It wasnt colic that killed her...........

SmartieBean09

SmartieBean09

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Ok, have finally got my good head back on as I now have closure over the death of my best friend, Jamin.

When Jamins body was taken away, the vet carried out a more thorough examination of Jamin. She was unable to do this as the time because Jamin was in such pain.

Jamin died due to Pendunculated Lipoma Strangulation (sp).

From what I understand, she had a fatty tumor which eventually grew and wrapped itself around her stomach, killing her stomach and bringing on the colic which she clearly had by the time I got to the yard.

The vet assures me that there was nothing I could have done to have saved her. Even if surgery was an option 1) we wouldn't have been able to get her there because of her fear of travelling and 2) because she was 27, chances of her surviving were very slim.

I am pleased I have an answer as to why she died and am pleased that we found her at the very early stages of the strangulation so she didnt suffer for too long. Oddly enough, I was 45 minutes late arriving that day. Had I had got to the yard at my usual time, I would have turned Jamin out and she would have suffered a very painful death and I would have found her dead later that day. Something I know, I wouldnt have coped with at all!!!

Until now, I had never heard of PLS. Has anyone had any experience of this? The vet has said that the tumor could have laid dormant for years and we wouldnt have known but for the past 2 years Jamin just wasnt right. Were these early warning signs? Bloods were taken when she stopped eating just over a year ago, would this have shown up then? Is there something I could have done or was it something I could have caused? Ive Googled and Googled but cant find anything on the causes.

Have also found this picture today. Taken 2006 when Jamin was 22 and for some very odd reason, I look slightly too big for her! Still, a very nice memory of my baby :-)

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I lost my baby girl to the same thing back in 2003.

She came out the winter looking lean, but she was 20, a rescue and had a dodgey liver, so we didn't think much of it.

One minute she was fine, the next she was gone :(

But it still counts as colic, which is pain in the abdomen, whether it's strangulation or a blockage.
 
Sorry to hear about the loss of your horse. I had my old horse PTS just before Christmas. The vet thought that she had something similar to your horse, although I didn't have an autopsy done. She was presenting with symptoms of mild colic but her heart rate was so high the vet was surprised she hadn't already died. He thought she had a tumour on an elongated stem which had wrapped around part of her gut causing a 'strangulation'. I have known a pony who died of this in the past and as my horse was nearly 28 years, I didn't want her to suffer. She was given pain relief and stomach tubed but when she was no better the next morning we had her PTS. I had owned her for 20 years so it was very sad. Your Jasmin looked a gorgeous horse, you must really miss her. I have the daughter of mine which helps slightly.
 
Sorry for your loss, she was a beauty.

I've recently been involved with a mare who was eventually pts. The vets were baffled as to what was going on for several weeks I spoke to another vet whilst I was on a course. She is probably one of the top vets in the UK and I asked her opinion, she said that what she often saw with elderly mares who had unexplained mild colics and/or was PLS. According to her it often just nips up a bit and makes them a little uncomfortable and then eases off but eventually it will kill (assuming they don't die of other age-related illnesses first). Her exact words to me were "For God's sake don't let them open her up to find out, she won't survive the op because if it's not that there will be something else that means it's not sensible to keep her alive and they will have to pts on the table". We had her pts shortly after as she was going downhill and not enjoying life. We did not have a PM done.

So as far as I can see your girl was very lucky that you caught her at the start of her crisis and there was nothing you could have done, there is no test, it's just something that happens, you could not have affected her getting it or not getting it in any way. Her not being "right" for the past couple of years may well have been due to the tumour "swinging" and nipping her stomach or gut but there was nothing that could have been done differently.

I hope this goes a little way to reassuring you that nothing in your management caused this to happen and further than nothing you could have done would have affected the outcome.

RIP Jamin
 
You are right Serenity. I guess, what I mean is that the cause of her death was the PLS, and that inevitably (sp) caused Colic.:confused:

Jamin had definately lost a lot of weight. Some said she looked ok and that I was probably worrying over nothing but alarm bells had been ringing in my head for a long time. However every now and then she would pick up. Although she never got back to her old self. :(
 
jemima_too said:
Sorry for your loss, she was a beauty.

I've recently been involved with a mare who was eventually pts. The vets were baffled as to what was going on for several weeks I spoke to another vet whilst I was on a course. She is probably one of the top vets in the UK and I asked her opinion, she said that what she often saw with elderly mares who had unexplained mild colics and/or was PLS. According to her it often just nips up a bit and makes them a little uncomfortable and then eases off but eventually it will kill (assuming they don't die of other age-related illnesses first). Her exact words to me were "For God's sake don't let them open her up to find out, she won't survive the op because if it's not that there will be something else that means it's not sensible to keep her alive and they will have to pts on the table". We had her pts shortly after as she was going downhill and not enjoying life. We did not have a PM done.

So as far as I can see your girl was very lucky that you caught her at the start of her crisis and there was nothing you could have done, there is no test, it's just something that happens, you could not have affected her getting it or not getting it in any way. Her not being "right" for the past couple of years may well have been due to the tumour "swinging" and nipping her stomach or gut but there was nothing that could have been done differently.

I hope this goes a little way to reassuring you that nothing in your management caused this to happen and further than nothing you could have done would have affected the outcome.

RIP Jamin
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Thank you so much J. Your message does help an awful lot! It really does.

The reason the vet knew we caught it in the early stages was because when she passed a tube into her, she put fluids in and then brought them back out again. Only a small amount came out. She said that (and this is after death) once the stomach dies, saliva etc would build up fairly quickly. When she brought the fluids back out, only what she had put in came out. Therefore, I must have got to the yard as it had just happened.

Haniki, I am so sorry for your loss. Its an awful thing to watch. I hope you enjoy her daughter. That must be a lovely feeling too. I would have loved Jamin to have had a foal :)
 
We lost a much loved pony to this, fine at 10 pm, 7am next day in agony, didn't respond to normal colic treatment and was pts later that day. It's quite common in older equines.

He hadn't lost weight or anything just looked fat and round as usual.
 
SmartieBean09 said:
You are right Serenity. I guess, what I mean is that the cause of her death was the PLS, and that inevitably (sp) caused Colic.:confused:

Jamin had definately lost a lot of weight. Some said she looked ok and that I was probably worrying over nothing but alarm bells had been ringing in my head for a long time. However every now and then she would pick up. Although she never got back to her old self. :(
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Carrie was always her normal self, thats the worst thing. A few weeks later we got a film back from the developers full of pictures of us jumping our highest fence, the last time I ever rode her, just a week before.

So cruel for us to have been doing so well :(
 
Thistle said:
We lost a much loved pony to this, fine at 10 pm, 7am next day in agony, didn't respond to normal colic treatment and was pts later that day. It's quite common in older equines.

He hadn't lost weight or anything just looked fat and round as usual.
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This was one thing I couldnt get my head around. Although there were signs of Jamin slowing down, at the time I just passed them off as old age and having 2 long winters.

I had ridden her on the Saturday and she went lovely. I was chuffed to bits with her. On the Tuesday, I brought her in, all ok. I spent an hour grooming her and she seemed happy. Went I went down the next day, she was dripping in sweat from ear to tail and was a very weird, short shape! Her bed was pushed against the wall and it was clear she had been throwing herself around.

All this aside, when I got out of my car and called to her when I first arrived, she called back to me. Poor thing was probably so relieved someone was there for her!
 
I have a lipoma floating in a jam jar. My vet gave it to me instead of an easter egg a few years ago.(????) Will photograph it and let you see what one looks like. The horse from which it was removed made a full recovery:) My old boy Winnie was pts due to one. Horribly painful way to go, it took me 5 hours to convince vet (other) to pts. Barsteward! :(
 
I hope this answer has given you some piece of mind.

My one in a million welsh cob died of the same 18 months ago - well, he was pts as he'd lost so much weight and just couldn't get any back on and was showing mild colicy symptoms on and off, but PM showed pedunculated lipoma strangulation. His guts had basically stopped being able to absorb any nutrients into his bloodstream as the the lipoma was taking it all.

He was 28, and would have been 30 this week.
 
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Fairynuff said:
I have a lipoma floating in a jam jar. My vet gave it to me instead of an easter egg a few years ago.(????) Will photograph it and let you see what one looks like. The horse from which it was removed made a full recovery:) My old boy Winnie was pts due to one. Horribly painful way to go, it took me 5 hours to convince vet (other) to pts. Barsteward! :(
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what an A**e!!!! I am very grateful Jamin was given lots of pain relief and it was all over within 50 minutes of the vet getting there.

Would love to see the pic which may sound strange (but not as strange as receiving it instead of an Easter egg :D). Never, ever heard of PLS until now.

RIP Winnie.
 
JenHunt said:
I hope this answer has given you some piece of mind.

My one in a million welsh cob died of the same 18 months ago - well, he was pts as he'd lost so much weight and just couldn't get any back on and was showing mild colicy symptoms on and off, but PM showed pedunculated lipoma strangulation. His guts had basically stopped being able to absorb any nutrients into his bloodstream as the the lipoma was taking it all.

He was 28, and would have been 30 this week.
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Just heart breaking JH. Its such an awful thing to see them going through.

It has taken a lot of weight from my shoulders. I was glad we knew her cause of death. That helped me a lot but although I was told there was nothing I could have done, those few questions still niggle at you.

Thank you all for your reassurance. Means so much to me. Just so sorry that you have all suffered too. PLS is obviously a lot more common than I thought! :mad:
 
My friend's appy had that last year but luckily it was caught in time and he is still here with us. The symptoms came on so quickly even though the tumour was probably there a while. He just went off his feed, as he was totally blocked inside, and then dropped weight like nobody's business within days. He was lucky though. My friend felt awful though as the weekend before she had taken out for a 3 hour hack but then nobody knew as he was absolutely fine.

I'm sorry for all of you who have lost your horses to this - it seems to be a bit of a stealth killer :-(
 
We had the option of surgery but I turned it down. Carrie wanted to go to sleep and I believed if she wasn't helped to go before the surgery, she would have died on the table.

So to sleep she went.

Part of me wishes we'd never gone to the hospital with her. But at the same time I am glad that I saw her to the end and that she didn't go at home, we were able to do the horrific "empty lorry" trip home and that was it - the vets did all the clearing up.

Certainly lipomas aren't something we should feel guilty about, they just suddenly turn bad :(

RIP to all our beautiful horses.
 
how very sad that you lost your mare, it is something none of us wish for but unfortunately have to deal with as our beloved horses get older.

my old boy ended up having surgery three years ago now, he was 17 at the time and he had five lipomas when they opened him up, so it really was a matter of time before it affected him. the vets at leahurst said its just something old horses get, especially geldings apparently, it was really hard at the time as it was only 5 days after i had lost my dad to cancer, so i wasnt able to cope with it very well at the time. luckily my boy survived as he was found really early on and we are only 30 minutes away from leahurst.

i think you did the right thing and hopefully the vets report has helped you come to terms with it. at least your lovely horse didnt suffer and you were able to help her on her way quietly and with dignity, and most importantly she is at peace and pain free.
 
So sorry that you lost your mare. I lost my beautiful sec D, mare, Poppy to this in August 2009. It all happened so fast - 11.15 my friend checked her and she appeared fine and then quite by chance she decided to check her again 15 minutes later and Poppy had sweated up and looked colicky. I was on holiday but my friend called the vet straightaway. Poppy was taken to hospital before I made it home. They started the operation but said that there was too much damage to her intestine and so I had to make the decision to have her put to sleep. I didnt get to see her again. The day before I went on holiday I had spent ages grooming her and had turned her out looking gorgeous. I just have to remember my girl looking beautiful. Like you I was veryu shocked that there had been no warning signs. I had been riding her up until a couple of days befpre she died. I can only pray that she wasnt suffering in silence.
 
i lost my little connie aged 19 to this on the 9th april this year --god love him

he was a lami sufferer but had not shown signs for 4 years and was doing really well

on the wednesday (6th april) he came in from the feild quite pottery so vet out and blacksmith to check him over --both swore he had lami again really high rate pulses in both front feet--could hardley walk

so box rest but 2 days later he was walking around his stable as though nothing was wrong

went out to feed teas and he was just led down with no disturbance to his bed with sweat pouring from behind his ears he got up and walked to the door for his tea but i knew he wasn't right so

vet called out it was colic--no response to treatment 1 hour later
so referral to horspital was hopeful we had caught it in time i know you shouldn't but i sat with him all the way in the wagon and just kept talking to him all the way there

once we arrived he was checked over everything was so busy vets at all ends of him they did what they called a belly tap and from their faces i knew it was serioius --so no time to waist straight into theatre --

the news came -- it was not good he had 35ft (the max they would take out of a large horse ) of strangled small intestine and as it was from the centre to the end they said had it been in the centre they may have been able to join back up but his quality of life would of not been as he was used to and they could not guarantee him not getting bouts of colic again
also his heart rate was not good he was very very poorly

i had to make that decision and i hope i did make the right one for him as i could not of seen him suffer -- i'm in tears as i'm writing this but my little man was so brave he must of been in agony

the vets said he must of been a hardy little thing as they thought he might of had around 2-5 ft not 35ft as most horses would of been throwning themselves down in pain --he didn't show any of this just the lying down he had not even rolled in the stable his limpona was the size of the vets fist

god i miss him so much he was a big part of my life just like yours and all the other posters

its not easy and i know it was only over a week ago but i have thoughts of him being back to his usual self again running free without pain or worry

(miss you little man --love you to bits RIP charlie)
 
So glad you got closure and glad you were there to end the pain. Reading all this really makes me wonder if this is what happened to my shetland, who I lost in 2009. He lost weight over the winter, despite food being shovelled into him and had a colic that winter, too, which I put down to a feed change. He'd never colicked in his life before. I found him dead in the stable three months later. He was mid-late thirties.
 
Glad you have some closure, I don't think there is a test so nothing you or the vet could have done :( It is actually quite common especially in older horses. I think one of the reasons it is quite unknown to some horse owners is because the older horses are more high risk and therefore it would be more dangerous to send the horse for colic surgery (thus not finding the tumour unless you have a PM).

A little old mare at my yard died from this. She was about 29 and had been loosing weight the past few months. Her owner was on holiday when the mare started to show signs of colic and really suffer. It all happened so quickly that the vet had to pts. The owner was due back later that day however the mare couldn't wait a minute longer :(
 
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Horsedreams, you are making me well up!

I cant believe how common it is. Ive been around horses all of my life and never heard of it.

I am so sorry for all your losses. I know how raw the pain is. You learn to cope and move on but if ever you stop to look back, the heartache and tears are still there.

I have Jamins ashes and I say good night to her every night just like I used to.

Just to show you how she changed, here are some pics:

2006 and happy
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She started dropping condition in 2009............

Thinking things were getting better, March 2010


Ontheroadtorecovery.jpg


Feb 2011
29-1-11.jpg


and then picking up again March 2011 just before she died
6thFeb2011.jpg
 
Years ago when i was 15 i went to the yard to bring in my horse, and found a fellow livery's horse dead in the field. He was only 5 bless him, Rocky was his name. His owner didn't have a PM as she was just so devastated and couldn't think straight with the shock-she regrets that now... but the vet who came out to him said that a limpona was the most likely cause. i remember going home and poreing over my vetinary books to find out more, i was terrified that it would happen to my boy...

I'm so sad for all of you that have lost your darling horses to this....x
 
smartiebean09 i'm sorry i have made you sad again

i to have charlies ashes i have a chat with him everynight often blubbering away

i got a really lovely poem with him called rainbow bridge and it is so comforting i read it most nights to him
 
horsedreams said:
smartiebean09 i'm sorry i have made you sad again

i to have charlies ashes i have a chat with him everynight often blubbering away

i got a really lovely poem with him called rainbow bridge and it is so comforting i read it most nights to him
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I'm ok Horsedreams. I often have sad moments throughout the day. Things will get easier for us in time.

Ive heard Rainbow Bridge Poem and it is beautiful. Laura Wheeler also posted a beautiful poem on here when Jamin died. They are comforting.

I often remember the scene at the end of Black Beauty when all the horses are reunited and are grazing and running free. That is where I imagine Jamin to be. With her field mate who died just 4 weeks before.
 
I to lost my lovely 3/4tb mare to lipoma 8 years ago. I had never heard of it before but you never stop learning with horses do you.

This is a poem that someone sent to me just after I lost her, I sent it onto my friend who lost her daughter's pony with colic a while after. Sadly my friend was killed in a car crash in 2009 (idiot driver coming the other way on the mobile phone) and this poem was read out at her funeral as my friend thought it was such a lovely poem.

I am sorry for all of you who have lost your horses, we can only do our best for them and the rest is up to fate as was my friend's life.


My Foal

I’ll lend you for a little while, a foal of mine God said,
For you to love while he’s alive and mourn for when he’s dead.
It may be one or thirty years or maybe more than these
But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charm to gladden you and should his stay be brief,
You shall have his memories, as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught down here, I want this foal to learn.
I’ve looked this wide world over, in my search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes, I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call and take him back again?
Will you shelter him with tenderness and love him while you may,
And for the happiness you’ve know, forever grateful stay?
But should the angels call for him much sooner than you planned,
Brave the bitter grief that comes and please try to understand.

Author Unknown
 
I am sorry that you lost her but am relieved for you that you have an answer - not knowing if there was something - anything - you could have done makes it worse, doesn't it?

We lost Mum's old boy, Benji, in very similar circumstances, aged 29. Out-of-the-blue, once in a lifetime, terrible colic. I felt so guilty as I was 20 mins later to the yard (usually there by 8am) as it was OH's 50th and I found Benj in the gateway in awful pain and covered in bloody sores from his struggles. Luckily, the vet was there asap and could put an end to his suffering.

No PM in his case, but the vet was sure (having done an internal) that it was the same as your mare. It reassured me a bit to be told that there was no way to know until that particular time-bomb went off.

Huge hugs though, as whatever the outcome, it still haunts you.... :( x
 
Thank you so much everyone for your replies.

They helped more than you can imagine! So much so that I slept very heavy last night (cant remember the last time that happened) and feel much better for it this morning.

Thank you onemoretime for that beautiful poem. It is really lovely.

I am sorry for all who have lost their friends over the years. Its forums like HHO that help bring us all together to support one another and I am very grateful for it.

It will be many years yet until I will be in a position again to get another horse but for now I shall still be lingering about on here. Over the past year, I have learnt more on this forum than any other time and there really are some wonderful people on here.

SB x
 
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