Magic
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- Dec 1, 2002
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I've got a challenge here, and though I've dealt with early babies before, it's been quite a while and I don't know if I can pull this baby through.
My maiden mare, Treasure (5 year old palomino) had a filly last night at 7 pm. She had a tough time, and this is the first time I've ever seen a mare give birthstanding up.
I was literally holding the filly in my arms, waiting for Treasure to lie down, but she didn't, so I ended up eventually snapping the umbilical cord manually because the cord wasn't long enough for me to lay her down. Even though she was in obvious pain, Treasure has been a, well, Treasure, through all of this.
The filly is, I think, a cremello. She may be a very light palomino, but she has two bright blue eyes, and her sire is a cremello. She's mostly just skin and bones, born at 303 days gestation. Her hair coat is VERY short, though she has a normal-looking mane and tail. Her legs are very weak, she's very down at the pasterns, and in the 13 hours since she's been born she hasn't stood for more than a few seconds.
She had NO sucking reflex at all until this morning, and now she has just a faint idea, which makes it much easier for me to get milk into her. She curls her tongue around my pinkie and I syringe miniscule amounts of milk at a time into her, all the time trying to keep her awake. At one point last night I went to bed for just two hours and when I went back out she was pretty much unresponsive and I thought I was going to lose her right there. I gave her an enema and that woke her up enough for me to get more milk into her, thank goodness. I stayed out with her and kept giving her milk every 15 minutes or so, and she looked a lot better.
So, do I have the vet come out and tube feed her? That's what I did with my other early foals. Is it too soon to get an IGg (sp?) done? And how much milk should she be getting every hour? Any other ideas for me? I've got her in a stall underneath a Kalglo heater turned on high, and double blanketed since it got down to 34 degrees last night. It's supposed to get up to 65 today, thank goodness.
I'm watching two other mares that should foal anytime, but it's no problem now because I won't be sleeping.
My maiden mare, Treasure (5 year old palomino) had a filly last night at 7 pm. She had a tough time, and this is the first time I've ever seen a mare give birthstanding up.
The filly is, I think, a cremello. She may be a very light palomino, but she has two bright blue eyes, and her sire is a cremello. She's mostly just skin and bones, born at 303 days gestation. Her hair coat is VERY short, though she has a normal-looking mane and tail. Her legs are very weak, she's very down at the pasterns, and in the 13 hours since she's been born she hasn't stood for more than a few seconds.
So, do I have the vet come out and tube feed her? That's what I did with my other early foals. Is it too soon to get an IGg (sp?) done? And how much milk should she be getting every hour? Any other ideas for me? I've got her in a stall underneath a Kalglo heater turned on high, and double blanketed since it got down to 34 degrees last night. It's supposed to get up to 65 today, thank goodness.
I'm watching two other mares that should foal anytime, but it's no problem now because I won't be sleeping.