Nottingham Equine Colic Project vet survey

The Nottingham Colic Project is a research programme based at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science which is working to develop guidelines on the recognition and diagnosis of colic. To date, the project has been reviewing our current information and evidence on colic, generating new information about how cases first present and are diagnosed, and getting different groups of people together in workshops to discuss this and generate 'statements'. Groups at the workshops discussed clinical signs, diagnosis and treatment of colic and a statement was generated relating to different aspects of these areas which was agreed upon by all members within a group/groups.

The next phase of the project is to involve a wider group of people to review and comment on these statements. This is where we need your help - we would like both vets and horse owners to give their opinion on the different statements that were generated in the workshops. We will do this through a consensus process (though this survey), where all the statements and opinions that were generated in the workshops are voted on by a wider group to find out which ones people agree with. For each of the statements here, please give your opinion on whether or not you agree, and where appropriate how important / common you think the statements / signs are. You can also add comments if you think the statement is unclear or could be worded better.

After this survey, we will look at everyone's opinions to generate a short list of agreed statements; any which have been changed or improved will be sent round again in a shorter survey. (The statements where there is disagreement are used to identify where we need further information or research, so nothing is wasted!)

Your involvement is very much appreciated - the aim of this project is to help owners and vets with the recognition and diagnosis of colic in the horse, and we need statements that are practical and useful to generate the final guidelines.