Vet visit...hmmm

[LB27]

I just had the vet out to check out my mini weanling filly. She is four months old and I just got her a few weeks ago. I wanted the vet to check her out just to make sure she is nice and healthy. I had a couple of concerns:

-She was not interested in grain when I first got her (grew up with only pasture) but then started eating it. After almost a week of eating it she lost interest again and doesn't even touch it now. She was weaned pretty young in my opinion and was hauled a few hours so I was a little concerned about ulcers.

When I mentioned her eating, then not eating grain the vet replied with "well she doesn't really need grain"

-Last week I noticed her coughing every once in a while (really hardly ever) but there wasn't an obvious reason (not around dust, running hard, etc). No runny discharge or anything.

The vet listened to her lungs and took her temp (both good) but decided to give me an antibiotic just in case.

-I wormed her recently with Safeguard and planned to do so once a month (rotate with Ivermectin) so I asked him what he recommended for worming. He said maybe worm again in October but then she didn't need it til Spring. She has quite a potbelly started and was not wormed by her previous owners. Would you skip worming in Sept or do what the vet says?

He was a very nice vet and I know he's seen mini's before but I have gathered from research/reading you guys on here that she should receive a good weanling grain with high protein. Opinions please? Should I give up on giving her grain since she's not eating it or keep offering it to her? I pen her up at night and also offer her softened alfalfa hay cubes but she doesn't eat that either. She just wants her grass. I worry she won't get enough protein from grass.

 

[kay56649]

I have a weanling filly that is 4 months also! I always fed her mom neutrena mare and foal feed, and the first day my filly was born she was eating the grain ( she choked on it but she loved it) and she still eats that grain to this day! Do you know anything about her history? I would have used panacur for worming, because it is easier on their stomachs than the other wormers! Can you post some pictures of her?

 

[kay56649]

Also with worming, I would have her checked for worms before worming every month because our vet said don't load your horse with wormer unless you have to! We had our horse tested and she said they were free of worms so he said to only worm our horses once a year!

 

[targetsmom]

I hate to disagree with your vet, but I think she does need grain because she needs more protein than the hay will provide. If you talk with an equine nutritionist - or just read most any grain bag - you will see that per pound of body weight, weanlings should be getting MORE grain than almost any other horses. I like a complete feed, 14% protein, and happen to use a Senior feed, but there are Junior feeds that would do as well for weanlings. I feel better feeding larger amounts of a complete feed, because it is , well, "complete". I would avoid sweet feeds, but suggest Calf Manna if the foal won't eat grain readily. It has a very pleasant taste and smell and can be mixed with other feeds. You can get it at Tractor Supply and see it is not just for calves. Another thing to consider, even if the vet didn't mention it, is ulcers. Weaning is very stressful and a prime time to develop ulcers. One sign of ulcers is not wanting to eat grain, but still eating hay. We are weaning now and giving foals daily Gastrogard just as an ulcer preventive. Other things we do to help prevent ulcers and to boost the protein, is feed our foals (and most everyone else) soaked alfalfa cubes. They tend to act like Tums on the stomach, add water to the diet, plus everyone seems to love them,

Our minis (except the foals) are on a daily wormer but even so, we worm the foals once a month with Safeguard. We will start worming them soon with Ivermectin and at 6 months start them on daily wormer.

 

[JAX]

Panacur and Safeguard are both safe for foals, they are both a 10% fenbendazole paste wormer.

 

[JAX]

I also agree with Targetsmom. I would put that foal on gastrogard, ulcergard, or the cheapest form of omeprazole that is available to you. I have even used the omeprazole from walmart when i was in a bind and they worked just fine. You will find them with zantac pills etc. Dont quit trying to get her to eat some type of grain at least 14 percent protein would be best. Her belly might very well be due to low protein and maybe not worms. I would still worm her unless a fecal worm count done by vet said that she didnt need it. JMO though.

 

[kay56649]

Yes, I found the neutrena mare and goal feed works wonders and isn't super spendy!! It helped my filly grow just wonderfully and she is nice and filled out!! It's worth a try!!

 

[Carolyn R]

Okay, I am going to emphasize that you should have a fecal done on her. She is about four months, the previous owner did not worm her, she had a mild cough, seems depressed a bit,......

All I can say is it does not matter how nice a place is, how much acreage there is, if certain worms are present in the environment, it can take YEARS for them to die off. It does not mean it is an unkept facilty, it just means that certain parasites hae been intoduced into the environment and are hard to eradicate, esp. in mild climates. Round worms or ascarids LOVe, LOVE, LOVe young horses, esp. foals and weanlings. They go through several stages until the hit the small intestine and start to mature, when mature they can lay thousands of eggs a day, and yes this can happen in a matter of a few months, making a four month old the perfect age for the worms to have gone from egg to larvea to, migrate in the body, be coughed up, then reingested only to settle and grow in the small intestine. Please glove up and check the manure thoroughly for white earthworm like worms or other varieties of parasites, some may take a week or two to die off and start shedding out after you deworm. She may very well need more protien and more calories if there is not adequate amounts in her hay and pasture, as others have suggested. Considering you said the breeder never wormed her and she has only been wormed while in your care, I think that would be foremost on my mind. Foals in general are at higher risk for such things as ulcers and parasites, but foals with weekened immune systems or those under stress are at an elevated high risk catagory. I don't think I agree with your vets worming schedule of a weanling, Others will disagree, some will agree, and others will do fecals before they worm, but I have always wormed foals under 12 months once a month, over 12 months every 8weeks, the only time this varied was if the over 12 month horses were on a daily wormer.