Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Just A Spot Of Colic

The real question here is, which is it "colicing" or "colicking"? I go with the latter when furiously texting all my people that Yankee is surely going to die from colic. Vets? Beuller?

If you're not friends with me on FB or follow me on insta (ottb_eventing) you might be unaware that my angelface had a brief tiff with colic on Monday night.


You know how when you're a parent (be it of a dogchild, horsebeast, or actual human spawn) you just KNOW when something is wrong, like, the second it happens. I had been sitting in my room (not in the barn) on the computer doing stuff for work and I just got this FEELING, like, "I should go check on the horses" even though it wasn't close to dinner time. I didn't. I brushed it off.

Wrong move.

 When I went to feed, Yanks didn't move when I rustled the feed buckets, his ears flopped and he just stood there like "Hai, I'm dying". OK. Yeah..

   
Me. On the phone with vet.
NO hesitation. I called the vet immediately. He wasn't outright colicking with telltale signs (sweating, kicking, rolling, etc) but I KNEW this wasn't my horse. He was not feeling good at all and I wanted to vet to come out. Luckily he was close, so I just paced around and cleaned, and rolled polos and did the stalls and watched the chickens and ducks wondering WHERE THE ACTUAL FUCK IS MY VET MY HORSE IS DYING FOR SURE, when really it had only been 20 minutes.

In real life I waited less than an hour but it felt like an eternity. The whole time Yankee just stood in his doorway with his head down and ears flopping, not moving an inch. It was unbearable. Of COURSE my mind was racing.

Me. Everyday. With all the things.
Vet was very reassuring, telling me I did the right thing calling him out. Yankee was mildly colicking, vet jargon, rabble rabble, caught it early, would get worse before it got better, need to stay up all night, walk every hour, monitor etc etc. Good??

If any of you have ever had a horse colic on you, its HELL. Hard to describe. It could really go either way. They could be fine, or not, and the waiting is the worst.

This still almost makes me cry,
 I've had 3 of my own horses colic, and one I was watching for a friend and let me tell you, I do not wish that on anyone. My mom made Yankee colic horribly in 2009 by feeding him a scoop of DRY beet pulp while I was out of state. He almost died and she didn't tell me until a month later. THANKS MOM.

I spent all night at the barn. Reading my ipad inbetween coddling Yankee, brushing him, freaking out he wouldn't get better and slowly dying from anxiety and lack of sleep. He finally pooped at 4 am and I have never been more happy to see shit in my life. HORSE PEOPLE ARE FREAKS.

Gradually he improved, but there for a while, I really had no idea.

I now have FULL respect for real human moms because I got zero sleep and was still expected to function the next day. nope. Literally impossible. I felt like I was colicking. I still feel like hell two days later, just from staying up one night, worrying.

YANKEE YOU ARE MY PROBLEM CHILD, but I am glad you are here still.

Hug your horses. Seriously. Right meow.

10 comments:

  1. Glad he's ok. Waiting is absolute hell.

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  2. So glad he is ok! Must have been so stressful :(

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  3. I'm glad Yankee is okay.

    I have been there--it is horrific. One colic resulted in my mare having a grand mal seizure after being tubed with oil (which was absolutely terrifying to watch--I just burst into tears and I'm NOT a "crier"). She ended up being taken to the equine hospital for a three day stay. Another colic was so serious that the vet said I needed to take her to the hospital but my mare, riding a "I don't feel TOOOO bad right now" wave, refused to get in the tiny tin can trailer that another boarder hauled over. Awesome. So that worried me deeply. And while being tubed for *that* colic, my mare had a nosebleed. She was gushing blood like a hose and soaked through a large beach towel in 10 minutes (and this was after her nose gushed on its own for 15 minutes--nothing was stopping that then so I didn't bother).

    She turned out OK every time but yes, I wouldn't wish colic on my worst enemy. As you said, you yourself end up "colicking" too and it's a horrible feeling to have--so very draining.

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  4. This is EXACTLY how I felt and reacted when Apollo colicked. Terrified, frantic, and completely freaked out. So glad he's okay!

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  5. The first poop during (after?) a colic is an amazing feeling. For human, I mean. Well, horse too I imagine.

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  6. Glad he's ok, that's some scary shit!

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  7. So glad he is back to feeling better!!

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  8. Ugh so scary and it is THE WORST waiting game ever. SO glad he's on the mend. Maybe he colic(k)ed b/c Bacardi's neck is so flipping sexy???

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  9. So glad he's feeling better! That kind of stress is brutal. For days.

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  10. Yikes! I'm glad he's okay. Colic is awful. :( It takes me days to recover from staying up all night too. Also may I steal that anxiety girl picture because that's totally me?

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