Foal STILL scouring. Any ideas?

Sorry to hear that your foal is bad again, as you say 2 grand is a lot of money to come up with even if they were 100% sure it would work. Do they know what the problem is? (I know its scouring, but do they know the cause?) Has it had a plasma transfusion to try to boost its antibodies? (sorry, having trouble with the computer and can't check if your foal is colt or filly, I don't normally refer to foals as "it") Have the clinic seen the blood results?
 
Re the insurers, when I enquired about insuring a new born foal, I was told that it was covered by the mare's insurance. I can't remember to what age it was covered, but that's what I was told.

I'm so sorry to hear of your setback. Awful news for you.

Alec.
 
Sorry to hear this. Suggest getting your vet to give antibiotics to cover for rhodococcus as respiratory infection combined with scours is often associated with it.

I lost my filly last year to complications from enterocolitis so I know what a horrible position it is to be in. The stud nursed mine through the acute illness and the thing that really helped turn the corner with her was a plasma transfusion from her dam. The late complications were caused by antibiotics kicking off the colitis again when she was 7 weeks old and she perforated her bowel. Thankfully I have a very understanding vet and have paid my bill off in bits.
 
How can they say it will cost £2000, do they know what it is?
Can treatment not be given at home?
I am so sad for you because you thought you had turned a corner and now this!
I have followed this thread from the start because I was concerned for the little one and you and didn't expect to read this tonight.
Fingers crossed all will be well for your little filly, if I can offer any support or you need someone to talk to just shout!
 
I've just had a gruelling couple of hours at Leahurst. The staff there were absolutely marvellous - within minutes there was a full team on her. All sorts of tests were run and her abdomen and chest scanned. She had a bad heart murmur but when they scanned her heart they couldn't see any structural problems. She has pneumonia so is going to have IV antibiotics tonight, along with fluids. Her potassium levels were very low. I know she's in the best place she could be and the vets said they'd do all they could to keep my costs down.

Thanks again everyone for your support.
 
I have been following your little ones story and I am keeping my fingers crossed for you. You must be worn out:( I hope you vet waives some of his fees for you as it sounds as if he could have been much more proactive some time ago:(
 
eventrider23 said:
Has the vet taken a fecal sample to test for anything serious??? Plus bloods? .......
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PlanetHacking said:
I haven't given her anything other than what the vet gave me - I have no experience of foals .......so I went with his advice. He said the Diarsanyl would help firm her up. Not working yet :(. He didn't take any fecal samples either. I'm going to see her in a bit - I may ring the vet. What could be causing this? Thanks for your reply!
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eventrider23 said:
With foals it can be anything from the absolute simplest such as mum's food too rich or being in season right up to the severe bacterial conditions they can get. Foals don't have strong stomachs and are very prone to scours and so it can be a wide variety of things causing it. How old is the foal now?? How long has it been scouring for? If it has a temperature I am surprised that the vet wouldn't have taken a blood sample at least to see what is going on internally and so I would definitely speak to them if you are on good terms and otherwise if foal is still low tomorrow I would get them out as foals can go downhill soo quickly.
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PlanetHacking said:
She's been scouring on and off for 2 weeks, but it's only the last couple of days that she's started to get a bit depressed. The vet said he wouldn't want to do any more than he did at the moment but I'll see how she is in a minute and call him again if she's still the same.
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PlanetHacking said:
Tynedale, I think the 2k was an estimate based on several days of intensive care.
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AN ESTIMATE? FFS. Just a suggestion for you, and I'm being serious; Ask your Vets if they have a suitable insurance policy, to cover them for professional negligence.

Just read back through your posts, this, from what you say, is a disgrace.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
AN ESTIMATE? FFS. Just a suggestion for you, and I'm being serious; Ask your Vets if they have a suitable insurance policy, to cover them for professional negligence.

Just read back through your posts, this, from what you say, is a disgrace.

Alec.
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I am so sorry to hear that she has gone back down hill. My god I hope you vets are running scared for what they have (or have not) done. Totally agree with Alec. SHOCKING!

She is obviously in the best place now though and I really hope she pulls through x
 
I can't think at the moment about my vets. It should never have been allowed to get to this stage. This morning when a vet came out from the practice (not the original attending vet) I hadn't planned to air my grievances but I was so upset and did so. She wasn't aware of the full history and agreed with me that I had every reason to be upset that tests hadn't been run earlier.

I then called her a little later to tell her about the nasal discharge and asked if we should continue with antibiotics as she'd nosedived so sharply when she'd come off them. I'm a bit too knackered to go into details but the foal's ended up at Leahurst. A clinical exam within the first 10 minutes revealed a heart murmur that the vet said was so bad he could hear it throughout her abdomen.

I like the second vet and I think she's thorough, but I suspect she's now "closing ranks", I probably can't blame her; I don't know how she missed the murmur, or whether it actually wasn't there. I don't know. My feeling now is that my vets have served no purpose other than to make her worse, by delaying treatment.
 
You poor thing - a nightmare. I would just concentrate on your foal and getting her better and then worry about the vets later. Best of luck x
 
Oh I am so so sorry to hear that the situation has regressed :(
If it were me (and only my opinion) i would probably think about spending a few quid to get some legal advice in light of the veterinary care to date and the consequent requirement to attend a veterinary hospital for emergency care.

Fingers crossed once more.
 
What a nightmare for you :-( So sorry to hear that she's take turn for the worse but she really is in the best place now. I've everything crossed for a positive outcome for you.
 
Omg! I have only just read this thread, op you must be a bag of nerves and scared witless for your little one, I'm glad she is somewhere with a fully dedicated, experienced and competent intensive care team, and I am keeping everything crossed for you. I can only echo what Alec has said re insurance and negligence.
 
PlanetHacking said:
I've just had a gruelling couple of hours at Leahurst. The staff there were absolutely marvellous - within minutes there was a full team on her. All sorts of tests were run and her abdomen and chest scanned. She had a bad heart murmur but when they scanned her heart they couldn't see any structural problems. She has pneumonia so is going to have IV antibiotics tonight, along with fluids. Her potassium levels were very low. I know she's in the best place she could be and the vets said they'd do all they could to keep my costs down.

Thanks again everyone for your support.
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I'm so glad to read this. And will look for updates later on.

Yet another reason why your bloomin vet should be shot! Poor little scrap.:(

EDT: Also second Alec, and ensuring the vet has a good insurance policy (although they will). I would be chasing them for every penny of the treatment at Leahurst!
 
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I am so very sorry that you and your foal are having to go through this terrible ordeal. I hope to hear better news today.

Wholeheartedly agree with Alec, the practice must take responsibility for the way this case has been handled from the first call out.
 
Fingers tightly crossed for you and your little lady....

Another one agreeing with Alec, do you have BHS membership? May be worth a quick call to their legal branch to see where you stand, I am sure they will have experienced similar before.
 
At the chance of sounding like a sheep, I completely agree with Alec too. You and your foal have been treated very badly right from the start. I'd be very interested in knowing which vet or practice this was as I know you're reasonably close enough to Leahurst to have been referred there and I'd hate to have him/her landing on my doorstep if they don't know what they're doing; that might have to be by PM though to be on the safe side!
 
What a horrible and probably unnecessary thing for you both to have to go through. Sending vibes for little foaly and hoping to see some good news soon.

Just to echo everyone else - once you are through this you need to be looking to the vet in question for all costs (keep phone bills etc to show you have rung each day and a record of your conversations if possible) also worth keeping a copy of your posts on here which show your concerns.
 
I've also been following this thread and hoping for the best.

I have to say, that all along I thought the foal would be better at the vet school/hospital. So, I'm really glad that they are there now.

Re. your own vets and the costs, you are bound to have grounds to claim against their prof. indemnity insurance. Don't worry about it just now, but as everyone has said, keep everything you think might be relevant. The vets will close ranks, that's inevitable, but it sounds like you have an excellent case.

Hope to hear that the intensive care is working.
 
Fingers crossed for foalie. Stolensilver on here had a foal that Leahurst saved - she had botulism and they got her through it and she finished up a healthy horse.
 
I've spoken to Leahurst and the news isn't great. She's stable but hasn't responded to the treatment as they'd hoped she would - her electrolytes are still really low and the vet said they're going to treat her more aggressively today. She's very concerned that the foal hasn't picked up and is still so depressed. I'm going to see her this afternoon, will post with any news. On the bright side the vet did say she didn't think it was time to give up yet. This is all so awful, I can hardly believe it.
 
Thanks for updating us. I'm sorry that at this stage it's not better news.

Have absolutely everything crossed for you xx
 
Just read this post at work and Im nearly in tears for you ... cant offer any advice but hope to god she pulls through :(xxx
 
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