colic | Horse Racing Free Tips - Part 13

Colic No. 1 Reason For Emergency Vet Calls Study Finds

A University of Nottingham study has found that colic, wounds and lameness are the most common reasons for veterinarian to make emergency calls to visit horses after hours. The study was based on 2,602 emergency calls to two major vet practices between 2011 and 2013.

Drs. Adelle Bowden, Polina Boynova, Marnie Louise Brennan, Gary England, Sarah Freeman, John Burford, Tim Mair and Wendy Furness found that 35 percent (923) of the emergency calls were placed for colic issues; after-hours calls for wounds encompasses 511 calls (11 percent). Emergency calls for lameness accounted for 288 calls (11 percent). Most of the calls (58 percent) needed only a single treatment, but a quarter of the calls needed follow-up treatments.

According to the veterinarians, only 480 of the 2,602 cases were considered critical; 43 percent of those were related to colic. In total, 13 percent of the horse's emergency calls were made for were euthanized. It is unclear if this was related to acute disease or the deterioration of a pre-existing condition.

The study team noted that many of the emergency calls had critical outcomes and the majority were euthanized. They note that this is an important welfare concern that requires additional investigation.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Care After Colic Surgery Should Be A Team Effort

Colic, a broad term that encompasses all forms of abdominal pain, is the No. 1 killer of horses. Mild cases can often be resolved with simple medical care, but some colic cases require surgical intervention to restore the horse to health. Horses that undergo colic surgery face additional risks, including anesthesia, the surgical procedure itself and the recovery time needed to get the horse back to the state of health he was in before the surgery.

Drs. Johannes van Loon, Emi Visser, Marjolein de Mik-van Mourik, Pieternel Kerbert, Tsjester Huppes and Eveline Menke, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, reviewed clinical records of 283 horses that had colic surgery at the college's school of veterinary medicine. The team sought to determine survival and complication rates of horses that underwent surgery.

The scientists discovered that 59 percent of horses that had colic surgery at the college went home alive; 96 percent of those horses were alive one year later. However, more than half of the horses had one or two colic episodes in that year.

Nearly two-thirds of the horses regained their pre-colic surgery level of performance, but 46.2 percent of owners reported that the horses had gait-related issues or behaved differently than before they had the surgery.

The researchers suggest that improving the quality of care the horse received after surgery could drastically improve the horse's athletic performance and welfare. They also suggest collaboration with saddle fitters, physiotherapists and others who can work in together to return the horse to physical and mental health.

Read more at Equine Science Update.

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