Colic Surgery: Yes or No?

Is your horse a candidate for colic surgery? These five factors can help you decide.

Your gelding started acting a little bit uncomfortable just over an hour ago. By the time your vet arrived, the poor horse was in a full-blown sweat, pawing violently and throwing himself down in the barn aisle no matter how hard you tried to keep him on his feet. Even after IV sedation and a dose of pain medication, he was still uncomfortable. The look on your vet’s face told you everything you needed to know. Her next question confirmed your greatest fear. “Is he a candidate for a colic surgery?”

There’s nothing more stressful than a severely colicky horse. And if your horse needs surgery to correct his colic, there’s no other option that’ll save his life. To make things even scarier, time can make the difference between a successful outcome and disaster. When your vet asks you whether your horse is a candidate for colic surgery, she needs an answer, and she needs it now. That’s why it’s best to know that answer before colic ever strikes.

In this article, I’m going to help you determine whether you’d say yes if your horse needed colic surgery. I’ll start by outlining basic facts about the procedure and what you can expect. Then, I’ll explain what things your vet might do differently for a colicky horse where surgery would be the choice, compared to what she’d do if it were not an option. Finally, I’ll outline five factors to consider when making that decision for your own horse.

‘The look on your vet’s face told you everything you needed to know.’

First, the Facts