Insurance Thread Spinoff: How far away is your clinic?

[saultgirl]

After reading the thread on when to drop insurance, I was wondering:

Those who have major medical/colic surgery coverage, how far do you have to take your horse to have surgery done?

It's very rare for a horse in my area to be shipped to a clinic for colic surgery because you're looking at an 8+ hour drive (that's by car, I don't know how long it would take when hauling?) so it ends up being not very feasible to up and go in an emergency. Therefore, i don't pay for this coverage... If a colic doesn't resolve itself with basic vet treatment, the horse will have to be euthanized.

And as a spinoff from that, for those who have horses who have had colic surgery, what was your timeframe between onset of symptoms, deciding to ship to clinic, and actual surgery?

[Puddin Pie]

We are very fortunate to be 1 hour from a great vet with surgery suite and 3 1/2 hours from 2 different vet schools (UGA and NC STate).

[Peggy]

5, maybe 10, minutes to lead them down there.

[JohnDeere]

3 hours from Lexington KY here. Since its pretty much interstate doesnt change much when hauling.

Dobbin coliced, was tubed/lubed, was IVd, and shipped within 4 days. The colic didnt seem serious. Hed been thru worse believe me. He was euthd 5 days from symptoms starting. Plenty of time to get to a vet for colic surgrey believe me.

[BelladonnaLily]

I live 5 miles max. from my clinic.

[horsetales]

We are about equal distance from two university clinics. Either is about 1.5 hrs

[TankMonte]

We're very lucky. About a mile and a half away.

[horsepoor]

My horses are about one hour from the closest clinic that does colic surgery. I carry insurance on all of them except the retiree (and the mini mule!), but I am not just concerned with colic -- they've had othe medical/surgical issues that have made it useful to have the insurance.
My one horse that went to colic surgery many years ago was first found to be having symptoms in the late afternooon. Local yokel vet came and was not very helpful at all, basically did some oil and meds and left. She became progressively worse as the evening went on and I can't remember how late it was that another vet came out and suggested we take her to the clinic. But I do know it was 1 am when I drove in to the clinic parking lot. They checked her out and had me leave her for observation, and it was around 7 am the next morning that I got the call saying she needed to go to surgery.
Used to be the closest place for us was 3 or 4 hours away, so having a horsey hospital so close is really reassuring now.

[jetsmom]

15 min from the barn. Major vet hospital with about 6 vets. Really nice facility.

[saultgirl]

Wow... you are all very lucky! In all my life, I've known only one horse who was shipped for surgery, but she "fixed herself" on the trailer ride there. All the others just survived, or did not. I probably would carry the coverage if a clinic was a reasonable distance away.

[Irish Ei's]

3 hours.
In the Dark, rain, with 2 dead cellphones and missing 2 pages of Mapquest directions at 1am in the morning.
And far too much coffee.....

Go ahead.
Ask me how I know this.......

[county]

Just over 100 miles.

[Simkie]

About 20 minutes to two seperate hospitals capable of colic surgery.

[glitterless]

I'm about 4 or 5 hours from the nearest hospital that could perfrom colic surgery. I've always thought that it would be doable. Horses have been shipped from my area and made it, but I'm guessing it would really depend on the case. Hopefully I'll never have to worry about that situation. Proximity to the hospital is one thing that concerns me living out here. We have great vets, but there's only so much they can do in the field.

[2DogsFarm]

When Vern needed to go - 1991 - we were 1h away from the nearest surgical clinic. He stepped off the trailer and was in surgery within the hour.

My vet's clinic is very well setup for surgeries and he's 20 minutes from me.
If I needed more, I am 1h from Purdue with a state-of-the-art teaching hospital for vet students.

[asterix]

A little over an hour to a major vet hospital. My vet's clinic is probably 40 minutes and can do everything short of opening them up, so makes a good halfway point (it is on the way).

[Samantha37]

About 3 minutes, could actually hand walk there in an emergency. I used to board about 25 minutes from the clinic, and did have a horse go in for something else and ended up colicking and went to sx, but he was euth'd on the table.

That said, if you have an insurance policy- I believe they all require that you do everything possible to save the life of the horse. If the vet recommends surgery and you elect euthanasia, you could jeopardize your mortality coverage... regardless of whether or not you have medical/surgical coverage. Something to think about.

[Bluey]

One hour from two top vets with surgery rooms and the knowledge to use them well.
10+ hours to TX A+M for that kind of special care.

I still don't like the odds and recovery from colic surgery, so I doubt I would put a horse thru that.

I do carry insurance, just in case the vet insist it is the best course to follow for a horse, even with my misgivings about the whole thing.

[Trakehner]

Morven Park/Dupont Equine Med Center is 6 miles away...seems wayyyyy to far sometimes.

[Milocalwinnings]

I board about 15 minutes away (9 miles) from Morven Park (Equine Medical Center in Leesburg). I can't imagine having to travel hours and hours just to get to the clinic. I'm incredibly lucky to be close to a great clinic incase of an emergency.

2.5 years ago I had to haul my mare up there for an emergency. It took about 25 minutes to get there (I was at a different barn at the time). She hemorrhaged on the way and was euthanized when we walked in the door. If we had to travel any farther than that, she would have bled to death on the trailer. A devastating situation either way, but I was so glad we weren't far from the medical center so the mare could be euthanized instead of having her go down on the trailer.


ETA- I don't have insurance for my horse and in the event of a colic, probably would opt to treat on the farm and euthanize if surgery was needed unless my parents wanted to do otherwise (I'm 17 so I pay for board but they pay for vet bills).

[tma]

About a 40 minute drive to the closest major referral equine hospital set up for major (including abdominal) surgeries, abdominal xrays and such.

Another one is available with just over an hour's drive.

And my vet's own clinic (complete with facilities that allow him to do some minor surgeries) is about a 30 minute drive.

[BeastieSlave]

I'm about 2 hours from Auburn University and I believe that's the closest place that I'd take a horse for surgery.
I have separate colic surgery insurance on a few of my beasties, but not all.