So worried, how do you deal with worry?

D

DrDolittle

Member
Joined
12 March 2010
Messages
26
Visit site
I am just after a bit of support really. I have been on the go all day and now I am home I can't settle so I thought I would tell my worries to you all and you can tell me how you cope when your horses are sick.

My beautiful boy has suffered with bouts of colic since I got him two years ago, he was admitted to hospital 6 months after I got him to investigate and was discovered he had grade 2 ulcers, he was put on gastroguard and ulcers cleared but every now and then he still suffered with bouts of mild colic.

The colic was always very mild and he was always over it after an hour so I thought that he was always going to be prone to spasmodic colic but as long as I knew how to deal with it, made any changes very slowly and never let him get unnecessarily stressed out, we could live with it.

Last Thursday afternoon I got a phone call from the yard manager saying that he has got colic, I went down and it seemed his usual type so gave him a shot of pro-biotic and waited till it passed. It did not pass.

Anyway to cut a long story short, after 2 visits from the vet on Thursday eve he was admitted to hospital on Friday morning, turned out he had a displacement, Neproslenic Entrapment, the vets managed to fix the problem by shrinking the spleen and lungeing him hard till the stomach was back in the correct position.

He has been in the vets all weekend for monitoring and they have got his feed back up to normal amounts and he has been fine.

He came home this evening and I can’t help but worry. I feel sick with worry, I am dreading that now he is home he will get sick again and if he does and its worse, I don't think I could put him though surgery. There is no worse phone call than that to say your horse has colic and now every time my phone rings my heart sinks.

Sorry its turned into a bit of an essay, but even writing it out has made me feel a bit better.
 
Sounds like you're having a tough time.

Try and see it this way - if the vets were worried they wouldn't have sent him home. Perhaps take a quick drive to his yard - once you see that he is fine it may help.
 
LaurenM said:
Sounds like you're having a tough time.

Try and see it this way - if the vets were worried they wouldn't have sent him home. Perhaps take a quick drive to his yard - once you see that he is fine it may help.
Click to expand...

This.

Its natural that you're worried. Most of us would be.

Fingers crossed that everything goes well.x
 
Really feel for you and you are just doing the natural thing for something you really care for - worry! Don't battle with it, but try and visualize that everything with your horse will be well and be positive...Big hugs!
 
The first thing to remember is that you are not alone - never sit and worry on your own as that is just a downward spiral . Sometimes it may seem like you are in this alone but for a start the YO has given you a heads up of what's going on so that you can make quick decisions , thus making diagnosis and treatment much more affective , ok so your lovely boy has ended up with another visit to hospital , but the vets are dedicated , if not determined , that they will do everything to make your boy better , this part of your horses life is out of your hands at this point , so focus on the part you play , keeping his everyday routine as clockwork as you can , but don't get so obsessed that you are constantly looking for the next bout of colic , you'll make your self ill. I've been through this with a colicy horse and believe me , i know exactly how you feel , but i've learnt to step back from it a bit , and let others like friends and my OH take a little of the weight . It pays to know that sometimes we have no control over these things , but having a good plan of action - and a little help from your friends goes a long way . It would be really nice if your YO could sometimes ring you to say she's checked in on your boy and he's fine , just so your mind stops associating her calls as a negetive thing. Hope all goes well and remember , a problem shared......
 
My old TB used to have bouts of mild colic about once a year for the first 5 years he was with me, and one year when the vet came out they discovered he had a nephrosplenic entrapment. The vet made me take him in the school and lunge him for about 3/4 hour (felt so bad as he was obviously feeling poorly and I had to keep driving him round!) and luckily it freed itself. (Intestine gets stuck between the spleen and the kidneys I believe?)

I had him for 10 years (lost him last September due to a non colic related illness) and only once in all this time did he have the nephrosplenic entrapment. So what I am trying to say is don't worry - it's not a done deal that he will suffer from this again.

Interestingly enough I always wormed for tapes regularly, and did worm counts twice a year - but after one bout of colic the vet suggested a blood test for tapeworm. It turned out he had a high tapeworm count despite me giving him regular tapeworm treatments. I gave him a really strong dose (on the advice of the vet) and after this he never experienced any more bouts of colic for 5 years. So it might be worth getting him tested - just in case it's something like this.

I hope he makes a full recovery. x
 
Thank you for your kind words, I wish I knew how to take a step back and worry less. I try to visualise going to the yard and things being as normal but the image of him in pain with colic just keeps creeping in to my head.

Goodness I sound like a obsessed nutter!
 
Bangagin, thank you for telling me about your boy, really sorry for your loss.

Hearing of horses that have gone through similar situations makes me feel a lot more positive. I have never know of another horse to have it so I kept imagining even him laying down may displace it again. I know that is silly, and I am usually so positive about things like this.
 
I also had a horse many, many years ago who used to get spasmodic colic regularly. One day after a couple of visits from the vet, it wasn't going away despite the usual muscle relaxants etc and she was taken into the hospital - she too had a nephrosplenic entrapment. She was in the hospital attached to a drip for 2 weeks in total. They actually sent her home once despite me saying I thought she was still showing mild signs of colic (you just know your horse) and I was right so she went back.
After this occasion though all she was fed was roughage - grass, soaked hay and just Alfa A on it's own as a feed twice a day with probiotics. She evented happily on this diet and never had colic again while in my ownership.
 
Last edited:
Bangagin said:
Interestingly enough I always wormed for tapes regularly, and did worm counts twice a year - but after one bout of colic the vet suggested a blood test for tapeworm. It turned out he had a high tapeworm count despite me giving him regular tapeworm treatments. I gave him a really strong dose (on the advice of the vet) and after this he never experienced any more bouts of colic for 5 years. So it might be worth getting him tested - just in case it's something like this.

I hope he makes a full recovery. x
Click to expand...

I know another horse who was rather prone to spasmodic colic and who had a nephrosplenic entrapment just the once. He was also was found to have a very high tapeworm burden (revealed by the Elisa blood test) but once the tapeworming was under control the colic bouts stopped.

Try not to worry, OP. I know it's hard!
 
I have just got back from the yard, didn't sleep at all last night got to the yard at 5.30am to find him eating his bedding. Put him out whilst I changed his bedding over to shavings (I hate shavings) then brought him in. He seems ok, he will go out for an hour again this afternoon, they have just changed fields so have to be extra careful till he adjusts.

Goodness, sick horses are hard work!! :rolleyes:

I think the vet checked for tapeworm, I will double check to be sure.

Thank you for the replys. :)
 
Rueysmum said:
I know another horse who was rather prone to spasmodic colic and who had a nephrosplenic entrapment just the once. He was also was found to have a very high tapeworm burden (revealed by the Elisa blood test) but once the tapeworming was under control the colic bouts stopped.
Click to expand...

Wow! That's a coincidence. I hadn't heard of any other cases - but whenever colic seems to recurr I always suggest getting bloods taken to check for a high tapeworm burden.

Little monkey eating his bedding! Hope he didn't eat too much of it! Worth checking about the bloods, but if he was at the vets they may well have done the Elisa test as a precaution.
 
I know it must be hard not to worry but seriously life is too short, I came off my horse that I had only had for four weeks and jumped back on and two weeks later he got colic and had to be put to sleep - I'm so glad that I enjoyed him and got the time I did from him. Instead of worrying try and enjoy every day of riding,grooming and having fun together worrying doesn't do anything apart from make you stressed about something which may not happen. best of luck x
 
worrying is like sitting on a rocking chair - gives you something to do but you dont actually go anywhere













saw this on someones signature and thought it was so true x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top