FOAL SCOURING HELP VERY WORRIED

J

jmichelle121

Member
Joined
27 April 2008
Messages
22
Visit site
Ok I need some advice my foal has had bad diaorrea for 10 days now,vet has been consulted and she says it's normal as mare has come back into season,only thing is poor foal now has a very sore bottom,am applying creams etc,last spoke to the vet on Friday,the foal in herself seems lively and well except for the runs,foal is 3 weeks old today,foal has been given some pro-biotic to help her gut but this finished 5 days ago what I need to know is how long will this go on for vet has said could be a few weeks this seems a bit drastic to me,so I need advice please
 
My last filly had a similar problem. Scoured for a few weeks post foaling. Dried up by the time she was 5 or 6 weeks and never returned. She was foaled at stud and was liveried there until weaning so the stud vet was seeing her regularly. He too didn't worry about it. He considered that as long as the foal was lively and feeding, it's was just the sore botty that needed care. Must admit, tried bathing her sore areas with warm water and applying Vasoline initially, but she soon cottoned on that it wasn't very nice and kicked up an enormous stink whenever anyone tried to catch her up and hold her whilst I had a sponge in my hand. They're not as daft as you might think - even at that age! It cleared up on its own and she's not looked back.
 
When did you worm the mare last - and with what?? There is at least one variety of worms that is passed to the foal through the milk. I worm with Equest on the day the mare foals and virtually NEVER have foal scours. We did have one case in a visiting foal where mare's worming history was suspect - a very tiny dose of Equamax sorted it within 48 hours.

Have you seen foal eating mare's poo?? It's normal for them to do this - it helps the gut get inhabited with helpful bacteria - but of course if the mare HAS worms, that's not all they get!
 
Agree with Janet George on the worming.

To ease the scouring you could try getting some Pepto Bismol (from chemists) and mixing with some natural yoghurt (the live stuff). shove it in a syringe & give to foalie twice a day. You might want to ask your vet first but I found it helped when I had a badly scouring baby last year.
 
Having just been swatting up and reading my foaling book (my foal isn't due until approx 3 weeks), the author has said that what was once thought caused foals to scour is not the foaling heat but infact worms (thread worms passed from the mares milk). She says to worm the foal immediately or soon after birth and then 5 weeks, 9 weeks, then 13 weeks. Mare to be wormed within two weeks of foaling.

Good luck, hope shes better soon
 
Re worming the mare. I wormed shortly before and 2 days after my mare foaled. This filly still scoured. Previously, not had the same problem. Dunno. Would recommend worming the mare, definitely. I'm paranoid about worming, but on occasions this still doesn't prevent the problem. As was my experience on one occasion.
 
Yes I did worm my mare about 3 weeks before she foaled but given what you have all said I will worm her and foal tomorrow as vet is just saying 'oh it's normal' but am very worried,I wormed with equlan is it which the vet recommended,thanks for your replies
 
Just be very careful on the doseage you give the foal, you have to be accurate on the weight for doseage and pick a product that is tested safe for foals.
http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/health/foalweight-128.shtml

I had a similar problem with one of mine this year and I wormed the mare properly before and after foaling the calf scour powders helped but after worming at 4 weeks she is fine.
 
One of our foals scoured badly for a few days and the vet recommended natural yoghurt which I syringed down her. She had no other treatment and a day later was completely normal and has not had the runs since.
 
Hope your foal dries up quicker than one of ours did. We were told by our vets to wean her at 9 weeks old because for the 7 of her 9 weeks she had the runs. They tried everything from natural yoghurt through to a dangerous drug we had to sign for before use (and on the first dosage we thought the foal had gone into a coma!) and the results - the mares milk was not agreeing with the foal. We were also told by an Australian racing trainer friend to collect the mums poo and syringe it into the foal. We couldn't bare the thought of weaning her so young so tried to keep her away from mums milk as much as we could and eventually (having had to also give her preventative treatment for ulcers because of how bad and how long she'd had the runs), she finally dried up - when the mares milk was no longer as rich (3 months). Just thought you might like another opinion as to what it could be if it goes on for too long.
 
I wormed the mare within a day of foaling and for the first time ever had no scouring.
I have in the past controlled it by opening up two capsules of acidophilus and mixing it with some sugar beet water and syringing it down the foal.
All you can do for it's bum is use nappy cream, it is waterproof and offers some protection.
I'm always wary now of scouring however as both my sick foals who had ecoli started off like that, one died and the other almost did.. I would start worrying if it hadn't stopped within a few days of treating it.
frown.gif
 
I would seriously consider changing vets if your vet thinks its normal for a foal to scour. Regardless whether the foal is bright and well there is a cause of the scour and your vet should be doing tests to find out what. Agree with the natural yoghurt.
 
If my foals scour I dose with (baby calf)electrolytes. They are sold in sachets and are a mixture of salts and glucose which you add water too, I put it in a bottle with a teat and usually the foal is thirsty and enjoys it. It is the dehydration which can kill them. Keep them hydrated and they will soon get better again.
 
I've been reading up on scouring and apparently overfeeding the mare can result in too rich a milk for the foal to digest properly.
Bare in mind foals haven't eaten anything until they're born!

It advised to not start any form of supplimentary feeding for nursing mares until 10 days after birth to allow the foal to adapt to having milk in it's system.

So if worming doesn't work, perhaps the milk is too rich?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top