Lost two horses in the last 30 days to suspected strangulating lipomas.
I have never dealt with them before. Both horses in their 20s and of breeds that are higher risk. Both also were darn good lesson horses (one mine, one I lease).
I am shocked by both how quickly they went from mostly fine, to being in a panic. Neither horse had an impaction, both were still pooping, and neither horse really got an elevated heart rate. Aside from not eating, horse #1 wanted to paw anything in front of him - jumps, walls, waterers. Not the ground though. Horse #2 wanted to bolt off into the hills. Horse #1 started showing symptom at 630 am, and was PTS by 1pm. horse number two started showing symptoms while being tacked up for a lesson - despite banamine and tranq, he was impossibly uncomfortable by the time he got to the vet clinic and he went from fine to PTS in under 90 minutes. He had been laying down before his lesson, but it was normal nap time, so I thought nothing of it. (his intestines were also trapped between his spleen and colon, which is all we originally thought it was, so we thought he was just going to get vet to get an IV medication).
Horse #1 had very minor colics over the years. Horse #2 hadn’t colicked in the 15 years I had him.
No real point to this post. Just processing my grief I guess.
I am in absolute shock at how quickly it happened and how much they were suffering in a very short time despite drugs.