In November of 2020, my beautiful mare Lola experienced severe colic. Since purchasing her in 2011, she had proven to be colic-prone, averaging 2-3 bouts of colic a year and sometimes more. Although she had required multiple ICU stays at LSU and at our local veterinary hospital in south Alabama, she had always been successfully managed with medications, NG tubing and IV fluids. But this time was different.
In 2012, when I had finally caught my breath after completing medical school, residency and fellowship, oh and bringing 2 children into the world, I decided that it was time to begin riding again after a decade long break. This was when I found my lovely mare Lola, a 10
year old Westphalian with a show jumping record and BOUNDLESS enthusiasm for whatever she happened to be doing. But, unbeknownst to us, Lola also had a tendency for colic, landing us in the ICU on several occasions, with countless other "near misses" over the next 8 years that I owned her. I was not unfamiliar with colic; I had lost two previous horses to colic. Lola, however, seemed to colic much more frequently than my other two horses who both colicked only once, but with tragic results.
What always surprised me was how little was available to vets and owners for colic treatment and that even less was available in regard to prevention. Yes, she was on all of the fabulous SmartPak supplements. I can only imagine what life would have been like without those. But with all the advances in modern medicine, SURELY there must be something better we can do to help these horses?! Alas, no better treatment or preventative ever came.
Fast forward to November 18, 2020, when Lola colicked again. This time seemed much like the others; the temperature had changed dramatically over only a few hours like it often does in south Alabama in the fall and winter. Lola was not exactly what you would call stoic and she always made sure everyone was aware of any discomfort she felt, big or small. Everyone knew to watch her closely during these weather changes and she was soon spotted rolling in her paddock. Within 30 minutes I had her
loaded onto the trailer and headed to the vet. We had this part down pat. I knew what to expect. We had become pros. But what was different this time, compared to other ICU visits, was that after several long hours of repeated doses of pain meds, tubing with oil and IV fluids, they didn't seem to be helping anymore and she was getting worse. It was assumed that there must be an impaction that was too far up to be felt, and surgery was our only remaining treatment option.
Being a pathologist, and also a friend of the veterinary surgeon, I was allowed into the operating room to watch and assist if needed. I have watched countless human surgeries, performed close to 75 human autopsies and have been around horses for 45 plus years, so I thought I knew what I would see - an impaction or segment of twisted bowel that would have to be surgically removed. I certainly didn't think I would be surprised by what I saw.
But the whole experience was surreal. It was MY horse on the table. My friend/vet was performing the surgery, my friend/coach and another close friend were there for support, but I felt totally helpless and could only hover and watch nervously.
My worries were soon validated when, as they opened the abdominal wall, the condition of her intestines became apparent. Her entire large intestine was distended like a freakish balloon. There was no impaction, no bolus of hay or fecalith, no torsion, no tumors causing an obstruction... just gas. ONLY...GAS!! But that gas had over expanded her intestine to the point that it had compromised the blood supply and therefore compromised the integrity of the intestine itself. There was no way to simply remove a damaged section of intestine and let her heal like we had hoped. It was ALL DAMAGED... from gas. All we could do was relieve the pressure, close her up and pray. She survived the night but went into shock and it soon became clear that euthanasia was the most humane thing we could do for her.
Surrounded by some of the best friends I could ever ask for, friends who loved Lola as much as I did, we said goodbye to my beautiful girl. She was 19 years young and still FULL of life, dragging me around jump courses only a couple of days earlier. It just didn't seem real... or fair. After I had enough time to process what had happened, I decided to harness my grief and use my medical background to find something that would help these incredible animals and hopefully prevent others from experiencing the crushing pain and grief that Lola and I, and countless other horse owners, had experienced.
It wasn't too much of a stretch to come up with the answer.... after all, my son Thomas had been super colicky as an infant, and somewhere along the way I remembered reading a "cowboy's first aid list" that recommended keeping infant gas drops on hand to treat colic. But there were so many questions.
How do you get enough of it into a horse for it to be effective?
Will it even work?
Will it make them sick?
I set out to try the theory I had been mulling over and began the Sensitive Horse Intestinal Trial (SHIT). With a handful of "frequent flyer" colickers in our barn and a fabulous friend/coach/barn owner who was more than open to reducing colic events and vet bills in her own horses as well as those in her care, I had readily available test subjects. And so "SHIT Meds" were born! *
My first test horses, my beautiful poster ponies Bob and Pearl, have a very special place in my heart and I am so grateful to their owners for placing their trust in me. You can find their stories and testimonials in our blog section.
Although I think of Lola every single day and still have a huge aching hole in my heart from her, I take comfort in knowing that her death was the catalyst needed for finding an easy, safe and highly effective product to help many more of these amazing creatures. You will find photos of beautiful Lola scattered throughout my website in tribute.
*Yes, the name stuck, and we still lovingly call them SHIT Meds today. But for sake of our more delicate-natured customers, we officially named them Colic Tonic.
Ashley,
So sorry for the loss of your beautiful Lola but through her loss, due to gas colic, you have developed Colic Tonic and saved my heart horse Miss Pearl!
I know this product will help save countless other horses! Thank you!
Melanie & Miss Pearl