable, there was a sparkly in his eyes & I swear he had a smile on his face. We fussed him and eventually left. He came home a few days later & we started his getting better & fit. He spent a few weeks in his stable, then he was taken for short walks. He eventually went out in a small paddock. Later he was long reigned, then short hacks and before doing any of this we checked with the vet. We then included some trotting in his recuperation. It's now 6 months since his operation and a couple of days ago he had his first canter. He went fantastic, he floated & there was tears all over the place because he's back to being what he used to be. I know some people will say that it's too expensive an operation to be done to an elderly horse & I understand that but until you are in this position you realise how much the horse is part of the family & loved. It was expensive, but to have him back feels great, it's taken 6 months of recovery but he's fit & healthy & loves being ridden. He was an affiliated showjumper until a few years ago & he regularly won 'diesel money' at shows. If someone has left a jump up in the school when he comes in he's excited because he wants to jump.

I've gone on a while & I'm sorry it's a long post but what happened to us & how it was sorted may be a help to you should you have to face it & make decisions.
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glad you had a good outcome, sadly mine wasn't
 
Brilliant. My boy is now eight years post surgery and didn’t have gut removed. They can and do recover well sometimes. The lucky ones. Mine was only nine but scary time!
 
What a lovely update, I would never say no to an operation because its too expensive for an old horse, I will say no to treatments that are very invasive and have really difficult and long rehabs on an older animal but that's where you have to weigh up each thing on an individual basis.
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
I think I posted when one of our horses had colic surgery in September last year. His name is Ludwig @ 'Wiggy'. He is now in his 26th year, we've had him for 21 years & a few years ago I got his medical history from the vet as we were changing insurers. In the years we'd had him he'd had a small insignificant cut on a hind leg & every thig else was his annual injections. Due to his age he's not been insured for a few years. My wife & I had discussed as he was getting older would we opt for colic surgery. We actually decided no. However when he went down with colic we had the vet out and she gave him jabs & scanned him. She also did an internal examination up his rear & decided he had colic. She told us is wasn't a twisted gut it was that his colon had moved & his insides had moved around & it needed everything to be put back where it should be. She said there would be no need to remove any colon/intestines he needed his insides sorting out & put back where they should be. As there was not going to be any removal my wife & I decided he should have the operation. He went to the vets & he had a 3 hour operation that lasted till around 10.30pm that night. The vet phoned us & told us that it was difficult but it seemed to have gone well & we could come & see him the next day around 1,00pm. After a fairly sleepless night we went to see him. We walked slowly to his stable & peeked in. He was standing in his stable, there was a sparkly in his eyes & I swear he had a smile on his face. We fussed him and eventually left. He came home a few days later & we started his getting better & fit. He spent a few weeks in his stable, then he was taken for short walks. He eventually went out in a small paddock. Later he was long reigned, then short hacks and before doing any of this we checked with the vet. We then included some trotting in his recuperation. It's now 6 months since his operation and a couple of days ago he had his first canter. He went fantastic, he floated & there was tears all over the place because he's back to being what he used to be. I know some people will say that it's too expensive an operation to be done to an elderly horse & I understand that but until you are in this position you realise how much the horse is part of the family & loved. It was expensive, but to have him back feels great, it's taken 6 months of recovery but he's fit & healthy & loves being ridden. He was an affiliated showjumper until a few years ago & he regularly won 'diesel money' at shows. If someone has left a jump up in the school when he comes in he's excited because he wants to jump.

I've gone on a while & I'm sorry it's a long post but what happened to us & how it was sorted may be a help to you should you have to face it & make decisions.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the update. Glad everything has gone so well.
 
Great to hear your update. I’ve always said I wouldn’t put my oldie through it but there is a Shetland on my yard who had two colic operations while he was in his early 30s and he’s still going strong 🙂
 
So pleased for you. I also went through it with mine in 20s and uninsured. Almost 3 years down the line and fit & well if not a little creaky in old age x
 
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