:( sand colic wot to do for the best

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:(

sad sad. got a call from a friend who told me one of my fillies was layed on ground and would not get up 4:30pm tonight i got down there 10 mins later
called vet and he arrived 2 hours later!!!!!!

she has sand colic???!!!!! ok first he field is not muddy at all grass is little short but not so she is eating any sand/mud! she has hay straw and feed and of course water.
my friend suggested that she has had sand in her since i bought her 2 months ago and could just be working its way out (as poo was sand and not alot else) vet took blood and did a poo test along with giving her a pain relief injection...

i have never had a horse which has had sand colicbefore only ever had one that had normal colic every spring because of the fresh grass?

does anybody have any info about sand colic? and have any of your horses ever had it and what was there treatment and cost of it?

vet told me to expect the worse for when i get down in the morning as it could get alot worse over night!!!!! eeeekkkkk

if she needs an op it is going to cost about 3000 i was told by vet (if no complications happen) i really dont have that kind of money and dont have her insured yet as wasnt sure i would be keeping her. she didnt cost much at all to buy and i no this may sound very horrid but, do i pay for vet to help and hope it works if it is that bad by morning or do i ask for her to be PTS as the cost of doing it is going to leave me with minus 3000 in bank. really upset at the mo dont no what to do. she is a super filly one of my favourites and just writing this is almost bringing me to tears as i dont want to loose her but like most things it is the horrible money issue :(
 
Sand colic isn't good, have you got her stabled somewhere overnight and are you keeping a very close eye on her overnight. Not alot people can say but good luck and fingers crossed and many hugs for you and little filly.
 
she wont box she refuses to go in one. got someone going to check on her first thing (5 ish) but it is impossible to stay down there :( she has got some hay and water as vet said she may eat now she has had pain killer. just keeping fingers crossed i dont get that phone call in the morning telling me no. cry cry :(
thank you for the good luck and finger crossed it is very much appreciated and welcomed x
 
why cant you stay down there and monitor her? i personnally wouldnt leave her til morning. if she does go for colic surgery your 3 grand estimate is about 3 grand out. more like 6 k from surgery to finish. go check on her now!
 
fingers toes and eyes crossed for you i remember a few nights that mum and i have stayed up all night with bronte when she had colic hope it turns out alright
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
i would be going down in the night with a head torch, if she collapses in the night i would feel hurendous leaving her till the early morn. when mine colicked i checked every two hours. even if its just shining your headlights in to make sure she still on her feet.
good luck!
 
I believe it's psyllium husks you can feed, but it's preventative rather than a cure, unfortunately. Healing vibes for your filly.

I don't mean to sound rude, but I would be checking every hour/two hours over night, even if it means a drive each time. I do this for all colicking horses, mostly so that if they take a turn for the worst I can make a decision there and then rather than let them suffer till morning. In terms of surgery, has the vet indicated what chance of success there is? And what chance of complication. £3000 sounds like the "no complications" estimate!

ETA: Mine also stay out when colicky, as this is what they are used to and stress can make things worse. Of course I follow vets advice in terms of what access to food they have and have in the past had to completely muzzle a gelding and leave him out with his herd rather than separate him (old, stressy horse).
 
i cant drive luckily i was in the area when i got the call when she was first found by friend the field is a long way from my house. harsh yes but i understand what you all mean. but cnt leave kids on own and have no one to bb sit otherwise i would take a sleeping bag and set up camp in field.

misstyc thank you i will try it if she ok.
she does stress alot and passes at the best of times so taking her in would be defo worse for her than leaving her out too
 
Don't take your kids out into the freezing cold. That's bonkers. Where are you based? Is there anyone on here who could check on her for you and report back if you don't know anyone who can do it for you.

I wouldn't know anyone that would do it for me so not criticism intended.
 
I do hope the filly is ok, not wanting to add insult to injury but agree with the posters above this filly should be either stayed with overnight or being checked regularly all night long, she could be down in the field now as we "type" lying in agony and won't be seen again until the morning, sorry but imo this is tant amount to neglect.
 
have to agree with other posters, maybe someone could pop out to see her or maybe get a coiple of folk who could do a visit each? I would NOT leave her, she could really end up suffering. However, i realise its tough for you as you have kids etc and im not in any way criticising.

good luck, i hope the wee filly is ok
 
I understand the difficulty of the situation, but I wouldn't leave the horse colicking either.
I know you don't want to spend £3k on her (standard colic surgery is closer to £6k anyway) but perhaps you could arrange for emergency transport to take her to your equine vets?
Staying in overnight won't cost that much, and at least they will observe and PTS when/if needed.
S :D
 
So, so sorry to hear this. Are you anywhere that you can get a minicab/friend/neighbour to drive? That way you can take the kids warm in that and only leave them for a couple of minutes as you check her. You might not have enough money for the colic surgery (I trust we can all assume you'll have well and truly learned your lesson the hard way on keeping uninsured horses you can't afford to treat for common (if expensive!) illnesses) but spending 50 odd quid on a few miles in a cab/buying a nice thank you bottle for a friend is def worth it and do-able for anyone with a horse.
 
I have been on sand for many years and have had 2 instances where one gelding has passed huge amounts of blackened sand with no colic at all (I was horrified, the vet was amazed) and another who did not pass the sand but had a low grade grumbling colic (more like impacted) - very quiet and lying down a lot. He had a tub of Sand Out over a week and the problem was resolved.

Did you buy her from somewhere on sand? I had to be very careful over the drought months as the short grass meant they could pick up a lot.

For the future, as mentioned earlier Sand Out or physillum husks (same thing really) are a must. All mine now have soya oil in every feed as it picks the sand up as it passes through.

Good news that the filly is passing the sand not good that she is unattended. Really someone must check her at least once through the night and first thing (6am), especially as it is such a cold night. I know you are in a difficult position and quite understand but this is a potentially life threatening condition.

Fingers crossed for your filly.
 
Tickles said:
So, so sorry to hear this. Are you anywhere that you can get a minicab/friend/neighbour to drive? That way you can take the kids warm in that and only leave them for a couple of minutes as you check her. You might not have enough money for the colic surgery (I trust we can all assume you'll have well and truly learned your lesson the hard way on keeping uninsured horses you can't afford to treat for common (if expensive!) illnesses) but spending 50 odd quid on a few miles in a cab/buying a nice thank you bottle for a friend is def worth it and do-able for anyone with a horse.
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well and truely learned my lesson!?????? im sorry but is that all you can put! do you not think this is hard enough for me to deal with? do you not think that i wish i had kept her insured??? she was ment to be sold a few weeks ago but the sale fell through. even if i had re-insured her i wouldnt be covered for another 2 weeks any way. yes she should have been insured do i regret she isnt? yes ofcourse. is there anything i can do about that now? noi dont know anybody that could afford a 3000 vet bill of the top of there head, weather it be for a common illness or a not so common 1. all my others are insured and if any get sold i cancel there insurence the day or 2 before they go.
 
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I suppose what you could do now is either make a way of getting there yourself, or persuade a friend to go, or tell people here whereabouts you are so that maybe they can go. Then, if she is in agony in the field on this cold night, you can get the vet straight back out and do the kindest thing for her. I'm surprised your vet acted in this way -
"vet told me to expect the worse for when i get down in the morning as it could get alot worse over night!!!!!
That's freaking disgusting, for a vet to actually leave a filly in a state where they expect "the worse" in the morning. In other words, he told you to expect that she would either be in more agony or dead.
 
I'm sorry, but you really shouldn't leave a colicking horse for that long....there is always a way, pay a friend or family member to babysit?
Insurance....thats a shame, but you're not the first (or the last). Hopefully she'll pull through.

Fingers crossed.
 
So, are you still in Lincolnshire, or have you moved to Brocklehurst? I wonder, if you really can't get anyone there, maybe you could try one of the welfare agencies. I still can't believe that a vet walked away leaving a horse in a field in this situation.
Interesting really, when my old cob had sand colic he went straight to equine hospital and had to be starved. Certainly not left with hay to eat. He had it twice, both times - starved.
 
I'm sorry, but I have to agree with the other posters, this is just NOT good enough... The poor little thing could be in agony and nobody is there to do anything! Who owns the yard / field that she is on? If it is a friends, surely he / she would help out?? I know if anyone called me and asked for help in this sort of situation I would do all I could...

Poor mare. Lets hope when you do get there she is ok...
 
Unbelieveable. I'm hoping, looking at some of your other posts, that this might not be a genuine thread. If it is, heaven help the poor little mare. Someone here might be able to help, for the sake of the horse, but Op has buggered off. Hopefully down to the field eh?
 
Why are you still posting? you should be with that poor filly, id go as far to say what you are doing is cruel. A million pounds wouldnt drag me home if one of mine was poorly, i do not drive either, id've walked if need be.

I hope someone helps that poor little filly who you do not deserve to own.
 
WOW....lets just all hope that the little filly is OK this am, my god I would not have left the poor little mite not a single chance i'd rather freeze myself, there is always someone that can help in an emergency situation no matter what, vet was bad also advising leaving the mare out....not even to be brought into a barn of sorts, or to horspital and fed hay....when colicky..!!!!! OMG horrendous....
I am keeping everything crossed that the little girl has been OK and not suffered too much especially as the weather is vile....

awaiting to hear of news......
 
Poor filly :(

I do understand you not having childcare cover but I am sorry.... in situations like this the phrase "where there is a will there is a way" springs to mind.

I find it hard to believe that you were not able to sort something out so either you or someone else could have gone to check on the mare at least once or twice during the night.

Who owns the land she is on, could you have asked the owner?

Anyway I hope she is OK, how is she this morning?

Sadiemay

BTW, am disgusted at your vet....I would be changing practises a.s.a.p
 
I was hoping to log on this morning to find good news about this filly.

I too was worrying about her last night!

I can't believe that the OP was prepared to leave her overnight despite the fact she was colicking and even worse that she thought she could post it on here and not get any negative comments.
 
How awful......i could never leave any of my horses that have colic,but i guess im lucky to have them at home. Surely there was a way to stay with her??? Maybe this is something you need to think about for future emergencies????
Any news on the poor animal?
 
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