The Colic Monster

[PhoenixRising]

What a monster colic is.
I work for the barn I keep Phoenix at, and have for 2 years. It pays my board and lately has helped finance Phoenix's training also.
Yesterday, on my watch, we had the most severe case of colic I've personally seen yet... and it happened so fast.
She ate her breakfast fine. The only thing I noted in the morning was she seemed itchy but she was very dirty so we planned to bathe her in the afternoon.
She ate her lunch at 11:30 just fine. No signs of anything going on.
We pulled her out and bathed her at 1:00 and she seemed fine.
She went back in her stall around 2 after drying a bit, and it was noted she immediately rolled. But of course we assumed it was just the bath. I went ahead and washed another horse and took her out to graze for a bit to dry. Came back and noted she was wanting to roll again and immediately alarm bells were going off in my head. This was around 2:30pm. I got her up and noticed she was uncomfortable, kicking at her stomach and immediately wanting to lay down again. Right away I was calling the BO and got her out and started walking. All the reinforcements were called in and the vet arrived about 30 minutes later. By that point she was almost collapsing as we walked, had a heart rate of at least 70, was sweating, and almost frantic. I knew deep down this was a bad one.
The vet palpated and determined there was a lot of distention on one side, and a void on the other. He felt all the signs pointed towards her needing to go to the clinic. She was sedated and given a large dose of Banamine and loaded on the trailer.
We thought she was a bit better when she arrived and we were hopeful, but at 3am her owner received a call asking permission to go ahead with surgery.
This morning I'm told she's awake but groggy, and we don't know for sure if we're out of the woods.
The vet commented I caught it early, and everyone kept telling me I did a good job. But man, having a colic that bad when you're on duty really sucks. Its hard to hear that I "did good" because I think I'll always wonder if I should have known something was up right after the bath. I'm so attached to all of these horses, mine or not.

So, hug your horses tight... and always be aware of odd behavior. She went from seeming fine to almost collapsing withing about an hour. I know I went out and gave Phoenix big hug and kiss, thanking my lucky stars.

[PaulaO]

Colic is so scary. You did good and right though. Jingles the mare gets better.

[Ryeissa]

oh dear! sending major jingles

[Tarlo Farm]

Over the years I have walked countless hours to help save countless horses with obstructions. And then lost one to torque in a matter of a few hours. I hate colic. You did all that could possibly be done without a surgical unit onsite. Sleep well.

[Chancellor]

I had a horse colic like that. Unfortunately he died on the operating table.
I was there from the onset of the colic and like you I wonder if I should have done something sooner.

[khall]

Yes colic is a horrible problem to deal with in horses. I have been on the end of the line when they are in such pain and praying for a vet to come! I have also had to make the terrible decision to let one go (RIP my good girl Anna) last October to an impaction that just would not resolve medically. Anna was not a surgical candidate for several reasons.

Jingles that the mare come through and her recovery is uneventful.

[PhoenixRising]

I heard from her owner this afternoon. She thanked me for catching it so fast. She said it was an impaction with a lot of gas built up behind it. She said she wasn't going to leave her today but that she started responding to her neck scratches (her favorite thing!). I'm going to go up and visit her tomorrow after work. I've been wanting to see the clinic and what it's like anyway, and with her owner having to go home until later this week I thought it would be nice to visit. With her owners and the clinics permission of course.

[WheresMyWhite]

Bad colics are scary!

Glad you were there to catch this one as it went bad. Hoping this nice mare recovers!

[Rockabilly]

You did do a good thing! Be proud of yourself for doing such a good job. I hope the horse continues to do well.

One morning years ago I was looking at Billy while the farrier was working on another horse. Right before my very eyes Billy colicked. I had the vet right out and fortunately it was a mild colic. So see they can colic even while you're looking at them. I often wished I had a 24 hour guard for the horses, but when I thought about it I was the guard.

[PhoenixRising]

She came home today! Wahooo!
I was so glad to see her in her stall when I arrived. Of course I went in and immediately gave her the obligatory neck scratches and told her how happy I was to see her
We found out she has grade 4 ulcers. Poor girl. So she's also undergoing ulcer treatment now.
I ended up not being able to visit earlier this week due to the clinics hours, which was a bit of a bummer but not much I could do about it.
It really was almost a traumatic experience for me. It really got me to thinking of what would have happened if it was Phoenix and I couldn't afford surgery. I already had Phoenix on a probiotic and I have been wanting to put her on a daily dewormer since the vet is calling a "high shedder". I'm not 100% sure what he means by that but I know she always has a high egg count when they do fecals. Anyway, I made the decision to finally just order her a smart pak, and I decided on one of the supplements backed by ColiCare which makes me feel much better, even if it might be "unnecessary".

[Keysfins]

Glad to hear good news.

Easter's first colic was a doozy, but was also caught right away. We got him to the clinic within an hour or so. Stayed with him until 10:00, hoping meds would work. Left when he was heavily sedated. Got the call at 1:00 that they needed to send him into surgery, and I watched the whole procedure. I remember the surgeon looking up at me from the table, and he gave me a big "thumbs up". Cleared the impaction without needing to resection. I had to wait while Easter was in the recovery room until he was back at his stall. He spent about a week in the clinic. That was back in 2012.

Then in August of 2014, he had another bad colic, initially was dx'd as a possible NSE, but it was another impaction. Didn't know what to do, since he wasn't going to surgery again. After talking with my trainers, we decided I could give him time for meds and fluids to work. And he took a full 48 hours+ before he looked a bit better. I kept questioning if I was doing the right thing, because he was still plenty painful, and withdrawn.

I remember one of the interns, about to dose him with more sedative, telling me she had never used that much before. I said, well, that's the only option we have, otherwise we euthanize, so let's see if it will help. Easter was so stoic, and really out of it, but it was still one of the hardest things, to see him so miserable and wonder if I was prolonging his pain....

But I still had to work, because we had staff traveling, so we had one trainer at the barn to teach, me, and two working students. The morning after I had stayed all night at the clinic, I arrived to find one of the working students had departed in the middle of the night. Oh joy! Then we had ONE working student, me and a trainer to manage ~30 horses. My dog would come with me early in the AM to check Easter at the clinic, then stay at the barn. I'd drop her off at home, take a shower, and go back to the clinic. Thankfully, I had no restrictions on when I could visit and just be with him. Once he started to respond to some grooming, I felt a lot better. That was a fun week. But Easter came home.

We had another couple of trips to the clinic for fluids, and a handful of barn calls that winter of 2014/15. Once we changed his diet, that made a huge difference. He just turned 24, and we are just about at the 2 year mark since his last episode.

Jingles for the mare, that she'll have an uneventful recovery!

Touch wood!

[westisbest]

I'm so glad the horse is doing OK... the owner must be so grateful to have someone as observant and caring there as both barn mate and barn help. I have seen some bad ones, one of my closest friends lost her OTTB 3 years ago, I was with her to the end... awful. it is the curse of the equine. xx