Post by sbutter on May 22, 2010 16:54:45 GMT -5
Well, we have been struggling off and on trying to help the owner make the best decision for their mare and baby. Funny Flag foaled a big beautiful filly. The delivery was normal and she was showing no signs of pain. We check their temp after they foal and at about 30 hours, she spiked a temp. She also started showing signs of pain. We soon found out that she had a tear (that was very small and hard to find), but it had leaked enough into her system and caused an infection. We got the tear fixed and started treating for the infection, but she was going downhill fast. Her feet were the main symptom and she did not want to walk at any cost. We were very nervous that she was going to founder, but the first X-rays showed that the coffin bone had not rotated, but we would have to try to stabilize her feet to reduce the chances of that happening. The baby was fine and acted like a typical Tough Game filly, full of energy and very friendly. We made sure that the mare did not have to move to get her food and water, but she was pretty miserable. A week went by and we didn't notice any change in the mare either better or worse, so we took X-rays again. Her feet were still stable and had not rotated, but we were hoping for a clearer answer, because we don't like to see them in pain. We were also beginning to be concerned about the baby, because the baby obviously couldn't stay in a pen for the months it may take for the mare to recover, if she did recover. The mare was dropping weight and the baby bouncing off the walls and trying to rough house with mom, even though she did not move. So, we were in another predicament. Should we pull the filly off of her mom so the mare didn't have that extra stress or would that cause the mare to get too depressed and go downhill? We had just found a mare who had lost a foal during birth, and the owners were willing to let us use her as a nurse mare. We knew that the baby couldn't remain in the stall and we still weren't sure if the mare was going to make it. We talked it over between the vets and the owner and the decision was made to take the filly off of mom and onto the nurse mare.
The weaning went pretty smoothly and the mare stopped whinnying after a day. We were pretty impressed with how well the filly handled it and she soon learned the feeding pattern every two hours. She always took a nap right after her snack and was just really relaxed about the whole thing and was never distraught. We put the nurse mare in the pen next to her so she could start warming up to this two-week old baby. We rubbed the nurse mares urine over the filly and did our typical procedure for introducing a nurse mare. The mare tolerated the filly nursing off of her, but she wasn't too thrilled and didn't talk to the filly. She also wasn't producing a whole lot of milk. We tried domperidone, but she just wasn't producing a lot of milk. She also was not warming up to the filly and would look the other way when the baby nursed. We took the mare out and let her graze while the baby nursed, but she still did not improve. We wouldn't trust her with the baby alone. After one of these little sessions, we decided to turn her out in the arena and blow off some steam to see if that would help. The baby wanted to follow, but we stood on the outside of the gate while the mare was turned loose. Boy did she explode and tore around the arena! She was practically running on her side when she took corners. We just stood there wide eyed (along with the baby) and the filly stopped fussing and just stood there silently as she watched the monster in the arena. The mare still wasn't better even after getting that out of her system. So, the nurse mare just was not cut out for the job.
Meanwhile, Funny Flag was beginning to pick up weight and she showed less signs of pain. She still had never layed down, but she had not gotten worse. So, we tried to look for another alternative. If we kicked one of the stallions out, we could convert his stall/run into a place where the mare and baby could go. We could put a board across the stall opening, so the mare would have to stay inside while the baby could walk under and run around outside. We still would like the baby to be able to socialize with other horses, but we we were just fighting for the baby to even have a mother. We checked with the owner and the vets again and they agreed that the mare was in better shape for the baby now. We reintroduced the two and the mare re-accepted the filly after about a day. Granted...she couldn't really do anything about it if she didn't like the filly, but she actually started nickering to the baby again. We moved them over to the new pen/ run and the baby likes to stay outdoors more than she likes to stay next to mom. The mare stands at the opening and nickers for the baby to come back, but the filly nonchalantly stands underneath the eucalyptus trees and walks over and checks on mom every so often. This has been going on for about a week now and the mare is finally able to walk without trying to rock back every time she takes a step. The filly acts very mature for her age and is very confidant despite the whole ordeal she went through. So, that is where we are at now. Hopefully, we will have more good news in the weeks to come.
The weaning went pretty smoothly and the mare stopped whinnying after a day. We were pretty impressed with how well the filly handled it and she soon learned the feeding pattern every two hours. She always took a nap right after her snack and was just really relaxed about the whole thing and was never distraught. We put the nurse mare in the pen next to her so she could start warming up to this two-week old baby. We rubbed the nurse mares urine over the filly and did our typical procedure for introducing a nurse mare. The mare tolerated the filly nursing off of her, but she wasn't too thrilled and didn't talk to the filly. She also wasn't producing a whole lot of milk. We tried domperidone, but she just wasn't producing a lot of milk. She also was not warming up to the filly and would look the other way when the baby nursed. We took the mare out and let her graze while the baby nursed, but she still did not improve. We wouldn't trust her with the baby alone. After one of these little sessions, we decided to turn her out in the arena and blow off some steam to see if that would help. The baby wanted to follow, but we stood on the outside of the gate while the mare was turned loose. Boy did she explode and tore around the arena! She was practically running on her side when she took corners. We just stood there wide eyed (along with the baby) and the filly stopped fussing and just stood there silently as she watched the monster in the arena. The mare still wasn't better even after getting that out of her system. So, the nurse mare just was not cut out for the job.
Meanwhile, Funny Flag was beginning to pick up weight and she showed less signs of pain. She still had never layed down, but she had not gotten worse. So, we tried to look for another alternative. If we kicked one of the stallions out, we could convert his stall/run into a place where the mare and baby could go. We could put a board across the stall opening, so the mare would have to stay inside while the baby could walk under and run around outside. We still would like the baby to be able to socialize with other horses, but we we were just fighting for the baby to even have a mother. We checked with the owner and the vets again and they agreed that the mare was in better shape for the baby now. We reintroduced the two and the mare re-accepted the filly after about a day. Granted...she couldn't really do anything about it if she didn't like the filly, but she actually started nickering to the baby again. We moved them over to the new pen/ run and the baby likes to stay outdoors more than she likes to stay next to mom. The mare stands at the opening and nickers for the baby to come back, but the filly nonchalantly stands underneath the eucalyptus trees and walks over and checks on mom every so often. This has been going on for about a week now and the mare is finally able to walk without trying to rock back every time she takes a step. The filly acts very mature for her age and is very confidant despite the whole ordeal she went through. So, that is where we are at now. Hopefully, we will have more good news in the weeks to come.
