New foal fainting

[h2t99]

My maiden mini finally foaled late Sunday night, by herself, all seems to be fine, she had a molly mule but today she fainted. I have read before about fainting but cannot find it anywhere so can someone refresh my memory on causes and if I need to do anything!! Summer is nursing and is in good shape, her legs need to do some unfolding but her and mom are both in good shape. It is hot here so we took her out for about 30 minutes and then back to their big stall with a fan. She runs and bucks, pees and poops all the normal things. Here is a pic (I hope) Thanks for any info!!

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

i heard that it can be caused by stress if she's getting used to being handled or if it was a tight squeeze when she came out. good luck with her, she's adorable!

 

[anyssapark]

Had she been restrained? Or any stress at all?

Generally at this age, its just a defence reaction from in the womb. I wouldnt be concerned.

 

[h2t99]

She does it when you pick her up!

 

[Miniv]

She does it when you pick her up!

That's actually not too unusual. The fainters we've had out grew the condition in a matter of a few days.

 

[Riverdance]

I have only had one true fainter, My stallion Desperado.

He was a much awaited boy, so when he was born I was so excited to get a live palomino colt. There had been a scare a couple of days before, and the vet thought the foal had died in the womb. Fortunately, not so. Well, it was a really cold night and the poor thing was shivering, so I brought him inside to warm him up (now I have a heated barn). Once dry, I picked him up and carried him out to his dam.

I had never heard of fainting foals before, so imagine my fear when all of the sudden he went limp in my arms.

Needless to say, he has grown up to be my top stallion on the farm. No more fainting spells either.

 

[AnnaC]

When picking up a foal - or even just putting your arms round them - make sure you keep the arm holding the front end of the foal well below the shoulders/at the top of the front legs. Never put your arm at shoulder level or higher as it is possible to cut the air supply to the lungs and therefore the brain - and a few seconds of lack of air can lead to the foal fainting. Hope this helps - what a sweet little foal by the way!

Anna

 

[rcfarm]

My new filly this year (premmie) was fainting. We had to hold her in position to help her nurse. She would just faint. After 2 days she was fine and nursing on her own. Of course after giving her plasma because heIgg levels were so low.

Give it a few days

Congrats on new baby

 

[kaykay]

Its actually thought to be narcolepsy. Heres an article on it that Robin Cole and I contributed to in the horse magazine

My link

 

[GypsyMoonMinis]

It is a rare condition but is more common in minis. The fainting episodes are often triggered by a stressor of some kind, from a change in temperature, change in texture or sound when walking (such as going from dirt to concrete), loud noises, being handled, going from light to dark etc. There is a test your vet can do to test for equine narcolepsy. He may just have a very mild form or it may be something else, such as the manner in which he's picked up, thats causing the fainting. Good luck!

 

[Dona]

It is a rare condition but is more common in minis. The fainting episodes are often triggered by a stressor of some kind, from a change in temperature, change in texture or sound when walking (such as going from dirt to concrete), loud noises, being handled, going from light to dark etc. There is a test your vet can do to test for equine narcolepsy. He may just have a very mild form or it may be something else, such as the manner in which he's picked up, thats causing the fainting. Good luck!

I've had a "fainter" before as well, and it's just as people say, they outgrow it soon. I DID have a filly this year that really gave me a scare tho. She didn't just faint when "stressed" by being restrained or something. She actually slept that way too! I found her limp in the stall during her 2nd day, and tried to rouse her. Nothing! Picked up her head & legs & everything was limp. Eyes rolled back in the head. Nothing I did could wake her up. I thought she'd died until I check for breathing. I called the vet as I was really concerned. You see, this particular filly took hours to be able to actually "latch on" the milk bar & get any nourishment, so I was concerned from the get go. Then, to find her like this....I was sure she was dying. Of course, my vet rushed out immediately, as I was sure it was a dire emergency....these newborns can go down so quickly. Wouldn't you know, 5 minutes before the vet got there, that little stinker just picked up her head, jumped right up & shook, like she'd just woke up from a long peaceful sleep.

This only went on for a few days, then she stopped it all together.

 

[Rocket's mom]

My colt fainted after my sister put him down on the ground after I gave him his tetanus shot. Scared the living daylights out of me!! After the first day, he didn't do it again. Guess she put him down too fast and it scared him. I can laugh about it now but I was about to go into hysterics!