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  Discussion on Post colic surgery prognosis and longevity
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Member:
Sureed

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 - 10:14 pm:

I am considering purchase of a 10 year old H/J horse for lower level showing and pleasure riding. I love the horse, but the problem is he has had colic surgery. I lost a horse to colic in the past and it was traumatic.

This is what I can determine from discussions with current and previous owners and trainers:

His cecum was impacted and removed 5 years ago. (However, another person told me it was 2 years ago). Prior to the colic surgery the horse was transported a long distance from the East Coast to the West Coast, but I don't know how long it was between the transport and the surgery.

Since the surgery, I am told he has had not even a mild colic. He is not on any special care or feeding regimen. He receives bran mashes on Saturdays and salt in his food to promote water intake, just like the other horses in the barn. Otherwise, I am not sure what he is eating. He is being ridden and shown regularly.

I have been advised that since the colic surgery was five years ago, I could get insurance that would cover another surgery if it was ever required.

My concerns are more about buying this horse that I love and then losing him too early to colic.

I have read all of the articles and they seem to cover only up to one year post op. I am interested in what other's long term post-operative experiences have been and whether there are preventative measures I could take to avoid future colics/complications, if any.

I understand that any horse can colic. I am interested in the risks of this horse relative to a horse that has not had a history of colic and a surgery.

Other observations are that he has a slight pot belly (which the agent attributes to him being mostly schooled in jumping and not too much on the flat), he has a very laid back personality (hew likes to doze off between show classes) but is a little cranky on the flat (puts his ears back when asked for transitions). I'm wondering if any of these characteristics indicate he is not feeling well.

Finally, if I decide to vet this horse, what can the vet do now to evaluate his current status and future prospects with respect to colicking or have any residual effects from the prior surgery.

Thank you all for any guidance you can provide.

Suzanne
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 7:00 am:

Suzanne, I would want the surgery notes and if possible comments from the surgeon on the long term care and prognosis. He will be the one to know exactly what was done. There is something not quite right here, cecal impactions rarely require complete removal of the organ and a horse with his cecum removed should have special dietary needs. Also I would like the horses medical records since the surgery. Lastly, you should speak with your insurance company directly to confirm insurability.
DrO
Member:
Sswiley

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 10:38 am:

As a general rule, when you cut into intestine you end up with scar tissue. This could affect future motility.
Member:
Amara

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 12:56 pm:

i've had to deal with one horse that had colic surgery at the barn i used to manage. he colicked all the time. on the 2nd bad one he went in for surgery. sorry but i dont remember what was done. he had big ulcer problem which contributed to the colics. he had a few very mild colics after the surgery-mild enough that the owner asked us not to call the vet so it wouldnt get reported to the insurance company so that she could eventually get renewed colic coverage on him.
he left the barn about a year later, and the within the next year died from what i believe was Vitamin E deficiency. i dont know if the colic/ulcer problems had a lot to do with it, but the belief around the barn was that it did contribute-somehow
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 3:21 pm:

Hi Suzanne

Obviously every surgical colic case is different so here is my experience. Sorry, it's rather lengthy.

About 12 years ago I owned a 4 year old mare who suffered a very hard fall in the pasture one day and started to colic in the early evening. Nobody ever knew if the fall had anything to do with initiating the colic but it was interesting that both events occurred within hours of each other. The colic progressed rapidly in intensity and I trailered her to the vet clinic within a few hours of the initial vet exam. At the clinic she was assessed as requiring surgery and was operated on that evening. At the time I had surgical insurance on the mare. I can't remember the exact details of the surgery, however, she had a left displacement and no resection was necessary. After 5 days at the clinic, I took her home for 30 days stall rest however the surgeon (who was the only one in the area and had just recently opened his operating facility, she being case No. 2) insisted on 60 minutes minimum of handwalking every day, starting from day No. 1.

After 90 days, I was given the green light to start the mare back in light work. Three months later she again showed signs of colic and underwent another surgery (no insurance this time) where it was found that she had suffered another displacement. Again no resection was deemed necessary however this time the surgeon decided to tack the offending gut to the body wall in an effort to keep it from displacing again. He told me at the time that this was a new procedure and not well documented - in fact I had to read instructions to him while he was doing the procedure! It was a very weird experience.

Within 10 days the mare started to colic every day after eating. The intensity of the colics steadily progressed over time and after another 10 days of worsening colics, I decided to euthanize her as she was going through hell with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. The backhoe was called in and I said goodbye and left before the vet put her down as I was too upset to stay. I asked them to call me with the necropsy results.

They called me about 45 minutes later to say that they couldn't put her down as they wanted to open her up again to see what exactly was going on and they would cover the cost of the surgery if I would cover the cost of the drugs and do all medicating. Not really knowing what else to do, I agreed and took her back to the clinic.

They said that the omentum had wrapped around the gut and every time she ate and the gut increased in size, it "strangled" the omentum. At least that is how they explained it to me. Also the tacking to the body wall had broken down. I was given the keys to the clinic, the alarm code and spent the next few days and nights medicating her around the clock until I could bring her home. As after each surgery, I was instructed to walk her immediately as much as possible with stall rest for the remainder of the day.

Within a few months of the 3rd surgery she still suffered the odd minor colic but seemed to come out of them OK. Again at the 90 day point, I started her back in light work. We also transferred to another part of the country during that time. She would colic once or twice every month especially during her heat cycles. These were gas type colics which I controlled with 10cc of ketoprofen. I figured that she must have painful, crampy heats but all the local vets I spoke to thought I was nuts to even suggest it. I also noticed that she was incredibly hypersensitive to left leg aids under saddle and virtually unridable some days.

Finally I heard about a team of equine surgeons in another part of the province and I called to arrange for her to be spayed as I thought it would prevent the cyclical colic episodes. They questioned me extensively over the phone on her history and after hearing it, asked me to bring her in so they could evaluate her as her case sounded so strange. They also contacted the vet who had done the colic surgeries for her health records. I trailered her to the clinic in a huge snowstorm (at one point on an icy highway bridge my trailer started to slide sideways - yikes!) and they did a full workup including voiding her bladder. They also noted that she had 11 hernias along the surgical incision line. They decided that exploratory surgery was needed to find out exactly what was going on and that spaying was likely indicated.

Once open, they found that her spleen was gigantic. I'd never seen anything like it and neither had they so they biopsied it for possible cancer. In addition to the enormous spleen, she was suffering from acute peritonitis which they believed likely came from her gut being nicked during her last surgery and a slow leak of gut contents leaching out over time. In addition, her ovaries were completely abnormal and were removed. This poor mare also had numerous adhesions. Since she had so much scar tissue from the three previous surgeries, they basically did a sort of tummy tuck and cut it all away when closing her up. It was incredible to watch.

The spleen biopsy was negative for cancer and they figured that its giant size was due to the the leakage into her abdomen. They believed that it would reduce somewhat in size but would never be completely normal and that it was likely the cause of her being so hypersensitive to left leg aids. (I cringe when I think that this poor mare did fairly advanced dressage work all the while being in considerable discomfort. Her generosity to do work was unbelievable all things considered.)

They also insisted on strict stall rest for 30 days with absolutely NO handwalking of any kind until day 30. Then only 5 minutes with a very slow rate of increase over several weeks.

This mare is now 17 years old and has a very good life. She is spoilt rotten by an owner who adores her and she deserves every bit of it. Since her ability for advanced dressage work was compromised due to the enlarged spleen, I sold her to a wonderful woman who does low level jumpers. She took to it like a duck to water as traveling in a more open frame over fences is far more comfortable. Even so, she will still have a mild gas type colic every few years but ketoprofen keeps her discomfort to a minimum and she's soon back on her feet.

It was 12 years ago and I spent $14,400 on surgeries (insurance paid me back $5,000) and ended up basically giving her away. I thought of taking some legal action against the surgeon who performed her first 3 surgeries but decided against. Too difficult to prove. I just wish I had initially been in an area where there were good surgeons as I am positive this mare's suffering could have been drastically reduced.

Dr O's advice of getting full medical/surgical records on the horse you are considering, Suzanne, is the best advice you can get and have it scrutinized by somebody who really knows their stuff.

Sorry for writing a novel...
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 3:25 pm:

Oops, meant to say the omentum "stranged" the intestine - not the other way around...!
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 3:39 pm:

And apparently I can't spell either...
Member:
Hwood

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 6:25 pm:

Sue, that is the most amazing story . . . and I'm so relieved that it has a happy ending. If the surgeons hadn't insisted on doing more surgery and had put her down when you decided to do so, she wouldn't have the great life she has today . . . (and you'd be a lot richer, but what the heck, huh?) Good for you.
Member:
Sureed

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 7:32 pm:

Wow, everyone. Thanks so much and Sue, what a story and such a happy ending. What a trooper you are to stand by your mare. And Holly Wood, its true, the horses make us richer, not the money.

I am gathering all the medical records. I have verified that the surgery was five years ago and this horse has had an active show career since. I am in the process of gathering all other medical records post op to see what his colic history, if any, has been since then.

You are all great! Thanks,

Suzanne
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 - 11:40 am:

When my husband gets home, I'll ask him to post a photo of her as I'm a complete moron when it comes to anything hi-tech. This mare was unbelievable in her will to live. She was an inspiration to everyone who saw her. I honestly believe most horses would have given up but she just kept soldiering on regardless. She is very much an alpha mare and very intense about everything she does. The kind of horse that attacks any challenge that comes her way, be it work or play. So that probably helped her withstand as much as she did.

Suzanne, it sounds very positive for the horse that you are considering. Any horse can colic although I believe most are non-surgical in nature. Really doing your homework and researching his history is so important. I have a couple of friends whose horses underwent colic surgery many years ago with no complications and no repeat episodes.

Holly, my current vet says I'm the queen of equine surgery! Great - the one title no horse owner wants! Just spent over $7,500 in December for Warwick's leg surgery and another $4,500 or so this past July for Abby's! Warwick cut his leg in his paddock and I've yet to figure out how. An inch or two higher and it would just have required sutures but no, he had to do it over a joint with tendons exposed. And Abby was playing in the field, slipped and fell down hard on a rock causing several bone chips on the cannon bone. What gives???
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - 2:34 am:

Here is a photo of Cappy post 4 surgeries. She was/is one hell of a fighter and I think you can see this in this photo. Now she is a true flea-bitten grey - almost completely white - but when I owned her she was that fantastic mottled grey color and I have photos of her when she was born - a mottled bay which gave her her name: Cappuccino. Athough my German dressage coach told me when I first started her training that I should change her name to Espresso as that was more indicative of her nature!!!

You go girl!...
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - 2:38 am:

Cappy - the day I sold her and post-4 colic surgeries...
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - 2:45 am:

PS - She is Hanoverian/TB cross (old G line - very tough!) and was always a really hard ride. In fact, when I was breaking her, I used to tell my husband that I was going flying instead of just riding as most days I ended up on the floor - no joke. She was the toughest horse I have ever ridden. She also had a true "dirty" streak although I now wonder how much I put down to bad behavior instead of pain. Hindsight being 20/20 and all.

Regardless, this mare taught me more than 20 other horses ever would and I thank her for that and love her all the more.
Member:
Kthorse

Posted on Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - 7:09 am:

She is beautiful Sue. What a story
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - 7:53 am:

A beautiful story about a beautiful horse. Reminds me to think about the possibility of pain being an issue when having training troubles. It's stories like these that give us not only knowledge, but inspiration also.

Thanks for the "novel".
Member:
Sureed

Posted on Friday, Sep 29, 2006 - 11:55 am:

Thanks again everyone. Finished tracking down the history of my potential purchase. Turns out he had three surgeries, in a year (including for hernia), does require special feeding and has colicked several times over the years since the surgery. So that is a pass for me. Pays to do the research. I feel bad for the horse though.

Suzanne
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