'Dummy' Foals

[jessss]

Elsa'a baby is gradually improving. Was born Sunday very colicky and was rushed into Rossdales. Diagnosed with neonatal maladjustment syndrome or a dummy foal.

As a first time breeder I have no experience in this. He has been improving significantly but still seems very wobbly and is chewing the air a lot. The vets are happy with improvement and are saying they can come home at the end of the week (yay!!). They also have said there should be no lasting effects.

Wondering if anyone has previous experience of this, and if there was any long term effects people noticed? Just interested to hear peoples experiences!!

 

[millikins]

Ours was as mentioned on the other thread. Like you we were first time breeders, native maiden mare and we hummed and ha'd about whether to foal her out or stabled, went for leaving out and she had the foal on a cold rainy May night so by the time he was found was both a dummy and hypothermic. He was still trying to stand when we got there, after about an hour called vet who was absolutely brilliant. Mare was milked, foal tubed and given colostrum, IV fluids and antibiotics, still unconscious, vet called Liphook and said it was up to us if we wanted to try, gave the foal a 10% chance at best. Took them in and amazingly he survived the night, had 2 hourly feeds, enemas, the works as yours is going through. He was able to stand with help on Weds and they let us take them home on Thurs. I think Liphook would have preferred him to stay a bit longer but I just couldn't afford it so daughter and I took turns for 2 hourly feeds, milking the mare and bottle feeding top ups. Daughter called me on Sat p.m. to say he'd latched on and suckled mainly by himself and by Sun night we felt he was safe to leave and rely on 4-6 hourly top ups.
He was very wonky to start with, couldn't raise his head properly and a big lump on the side of his neck which was probably tissue damage from the IV's. He is absolutely fine now, growing like a weed but I do wonder if he's a bit "slow" but if he is it's not bad enough to prevent him leading a normal life.
Lots of people have asked if he had the Madigan squeeze, he didn't but I never asked why, I expect he was just too cold and weak for it to have helped.
Good luck, it sounds as though your little one stands a good chance now.

 

[Fjord]

I've heard the phrase before, but what does it actually mean?

OP, I hope yours continues to improve and can come home soon. Is mum OK?

Millikins, glad yours is better now, it sounds horrible to go through.

 

[jessss]

I've heard the phrase before, but what does it actually mean?

OP, I hope yours continues to improve and can come home soon. Is mum OK?

Millikins, glad yours is better now, it sounds horrible to go through.

I've heard the phrase before, but what does it actually mean?

OP, I hope yours continues to improve and can come home soon. Is mum OK?

Millikins, glad yours is better now, it sounds horrible to go through.

I had honestly never heard of it before, It's official name is neonatal maladjustment syndrome. My understanding is it's relating their CNS and they are basically super confused. Enzo couldn't work out how to nurse, and when he did latch on the milk would just come out of his nose. And he was super blocked up as his digestive system wasn't working. It's nickname is dummy because the foals act really dumb, all very weird.

Vets have said as long as they recover there should be no long term effects at all though which is great

And Millikinsss that all sounds positive thanks for sharing! Enzo is nursing from mum now, who is being the best mum ever!!

 

[millikins]

My understanding is that it's a lack of oxygen to the brain at birth, a sort of equine cerebral palsy. Can be due to a too quick delivery or too slow, the birth contractions stimulate the suckling reflex and if they are interrupted the foal can't or wont feed- hence the Madigan squeeze to imitate the process. Daughter has a friend who works in agriculture and it's well known in cows and sheep too apparently.

 

[Birker2020]

This is fascinating - the Madigan Foal Squeeze in relation to humans:
https://equimanagement.com/articles/madigan-foal-squeeze-refresher/

This research and solution to a difficult problem has exciting promise for human medicine. Similar to the behavior of dummy foals, autistic children are also detached in their interaction with the environment and stimuli.

At the 2014 AAEP Convention in Salt Lake City, while discussing this novel approach to NMS in foals, Madigan pointed out that spontaneous recoveries of human infants have occurred when a sick newborn baby is placed in the firm embrace of a parent’s arms.

In other cases, especially in premature births, a process referred to as “kangaroo care” swaddles the child in a blanket and provides skin-to-skin contact with its mother. This might induce physiologic signals similar to how an infant “feels” in the womb. Kangaroo care causes a baby’s heart rate to stabilize, while sleep improves and agitation lessens. The ultimate positive effects echo results from the squeeze-induced stimulation now practiced in NMS foals.

Ongoing research by UC Davis’ Comparative Neurology Research Group in collaboration with researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine is examining the effects of persistent levels of neurosteroids in human youngsters as a potential cause of autistic spectrum disorder.