Post colic care

[Horsegirl123123]

Hi
my horse has recently had colic surgery and is coming home soon. was just wondering if other people had put rugs on their horses after surgery? I’m a little worried about the straps touching the wound under the belly. Forgot to ask the vet this morning so before I ask him tomorrow morning thought I’d ask peoples opinions?

Thanks

[csaper58]

How cold is it? Is the horse a good weight?

I would leave the blanket off unless the vet specifically OK’s it.

Is it possible to safely put up a heat lamp?

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

There is a belly band that you can purchase for abdominal post surgery horses but I’ve never known anyone to buy one. Ask your vet if it would interfere with keeping the surgical incisions draining.

You should have the protocol from your vet, so follow it exactly, from feeding and grazing to meds to keeping the incision marks clean so they will drain. You don’t want them to close up, so the vet will tell you how often to clean the stitch tracks.

A friend of mine had a horse who had colic surgery and I helped her by taking a shift of care, so I learned the protocol that she got from her vet. The horse recovered well.