URGENT - COLIC SURGERY - EXPERIENCES NEEDED

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Could anyone who has put a horse through colic surgery, or knows anything about colic surgery, PLEASE give me all the detail they can.

Recovery times, survival rates, potential complications, cost etc etc.


Tilly is very, very poorly and if she doesn't pick up pretty pronto she is being taken to hospital. We have been told we need to have a decision in mind as to whether we would put her through surgery or not.

Generally she is in fantastic health, but she is 20 and has a history of spasmodic colic which is the sticking point.

Am very distraught, but need to make as informed a decision as possible...... I CANNOT make the wrong one
crazy.gif
 
One of my liveries had colic surgery at 21, he had a huge lipoma that had got stuck trapping his guts. I found him in the morning not looking happy and he rapidly went down hill, got vet out and after examination it was decided if he got the go ahead he needed to go to horspital. He went into Liphook and had emergency surgery, on a Sunday! so v expensive. He came out of surgery well and came home after a week or so. I was in charge of his rehab so he got the feeds every four hours, even through the night and hand walking. He went on to a full recovery and was ridden again and fine. Only sticking point was that he couldn't tolerate normal food for a long time but was fine out on grass and at the end of the box rest he became colicky from stressing out about being in as he felt well enough to go out. In the end we abandoned the remain week or so of box rest and turned him out. He was fine. It cost a lot of money and you have to remember that it is not necessarily the operation that is expensive but the aftercare is expensive too.
 
My horse had double colic surgery as a three year old. This was 4 years ago and it cost £3000 per surgery.


Survival rate is dependent on the type of colic that you have. My horse had an epiploic entrapment which is very rare in a horse as young as he was. He had 12' of his intestine removed. In his second surgery his intestine got caught around an adhesion (where the intestine had healed in the first surgery). Before they opened him up they warned me that they might not let him wake up. In the second instance he did not have any removed. It was very bruised but not necrotic so they made the decision to see if it would heal itself.

Another big risk is how the horse can manage the GA. Not all horses cope too well with it.

If you can afford it and you think that she has a good quality of life which you would like her to go back to then I personally believe it is worth the risk. However if she would just be returning to be a field ornament then I would have to ask is it fair to put an older horse through it.

On the recuperation side of things, my horse was turned out within days of the operations. The philosphy being the best thing for him was grass.

If you decide to go ahead with the surgery and would like more details about the recuperation side or anything else I went through then please feel free to pm me and I will share with you all that I can.
 
Any news this morning on your mare?
I've got my fingers crossed that you didn't have to resort to surgery and she pulled through for you.
Kate x
 
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