Rough, traumic birth

[pooper scooper]

I have to first say both are gorgeous. What a sharp colt and what a gorgeous mare. Maidens are so scary. You did such a great job. I am just so proud of you for doing all you did.

I have had so many things happen here, but am learning so much from this post. i almost wonder is he a little bit of a dummy foal, as we had one who is awesome now, but boy what a scare. It was like he had it all at birth and 12hrs later the lights just went out. But with Dexamethazone and banamine he improved. He figured it all back out and he is a normal healthy beautiful colt, but he circle and licked the walls and just didn't get it. But he is fine now. And may add only 3 weeks old.

Colts are so reziliant I just hope he has the same luck as mine did. I will pray for him and you. God Bless you. Thankfully he is in the hands of a caring breeder.

Thank you so much for your encouragement. Please tell me more about how you treated your guy!! Is there something I should be doing for him now? I feel so helpless.

 

[Ellen]

I must admit, I took a wild guess. My vet was not helpful at first. I have the dex and I though what can it hurt? So, I gave him 1ml im once a day for 4 days. And liquid banamine orally, just 5units. One time. Apparently it helped, the swelling in the brain and he snapped out of it. The lights went back on as quick as they went out.

I also gave him pen and gen sub q. 1ml gen, 2ml pen. 1xdaily and it was a good thing, because he had no passive transfer, but all other tests were fine. So, we had a higamma plasma transfer done at the large animal hospital. A repeat IgG showed he was well over 800 and thankfully was fine. We did have to contine the pen and gen for 4 more days, so 10 days total.

The Vet, Dr Jackson told me colts experiencing these deficiets sometimes do well with a few drops of Nalaxone under the tounge. It is Narcan, a drug used to reverse sedation. They don't know how or why it works, but it does. My colt didn't need it, but maybe it could help your boy.

Basically we really had to also monitor Tamale's nutrition, so he would nurse, I would strip the mare and then offer a bottle and he still ate 3oz. He now is nursing from the mare, and my other mare with a colt on her side. He just is his own being and is so bonded to me that Mom isn't as important as to other colts. So he is the baby that belongs to the herd and the family as well as Penny now. It took all of us, 2 and 4 legged to fix him......but he is all better.

He was a red bag. So, the oxygen dfeciet was there. Scary thing. I was just fortunate Mom is an old hat and rolled with the punches.

I guess as long as the kidney and liver function are there, I would definely reccomend the dex. To anyone! And I would ask about the naloxone, I just don't see how it could hurt. It would be a blessing if it flipped his switch. And in humand there are no ill effects from Nalaxone or Narcan, so I doubt in equine. So ask the vet. Or demand it. It worked for me and Tamale. I don't know what else would have.

 

[Ellen]

Please pm or call if I can help more.

 

[bannerminis]

Have everything crossed for your little boy - he is just grogeous. All sounds very encouraging though from other peoples experiences

 

[Dona]

I agree with Joanne. Sounds like oxygen deficiency at birth to me. I once had a foal born that had the cord wrapped around his poll & it pull the placenta loose prematurely. When he was born, he wasn't breathing. So, I gave him mouth to nose & got him going again. He was up quickly too...but was running circles around his mom & bumping into things. Got the vet out who told me he had CFS (convulsive foal syndrome AKA "dummy foal") and his brain was swelling from lack of oxygen. We put him on IV meds 4 times that first day to help stop the swelling. He was still running in circles, but they began to subside quickly, and within 3 - 4 days, he was completely normal.

 

[BlueStar]

We had the same situation years ago. Maiden mare, very tight and stuck at the same spot. She was still pushing but it was a hard pull. Colt was born blind and aside that was perfectly normal and healthy and quite feisty I might add!! Took him to vet and was told he was blind, however, they said congenital cataracts at that time so not totally the same. Anyway, he did the circling to and we did tons of research....it was not dummy foal, but in fact a survival type mechanism for blindness and "feeling" his surroundings. He would use those circles to acclimate himself to the area. We out a bell on his momma so he could find her. We even rigged up an outside (small paddock) are for them so he could run and play. He did great once he figured out his surroundings he would run and buck like any other foal and knew exactly where the boundries were. At first he did run around and run into things until he got his layout figured. We used plywood pieces half the fence height as he seemed to sense the solidity of that better than actual fencing. He is still a happy healthy boy that we gave to a lady who had him pet therapy certified and visits handicapped kids and people to show them that they too can overcome their disability!! Don't give up on your boy!!

His Name is Pilon (pey-lone) which means unexpected gift

 

[Watcheye]

This little one has been in my thoughts. I hope he is doing alright.

 

[Ellen]

Donna,

I have been thinking about you and your colt. How is he? Any improvement?

Ellen

 

[ShaunaL]

Hi Donna

Your colt is beautiful! I hope he improves for you. Keep us posted!

 

[pooper scooper]

An update on Tight Squeeze. I so appreciate all the concern and input from you all it has helped to keep my spirits up. He is basicaly the same. He can see some but not really well. He is still circling, especially when he is nervous. He can be calmed down and then falls asleep on my lap. i am so attached to him. I have set up small paddock for him and his mother so he can get out and learn to travel in a straight line. I am not putting him out when the sun is bright as I don't know if it will hurt his eyes. I am still praying he will come out of all this alright.

Thanks for everything!