Numpty Q- When a horse gets colic...

[Perfect_Pirouette]

And the vet comes, what does the vet do? I.e do they give the horse anything? I know this is a random numpty Q but *touches wood* I've never had a horse that has colic or seen a horse with it being treated by a vet and just wondered what they actually do to help relieve it?

 

[Snowysadude]

Depends on how severe and what caused the colic but usually if its bad the vet will give them an injection to get their insides moving again, then monitor the horse, if it doesnt work they get a second injection and if that doesnt work its either surgery or put down - so its quite serious really

!

 

[joeanne]

One of the ponies on our yard recently suffered a nasty bout. The vet gave anti spasmodics, painkillers and a sedative, which did the trick.

 

[SecretSquirrell379]

The vet came out to our yard a few weeks ago to a pony and gave it an anti spasmodic jab....I think?? He did a rectal exam and she had the jab, she was fine afterwards......mind you I had walked the poor thing round and round in circles for an hour before hand waiting for her owner to come down as she kept going down and rolling. She made a full recovery

Edited to say that this was also the first time I had seen a horse with colic and I nearly pooped my pants!! It was 6 in the morning, i was the only one there, YO was on holiday and I wasn't even sure it was colic at first. I watched the pony for 5 mins or so as she was just laying down and not interested in her breakfast, while she was quiet I was not too worried, when she started rolling thats when I got her up and started walking her around. I'd already rung her Mum to tell her the pony was not right and I thought it was colic

 

[H's mum]

[ QUOTE ]
Depends on how severe and what caused the colic but usually if its bad the vet will give them an injection to get their insides moving again, then monitor the horse, if it doesnt work they get a second injection and if that doesnt work its either surgery or put down - so its quite serious really

!

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that that's a bit black and white to say that if the second injection doesn't work then it's either surgery or put down!

Colic is a nasty horrid thing to deal with - there are various levels and the vet has a number of different approaches - from tubing and flushing the guts, providing antispasmodic/pain relieving injections, carrying out a peretoneal tap to see if the gut is leaking - to plain old walking the horse to get the gut moving/gas moving.

"Colic" is a generic term for a vet which basically means the horse has some sort of stomach ache and it can be down to so many different factors - the horse can display a number of different symptoms - for instance, mine merely lays out flat and gives up on life! Others flail about, kicking at their bellies, biting their bellies and rolling to try to relieve the pain - they can also raise their upper lip, press their forehead against the wall, and pass little or no droppings - their gums will also be pale and their temp and pulse raised.

I hope this helps you a little bit - colic is very serious and needs vet attention - the first thing you need to do is contact your vet who will take a description over the telephone, asking you what the horse is doing and for how long - they may well then tell you to walk them around and ring them back with an update after 20-30mins or they may head straight out to see you.
Kate x

 

[MrWoof]

My late, great father had a little TB Mare who regularly had (stress) colic after a day's hunting.
She would not eat and broke out so many times that we ran out of dry rugs by about 10pm.
Just make sure you keep them upright and walking.
If they "go down" then you are in serious trouble, heading towards a twisted gut, which can be fatal.
Try feeding a warm bran mash containing Epsom Salts and lots of Caster Oil - and a dollop of honey to make it more palatable.
Otherwise, just warm Caster Oil in "a Worming Syringe".
Anything to get things moving again really.

 

[Luci07]

Vet. Immediately. Basic signs are all the sign but the severity can vary hugely and the quicker the vet is there the better. It can be mild (keeping up and moving then free themselves) to having to rush to hospital. My boy had colic as a result of a strangled bowel - turned out he has some sort of benign tumour (which a lot of horses have) but it was attached to the wall of his gut and when he rolled, the tumour swung over and strangled his gut. I came down to do in the morning to be met by a really messy stable but no droppings..1 hour later horse was on his way to Liphook.

 

[Darkhorse]

I unfortunately have a lot of experience of colic.

On arrival at the yard your vet will always ask for recent history, will listen for gut sounds with a stethascope and may also carry out a rectal examination.

There are a number of treatments available and they will depend on the horses symtoms and type of colic. Generally a drench and some pain killers will sort things out.

 

[Gorgeous George]

George had colic earlier in the year and it was the first time I had seen a horse with colic but it was blatently obvious, it was also obvious that he was in pain as he started rolling and was sweating a lot. The vet was called ASAP and he said it was ok to let George roll within reason as he would prob get more distressed if I tried to stop it (not to mention putting me in danger).

When the vet arrived he checked George's heart rate, temp and listened to his gut and did a rectal exam. He then gave him an anti-spasmodic injection and a painkiller. He advised lunging him gently for 10mins to see if that would get things moving and I also had to remove all the hay and straw from his stable for 12hrs. We checked on him through the night and when he pooed at 1am I felt like i'd won the lottery!

Thankfully all was well and by morning George was gagging for his breakfast...but he had to make do with a handful of hi-fi!

 

[Montyforever]

My mare had colic last week

He gave her 2 injections, one was a muscle relaxant i think.
Luckily she pooed just after and he checked that, listend to her tummy to make sure all was well again

Gave her danilon for few days cos of sore muscles.
Must say she scared me sh*tless!!

 

[woolyjumper]

[ QUOTE ]
Depends on how severe and what caused the colic but usually if its bad the vet will give them an injection to get their insides moving again, then monitor the horse, if it doesnt work they get a second injection and if that doesnt work its either surgery or put down - so its quite serious really

!

[/ QUOTE ]

If colic treatment was as basic as that, I don't think there would be any need to call the vet out!!

 

[Ladylina83]

Lina had her first colic last week too - didn't let her roll in the stable but she had been doing in the field, Vet arrived had a good listen gave her a muscle relaxent and a pain killing injection + a sedative, did a rectal exam and cleared out what she could by hand then flushed her by putting a long hose up her nose directly into her stomach and put a whole bucket of warm water and epsom salts through it slowly, sometimes they can use liquid parafin for this too but the epsom salts send fluid to the large bowel and rehydrates the droppings.

She then went to bed to sleep off the sedation and I went back to the farm at 10.30 pm to giver a small net with soaked hay in and speedibeet soup with more epsom salts in - by the morning she still had not passed but was fine by lunch time and has been since.

But then my friends pony Bertie hads to be PTS from colic on Monday night - he was up in the field at 8 when i saw him but by the time she got there at 9 he was down and his whole body was in spasms , the vet got there and said it was best to let him go, it was very quick.

Each case is different.