Colic

[kusanar]

Friday on my way to work I got one of the first horrid calls ever made.  "Melody is colicing.... it's bad.  We're taking her to Mountain View."

Comments

[re_vised]

Wow! I'm very glad Melody is okay. She pulled through with some crazy odds against her. I hope she continues to make a good recovery! Keep us posted.

[kusanar]

No one believed she would make it through the night on Friday, I'm still in shock she did (as is a vet). She's not out of the woods yet though, she developed a fever late Sunday night so they are keeping her at the equine hospital for a little longer.

[lantairvlea]

That is amazing. Congrats on your miracle and may she have many more good years (minus any more excitement!).

[kusanar]

She ended up not coming home today, so she's not out of the woods yet. I'm still hoping the next time I have to utter the words 'put her down' will be when Melody is an ancient old mare.

[lantairvlea]

Not that it is ever easy but it is easier to swallow that decision when they have had a good, long life. May it be so for your girl!

[landrews]

That's amazing. Usually quiet and pain-free after thrashing with a bad impaction is very, very bad. Give her a hug from me!

[kusanar]

I have been trying to research colic and what to expect like mad and can't really find any information other than 'euthanize' or 'surgery' options.

This equine hospital is extremely annoying with how tight lipped they are lol they take 'No news is good news' to the extreme!

Why would going still after thrashing be bad? Would that be a sign of a rupture, or dead tissue? I know the vet told me to just 'wait till morning' but he never explained just what we were waiting on. I've never dealt with colic before and it's annoying me to no end how ignorant I apparently am on it.

[landrews]

It usually means rupture which leads to death or euthanasia. I have a friend whose horse, Joey, had that happen to him.

I thought it was interesting that the barn didn't call you about the colic prior to transport. Do they make veterinary decisions for you or do ya'll live somewhere where a vet can't make a farm call so you transport everything? Nothing wrong with either, I'm just curious.

[kusanar]

Well, that leads to another can of worms. The man who my friend and I rent land from watched Melody colic for 2 hours without telling anyone, so when my friend went to check on the horses again at 1:00 (she fed at 8:00 am) Melody was down. She's the one who made the call to transport her to the Equine Hospital because the mare had been down and rolling for so long.

I was called when the horse was already en route to the vet.