COLIC need some advice please

[rabbitsfizz]

Nearly $1500AUS the last time I had to do this- not something I take lightly, or do in a panic, but it saved the horses life. I think you will find that, especially with colic, the most usual advice you will get here is "Call the Vet"

 

[2minis4us]

Tell me about colic ...... $7000 in vet bills between 2 minis this last year.

 

[littlenicker]

lol im sure im at that total over all the years, couldnt imagine just a single year! Wowza! Why so high, did you end up doing surgeries?

 

[lucky lodge]

thanks everyone for all advice ,,,little dusty is all better now just took a little longer...i was very lucky and didnt need the vet if things had off got worse then the vet would of been the first out ...but as i can do every thing a vet can i dont see the need in calling the vet when is so exspensive and i can do what a vet can.....i have safed over $6000 in doing it my self.....would you do it yourself if you could..........

 

[littlenicker]

Glad to hear it all turned out well!

 

[BSharpRanch]

Lucky Lodge, we do a lot of our own vet care when possible. Sometimes we really have to call the vet, like when my daughter and big horse were attacked by a pit bull while out for a ride. There was just too much damage not to have called the vet. However we did ALL the aftercare at home. No hospital stay. Most of our colics get a warm soap water enema in the back door, mineral oil in the front door and if they will eat they also get orange flavored metamucel mixed with a little grain or bran. We've only had the vet out for one colic and took a horse in for colic. The one we took in ended up with a bladder infection, why he was acting coliky. I was the one who mentioned that to the vet. She put him on antibiotics and the colic cleared right up!

 

[Crabtree Farm]

Smartpak offers a product called SmartDigest Ultra. Guarantee a $7500 colic surgey coverage if you horse does colic.

Price is minimal $35 for 1.85 bucket lasts a full size horse 28 days. So very minimal for minis. This would last 2-3 months.

 

[Hosscrazy]

SmartPak does offer this program but their conditions include that the horse must:

Be under the direct care of a licensed veterinarian

Not had previous colic surgery, experienced colic in the last twelve months or have a history of chronic colic.

The horse must also reside in the U.S.

Liz N.

 

[Crabtree Farm]

That is very minimal requirements. Isn't that worth the peace of mind and comfort of your horse.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Well, not when some of us do not actually live in the US, including the OP

And, no, to answer the question, I would not do this myself as I am not a Vet! I can drench, and have on very rare occasions, I know how to make sure the tube does not go into the lungs and I know how to check that it has not done so- I am still terrified that I might miss something, the tube could pull back etc, and the fluid could go into the lungs drowning the horse- I was shown how to do this my a Vet, he was an excellent teacher- if I have no option I will do it. The same applies with IV injections. I have experience doing them and am passed by the Royal Veterinary College to do so, I am still very wary of doing them unless there is no option.

Saving yourself $6000 is one way of looking at it- how would you look at it if the horse had died?

I know I am being unsubtle here, but I do not believe I would ever encourage anyone to "have a go themselves" unless there was absolutely NO chance of getting a Vet and the circumstances were dire.

 

[targetsmom]

Well, I have first hand experience that not all colics can be fixed without surgery, as I have had to have 3 colic surgeries on 2 different horses. The one (big horse) who had two surgeries survived to a relatively ripe old age, but the mini (whose surgery was paid for by a program similar to the Smartpak one) did not. Other than those three very serious colic episodes (which would have been fatal without surgery) I have rarely had a "simple" or "mild" colic in over 50 years with many, many horses. I highly recommend these colic programs such as Farnam's and Smartpaks, because the whole point is that their products help PREVENT colic. A vet pointed out to me that when he first started offering the Pfizer's Preventicare Program, (which no longer exists) he noted right away that his practice was ordering fewer supplies to treat colic. That sure sold me.

 

[wildoak]

I used the Pfizer Preventicare program too for a number of years, and it paid for a colic surgery. They required jumping through some hoops, but there was no charge for it aside from extra vet calls. We have dealt with plenty of colics here too, less these days thankfully, and I think you develop a sense of when it's ok to wait and see, and when it's not. I generally err on the side of caution though, if things don't improve within the first 12 hours or so the vet gets involved.

Jan