Septic Foal

[Bramblehill]

We had our first foal of the season on Sunday late afternoon. Easy uncomplicated birth and all seemed textbook perfect. Finally we had a FILLY!!!

I put betadine on her umbilical stump several times during that evening and the next day. She got up within just a few minutes and was nursing within 30 minutes. The next day she seemed fine. WE spent several hours with her on Monday evening and she was nursing well and up on her feet. She wasn't jumping around, but I attributed that to being a baby and being sleepy. We gave her the Tetinus Antitoxin shot within 24 hours of birth. The dam was given wormer and Pneumabort the week before. (Could this have caused problems??) We had some runny noses from other mares and did not realize that she would be foaling so soon.

The next morning I went in to feed and she could barely get up to her feet and only nursed briefly. Temp wass 103.8.

I took her to the vet's office as soon as I could and was told that the baby was dehydrated and septic due to not receiving antibodies from her mom for whatever reason. Also the possibility was that she had her sire's blood type and was incompatible with mom's but no blood testing was done. IV fluids were given and an antibiotic was injected into a catheter in her neck. She was put on a heating blanket and occasionally would stand up. She only lived a few more hours after that. It has been heartbreaking, but I wanted to see if there's anything that I could have done or can do to avoid this in the future.

I noticed collostrum suppliment available at TSC and wonder if I'd given that the first evening as a preventative measure if I'd still have our filly now.

Thanks for your input/experiences and for listening.

 

[Bonny]

I am sorry to hear this. It is a shame. I dont know if there was anything you could have done differently. I hope you find the answers your seeking though.

 

[Lewella]

Did the vet do an IgG test to determine if the foal did have failure of passive transfer (that's what it is called when a foal does not get enough colostrum).

There has been some research that indicates that some septic foals are born with an infection already in their bodies that they have picked up in utero. You might want to talk to your vet about culturing the mare for infection prior to breeding her again.

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[albahurst]

We had a septic foal last year also and this is what our vet told us to do----within the first 24 hours after birth (the sooner the better), have your vet do an IV IgG treatment which gets the foals immune system up and going.

I am so sorry this has happened to you.

Peggy

Edited: Just because a foal nurses right away does not necessarily mean it is getting enough of the needed colostrum. Our foal was up and nursing and active for two days. IgG treatments will give the foal what it needs. If you have had one foal that developed septicemia within the first few days of life, IgG treatments in the future could prevent that from happening again with a mare and her foals. This is, of course, septicemia that develops after birth and not in the womb. We never checked for IgG before either- but now that this has happened, our next foal is going to get an IgG treatment. Just our personal experience.

Edited again- There are alot of good suggestions here on this board for you to talk to your vet about. I hope you never have to go through this typed of experience again. I know it is heartbreaking.

 

[lil hoofbeats]

Sorry about your new filly. Usually a foal that is born septic will show symptoms of septicemia in the first 24 hours of birth. If they show sighns after that, it was usually aquired after they were born. THe normal temp for a foal is up to 101.5. If they are at 102.00 you should not necessarily treat for an infection, but certainly raise an eybrow, and watch the foal closely. We monitor our young foals VERY closely for the first 3 days, watching for anything abnormal. And making sure they keep thier mothers milk bag nursed down. Sometimes the first sighn of a sick foal is a tight milk bag on a mare. When we have a foal that things just dont seem quite right, i treat with 5 cc of Pennicillian IM, twice a day, and 1/2 cc of Baytril IM once daily. This covers most bacteria. We do not take a wait and see aproach. As a foal can go down hill in a matter of hours. It is always heartbreaking to loose a foal.Hope you have better luck with your future little ones.

 

[Mona]

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[sedeh]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I don't think I would have done anything differently than what you did. I don't routinely test for IgG and would only do so if I hadn't witnessed the foal nursing well within a few hours of the birth. Your filly nursed and was active within 30 minutes of foaling. Good luck with the rest of your foaling season.

 

[Jill]

I am so sorry for your loss

 

[yankee_minis]

I'm very very sorry.

One thing that came to mind is that sometimes people will take some of mom's milk and blood from the umbilical cord and mix them together. If they don't mix, there is a problem with incompatibility and the mother's colostrum will be toxic to the baby.

I can't remember all the details-- such as how long before the foal starts to fade-- but there are threads on here talking about it. Try a search or maybe someone will post more info later. Since you said the vet said the sire's blood type was different, this ocurred to me.

Again, I'm very sorry foryour loss.

 

[capall beag]

So sorry for you!

Sounds like you did evrything right.

 

[LindaL]

I am so sorry for your loss. I dont think I would have done anything differently than what you did. The foal seemed healthy and was nursing, so all seemed well. I would have the mare checked for infection, tho. Also there is a simple test you can do to see if the milk is compatible with the foal, but someone else will have to tell you how to do that, since its been 4 years since Ive done it and I cant remember exactly how (plus I havent had my coffee!) since I dont breed anymore.

 

[Joanne]

We give the dam a 5 way shot at about 300 days of her pregnancy and do not inject the foal for tetanus. There is a possibility the foal had a reaction to the shot.

The first 30 days are crutial to the foals life. They are really quite fragile.