FOAL IN NEED OF HELP-DWARFISM?

[TINALEE]

HELLO,I AM NEW TO THE MINIS,LIKE MOST OF YOU I SAW A MINI AND HAD TO HAVE ONE,NOW WE HAVE 8 :bgrin I HAVE 3 MARES THAT ARE EXPECTING,I BOUGHT THE FOALING CAMERAS,THE MILK STRIPS, THE PREGNANCY TEST,READ EVERYTHING I COULD ON FOALING AND CARE OF MINIS AND WAS SO READY FOR THE FOALING.LASTNIGHT AT 2:30 AM MY MARE HAD A LITTLE FILLY.THE PRESENTATION WAS DIFFERENT THAN I EXPECTED,FIRST WAS A FOOT THEN WE SAW A BIG PINK TONGUE,I MEAN BIG PINK TONGUE..

: I REACHED IN TO GET THE OTHER FOOT AND THEN BABY WAS OUT IN JUST A FEW SECONDS.SHE LOOKED FINE,STOOD UP WITHIN A HALF HOUR LOOKED FOR MOMS TEATS AND TRIED TO EAT BUT COULDNT LATCH ON.I FIGURED SHE JUST NEEDED A LITTLE HELP SO TRIED TO HELP BUT STILL COULDNT LATCH ON.I FED HER ABOUT 20CCS OF COLOSTRUM AND LET MOM AND FILLY BE.MY HUSBAND KEPT INSISTING EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER IF WE WERE NOT INTERFERRING.SO OFF TO BED WE WENT,I WATCHED THE BABY ON THE CAMERA GOING UNDER MOM THINKING SHE WAS GETTING MILK.THIS MORNING AT 7AM SHE WAS VERY WEAK.I TRIED TO GET HER TO EAT FROM MOM AGAIN AND NOTICED SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO.I REALIZED SHE HAS AN UNDERBITE SO WHEN SHE TRIES TO SUCK SHE ACTUALLY SUCKS ON HER UPPER LIP.I DID MANAGE TO GET HER TO EAT 60CCS OF MILK AND HAVE BEEN FEEDING HER 2-5 OUNCES OF HER MOMS MILK EVERY HOUR-HOUR 1/2... SHE IS DOING MUCH BETTER.AFTER ASKING A FEW RESPECTABLE BREEDERS ABOUT HER CONDITION IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION SHE MAY HAVE A MILD CASE OF DWARFISM.I HAVE HAD OPINIONS FROM PUTTING HER DOWN TO DOING ALL I COULD FOR HER TO JUST LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE,IM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE OPINIONS BUT MY HEART SAYS DO ALL I CAN.THIS IS MY FIRST FOAL.SHE IS A DARLING BABY.MY QUESTION IS WILL SHE EVER BE 'NORMAL' AND BE ABLE TO EAT AS AN ADULT AND LIVE A HAPPY-NORMAL LIFE?I WILL DO ALL I CAN FOR HER BUT I DONT WANT HER TO SUFFER IN THE END.HOW COMMON IS DWARFISM?THAT IS ONE THING I DID NOT COME ACROSS IN ALL MY RESEARCH.BECAUSE THIS IS MY FIRST FOAL I HONESTLY CANNOT COMPARE HER TO OTHERS.I DO HAVE PICTURES OF HER BUT IM NOT COMPUTER SAVY SO CANNOT POST THEM ON THIS MESSAGE,SHE DOES SEEM TO HAVE A BIT OF A LARGE HEAD BUT I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL PICS OF FOALS WITH LARGER HEADS.HER BITE IS OFF ABOUT A HALF INCH.SHE SEEMS OTHERWISE HEALTHY IF ONLY I COULD GET HER TO LATCH ONTO THE MARE.I HAVE NO PROBLEMS BOTTLE FEEDING AS LONG AS SHE WILL DRINK I WILL FEED.ANY ADVICE ON ANY OF THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.THANK YOU TO ALL THE EXPERIENCED BREEDERS THAT HELP NEWBIES LIKE MYSELF.

 

[miniwhinny]

I can't help you but if you could take some pics it may help others to let you know for sure if your kidlet is a dwarf and then what to do to help

: Sure hope things work out.

..edited to say WELCOME. Everyone here is So supportive and helpful.

 

[TINALEE]

JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING,I COULD PUT THE PICS ON MY WEBSITE ON THE GALLERY PAGE SO THAT EVERYONE CAN SEE THE PRECIOUS BABY AND GIVE ME THEIR OPINION.THANK YOU MY SITE IS WWW.ALLSTARMINIS.COM

 

[kaykay]

here are her pics

 

[horsehug]

Well one thing is sure. She sure is precious!! )

Susan O.

 

[shane]

oh shes adorable

: sorry i cant help though lol, just loooking

:

 

[MBhorses]

: what a cutie she is.

Keep us posted on her.

 

[kaykay]

really hard to tell from newborn pics. sometimes you just have to let them get some age on them An underbite is a dwarf characteristic but doesnt automatically make a mini a dwarf. Her mouth meets all the way around so it cant be too severe. (really bad ones they cant even close their mouth)

 

[chandab]

She is just too cute in her little sweater. Sorry I can't help with the dwarfism issue.

I was going to post the pictures, but Kay beat me to it.

 

[PaintedMeadows]

Congratulations on your baby. I looked at your pics and I am by far no expert. She looks tiny in the pictures but she looks normal in her sleeping picture and the first one. Was she yawning in the second picture? I had a colt born last year that had an underbite and it took him a bit to figure out the nursing thing but he got it. Is your mare's bag really full? Maybe that is making it hard for her to latch on. If she can nurse from a bottle it seems like she should be able to nurse from Mom. She is adorable and my daughter is in love with the picture of her in her baby sweater. That is adorable!! I hope you get some answers to help you out.

 

[TINALEE]

ALL OF YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL,THANK YOU FOR POSTING THE PICTURES AND FOR YOUR KIND WORDS.YES SHE SURE IS A LITTLE DOLL.I JUST FED HER (AGAIN!) :bgrin NOT TO WORRY,I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A HORSE MOMMY,I HAVE BEEN THROUGH MANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS,I HAVE 7 CHILDREN RANGING FROM TWINS THAT ARE 2 1/2 TO MY OLDEST BEING 18.I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ON LITTLE FAITH.

:

 

[maplegum]

You are doing a wonderful job with your little bundle. I can't help with anything you're asking about..sorry.

It's sounds as if you have done a pile of research which is fantasitc. We can never be educated enough. Can you call the vet out to check her over?

Congratulations! I love her.

:

 

[eagles ring farm]

She is just beautiful

:

love the litle sweater too

sorry no help with the dwarf issue, as little experience as I have she looks normal to me.

Lori

 

[WeeOkie]

Tina, (thought I recognized that name--how's Lodie and Raja? email me)

Your little filly is gorgeous. She does not look like a dwarf to me. Even if a dwarf or just an underbite, they usually can do fine with the nursing part. Maybe she's just a little slow to catch on. Sounds like you are doing exactly what is necessary. It does sometimes get pretty tiring feeding them every hour, but I imagine she'll catch on soon. Good luck!!

Rita

 

[GMAMINIS]

I THINK SHE IS A DOLL.

: I THINK SHE LOOKS NORMAL

: BUT THAT IS JUST MY OPINION I AM NO EXPERT BUT SHE KIND OF LOOKS LIKE MY NEW COLT. TINY BUT THE VET SAID NOTHING OF DWARFISM. SHE JUST LOOKS SMALL. GOOD LUCK AND I WILL BE THINKING OF YOU AND YOUR LITTLE GIRL.

 

[Miniv]

Your little girl is adorable! And I love that sweater........

If she IS a dwarf, she has very minimal characteristics at this point. Right now, she is just teeny and happens to have an off bite that is interferring with nursing. That's just what *I* see from your photos.

I'd recommend that you have a vet check her out, and have an IgG test done while he's at it.

From what you've described, it sounds as though you're doing a great job being a second mommy and I betcha in a day or so she starts latching onto mom on her own. It's sort of fun when that lightbulb in their little brain finally turns on! :bgrin

MA

 

[Mona]

Congratulations on your new little girl. I hope she does OK for you. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job of taking care of her and giving her all she needs for a good start.

Welcome to the Forum, and to the wonderful world of Miniature Horses.

 

[Little Bit]

[SIZE=10pt]Hi Tina~[/SIZE]

A friend of mine sent me the link to this thread, and asked me to reply to it.

First of all, little Faith is just ADORABLE! CONGRATULATIONS!

You have already received lots of very good advice. I too would most certainly have a vet come check her out, the IGG test IS important. It's been 11 years since my one and only Mini foal, but I do remember that she had a hard time latching on, too. I ended up taking her to the vet clinic, as Momma kept having contractions, as well. The vet flushed the mare and tubed the filly with Momma's milk, and wouldn't ya know it, before we left the clinic that night, she started nursing! :aktion033:

Someone else mentioned that an underbite IS a dwarf characteristic, but it certainly does not make a horse a dwarf mini! That sure is a true statement! I am wondering if Faith's tongue is still sticking out of her mouth, or is she able to keep it in her mouth now? The reason I ask, is that my dwarf mini, Little Bit, that I adopted, was born with his toungue sticking out of his mouth, he always had it sticking out the right side of his mouth about 2 inches. He had very severe dwarf characteristics. He was too short to reach his dam's teats, then she developed mastitis the day after I brought her & Little Bit home, so he couldn't have her milk, that's when I started him on the Mare's Match. He would NOT suck a bottle, but drank his formula from a bowl very well. However, he had a cleft palate so I had to put just a couple swallows into his bowl at a time, otherwise, if he drank too fast he would aspirate it into his lungs. He did get aspiration penumonia before I stated putting just a little bit of milk in his bowl at a time, from then on, he was fine. One way to tell if a foal has a cleft palate, is that milk will come out their nose when they nurse.

I feel that if Faith is a dwarf, her characteristics are pretty mild at this point, but some foals will have dwarf characteristics that become more and more pronounced as they age.

Is Faith sucking a bottle? If so, I would do my darndest to get her to nurse her Momma. Have you tried milking quite a bit of milk out of the mare so that her udder is not so full, making it a little easier for Faith to latch onto her teats? If she will suck your finger, get her into position to nurse Momma and have her sucking your finger, and try to replace it with a teat.

I wish you the very best of luck with little Faith.

If you would like to learn more about dwarfism in the Miniature Horse, here is the link to an article I wrote a few years ago, along with a more "technical" atricle that John Eberth wrote.

http://www.angelfire.com/ms3/dmh/

Also please join us on my forum called Little Bit's, if you would like.

http://wwminis.forumup.us/index.php?mforum=wwminis

I just went back and looked at Faith's pictures again....she looks to be weak in her back end, also a sign of dwarfism. Is she walking up on all of her hooves correctly?

Since I make corrective horse shoes for these little ones, I am always concerned about their legs and hooves.

 

[hairicane]

Congrats on your adorable baby! Hope she will start nursing on her own for u. It hard to tell from those pix, mostly all I see is "precious baby". But I do think her little legs look short, is it just me? Anyway I hope she does great

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[Marnie]

She is darling. May I ask if she can walk on those back legs? They look almost like my filly that was born the other night, she can barely move her back legs. If I were you, I would keep trying to get her to nurse, they use their tongue to wrap around the nipple, even with an underbite, she should beable to but I'm not sure, of course. I had a foal born with a terrible underbite, I gave him away to a lady who bought another colt from me, by the time they were both weaned, that one colts bite was perfect so they do straighten out sometimes. It is hard to tell but she really doesn't look to dwarfy to me. If you want to, go to the top of the forum page where it says "Search" and write in Dwarf and alot of threads should come up, maybe you'll see some pictures of dwarves so you can compare. Good luck with your sweet little girl.