post colic surgery anyone had any experiences?

J

JJtheJetPlane

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have just got my mare home tonight, she has had two weeks at leahurst had colic surgery, £6k later with no insurance i have been able to bring her home...she is comfortable but has the occasional look at her tummy and is eating very small amounts...im just wondering how other people have got on when you have brought your horse home..how long till you could tell they were out of pain completley and back to normal? I know if anything serious happens ill be on the phone to my vet but just after a few experiences for ref thats all if anyone could give me any advise:)
 
Firstly fab you have your horse home. One of mine had surgery 20 odd years ago, at the time she was fed little and often with restricted turnout after so many weeks gradually building it up. Im guessing your vet gave you care info, mine was on bran mashes to begin with (i can imagine care has changed since then). Do you know what if anything caused it? about the only thing I can say when everything is back to normal consider a good digestive supplement to support the system.
 
yes she had a polip..a fatty growth that had managed to wrap itself around her intestine and cut off the blood supply...just going to check her now ill tell her people are sending her good vibes im sure she will appreciate them
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...just a bit worried i would have liked her to look better than she does, they were happy to send her home but also happy for me to have left her there but funds wont allow me to leave her there for observation ...so what happens over the next few weeks we have got to try and deal with it at home
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not a lot really!! one bute a day for three days three small feeds a day limited haylage.. wipe the wound daily and if she appears to be really uncomfortable call the vet !!
 
8 weeks box rest before she can be turned out i can walk her out twice a day for ten mins, she really doesnt look well enough to even think about going out at the moment
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she is picking at her feed i guess i know more in the morning if she has managed to eat anything...ill be checking her through the night any way .Thanks for your advise x
 
I can only tell you about my colic surgery girl - but she had a blood clot (non-strangulating infarction) of the small colon, which is apparently quite rare.
She had surgery, stayed in for 10 days, then I brought her back to the livery yard, where she was box rested.
I tried to break up her day as follows;
Morning
Fed (minimal feed so she could have 'bute and antibiotics), put in empty stable with feed ball whilst I mucked out.
Groomed, wound checked for swelling, discharge, heat.
Walked in hand for 10 mins (could be exciting
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).
Grazed in hand for as long as I had time - up to about 45mins
Put back in box with soaked hay on floor.
Lunchtime
Paid girl at yard to check her and give a section of haylage
Afternoon
Same as morning, then left with radio on.
Evening
Checked and rugged for night at about 10pm

After a couple of weeks, I electric fenced a corner of a field for her, about stable sized initially, then increased it (whilst moving it along to fresh grass each day).
Gradually I enlarged it, and left her out for longer, til she was out for the morning, then for the day (with hay/haylage), and eventually I threw her back out with the others.

She did have one colic episode, I think, although nothing of importance, and she didn't seem to be in any pain otherwise.
Her wound did swell up a little with fluid, but no discharge or protrusions (which can mean infection/hernia respectively).
I had trouble getting her hind feet trimmed as she found it difficult/uncomfortable to lift them for a month or two.
My vets made no recommendation regarding her management, or feed, as her colic was not related to anything, just a random blood clot.
Hope this helps.
S
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My boy has had double colic surgery.

The first surgery he had 12' of his intestine removed following an epiploic entrapment.

The second surgery they decided that the intestine was only bruised rather than necrotic so left it in.

My lad was on turn out immediately following surgery. We limited him to a small paddock so he couldn't gallop about (he tried to jump out of the stable at the vets the day after surgery).

I fed, and still do, Baileys stud balancer, Baileys no 1 and alfa beet, for when I then needed more weight gain I added the outshine.

He was given adlib hay.

We never left him alone for 4 months after the surgery.

For peace of mind we rigged up a baby monitor for the first few weeks. We got one that was on offer at mother care with a monitor. This cost us £20 at the time and just reach signal wise to my bedroom window. We also had just a listening monitor that stretched to my Mums room so we could both listen in for unusual movement.

I never had to worry about my stitches - they always looked good.

I would aslo recommend that in another couple of weeks you have a physio check your horse over. Surgery can put massive strain on the muscles and I have heard that many horses who have had colic surgery have not returned to their previous level of work due to muscle damage.

With my boy I could tell from his eye how he was feeling. after a while he lost that pained look but pretty sooon it turned to a bored look. So I started longreining him. 4 months after the second surgery he was back competing again (but he was only3 rising 4 when he had his surgeries).

If you would like to ask any other questions then please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Oh, forgot to say, my girl came back from surgery with her pelvis slightly out, but I decided she wasn't fit for any physio for a while.
By the time she was better, her pelvis had realigned itself.
S
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Sorry your girl has not been well and is still looking uncomfortable. You will be surprised though how quickly they can improve though.

My boy had colic surgery in March 08 for multiple twists. Although not obviously 'recovered' when he came out of horsepital, he was bright and cheerful in himself and could move around without too much discomfort. He was discharged with 7 days worth of bute and also a weeks worth of antibiotics. My own vets came to check him the day after coming out of horsepital and then again 10 days after coming home to remove the staples.

We had to do 15 minutes in hand walking/grazing 3 times a day and feed wet easily digestable food but he could have ad-lib wet hay spread around the stable to keep him amused. Built up the in hand walking gradually and then after about 6-7 weeks I started turning him out for half an hour instead of one of the in hand walking sessions gradually building up the turn out time over the next few weeks.

He did have a colic episode about 8 weeks post surgery and vet thought this was due to the insides settling back down. He was given potassium iodide to help prevent lessions if the intestines were sticking together as they settled down.

You are naturally going to be worried about her. Best advice I can give is to trust your gut instinct and if you think she needs a vet, ring them, even for some advice.

Wishing you and your mare all the best.
 
thats brill thanks, i am on tender hooks worrying...she does look uncomfortable...is this normal? she ooks in pain and miserable but not rlling around just hanging her head and flank watching...is this expected ? She has also had 12 foot of intestine removed
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as with people different horses have different pain thresholds.

My boys is very high. I would expect your horse to look uncomfortable for a while. Monitor her behaviour and then give Leahurst a ring, ask them if this is normal behaviour for her so far. Each horse will react differently so you need to recognise what she has been doing so far and what is new behaviour.

Good luck
 
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thats brill thanks, i am on tender hooks worrying...she does look uncomfortable...is this normal? she ooks in pain and miserable but not rlling around just hanging her head and flank watching...is this expected ? She has also had 12 foot of intestine removed
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Mine was pretty depressed (with a high temp) for a couple of days following surgery, and was a bit flat/weak and easily tired for about another week or ten days after I got her home.
However, my girl had a relatively easy time, according to the vets, because I luckily spotted the colic early, she was in very good condition immediately prior to her surgery, and didn't have any part of her gut removed (although they opened a vast length of it up, I believe). She never flank watched, or showed any real colic symptoms when recovering.
I think every horse is different - and if you are concerned, it is certainly worth calling your vet and asking for at least advice, if not a visit...
Good luck for a swift recovery.
S
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Hi there,
My mare (in my signature) had 17 ft of her small intestine removed at leahurst 6yrs ago following colic and an entrapment.
Like yours my girl was really poorly and looked really down and miserable when I got her home - it was almost as if she had retreated into herself and wasn't interested in anything.
Did leahurst say anything about grazing in hand when you walk her out? I had a similar recovery programme from them in terms of the 8 weeks box rest with in in hand walking but they included grazing as this stimulates gut action.
Please PM me if you have any questions or need someone to chat to - I've been in your shoes x
 
the only experience i had was with my loan horse (not whilst on loan)
he had a lipoma stangulation emerg op.
he got very sudden severe post op laminitis and had to be PTS....
sounds like your mare is doing well and fingers crossed she recovers really well.
 
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thanks everyone my mind has been put a little more to rest now hearing someof your experinces .

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Just had another thought (they are like buses - none for ages, then three at once) - that if you travelled your horse back today, then even that little exertion will probably set her back for a day or two.
S
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Hi - my mare had surgery just over 3 years ago when she was 7yrs old - she fortunately did not have anything removed - which leahurst said was due to the swift action of my vet. The night we fetched her home she was 'uncomfortable' but was fine next day. I am sure leahurst gave you some instructions - but you must call your vet if you are at all concerned. My mare was on 'box rest' for 3 months but during that time she was taken out in hand 3 tiimes a day for 15 mins to hand graze 2 weeks or so and over the 3 months that built up short walks and grazing for half an hour 2/3 times per day. Fortunately she is very laid back and was quite happy during this time. She did get impacted colic after about 6 weeks - but I was assured by my vet that it was nothing to do with the op.

She is absolutely fine now - doing dressage - jumping etc.

I dont think that JM07's comment was very thoughtful!!!!
 
Hi, our 14.2 16 year old gelding had colic surgery two years ago tonight. This too was for a growth that had flipped around his intestine. Arthur had 12 foot of intestine removed and has made a full recovery. He too was very poorly and quiet afterwards and it was a very long 6 months until he was ridden again, it was however worth every day.
Due to unfortunately being insured by E&L we too had an astronomical vets bill that was only coverered for £1,000(very,very,very small writing on policy saying a max claim for colic surgery £1,000)
However I will forever be thankful for Wolfgar Vets (Hugh Salmon & David van Zwanenberg) without whom we would of most certainly lost Arthur on that stormy November night.
Just ten months post op I shed many a tear when Arthur and my 13 year daughter won the open 15 SHP class at a large agricultural show and the following weekend won their hunter trial class (out of 34).
I had many many dark days when I was convinced he would never recover. I have spent so many hours holding him out for grass. He had good days and bad days and eventually the good days overtook.
Sending you lots of vibes and understanding just how you are feeling, just trust your instincts, if you have any concerns just ring vets and ask, God Knows we have paid them enough money!!!
 
well i know i said no insurance but in fact i am also insured with E&L also and they are only paying the first £1000 of the claim ... so well and truly stiched also! So technically no insurance ! thanks jazzy 19550 you sound like a very caring mum and your horse is very lucky to have recovered and doing so well!! well done x
 
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