Chronic Colicer - Displacement/Torsion

[hunter51]

I made a post earlier in the week asking about life after colic surgery and whether horses are known to return to their previous level of competition. My horse, an 8 year-old unraced Thoroughbred gelding, can now be classified as a chronic-colicer. He has colicked four times since I’ve owned him (two years). The first one was a displacement in 2015 that required hospitalization but no surgery. The second time was a gas colic in February of 2017. In June, he displaced again and required hospitalization. And just this weekend, he suffered from a large colon torsion that required surgery without resectioning. To my knowledge, nothing was “fixed” during the surgery to help prevent it from happening again, nor was there a reason found for the torsion.

The vet says 60-70% of horses survive this type of colic and surgery. He seems to be on the upswing currently but I am careful not to become too optimistic. I am so worried that this will continue happening, in which I don’t think I can let the horse suffer, nor can I afford it now that we’ve cleaned out the insurance money. I don’t believe he can ever be insured for colic again/mortality from colic since the surgery. I’ve heard of people having their horse go through colic surgery two or three times (which is a totally personal decision, I definitely understand that) but does it just prolong the inevitable? I guess it depends on the horse’s history.

I don’t really know what to do anymore. He’s on a very strict schedule and gets a ton of turnout. He was being treated with a month of Gastrogard just in case (no other symptoms of ulcers but wanted to cover my bases after the June colic). He’s on SmartDigest, along with a salt supplement. He is in regular work. He receives top-notch care. I can’t find a common demonimator for when he colics - no stressful situations, big changes, or anything like that. It just happens randomly. We do horse show but the episodes don’t seem to be related to that.

I’ve obviously spoken to my vet about this but the vet could not tell me why he is so prone to colic, nor really anything I can do to prevent it. I don’t have a specific question in mind to ask but I wanted to see if anyone could provide their experiences.

[Pocket_Pony]

I had to put my TB down a couple months ago at 20 years old. He tended to get a bit of gas colic in the spring when there would be abrupt weather changes. It usually amounted to nothing and as the temperatures were more predictable he wouldn’t have any more problems.

This spring we had some frosty nights followed by a few 80-degree days, and back to very cold again. He had a very bad colic episode, nothing like he’d ever had before, and had a displaced colon and a belly tap showed there was nothing to be done for him. We did all we could to make him comfortable and he was blowing through the drugs so fast that really there was no other answer than euthanasia. He was not a surgery candidate (don’t know that I would ever make the decision to do that for a horse) and so I put him down.

It sucks that there really are no good answers. The night before and the morning of my horse seemed to be fine (BAR, normal eating/drinking/peeing/pooping/activity). And then he wasn’t. Colic sucks.

[hunter51]

@Pocket Pony

I had to put my TB down a couple months ago at 20 years old. He tended to get a bit of gas colic in the spring when there would be abrupt weather changes. It usually amounted to nothing and as the temperatures were more predictable he wouldn’t have any more problems.

This spring we had some frosty nights followed by a few 80-degree days, and back to very cold again. He had a very bad colic episode, nothing like he’d ever had before, and had a displaced colon and a belly tap showed there was nothing to be done for him. We did all we could to make him comfortable and he was blowing through the drugs so fast that really there was no other answer than euthanasia. He was not a surgery candidate (don’t know that I would ever make the decision to do that for a horse) and so I put him down.

It sucks that there really are no good answers. The night before and the morning of my horse seemed to be fine (BAR, normal eating/drinking/peeing/pooping/activity). And then he wasn’t. Colic sucks.

Thanks for your input Pocket Pony. I’m sorry for the loss of your TB. You’re absolutely right - colic sucks.

[RockinHorse]

A number of years ago I had one that coliced a fair amount. He did have surgery for displacement with no resection that went well.

After that, he had smaller bouts of colic. What worked for him was treating for hind gut ulcers with sucalfrate(sp???) and spacing all vaccinations apart over a couple of weeks, spring and fall. He went on to have quite a good completion career after that although he is now happily retired.

He was able to be insured for everything but I think he had to be colic free for a few years first.

Good luck with your horse.

[EmilyM]

i went through this with a horse that I loved dearly. We decided to put her down when she was headed for a third surgery.
It sounds like you are doing all that you can. The only thing I’ve heard of that might help you is : apparently 3rd cutting orchard grass is easily digested. I know an older show horse that had 2 or 3 surgeries, and that is what the vets recommended he eat. I don’t know what kind of surgeries he had, but maybe something to inquire about with the vet? Also, displacement can be caused by over use of bute. I forget how the science works, but something to keep in mind. Maybe go for equioxx if you need an nsaid.

good luck!

[hunter51]

Thank you to everyone for responding. I can’t help but feel like I’m just waiting for the inevitable. Can anyone else provide their experiences with a horse that was a chronic colicer?