Colic almost killed Forest...

ForestGump

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Apr 9, 2008
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I was supposed to be going to Rockbourne on Sunday but on Saturday night Forest went down with colic.
I had an emergency call out and he found that the colon had displaced and hoocked itself over the spline.
He refered me to the hospital about 40mins away so they could treat him more effeciently.
The vet went through my options and we decided that surgery would not be an option for Forest as he was unlikely to survive through the surgery.
They gave him a drug to shrink his spline so that the colon could replace itself, basically they allowed him to roll and do whatever he needed to do to replace it himself.
The vet didn't give him a high survival rate and I signed a form to give my consent if they needed to PTS during the night.
I left the vets at 1 in the morning.
I went back the next morning, Forest had improved slightly but they were still waiting for the colon to replace at this point and they still weren't very positive.

Forest started to show signs of improvement and the vet was sure he was feeling better as Forest had tried to remove the vets knee caps. He was then given a 50% survival rate.
He survived and an exam showed that the colon had pretty much replaced and he was allowed to eat and drink under the observation of the vets to make sure his intestines stood up to the food etc.

Well, today he came home. He seems fine and from what the nurses have said he has been a handful.

The vet was great and even at ridiculus times at night he was jolly and reassured me that he would do everything he could to pull him through.

Through it all everytime I saw Forest I told him to fight. I believe he did, I also believe it was a miracle that he survived.
When I left today the vet just said that he has been very lucky and he hopes it won't reoccur.

Can't believe that I thought about selling him a couple of weeks ago. I took almost losing him to make me see how much I love him.

I had said my goodbyes aswell.
I'm just so thankful to the vet for pulling him through, he never complained about having to be working all the time and almost getting hurt and he stayed jolly all the way through.
Thank God he pulled through, really don't know what I would do without him.;)

If you got through all that then a whole plateful of cookies!:p

Will do updates of his progress now he is home as still keeping an eye out just in case!:o
 
Poor Forest

Your vet sounds like an absolute star

You must have been worried sick!! Glad he is on the mend now :) xxx
 
Goodness me, glad he is home safe & well.

I know what you mean about realising how much they mean to you when you nearly lose them. I had a similar incident a couple of years ago & I would pay anything know to know he will beok!
 
can't remeber off hand waht it was called but it began with a P.

It basically gives them an adenaline rush which inturn shrinks their spline, i think!
 
lost one to colic so know how scary and sudden it is.

hope he recovers well - no words can say how panicky you feel when things like this happen.
 
OMG thank god he is ok :eek:

On the plus side I don't just think it will be a case of you appreciating him more, the same is bound to happen the other way too and you and Forest will continue to grow closer as a result ;)

Pass on a kiss on the muzzle to Forest from me - unless he's in a mood in which case you can blow one at him from a distance :D

T xx
 
Hes not in a mood with me these days. He gave the nurses a run for the money, it said on the door must be led with a bridle on. When the nurse saw me lead him without and not struggle she said how well behaved he was for me compared to the nurses! apparently he has been dragging them a bit!:o
But he was fine with the vet! (ish)
Although he is now sporting a couple of bald patches!
Just hoping the rest of the recovery is as good!:D
 
I just hope that noone else has to go through what Forest and I went through, and I hope I never have to go through it again.
I went down the yard tonight and spent almost 2 hours just standing with him, watching him, I missed him so much and I'm sooo glad hes back and hopefully on the mend.
And I really still can't thank the vet at the hospital enough, I doubt he comes on here but if he does then thank you sooo much. You really have made my year and your a great vet!;):D
 
I'm glad we're a team now but I wish I had realised how much I loved him without having to go through that. It wasn't easy on him. Can't wait till hes completely back to normal again.
He may be an accident prone idiot but hes MY accident prone idiot and he aint going nowhere!:D
 
He was pawing at the ground and panting a lot, he was quite sweated up as well and kept trying to roll.
Some horses look round at their stomach and kick up at there stomach with their back legs.

Forest only ever rolls once in the field and only in the dry patches but he came in plastered in mud, so I knew something wasn't right. The first thing he does when he gets in is wee, he didn't so alarm belss started to ring and then he wouldn't eat or drink, so I just kinda knew really. You just know with your own horse when they're not right and he gave me all the signs to call the vet
 
What are the symptoms of Colic? - like how did you know on the Saturday night he was ill?? I'm not good with the horsey medical side of stuff...

Another thing (to add to FGs post above) - My YO was telling me about how one of the horses coliced last weekend, they noticed because she *never* lies down in her stable but she was when they did the final checks. It's not a definitive, but if you know your horses patterns (as FG obviously does well!) then it's easier to see something out of the ordinary.
 
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