NEED HELP PLEASE....UPDATE pg 2

[Sunrise Valley]

Hi, all!

I have a new foal born this morning at 8:00.

The mother did not have milk for the 1st couple of hours, so we called the vet and went andpicked up somw plasma to give to her orally. The vet wants her to have 50cc per hour for 5 hours. My problem is I can't get the foal to swallow! I tip her head up, and squirt a little into the back of her throat (as instructed), but she just holds it without swallowing. Then she starts to go limp, and we release her headand she pops awake, but the plasma just pours out into the straw. $$$$$

We have tried massaging her throatlatch, rubbing downwards on her throat, puting a finger in her mouth to try to get her to suckle, but my guess is that it just doesn't taste good.

The dam has plenty of colostrum now, but the filly just can't get the hang of nursing. The vet wants us to continue with the plasma, so I imagine she doesn't get really hungry.

Do any of you know any tricks to get her to swallow?

Thanks!

Lisa

 

[brookhaven]

Hi Lisa,

Sorry you're having trouble with your new baby. Does she have a sucking reflex? If not, you should get the vet to give her the plasma IV. She may be a "dummy foal" if she is not sucking, but should come around.

Good luck!!

 

[Jill]

You've only got about 12 hours, and after that time, the cannot absorb the immunity you're trying to get into her orally.

Is there a way the vet can come put in a gastro tube (through nostril)? If you can get that in, then maybe getting food for sure into her (plasma counts) will perk her up. We had one we had to put a tube in and once she started to get strong, it really snowballed from there and improvements were really rapid.

Good luck! Hoping all will turn out well with your filly!!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Could it be you are tipping her head up too far? I find they will go limp (almost like they faint) if the nose is tipped up too much. Try holding her head in as close to her normal position as you can and syringe the liquid a tiny bit at a time far back in her mouth. If you go really slow you shouldn't loose much (don't forget to try with a bit of milk from the mare too since this is the ideal food for the foal) Hope things improve for your little one quickly, these foals can really crash fast at that age, and it seems sometimes they are determined to test our nerves.

 

[nnadams]

Can you express colostrum from you mare now and syringe her that? Even though it is not generally recommended, I have had no qualms about giving my new foals their mother's colostrum from a baby bottle. I have done this for 3 of my foals when afraid they were not going to get the hang of nursing quick enough to get the much needed colostrum. All 3 of those foals went on to nurse fine on their own and perfectly healthy. It just seems getting them the colostrum, nutrients and strength they need is the most important thing.

 

[Charlotte]

If the mare has colostrum that is the best thing for baby. It will taste good and give her the antibodies she needs if given before 12 hours old and as early as possible. If she doesn't have a suck reflex have the vet come right away and use an NG tube to put mom's milk into her stomach.

If she's had no nourishment since birth she is probably getting weak. Milk the mare into a little bowl and use a little disposable syringe....3cc is big enough. Put a littlle (1cc or so) of mom's milk into her bottom lip...head held in normal position. Some will run out, but the taste may get her wanting more.

Do not try tto force her to take liquids by mouth if she doesn't have a suck reflex as she may not have a swallow reflex either. Don't tilt the head up as she could aspirate and lead to pneumonia.

Also, [SIZE=24pt]KEEP HER WARM[/SIZE]!!!!! A cold baby will not nurse! Take her temperature. If it is below 100 she is too cold. Wrap her in an electric blanket while you hold her or take mom and baby into a heated room and wrap baby in an electric blanket. You have to stay right with them. don't leave. Many times warming baby will start them right nursing.

I praying for a quick turn around for your little one.

Charlotte

 

[lilnickers]

Ditto on what nnadams and Charlotte said. Keep at it, and it will work out. Good luck

 

[Genie]

We had a dummy foal and had to milk the mare and bottle feed.

We put a bit of molasses on the nipple to get the baby interested.

We fed the bottle in between the back legs in the area of the mares faucets, but only after the foal was used to the fact that the nipple on the bottle was what to suck.

Soon the baby would follow the bottle to it's position under the mare's tummy and back between the mare's faucets. We at this time dabbed some molasses on the mare's faucets too.

All of a sudden when looking for the bottle nipple the foal grabbed the mare's faucet and we were away.

Use your hair dryer to warm the baby up if she's chilly, it gives them a bit of "zip"

 

[Sunrise Valley]

She has a good suckle reflex, and we switched from a 60 cc syringe to a 3cc so we can get it farther back in her mouth. We are doing much better, and are giving her mostly colostrum now. She tries to nurse, but her dam is very small, and her teats are close together and straight down.The filly is very leggy, and she just can't get the hang of turning her head. If we can keep her strong, I'm sure she will get the hang of it. But I am going to keep it up, syringe, bottle, etc untill the vet comes to do her IGg. If we don't keep moving in a positive direction, I will have her tubed.

Thanks for all the hints, and please continue with suggestions!

Lisa

 

[Charlotte]

Good Job Lisa! sounds like you are right on top of it. those tall babies have to learn the 'twist and tip' head thing to get to mom's faucets.

Sometimes it's hard fr them, but you're keeping her going and she will figure it out .... eventually.

Charlotte

Genie hair dryer and molasses! Good ideas!

 

[muffntuf]

Also take a bit of the milk and spread all over the bag and teets, that might help her learn to bend her head properly. And the karo syrup trick works pretty good too.

I might get flamed, but if you got some good colostrum in her through syringe, you are going to have to slow up giving it to her by syringe otherwise she won't get hungry enough to learn.

 

[Sunrise Valley]

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions!!

Oakley and I did an all day & nighter, and were able to get enough colostrum and plasma into our sweet baby filly. Last night about 2:00 AM she really turned the corner from questionablel to lively and bright-eyed. Now, she is bouncy and out of danger I think. She still has not gotten the hang of the milk bar,( soooo close!) but the vet just came to do her IGg test and she passed with flying colors. So now, I can let her get hungrier and a little more eager without worrying that she might crash. So, now for a nap.....

Lisa

 

[Riverdance]

I just had the same problem with my filly born at 5:30 this AM. She is all legs and could not seem to find the bag. So, after over 2 hours, I went out and milked 120cc's from mom and put it in a 20 cc syringe. I put the surnge in the fillies mouth and squirt a little till she tasted it, then she sucked the rest of it down. I did this for all 120cc's. She has now found out how far she has to duck her head to nurse and is now nursing fine.

Good luck with your filly.

 

[shelly]

:SoHappy

:yeah

:SoCool

:BananaHappy

:HappyBounce She should be nursing in no time!!!!! Congrats!

 

[nnadams]

I AM SO GLAD SHE IS DOING BETTER! I'M SURE SHE WILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO NURSE NOW ON HER OWN, PROBABLY BY THE TIME YOU COME BACK FROM YOUR NAP!