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RE: [RC] Post Colic Surgery Questions - Nell Lindquist Well, since my distance horse just had his SECOND colic surgery in two
years, I will be sure to keep you posted! The surgeon was an endurance
rider himself, and he said that because Diego was fit and in such good
condition, it made him a good candidate in terms of his system being able
to handle the surgery. Now, we are by no means competitive, I just love to
ride my horse out on the trails, have done some LDs and was hoping to
start doing 50s on this horse. So, my decisions and experiences with colic
surgery are based on wanting what was right and best for my friend and not
any factors regarding getting back into competition. I was willing to
euthanize him, if that was necessary, or to take him to surgery, if that
was his best chance, even if he only wound up being a very attractive
pasture ornament. I just wanted him to be free of pain, and every
situation is unique. Since I live fifteen minutes away from a large,
first-rate university veterinary medical center, I have some options for
treatment.
He had his first surgery two years ago for large colon volvulus
(twisted gut), with no resection. He had a very easy recovery, no problems
with the incision. 30 days of stall confinement with twice a day hand
walking, followed by 30 more days of confinement to a stall with a small
pen attached. After that, he was returned to his regular, large pasture. I
was very conservative with him, lots of walking and groundwork. He had the
surgery in September and I started riding him in December - walking only
for a several weeks. We competed in a limited distance ride the following
October, so just over a year after surgery.
When he ended up having to have surgery this time, the vets were SO
impressed with his belly, they said it looked like he had never had
surgery previously, as his musculature, etc. was very strong. Believe me,
I NEVER thought I'd go through this again! But this horse was amazing - he
acted a bit uncomfortable, but never really exhibited signs of being in
any great pain. His attitude through the whole thing was: "when can I eat?
when can I get out of here? is that a pretty mare over there? pay
attention to me!" I had to give him the chance.
As it turned out, he had LCV again. Again, no resection needed. He is
home and we're on the 30 days of stall confinement with hand walking. He
is doing great and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can follow the
same schedule as last time, though perhaps do a very conservative LD in
late spring.
I've been looking into the causes of LCV (and have come to the
realization that this propensity to LCV is just a ticking time bomb for
us, there's really nothing I can do to prevent it) and at information on
recovery after colic surgery. I've come across anecdotal information about
a couple of very high level eventing and dressage horses competing again
within six months of colic surgery! Here?s a link to one of the stories:
http://www.equisearch.com/care/illness/gastro-intestinal/colicsurgerysuccessstory/index.html
More info than you ever wanted! Hope this helps!
---NELL
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I found the following in the Archives but didn't
really see any answers...
Has anybody had any experience with competing in endurance with a horse that has had colic surgery? If so, can you tell me the circumstances of the surgery, about the recovery, did it cause problems, etc.>>> My friend's endurance horse is going to be having colic surgery. I was curious as to how long the recovery period is before he can be ridden again. I realize this can be different in each individual case but what is the average time line? Friend is thinking he will need to be on pasture rest for 1 year. Also the above questions are interesting too. Curious Novice... Val SweetMare55 at Yahoo dot Com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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