Colic

So one of my most hated emergencies second only to HBCs is anything involving a horse. And recently, I've decided that I hate colics especially. Well, no, I hate any emergencies involving horses. They are all terrifying.

The more and more that I do colics the more and more I am less comfortable about them. Or at least the more and more terrified of them. And not even really terrified but just worried that I did something wrong, missed something, or didn't fix the horse at all.

Of course, there is a limit to what I can do. At some point, there are going to be those cases that I can't fix. And I've seen them. And I've given the poor prognosis. And I've gone home only to find out that the horses have died later. Those suck but have taught me an important lesson. If you think its going to die, don't be optimistic. Its okay to euthanize the horse. After three of those, I decided that when I see those horses that don't want to get up, that have high heart rates and just want to lay around and groan. Those horses I euthanize.

Colics just suck.
I mean even the yearling stud colt who was the best horse I've ever tried to tube caused me to panic. Sure he responded to banamine. Sure he liked his torb. Sure he let me tube him and got gut sounds right away. Sure even his rectal (that's right, I rectalled a yearling stud colt) was normal but it didn't stop me from freaking out about it. What if I missed something-especially on his rectal exam?

And Josh, poor, poor Josh. Maybe if I had been able to tube him on Thursday, he wouldn't have had to be euthanized on Sunday.

Sorry this one is sort of rambly. All I know is that I hate colicky horses, thinking about them makes my stomach tie in knots and seeing them has me question myself for days. No matter the outcome.