Deformed Foal - your thoughts

i shouldnt see a problem, if he is suckling well thats a start. If he couldnt suckle then his chances would be very slim.

It is cause by the disalignment of the mothers uterus, it causes a deviation of the rostral maxilla, it can cause difficulties in breathing and also neck problems.

If he manages to have the op then he should be fine!

Hope that helps!
 
taggs87 said:
i shouldnt see a problem, if he is suckling well thats a start. If he couldnt suckle then his chances would be very slim.

It is cause by the disalignment of the mothers uterus, it causes a deviation of the rostral maxilla, it can cause difficulties in breathing and also neck problems.

If he manages to have the op then he should be fine!

Hope that helps!
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Thank you I have learnt something as well and that it is possible to impart knowledge without being a doom monger.
 
Poor little mite! I would probably have had him put to sleep, but if it's correctable through an operation, well done to them for trying!
 
If it was mine I would pts.

I don't have a problem with them wanting to operate, but for goodness sake, pay for it yourself!
 
walkingman said:
God you're a miserable cow. No one's being forced to donate.
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I think the point Tinkerbee is trying to make is that if you have an animal with a condition that needs expensive treatment, you shouldn't make a decision in the hopes that someone else will pay for it, not least because if that doesn't happen, then it's the animal that will suffer unfairly.
Personally I believe that if the horse can eat normally and have a decent standard of living without the surgery, then it shouldn't be performed at all. If minor surgery will achieve the above then again, I'm all for it... BUT if several operations and a long period of recuperation are required then I would seriously consider PTS.
That said, it's my understanding that this is another example of stellar Daily Mail reporting and the facts are not as reported. There was another post about this elsewhere on the forum.

ps: I'm pretty sure a vet would not recommend PTS 'just because he looks different' as reported.
 
walkingman said:
God you're a miserable cow. No one's being forced to donate.
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LOL!

It is their animal, there responsibility if they want to prolong its life via expensive surgery. If they cannot afford it they should NOT be asking (not forcing...asking...) others to contribute. If my dog needed life saving surgery and I couldn't afford it I would have her pts, rather than set up a "save Tinkerdog" fundraising site....

Morals/ethics/ability to care for your own animals.... No?
 
LynneB said:
what a wonderful attitude his little owner has too
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I see this quite differently, and am also quite shocked the Daily Mail reports it in the way it does!

I have no idea who the adults are but they are IDIOTS for not dealing with this immediately the foal was born and following the vet's advice. They've further compounded it by getting the child attached to it and THEN gone to the papers??!!

I am horrified at this because, clearly, to me, once it gets bigger and is not cute any more and the kid doesn't want it and the parents sell it, what on Earth is going to happen to the sorry thing? I just think it's awful and bizarrely something about this story upsets me more than other cases such as Jamie Gray (prepares to be shot but hey there it is).
 
I am deeply divided about this - if it were my foal it would probably be a PTS case, as I would be worried about a 100% fix and that's a lot of money to spend on a horse that is potentially not going to be worth more than £2k (different case if you are insured, but they are not)

I don't think I'd be fund raising to ask others to pay for this sort of thing, as when there are so many fit healthy TB's going to the knackers yard, it seems slightly at odds to be saving this one over them.

However that said its an emotional thing and you never know until you are in their shoes. I still think the DM reporting sucks though!!
 
skewby said:
I see this quite differently, and am also quite shocked the Daily Mail reports it in the way it does!

I have no idea who the adults are but they are IDIOTS for not dealing with this immediately the foal was born and following the vet's advice. They've further compounded it by getting the child attached to it and THEN gone to the papers??!!

I am horrified at this because, clearly, to me, once it gets bigger and is not cute any more and the kid doesn't want it and the parents sell it, what on Earth is going to happen to the sorry thing? I just think it's awful and bizarrely something about this story upsets me more than other cases such as Jamie Gray (prepares to be shot but hey there it is).
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Crikey. Words almost fail me.
Putting aside the DM's awful reporting, you are making a HUGE assumption, that the child will suddenly not want it when it's "not cute any more."
I hope they raise the money and the foal gets a chance.
To be more upset by this than by James Gray's utterly heinous disgusting cruelty and neglect of those horses is totally unfathomable.
 
Unfathomable indeed. The owner has said if there is any indication of suffering and failure to thrive, the foal will be put down. I'm sure she has its current welfare foremost, and will continue to do so.

Whether or not she should PTS - well, not for me to judge or dictate. I'm syringe-feeding a guinea-pig which would surely die if I didn't. Until she stops grabbing the syringe from my hand and demanding nourishment I will carry on. She's a bag of bones and I've had her to the foremost expert on GP's in Britain, who has no idea either. But she otherwise is bright and eats and drinks if I help her. So I do. When she wants 'out' I'll sort that, too.
 
If he's able to live a happy and pain fee life once he has this operation then why not? In a society that is very much about how someone looks it's refreshing that a little girl can love him no matter what he looks like.
 
brighteyes, i'm right with you on that. currently hand-feeding a jackdaw who cannot (yet) feed itself. imho everything deserves a chance if someone is able to give it. it is a little life, therefore always worth the effort.
 
If they want to try to save their foal as long as it has quality of life, I don't have any problem with that. If there was some kind of situation where people had responsibly bred a horse and then through a change in circumstances didn't have the spare funds available and wanted to try to save it through fundraising from the general public, I could probably justify that too.
(Although aside from a sudden change of circumstances, in the grand scheme of horse problems I dont rate £4000 as too much to expect a responsible person to have as an emergency fund, particularly if they are uninsured.)
What really winds me up about this though, is that "Mrs Biddlecombe keeps her horses in Southampton". There is not just this one horse; there are multiple horses, and before I expected other people to put their hands in their pockets to save my foal, I would make the hard choices that I needed to make including spending my horse emergency fund on it (see above), and selling one or more of my other horses to raise the funds. To expect other people to pay for your deformed foal when you have the means to do so yourself and make a choice not to just seems utterly unreasonable.
 
just a quick comment with regards to insurance - I think you cant insure a foal until its six months old and as this was a birth defect then there was no way of covering the vet bills as a result of.

My first horse was born with a slighty twisted front leg - recommended to PTS or let her grow to see if it self sorted - the leg straigtened with grown and she turned out just fine - I know not the same level of birth defect but it couldnt be covered under insurance as she was born with it. My horses brother also is under going extensive vet treatment - he wasnt covered by his insure as again was diagnosed before the six month mark.
 
Now sixty years ago you`d have said it`s mother was frightened by a LLama...I think it is rather cute myself.Wonder what breed it is?
 
Reading that story just made me cry, poor little thing but obvioulsy very loved, not sure what I'd do in that situation though.
 
It's such a shame that these threads almost always descend into a "who's right or wrong" type conversation.. I've gone into three threads today, one after the other - and every single one had turned into a slanging match...

Anyway, sorry - back to the point in question. I think he's rather cute myself and I'm glad he's with someone who obviously loves and cares for him. I do hope, as she has said, that the owner would have him PTS should he start to suffer in any way. As for getting other people to pay for his op - well, I'm a bloody soft touch, so would probably donate a small amount, but then, that's just me :D

I hope he goes on to live a healthy, happy life - even if he does look a little funny ;)
 
I was more worried about a 6 year old child playing in a field with a fairly large foal! She'll be needing the £4k for repairing the child rather than the foal if that continues!
 
I wonder what the people who are of the "pay for it yourself, don't ask for donations" make of children and adults who can't get surgery over here for various diseases and conditions, so have to raise money so they can get treatment in America?

Or, of charities in general. It seems this attitude leads to the "no help for the sick and needy", meaning we would be without the aid and research from charities like cancer UK, and the opportunities given by Banardo's, NSPCC etc.

Quite shocking, really.
 
In your scenario of people needing medical help, I think firstly that if they can afford to do it themselves but would rather purchase other luxuries and have others pay for it then no, they shouldnt be asking for donations; and secondly I think its a bit different as your own life isnt really something like horse ownership that it is possible to avoid taking on until you are in a sufficiently secure financial position to sort yourself out.

On charities, I think they have professionals (or at least people less emotionally tied in) involved to evaluate the need in each given case, and in general I think most charities would follow the vets advice and PTS here, and spend the money on helping other horses where there are better odds of a positive future outcome.
It isnt a case of no one should ever donate money to anything, but (IMO) there is much more good people can do with their money than this, and if you think your foal should get treatment in favour of of other horses in need just because you let your child get attached to it then you should be funding that yourself, not attracting donations away from charities or other more useful causes.

ETA If it was mine and I knew I could keep it for life I would probably try the op, but only if I could afford to fund it myself.
 
Personally i think this is a bit of a special case, he is obviously only going to be a family pet, it is a sentimental story and from the outside in looks like a happy chappy with everything going against him, but despite the odds so far he is growing and thriving!!

I wouldnt have a problem donating to this fella, he obviously is going to have home for life with these people and i value the descision that they are happy to do that, as many would not.

Everything should have a chance, and if it means helping out then so be it. I also regularly donate to charities and things worse off than me.

Maybe she should pay for it herself, but the fact she is willing to give it a life at all is comendable in its own right, hence why i would happily give a donation.
 
gnubee said:
In your scenario of people needing medical help, I think firstly that if they can afford to do it themselves but would rather purchase other luxuries and have others pay for it then no, they shouldnt be asking for donations; and secondly I think its a bit different as your own life isnt really something like horse ownership that it is possible to avoid taking on until you are in a sufficiently secure financial position to sort yourself out.

On charities, I think they have professionals (or at least people less emotionally tied in) involved to evaluate the need in each given case, and in general I think most charities would follow the vets advice and PTS here, and spend the money on helping other horses where there are better odds of a positive future outcome.
It isnt a case of no one should ever donate money to anything, but (IMO) there is much more good people can do with their money than this, and if you think your foal should get treatment in favour of of other horses in need just because you let your child get attached to it then you should be funding that yourself, not attracting donations away from charities or other more useful causes.

ETA If it was mine and I knew I could keep it for life I would probably try the op, but only if I could afford to fund it myself.
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where in the article were they asking for donations?
 
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