Mom's drying up

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pepperhill

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We have a mini donkey that foaled on April 11th. Everything seemed to be going fine, but the baby never seemed to put on weight. Turns out mom has an infection. We are treating that, but in the meantime, she has almost completely dried up, and today I caught her actually kicking at her baby to keep it off when it tried to nurse. Does anyone know of any medication, or anything else that will help stimulate milk production? We need to kick this mom back into gear! We are bottle feeding at the moment, but would like to get the baby back on the mom again if it is at all possible. Thanks
 
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I'm certainly not a vet but I would discuss it with the vet,as there may be something they can give her to help out, but if you've already taken care of the infection get out there ....tie her up and start milking her several times a day. the more she is milked the more milk production SHOULD come in. if she's kicking off the baby the baby probably isn't nursing enough to keep it going from the sounds of it.
 
I agree..

The more you feed the foal, the less likely it is going to want to nurse as it is too full. I agree with continuing to milk the mama and see if that will increase production. If she had an infection, it probably hurt for the foal to nurse too and now she just doesnt want it.

Call your vet and see what they can do to help, but in the meantime, I would start milking!! Or do something to contain her and let the foal nurse OFTEN. Will she if she is twitched? Does she have any milk at all?
 
yes, ther is a med your vet can prescribe to make the hormones kick in and produce milk. It is called domperodone, here is a previous post about it.

"Call Wedgewood pharmacy in Pa. They will make Domperidone. I called and checked. They still do and they take credit cards. They ship all over the US.

Fax 1800 589-4250 Will need a prescription faxed from your vet. Call and make sure that they recieved tha fax. Also emphasize how much you need this asap( if you do)You can have it over nighted to you.

1-800 3318272 is their regular phone number. Once you have the prescription you can call for more yourself as long as your vet wrote for a bunch of renewals. Ask vet to write for say... 3 syringes at a time with 10 renewals so you don't have to go through all the hassle again.

order more than one syringe at a time. I always ordered 3 at a time so I didn't run out and didn't have to pay shipping as often. Good luck!"

Hope this helps a little

if you search the word on here "domperidone" there are two pages of topics that list it.

Carolyn
 
Please note Carolyn's above post. I had written about Domperidone. It really helps. Also try warm moist compresses, massaging the udder and milk the mare and feed the foal too. The more stimulation, the more milk production. Also ask your vet about oxytocin injections. Maybe also if ok for your particular mare, try some alfalfa? Not all can eat it but it may help if ok for yours to eat.

Is the mare drinking lots of water? If she is dehydrated her milk production will decrease. Perhaps give some electrolyte paste to her to maybe make her thirsty, or add some sprinkles of salt to her feed?

Good luck!

Robin
 
Lots of good advice.........

Both drugs - Domperidone and Oxytocin are used to bring milk down. Speak to your vet about them.

Warm compresses to mom's bag. Plenty of water. Green grass. Alfalfa. Grain.

All of the above are supposed to help with milk development. Wishing you all the best!
 
Thank you so much for all your information. I knew we didn't want to feed the baby too much, or she wouldn't be hungry enough to nurse, and I knew we wanted to keep trying to get milk out of the mare so she wouldn't just quit producing, so I milked as much out of the mare as I could and then supplimented with milk replacer. I have only bottle fed her twice so far as I'm wanting the baby to keep trying to nurse. I just can't let the baby get so weak she won't nurse. I didn't know about warm compresses, or the medications. I'll get right on it. Thanks so very much!
 
Update: Mom is responding to the antibiotics and is letting baby nurse again. I put my hand on the baby's throat and she can actually get three or four swallows before it runs dry. This is up from maybe one swallow yesterday. I have the domperidone being overnighted to me and it should be here early tomorrow. The baby is continuing to try to nurse every 20 minutes. I guess only 3 or 4 swallows at a time doesn't last very long in the tummy!

The vet was out again today and it was decided that we should suppliment feed 3 times a day, and then let her try to nurse the rest of the time. We will back this off if the milk continues to come in. I mixed the milk replacer in a big bowl, intending to put it into a bottle, but much to my surprise, little KayKay came right over and stuck her nose into the bowl and drank it all! I guess I don't have to worry about messing with a bottle after all. Things are starting to look up! Thanks for all the quick advice!
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