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HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Colic in Horses » Large Colon Displacement, and Twists » |
Discussion on Prognosis for Surgery Survivor | |
Author | Message |
Member: Dawn |
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 10:14 am: Dear Dr. O:Yesterday my trainer called me down to an A -rated Hunter show to see a fabulous, very talented 13 year old Begian Warmblood junior jumper/equitation mount that is for sale. The horse is owned by people that we know, and was attending its first show after a colic surgery last October. During the gelding's recovery time, the owners purchased another horse for their daugther, as she was qualified for regional competitions, and they are now looking for a good home for the first horse that will agree to lower its jumping level from 4'6" to no more than 3'6", and that can provide nearly constant turnout for the horse. We tried the horse and he is fabulous and seems healthy & vibrant, and the price that they are asking is affordable for us - in fact, we would not be able to attain a horse for our daughter with this level of talent and training otherwise. We were told that he had had a twisted bowel and needed no resection and had no complications, however he had a similar surgery (no resection, no complications) when the horse was 3 years old in Belgium. The horse had a nine-year gap between episodes and did not have any colic complications during that time. The horse also had its neck ligaments cut to prevent windsucking (no cribbing) sometime in its past. When the horse colicked in October, he was at an out-of-state show with his new owner and had previously been living successfully with a turn-out environment, but the new owners had recently moved him into an environment of stall living with turnout only every two days. Another somewhat unusual but maybe unrelated issue is that this horse seems to have a huge ribcage, looks like he has a grass belly but it is his excedingly well-sprung ribs, not disention. During the last surgery episode, the owner told me that a portion of the intestine was somehow wedged between or trapped by his aorta (???) - she was unable to remember the correct terms - and that the attending surgeon gave the horse only a 20% survival chance because of possible tearing brought about by pulling the effected intestine section out of its "trap". There was no tearing but the intestine was quite bruised, and the horse survived. The vet told them the horse would do best with full-time turnout with either constant grazing or free-choice hay, and also told them that the horse should be able to reattain its current level of work 4'6" fences. Of course, I know that there is a risk of reoccurence with this horse; I can provide the lower work level and the 24 hour turnout, and will not subject it to the amount of showing and traveling that it has seen before. So here's my questions, Dr. O: first, do you have any insight into exactly what type of colic this horse endured in October based on the little bit of info that I have given you - second, is a horse with a large abdominal cavity more prone to twists and torsions because of the extra room in there - and third, should I run from this horse or proceed with a vet examination to determine his overall condition? The horse will be eligible to re-insure for colic this October, but I don't know if I would put it through another surgery if the condition reoccurred. Thanks for your input! |
Member: Dres |
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 4:36 pm: is there anyway that you can get vet reports from the surgeries...?? or call and talk to the vets..? that would be my first call.. after they have given you some kind of heads up.. then a full vet check..there is NO SUCH THING AS A FREE HORSE OR A BARGIN HORSE... Ann |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Thursday, Jun 3, 2004 - 6:03 am: Hmmm, there are a few things I can think of but cannot be certain. I agree with Ann, you should contact the veterinarian that performed the surgery for a clearer idea of what happened. I do believe that even with these changes that a horse that has had 2 bouts of surgical colic from identical malpositions is a risky proposition even with the changes you can make.DrO |