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Mona

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Morson, Ontario, Canada
My filly that was born about 5:20 this morning seems to be getting weak, and maybe a little in pain. I am not sure what is going on, and I never watched her as closely as I should have throughout the day, since it was my birthday and we had family here for the day. Since she was up and pooped and nrsing well this morning, I took it for granted that all would be OK.

Well, tonight I see she is not very lively. Her temp is normal, but she seems weak. She eats, then lays down right awy...sometimes get up, lays down, gets up and lays down again. Not running and bucking as she was after she was born. She also seemed uncomfortable, like she was crampy. I gave her 1/4cc banamine, and gave her an enema. She had several HARD, HARD balls of poop that came out, and was followed by yellow soft stuff. After I gave the enema and the banamine, the filly seemed to feel better and I was relieved to see she actually had some fun running around the stall and quicking and bucking.

The mare's milk never came right away, and I gave her some oxytocin after the foal was born. After a few hours, the milk seemed to be there just fine.

I took the filly's temp when she appeared lethargic and it was normal (37.5C). I am wondering if she was constipated because she never got enough colostrum? I read that can happen. SO...things brings me to my next question. I also read the foal can digets the colostrum for 48 hours. I always read it was less, but anyway, will it help to give here some frozen colostrum from another mare at this point? I have no vet, so no, there is no IgG test available or anything. All she does is stand up and eat, and lay right down again. Will colostrum from another mare help her now if she never got enough from her dam at birth??

You FAST replies are greatly appreciated!! Thank You!
 
Mona,

I would go ahead and supplement your baby through the night. The optimum period is the first 12 hours, but her little stomach will still absorb for her first 24.

Yes, getting their colostrum and passing their meconium often goes hand in hand, we've noticed.

Will be keeping my fingers crossed and positive thoughts for you tonight.
 
I don't know if it can help but it certainly can't hurt......... Worst case, it doesn't improve her condition, you mind as well try.
 
mona

with my guy that was slow to nurse the vet said pretty much what ma said. 12-16 hrs is the most they will absorb but some will get thru for 24 hrs. I think you still have a few hours. If shes not better tomarrow can you get a vet then and get a plasma transfusion?

Sending prayers for your filly
 
Thanks everyone! Will get going on this! No Kay, I have NO vet...not just none available for the night. We still have no large animal vet in our area.
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As for a plasma transfer...is this something that needs to be done at a large animal facility or on the farm or ???
 
Mona,

I know I had a colt that was constipated and acted that way, he passed the meconium when he was born, but sounded like your filly, I watched him strain a few times to poop and nothing would come, so I gave him and enema, and he pooped after and has been fine ever since. Hopefully that is all it was for you as well....
 
They do it on the farm but sometimes the plasma can be hard to find. I need to ask my vet if he keeps some at the office. I think its given iv. Our farm store also sells powered colostrum which is not as good as the real thing but helps in a pinch.

If her manure turned yellow that usually means the milk got through her system. Did it seem like the mare had colostrum? I so feel for you!
 
They do it on the farm but sometimes the plasma can be hard to find. I need to ask my vet if he keeps some at the office. I think its given iv. Our farm store also sells powered colostrum which is not as good as the real thing but helps in a pinch.

If her manure turned yellow that usually means the milk got through her system. Did it seem like the mare had colostrum? I so feel for you!
Kay, this mare was one I really couldn't get milk out of before she foaled. It was her first, and she was not real full, round and hard. I tried several times a day. I did get a very tiny amount onto my finger tip before she foaled, and it was thick, sticky, and opaque. I never checked after she foaled, as I would not even know what to look for other than the color and consistency I find before they foal.

I saw her poop the long, black gooy meconium poop, so I thought all would be well. Then after the enema, several hard balls and yes, definately some gooey yellow poop, and it stunk quite bad. Is that normal too?

Oh, also, I amsure my vet likely wouldn;t have the plasma even, since he no longer has the large animal practice? He only hads a locum that comes in sometimes. This is a real "small town vet", that is more a cow vet than anything. (or used to be before his surgery) Other than that, only runs a small animal clinic.
 
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I would agree that whatever you can get into her tonight certainly won't hurt things and might help a little. Plasma is done IV, at least when I've seen, so optimally done at a clinic but can be done on the farm if you can do the IV. A little Probios probably wouldn't hurt either. I sure feel for you, can't imagine being without a vet. Is there a vet clinic - even at a distance - that you could call for advice first thing in the morning?

Jan
 
Thanks Jan. Actually, I did give some Probios this afternoon before I reallized anything was wrong. I like to do it routinely now after one time I had trouble with a filly that never ot her guts working because I kept the stall too clean. The closest vet clinic really is at a distance...1.5 hours away, but yes, I will call for sure. Other than that, the nearest would be 2.5 hours, and again, no large animal facilities...just have a large animal "mobile" unit so they can dispense drugs to their clients, but really cannot do much else other than routine work. Then the nearest would be about 5-6 hours drive, and yes, that one is an equine clinic.
 
That's kind of scarey not having a vet close!
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I feel bad enough that mine is 30 min away sometimes. I'm praying that your little filly was just constipated and will be right as rain in the morning!
 
I can not offer any advise on this but I did want to add that your little filly is in our prayers and I hope she is a bright and happy baby in the morning!!

Mendy
 
Mona, we had to have two plasma transfusions for one of our fillies, Passion, this year so I know from the vet and only confirmed what I knew from my own reading before.

The first 12 hours are optimal for absorbing colostrum through digestive tract. After 12 hours it declines and is absent at 24 hours. At that point, it must be given via IV transfusion.

Actually, with our filly, we defrosted the plasma ($350/bag) and gave with the vet it to her via IV in her stall here at our farm at around 12 hours old. It took a very long time to get enough in her as it can only go into a small foal slowly and she was shaking. Then we tried to syringe orally over the next twelve ours w/o much luck.

The next morning, we IV'ed (with the vet in her stall here at home) some more from the previously defrosted bag and then threw the bag away. The plasma itself (at least the kind we had) only is good for 24 hours after it's defrosted and we had passed the time of it being any value (other than caloric) to be given orally.

Good luck! Time is really, really of essense if she does need some assistance to get her IgG where it needs to be.
 
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In this case an IgG is mandatory. If there is ANY equine vet in the area they should be able to do it for you, even if they don't deal with minis. If the IgG comes back low usually the only way to save them is with a hyper-immune plasma transfusion, which is expensive and somewhat risky (reactions aren't terribly uncommon). That can easily be done on the farm, I've never shipped a horse to the clinic for plasma.
 
Just read this thread and hope that things improved for you Mona. Hoping it was just a case of being blocked up and not able to eat because of discomfort. I will tell you one more thing that our vet told us though 3 hours for collostrum transfer is optimal and 12 is max in some foals they will absorb a bit longer if their need isnt being met if you can get it to them. Its probably too late now but for future reference thought you should know that the 12 hour rule isnt etched in stone for some compromised foals if you can keep giving them a bit every couple of hours. I am sending prayers to you that this has resolved all on its own by now. Prayers said.
 
It's too late to make suggestions and you got plenty of good ones. I feel for you Mona. I know you've said before that you don't have vet assistance.
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We were very concerned aobut Dinah's filly also, but were able to get an IGG on her and so far so good but Dinah isn't producing enough milk so heading to feed store for milk replacer pellets now.

It 'sounds' like the mare should have had good colostrum if it was nice and thick, but since you can't 'see or feel' the antibodies we don't have a way to know! And even if the mare puts out good antibodies, did baby not absorb for some reason? So many questions and so few answers.
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You and your filly will be in my prayers.

Charlotte
 
Mona, how is your filly this morning? Been thinking about her. I sure hope she is MUCH better and that she was just a little bit "clogged up".
 
Mona,

You've been in my thoughts and prayers. You probably have your hands full, but am bumping this up incase you can come on line and give an update? I pray it's a good one.
 

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