Unexpected severe colic

[Leanne1980]

Hi all, trying to answer some questions that are playing over and over in my mind. I left my 20 yr old gelding Saturday night at 6.30pm, was eating and drinking as normal. He has been groomed and checked over as normal. No signs to raise any concern. I went back to the yard 8.30am Sunday morning to find he was down and had been thrasing around in the stable violently. He has cut his head and nose and scrapped down all four walls wih his feet. We got him up and out stable, attempting to walk him around till the vet came. He was soaked through, clearly exhausted and very weak. Vet came within 40 mins injected him with pain relief and muscle relaxant. The intention was to load and get him to the vets but he went down again, rolling and thrasing about. Vet had some an internal and said it wasn't from impaction and that is toxic rim / gums were not good and turning purple. Vet felt he was too far gone to save and I lost my boy yesterday morning. I am heartbroken as he was my best friend. I am playing what if over and over. If I had got to the yard sooner could I have done something? Did I miss any signs? Apart from struggling with mobility through arthritis he appeared healthy. Probably carried too much weight, started with sarcoids last summer and was pottery to move but looked well and was happy. His routine was consistent. No change in feeds, lots of turnout . What could have caused such a quick decline and violent thrasing in my boy? Pulling myself apart thinking I could have done more but I never ever entertained that colic would be what took him away from me. Anyone else experienced this? Xx

 

[bonny]

Sorry for your loss and don’t for a moment think you are in any way to blame or that you could have done anything differently. If there were no signs and you hadn’t changed his management then you have no reason to beat yourself up. Sometimes colic can come on as quickly as that, it’s usually in the night when no one is around to help and by the sounds of it nothing would have helped anyway. Sometimes life is just unfair.

 

[be positive]

Colic can come on for no obvious reason and unless we watch them 24/7 we may miss the onset and even if we see it start the end result may be no different.

I lost one of mine some years ago, he was in his 20's had been fit and healthy for his whole life yet one afternoon about 6 pm I turned him out saw him roll and roll again, I knew immediately there was something wrong despite him being fine walking to the field, vet was with me fairly quickly and treated him, they came back later but he deteriorated and I had him pts about 1am, that is how quickly it can happen, if it had started at 10 pm he would have been too far gone by 6am to do anything, so try not to feel guilty, like mine it was probably something catastrophic and unlikely to have had a good outcome even if you had found him earlier, mine was probably due to lipoma which I think is relatively common in older horses and until it causes the colic you would never know there was anything wrong.

Take care of yourself, you did all you could and made the right decision quickly xxx

 

[wkiwi]

Firstly, stop beating yourself up!
There are many many causes of colic in horses, and losts of them can lead to toxic shock (which is what it sounds like yours ended up with). Please don't imagine that your horse was thrashing around all night. I have seen horses go down hill very very quickly with colic and for the 'crash and burn' ones there is often nothing that can be done.
Without a post mortem you can't know exactly what went wrong inside your horse but in reality the horses digestive system is 'designed' very poorly and when something bad happens to it then it can be catastrophic (e.g. a horse can get a gut twist for no obvious reason at all). If it is something like a bad twist then even if it had happened while at a vet clinic and he had gone straight into surgery his odds would have been poor.
Unexplained colic can be a heart breaker, but you did what you could when you could and that is all that you can ask of yourself.

 

[claret09]

so, so sorry

 

[Hoof_Prints]

Very sorry to hear of your loss and in such sad circumstances. You can't place any fault on yourself, colic can happen for any number of reasons we just can't control. You did all you possibly could for him and must take comfort in that x

 

[Celtic Fringe]

I am so sorry for your loss.
As others have said you and your vet did everything possible and it is heartbreaking to lose a precious friend.

Apparently lipomas are fairly common in older geldings and the fatty tumour can get wrapped round the intestines at any time. My son's horse had one which we are certain became wrapped round his colon as he was asked to turn round and be tied up for his mane to be plaited one morning. Without any warning whatsoever he was really ill in less than an hour. Our vet was there 30 minutes later and he was immediately taken to the clinic and operated on within an hour. Even then it was touch-and-go though he eventually made a full recovery. If he had rolled in the field earlier or started his usual hooleying about with his brother, if my son hadn't immediately called the vet, or the vet had been delayed for any reason or we had had to wait for transport he definitely wouldn't be with us today.

Take care of yourself xx

 

[Equi]

Ive got three personal colic stories i can tell you.

1 - Horse found dead in field. NO changes to food (wasnt fed any) no changes in grazing, no change in anything. One day he was okay, the next he was dead. Literally nothing we can say happened to cause it.
2- Pony on the same routine for months, in the morning found a bit "quiet" and i felt sweat on his arm pits so said call vet..vet comes and he had a torsion. Again, nothing "done" could have caused it. When vet was asked what could cause this he said "take your pick" aka could be anything.
3 - My mare was lying down in the stable, after being in for a normal night. Not abnormal, she always lies down. I go in and was all aww this is cute, a bit abnormal for her to let me get to her lying down though. My home yard stables run to the field, so i let them all out and they make their own way. The mare got up, went out. I stuck around cause i still thought that it was not normal for her to let me that close.. she came back in alone and lay down again and rolled. VERY abnormal now. Call the vet who said walk her about, and i did, and it seemed to resolve itself, so put down to just a bit of a gas/poo build up.


My point being, it can literally happen for no reason known to us. Its NOT your fault. Im so sorry for your loss.

 

[Leanne1980]

Hi thank you everyone for your commons. It was so hard to see him like that. I appreciate there is nothing I could have done and can only hope it came on quickly. He was such a loving boy. It is extremely hardbreaking and this is my first experience of colic to this extent. I know in time I will feel better but I just needed to try and understand why. Thank you everyone xxx

 

[M&M&G]

I am so sorry for your loss. I went through very similar circumstances a number of years ago and only realised much later that I was initially in complete shock, not just that it happened so quickly but that it was so traumatic to see her thrashing about, unable to stand. All sorts of questions went through my head too, I had a pm but still no real answers. It stayed with me for quite a while but it all gradually got easier over time.
You have had an incredibly traumatic experience on top of losing your lovely horse - please look after yourself, try not to let those questions eat you up (v hard I know but there was absolutely nothing that you did or could have done to change outcome) and know that it will take a lot of time but will get easier. Big hugs x

 

[Leanne1980]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. It is hard and going to the stables is so upsetting. I have another horse so need to go but seeing his stable and all the thrash marks is gutting. I suppose I just want answers as to why he had to be taken away so aggressively xx

 

[tda]

No please don't beat yourself up, after one of mine had colic the vet said the horses digestive system is so badly designed, apparently suspended on one small point, every time they roll/get up/lay down there is a danger of a twisted gut.
My lad went into surgery against my better judgement (hindsight is a wonderful thing) but when open there was nothing they could do ��

 

[MissTyc]

I am so sorry for your loss - such a shock.

But you probably couldn't have don anything to save him. It sounds like your routine and care gave him a wonderful, healthy life. 20 years doesn't seem long enough, these days, but it is still an older horse. Sometimes, there's stuff going on inside and a sudden quick decline can be better than months or years of trying to save them. I've seen both, sadly both horses belonging to my good friend. One 9 yo gelding looked "down" when I did morning checks. I brought him in, called my friend. He collapsed as I hung up the phone and died there and then. Never had a sorry day. PM found that his gut had a massive lipoma growing around it - wasn't a problem until the very moment it became a catastrophic problem. So traumatic, but the horse had a wonderful life until that moment, and it sounds as though your boy did too. ((hugs))

 

[hopscotch bandit]

So sorry for your loss. Please don't blame yourself, some horses just colic, some older horses have fatty tissue in their gut called a lipoma that wraps around the gut and causes the gut to die. It could be 101 different reasons, but unlikely to be anything you have done wrong sadly its just one of those things.

 

[1ST1]

I lost my wonderful boy under similar circumstances and I too blamed myself for a long time. But my husband was there at the stables when it happened and he went from being OK to not being able to stand up in a matter of minutes. The vet came in just 30 minutes and did everything he could but my beautiful boy was gone in 7 hours. He was a very big, strong, healthy 11 yo stallion with no previous history of colic and it was a total shock. It took me a long time to really admit there was nothing I could have done do save him as I was plagued with "What if"s.
Please do not beat yourself up as these things happen and there is unfortunately nothing anybody can do.

 

[Leanne1980]

Thank you everyone. I have spoken with the Vet and she feels the most likely cause was strangulation lipomas. The vet confirms there is nothing I could have done to prevent it or save him xx

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi all, trying to answer some questions that are playing over and over in my mind. I left my 20 yr old gelding Saturday night at 6.30pm, was eating and drinking as normal. He has been groomed and checked over as normal. No signs to raise any concern. I went back to the yard 8.30am Sunday morning to find he was down and had been thrasing around in the stable violently. He has cut his head and nose and scrapped down all four walls wih his feet. We got him up and out stable, attempting to walk him around till the vet came. He was soaked through, clearly exhausted and very weak. Vet came within 40 mins injected him with pain relief and muscle relaxant. The intention was to load and get him to the vets but he went down again, rolling and thrasing about. Vet had some an internal and said it wasn't from impaction and that is toxic rim / gums were not good and turning purple. Vet felt he was too far gone to save and I lost my boy yesterday morning. I am heartbroken as he was my best friend. I am playing what if over and over. If I had got to the yard sooner could I have done something? Did I miss any signs? Apart from struggling with mobility through arthritis he appeared healthy. Probably carried too much weight, started with sarcoids last summer and was pottery to move but looked well and was happy. His routine was consistent. No change in feeds, lots of turnout . What could have caused such a quick decline and violent thrasing in my boy? Pulling myself apart thinking I could have done more but I never ever entertained that colic would be what took him away from me. Anyone else experienced this? Xx

So sorry for your loss

having lost a few to colic the two that springs to mind


is Mesenteric rent entrapment On occasion, a small tear or rent forms in the mesentery, a thin sheet of connective tissue attached to the intestines, through which a segment of bowel can thread itself. Fluid buildup and subsequent enlargement of the bowel can trap that segment, necessitating surgery.


or a twist



Mesenteric rent entrapment is normally found on a PM, the severity of the pain gets worse and does subside on vets interaction but will often reoccur shortly afterwards. My pony had colic and I called vet and they came out and did normal things, and left but within an hour she colic again this time they said RVC NOW was rush up to RVC and improved on arrival and was told the journey helped.



Second time same thing but this time I said can your wait a bit as she colic again when vet got home, so vet waited and sure enough she colic again, this time she got worse trying to get down even with us making her walk round with lunge whip and vet did another rectal, and said things have changed, no point in RVC as she wont make it. She was pts age 5 pm showed Mesenteric rent entrapment.



2016 a livery similar thing but owners did not want a pm and could not take him on vets recommendations, was either a twist or Mesenteric rent entrapment

 

[PapaverFollis]

I'm sorry for your loss. Just to echo the others and your vet, there really isn't anything that you could have done differently. You looked after him and loved him and that is enough. The pain and upset will ease in time. Take care of yourself and let yourself grieve. I found having the other horses a good thing when we lost our old guy, but that was a planned PTS so a little different as we could prepare ourselves beforehand. If you need a break from the yard for a bit don't be afraid to ask some one for some help. Do what feels best for you.

 

[KrujaaLass]

I had my pony for twenty years. She was 36 when one day she just wanted to go down. She had never been ill at all in her life. Time the vet got there he said she was dieing and it was probably lipomas. There was nothing anyone could do. We were heartbroken but consoled ourselves with the thought that she had a wonderful life . Had just 2 owners and only lived in 2 places. I often think of our little Zena. Myself, daughter and granddaughter rode her, a true family pony

 

[Ruby's Mum]

We lost my husband's beloved mare just a year ago on the 29th March and it was totally out of the blue, no change in her routine or any other changes, came home from work and she was down, vet came within half an hour and we lost her a few hours later, she was a fit and healthy 17 years old and we knew her history having traced her previous owners and she had never had a day unwell in her life. I beat myself up so much with what ifs as I had stopped my day in work and I usually would have been home that particular day etc, it nearly broke me and I ended up gifting my own mare who I had had for four years and loved desperately to my trainer to rehome for me as I couldn't face riding and felt so desperately guilty at still having a ridden horse when my husband no longer did, she was his first horse and we had only had her 7 months. I blamed myself because I wasn't there that day and because I couldn't save her. I collapsed on the yard when she died as I was so distraught at thinking I had failed her and my husband by not saving her.

It is natural to try to place the blame on someone/something but in reality I realise there was just absolutely nothing that could have been done, it was just her time to leave us. I have only recently stopped waking in the night feeling teary and have just got a new mare who is helping to fill that huge horse shaped hole we had left in our hearts.

Please be kind to yourself, there is absolutely nothing you could have done. Thoughts and prayers are with you as I know exactly what you are going through.

Xx

 

[Leanne1980]

Thank you for your response. It is so heart breaking. Spencer has been my best friend for 9 years and to find he is now no longer there is extremely hard. I have another mare who I have owned 14 months. She's not loving or affection like my boy and I'm finding I don't want to go to the yard or spend time with her because she isn't him. I'm sure in time it will get easier but it is still very raw. Xx

 

[Ruby's Mum]

Thank you for your response. It is so heart breaking. Spencer has been my best friend for 9 years and to find he is now no longer there is extremely hard. I have another mare who I have owned 14 months. She's not loving or affection like my boy and I'm finding I don't want to go to the yard or spend time with her because she isn't him. I'm sure in time it will get easier but it is still very raw. Xx

I can completely understand, i had to throw myself straight back in as had four others and mucking out our beloved girl's stable was done through many tears. My husband couldn't bear to come out of the house to the yard for a week, I knew the hardest thing for him (as I had done it) was to walk up to the stable door and look over it, expecting her to be still lying there, I ended up forcing myself to leaver her door open so we could immediately see she was not there.

She died in our arms and I will never forget that but she was not alone and we were telling her we loved her so much. The memory will be with me for the rest of my days.

So many people said it will get easier (apart from a stupid woman at work who asked me with great puzzlement why I was still upset as she had died two days ago!!), the fact is, it really does get easier as time passes, someone sent me the most beautiful written pieces about grief and they helped so much, I typed them up and sent them to a friend recently who lost her boy and they helped her massively too. If you want to PM me with an email address, I will email them over to you (long to post).

If you can, you need to stay strong for your girl and there is no shame in needing some time away if you have someone who could care for her.

PM me if you need to even just vent or just need some moral support.

Xx

 

[Ruby's Mum]

I have just realised I have the written pieces/poems on my iPad so can copy and past without typing.


’ll lend you for a little while, a horse 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 horse 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.

 

[Ruby's Mum]

I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not.

I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents...

I wish I could say you get used to people dying. But I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it.

Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see.

As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.

In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out.

Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too.

If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks

 

[Ruby's Mum]

They say that memories are golden,
and that is probably true,
but I never wanted memories;
I only wanted you.
A million times I've needed you,
a million times I've cried.
If love alone could've saved you,
you never would have died.
In life I loved you deeply,
in death I love you still.
In my heart you leave a space
that nothing will ever fill.
If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I would walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.
Our family chain’s now broken,
and nothing seems the same.
but as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

 

[Ruby's Mum]

I'm sorry some are a little sad and I hope they do not upset you too much, I hope that you can take some comfort from them. I found the one about the old chap and the waves was incredibly relevant to how I felt. Xx

 

[Leanne1980]

Thank you for taking the time to post these. They are beautiful and very relevant. They made me cry but like you say they will. He was part of me and will always be. His ashes are coming back to me tomorrow and he will stay close by xx

 

[Ruby's Mum]

You are very welcome, they gave me so much comfort and I am glad they are able to comfort you too. Nice that his ashes are coming home to you. Xx

i have just recalled a further message that was put in a sympathy card to me which I thought was lovely (and so sorry as I do not want to make you upset again):

"Do not cry for me, as I have not gone. Just close your eyes and look inside to your heart, for I am there and I always will be".

Xx

 

[LaurenBay]

I am so sorry for your loss. Sadly Colic can happen for reasons unknown to us and they can deteriorate very quickly. I was unfortunate enough to witness this with my friends pony. Horse was fine at 9.30am, 20 mins later had mild colic signs. 2 hours later he was gone. Don't beat yourself up x

 

[lovingponies]

I had my pony for twenty years. She was 36 when one day she just wanted to go down. She had never been ill at all in her life. Time the vet got there he said she was dieing and it was probably lipomas. There was nothing anyone could do. We were heartbroken but consoled ourselves with the thought that she had a wonderful life . Had just 2 owners and only lived in 2 places. I often think of our little Zena. Myself, daughter and granddaughter rode her, a true family pony

I am so sorry to hear of these losses....May I ask how any of you have managed to cope with the grief of losing such well loved ponies/horses..