Update: Magic - post colic surgery

BuzzyBea

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So many of you took the time to wish Magic well during our recent stressful times when we weren't sure that he would make it or that we would ever find a solution to his colic. Thought you might appreciate an update.

He had surgery last Thursday (15th Jan.) Inside he gives the impression of a healthy horse, except for some thickening to the colon and the small intestine so biopsies were taken. Results showed Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He receovered well at Rossdales and was allowed to come home on Wednesday, just 6 days after surgery.

You can probably imagine that we were terrified to have him home, especially as the plan was to let him recover from the op and then start steroids on 29.1. Effectively we brought him home with nothing having changed except surgery and a diagnosis. No treatment had started. True to form after 5 minutes back in his stable he started to scrape and look 'down.' Phoned the vet who suggested walking and bute and to call our vet if no better. Fortunatly he got no worse and the next morning the Rossdale's vet called to suggest that we start the steroids early so has been taking them since Thursday morning.

So far so good and I can honestly say that he is starting to look like the old Magic. Bright, alert and happy. It's early days but I allowed myself to be a bit hopeful of recovery yesterday. :)

He will be on a different diet although we are making changes slowly. We will for certain have to reduce the suggested amounts though as he is stuffed with the huge quantity (and he's a pig!!), so much so that he isn't eating his hay.

Our intital stage is box rest for 6 weeks with small periods of in hand grazing and walking. Luckily he is a very chilled out boy and is happy to stay in alone for a few hours a day until the other three come back and join him.

Therefore so far so good...long may it continue!!
 

dizzyneddy

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Hi! Buzzybea glad Magic's op went well & although you've had a scare but you've gone through the worst bit. Sadly my boy deteriorated after his op & the kindest thing was to let him go. Magic will probably hate his box rest but you'll get through his recovery together take care & let us know how he gets on.
 

risky business

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Been silently following his story and so glad to hear it's going well right now!

I had a horse go in for colic surgery too, recovery may seem long but really does go quickly! I hope things continue to look up for you and magic.
 

Evie91

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wow home after 6 days - didn't realised they were discharged from hospital so quickly. Suppose it's like a lot of people though - make a much better recovery at home :)
He certainly is a handsome chap, hope he makes a good recovery :)
 

vetsbestfriend

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Pleased he is doing well and home. My TB x ID had colic surgery for multiple twists in 2008 and then was also diagnosed with IBD following a rectal biopsy about 4 years ago. He too had a course of steroids for 3 months, gradually reducing the dose right down over the last month to 'wean' him off them. The steroids helped him so much as well as continuing with the high fibre ad lib hay diet I had him on. As a follow on I always feed some form of pre/pro biotic, upping the dose slightly just before and just after worming.

I hope the box rest goes quickly, it certainly did for me, although the walks out in hand became interesting to say the least :)
 

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Hope all continues to go well with his recovery. I have never experienced a horse on steroids, but if they work as well as they do on people they will certainly make a dfifference.

Sending positive vibes for Magics recovery.
 

BuzzyBea

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Thank you so much everyone for the positive thoughts.

Would you believe that I left for the yard straight after writing this status to find Magic flat out - colicing :( It wasn't a terrible bout of it but scared me a lot!! He then didn't poo for a long time (hours and hours) which also worried me!! Spoke to my vet on the phone several times during the day and are hoping that it was simply because the steroids haven't had a chance to kick in but also because the amount of feed prescribed by the hospital vet was too much for him and he simply felt stuffed.

Eventually he pooed (sloppy) and was ok by last night. Today he is bright as a button and his appetite seems to be coming back slowly. Wished I had followed my insticts that it was too much food so have cut it right back.

Today has been a good day!!
 

BuzzyBea

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Hi! Buzzybea glad Magic's op went well & although you've had a scare but you've gone through the worst bit. Sadly my boy deteriorated after his op & the kindest thing was to let him go. Magic will probably hate his box rest but you'll get through his recovery together take care & let us know how he gets on.

So sorry to hear this :( It's my worst nightmare to go through this and still lose him :( Do you mind me asking what happened?
 

be positive

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I am pleased it was just him scaring you and not a real setback, out of interest what did the vets recommend feeding him? surely if he is on box rest and inclined to colic he should be on high fibre mainly forage feed, with small bucket feeds to give meds or possibly in his case to give him something appropriate to his condition, vets are not always best qualified on nutrition.
The horse I had that recovered from 2 surgeries was fine for the rest of his life provided he was on a soft meadow hay, easy to digest, had daily access to grass and feed that was easily digested with plenty of oil for calories, a change of hay to some more stalky could set off a colic as could missing turnout for some reason, although he tended to get just one or two each year his management was always something to be aware of, he was not low maintenance but lived a further 11 years of useful normal life.
 

BuzzyBea

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That is encouraging news. Get well soon Magic. Can you give some details about his different diet?

Claracanter his diet is low starch, high fat. Becasue of the IBD he is having 3 smaller feeds that are made up of Saracens Releve (he loves it!!) Alfa-A Oil, sloppy speedibeet then a concoction of supplements and drugs!! He currently is having the following added antibiotics, steroids, bute as needed, legapyton and milk thistle (this is due to raised liver enzymes but should stop soon as almost back to normal,) salt (to encourage him to drink lots) and Defence (probiotic that will continue always.) He is currently having ad lib wetted hay and in hand grazing three times a day.
 

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My horse has just been diagnosed with IBD too - unfortunately for him, his symptoms were a dramatic loss of weight. I was advised to stop all supplements and feed a high protein, high fat diet. He is also on high dose steriods. He happily eats his hard feed (a non heating build up mix) laced with sugarbeet and readi grass - but he is not eating his hay/haylage. I have been recommended Fast Fibre from A&P - he has some tonight and loved it. You can use it as a hay replacement, so it's worth a try.

Sadly as a consequence, he has lost so much muscle in his neck that it has exacerbated arthritis in his neck to the point where he is now practically seized up in the neck - he is now having daily physio on his neck to get him moving, and had to go back on bute to give him some pain relief.

It's a very worrying time

I will follow this thread with interest, and hopefully pick up some tips from others who are coping with the same thing.

I hope your boy improves rapidly - it's not nice seeing them so poorly.
 

BuzzyBea

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Hexx had he dropped all the weight before diagnosis?

Magic isn't looking fab at the moment but am hoping that is because he is only just over a week after surgery. He isn't eating as much hay as he did before the op but he seems to be getting better with it so I am hoping that he will continue to pick up.

So sorry to hear that you are going through it too. It is such a stressful time. Do you feel like you are seeing any improvements?

I wish you all the very best and please stay in touch as would be great to support each other xxx
 

Cobbytype

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Sorry to but in Hexx... it's only an idea, but seeing as your horse will eat readigrass, would it be worth your while making your own 'chop' like they did in the old days? I think some sort of guillotine was used to chop up hay into small pieces, which I assume was then dampened before feeding. I guess someone on here may have a better idea as to how the chop was made/fed?
 

spookypony

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Giant (((vibes))) for Magic! Just a thought...I'm just involved in a discussion in a Barefoot group about sugar beet, as some have suggested that it creates problems for some horses, due to some carb or other not being digestible by horses. I have no further (or more precise) information than that at present, but perhaps it's worth investigating, even just if to rule it out.
 

Hexx

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He had colic twice in one week in September - gassy first then impacted. He didn't really pick up after that. Then over the space of 4 weeks he went from a chunky cob to a hatrack. the vet admitted him as an emergency and was shocked when he saw him. He went from 720kg to 580 kg. He couldn't have a biopsy as the vet wouldn't put him under a GA as he was concerned he wouldn't survive. It just happened so quickly - it was a bit of a shock. Tumours have still not been ruled out, but as he has improved body weight since the treatment, it is pointing towards IBD.

His neck is affecting the way he is eating as well - everything has to be at a comfortable height for him to eat, or he won't. He will stretch down for his hard feed and readi grass, but not for hay/haylage, so that has to be high up and not in a net.
 

BuzzyBea

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An update again - 12 days post surgery and 6 days home.

We are taking each day at a time but have to say that for the last 2 nights we've had the old Magic back again :) He is back to his bright self again and it's only now that I realise how long it is since he has looked well. He is so alert and interested in what is going on around him.

He's off antibiotics and bute and only taking his steroids now. Vet coming on Thursday to remove his staples from his wound which is amazingly clean and apart from some initial swelling looking very healthy. He is back to eating good amounts of hay and we have got his feeds to a good level. Poos are no longer over soft.

He is very happily grazing in hand about three times a day and have short walks around the menage. Think he is going to be a nuisance on long term box rest as I've already needed to order a stable door protector as he keeps on banging!!!

As I say 'day at a time' but am very happy with how bright he is today.
 

BuzzyBea

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Haven't posted an update for a while so thought it was about time :)

This coming Thursday Magic will be 6 weeks post surgery and box rest will be at an end!!! He has been such a good boy and a perfect patient and it has only been the last few days that he has shown that he really does want to go out with the others please!!

Last week he went back for his post operative check up at Rossdales where they are delighted with his recovery. They did a scan with us there and only one part of his small intestine shows any signs of thickening but even then it is only minor. The vet commented that if she was presented with the horse and no history she would report that there is nothing of concern to report in his digestive system.

For the first time we are really beginning to hope for his future. He is bright, alert and full of life with a real sparkle in his eye. The vet stated that having got to this point and him being as well as he is she has every reason to believe that he could very well return to the horse he once was. Amazing news when less than 2 months ago we were on the verge of having him put to sleep.

He is still on 14 steroids a day (reduced from 28 nearly 2 weeks ago) and next week reduces further to 14 every other day.

We have to section off a play area in the field for him ready for a short period of turn out from Thursday which will make him a very happy boy. He will then stay on limited space turnout for another 6 weeks.

Starting to feel positive at last about his future :)
 

Cobbytype

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You know, I was only thinking about Magic earlier today and had a look on this forum to see if there was any news. To be honest I feared the worse, as it's been a while since you last posted and there have been so many people with poorly horses recently.

What good news! It must be such a relief for you (and Magic too of course).

What a sweetie he's been to tolerate the box rest without throwing a wobbly. I hope the weather improves a little for his turnout, it's been very cold of late, but I guess it's better he's on box rest whilst it's grotty than gorgeous and warm.

All the very best for the coming weeks and months - it's nice to hear something positive. I don't envy you with the task of turning Magic out. My horse was ill and refused to go to the paddock for 2 weeks and then decided he'd quite like to go, which was all well and good, but it's a 400m 'walk' through the village. At the 200m mark, we made a matching pair, as like me, he was upright on 2 legs:) I waited until we got to the farm track and praised him so much (it was just so good to see him well and who could blame him for his sheer joy.

I wish you well:)
 
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