Max the Orphaned Exie. Vibes please.

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_GG_

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Vet just been. Bloods taken for IGG and AB shots and Finadyne given and more jabs left with me.

Seems he was probably born Friday, maybe Thursday...obvious possibility is low antibodies but also, after being taken off the moor Saturday morning, he was given pasturised goats milk and whilst it's fine as an emergency...almost two full days of it at such a young age probably did him no favours. Not a criticism of the people who had him...they did their very best.

He's rattly, shaky and he did have dry milk in his nostrils on the weekend so most likely aspirated at some point which won't have helped.

He's still being a cheeky ******...just a slightly subdued one and I wouldn't have called my vet at 2am if I wasn't concerned.

He's having some help in the form of a 3'3" rug over him as well, which swamps him so gives an idea of how tiny he really is bless him.

Temp 38.4 so not dangerous dangerous but not to get any higher. He's currently nudging me for a feed bless him...hang on...

Just vibes please...he's doing so well for such a little one and I can't stand the idea of him not being 100%.

If he needs plasma, he'll get it tomorrow. As for his lungs...fingers crossed xx
 
Sending as many vibes as I can muster to little Max. Fingers crossed he'll be feeling on top form again soon!
 
Sending lots of vibes for him. I know how worried I was when Frank was subdued on Sunday , it's awful to see them poorly, you feel so helpless. You couldn't try any harder , I hope you get to the bottom of it soon ,big hugs to you both x
 
Temp now 38.3 and his appetite returned at 4am. He's very energetic again now and looking happier so hopefully blood results will be back around 9am (love my vet) and we can go from there.

Thanks everyone. Still not right but no longer quite so wrong either. Xx
 
Glad to hear hear that he's brighter. All fingers, hooves and paws crossed here, too for a full recovery. You've given him Jakki's colostrum, haven't you? Was he a bit too old to absorb it properly, I remember there being a window of efficacy but can't remember what it is?
 
So pleased he is brighter this morning! Hope he continues to improve ( and hope you're not too knackered after your all nighter!)
 
So glad to hear he is perkier this morning - he's clearly a little fighter. Everything crossed that he continues to improve.
 
Thank you everyone. I'm feeling slightly more alive now thanks to Dan. Who knew the person I would trust most to care for Max when I sleep is the person with the least experience of all the horsey people I know. Bless him. He's like a sponge. His learning curve this past year has been so steep but it's all gone in. He can spot the slightest lameness, the slightest sign of discomfort in the lami livery, the very earliest signs of colic onset. With Max, he's very much understanding why we have a responsibility to him to not mollycoddle or humanise him. He's doing everything just the way I show him and it's so lovely to see. It also means he took over from me when he woke up this morning so I've had a few hours straight sleep.

Really appreciate all of your comments. When it's that time of the morning, stood in a stable on your own with a poorly foal, it's helpful to just put it down somewhere, kind of tension relieving.


Asha said:
Sending lots of vibes for him. I know how worried I was when Frank was subdued on Sunday , it's awful to see them poorly, you feel so helpless. You couldn't try any harder , I hope you get to the bottom of it soon ,big hugs to you both x
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It's not difficult to try hard for him, he's so adorable bless him. Helpless is the word. I watched him for a while, probably less than 20 minutes and called my vet. We had a good chat on the phone about him and he said he could come at 6:30 on his way to a stud call or he could come straight away...what did I want to do. I said that my biggest concern was his young age, lack of proof of how much colostrum he had or how long he nursed his dam and only the words of other people up until the point at which the lady who brought him here took him. I said I was concerned about his nutrition as he'd been having pasturised goats milk all Saturday and most of Sunday and I wasn't sure I could risk delaying any treatment for even a few hours. He was with us in less than 20 minutes and Max had gone downhill a little in that time so when he got there and I told him that, he came in to assess him. Straight away he looked at me and gave me the nod. Wandered off to the car (giving Jakki a little pat on the way past) and then we went to work. I honestly do think it's so good to have a specialist vet for things like this. The speed with which he's able to get what is needed and turn bloods around is priceless to people like us, wanting the best for the horses in our care. The man deserves a medal bless him. That's twice this week I've woken him up. Sorry Ciaran xx

Spottyappy said:
Hope he's perked up this morning, and you didn't have the past hours as worse ones.
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Indeedy. Watching him slowly get stronger, not weaker is all I wanted. Thank you.

Tiddlypom said:
Glad to hear hear that he's brighter. All fingers, hooves and paws crossed here, too for a full recovery. You've given him Jakki's colostrum, haven't you? Was he a bit too old to absorb it properly, I remember there being a window of efficacy but can't remember what it is?
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No, Jakki's colostrum is in the freezer in case anyone else wants it. He was picked up by walkers on Saturday morning and didn't get here until Sunday late afternoon so too late to give by then and better to keep Jakki's in case a local orphaned foal needs it in an emergency. We didn't do IGG test on Sunday as he was quite weak and had been through rather a lot for two days, so decided to wait and see rather than stress him further due to his young age. My gut instinct is that it's a mix between not having full antibodies from not nursing his dam long enough and also lack of nutrition and a little aspiration from the bottle. When he came, he was having it held really high and we've been working on bringing it down to be safer but he did have some dry milk run in his nostrils so had probably aspirated on the weekend which would account for the rattling. I'm desperate to get him on the bucket and as I stayed with him all night and he was desperate for milk when he started feeling better, I managed to get him to drop his head properly so bucket weaning should be much easier now. Thank you xx

Mariposa said:
So pleased he is brighter this morning! Hope he continues to improve ( and hope you're not too knackered after your all nighter!)
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I think I am at that point of tired where it just is and it feels normal so I'm actually okay. We do have the in-laws descending later though, including MIL from hell who...and I quote, "Can't wait to spend the weekend cuddling little Max". She's going to have quite a rude awakening as she won't even be going in the stable with him until I am satisfied that he's well enough. lol.

SEL said:
Lots of hugs from me and the diva - she lost her mum as a baby so is sending extra special hugs xxx
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Oh bless her. Thank you to you and Diva xx

Ceriann said:
So glad to hear he is perkier this morning - he's clearly a little fighter. Everything crossed that he continues to improve.
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Little fighter is right. He is the absolute essence of an Exmoor in mini form. He's proper little poo and goodness knows what he'd be like if he was spoiled, cuddled and not disciplined, lol. He has one hell of an attitude on him. It's impossible not to laugh as he walks over to us with his easr pinned back do hard you'd never know they were there. There's nothing behind that, he gets to us and then just has a little nuzzle or politely asks for some milk but it's the funniest look. When he has zoomies though, he really gets the wind up his bum. He backed up to Dan yesterday when bucking and I said, "be his mum and get him gone, now". so Dan did what he's seen me do, turned his back on him, then backed up very quickly and sternly pushed him away. He came back and went to turn his bum on Dan again, so Dan instantly turned again and stamped backwards and Max got the message loud and clear and shot off before returning, head down, mouthing and quietly seeking approval to come close again. I keep thinking how awesome it would be to have a CCTV in the stable, lol. It's a shame, because it's unlikely he'll be going out as planned on the weekend now, but safety first. He's in a disinfected and safe environment at the moment so until he's 100%, he needs to stay in there but he's really not worried about it. When we leave...he doesn't miss us at all. He wanders off playing with straw or Paddy, his teddy bear or he stands by the door "talking" to Jakki on the other side.

Thank you all again. Nice to just not be alone xx
 
Sending all the best wishes to you all. You're doing such a lovely thing, he sounds like a right little fighter. Please keep us all posted :)

Make sure you're resting too - it sounds like it's really taking its toll on you!
 
Laika said:
Sending all the best wishes to you all. You're doing such a lovely thing, he sounds like a right little fighter. Please keep us all posted :)

Make sure you're resting too - it sounds like it's really taking its toll on you!
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Well, the herd horses are still getting all of their checks, but missing out on the usual time and cuddles, but to be honest, the rain came so the grass is growing and they give not a single crap about my attention so all is good, lol. Thank you. I'll keep the thread posted. xx
 
Asha said:
Sending lots of vibes for him. I know how worried I was when Frank was subdued on Sunday , it's awful to see them poorly, you feel so helpless. You couldn't try any harder , I hope you get to the bottom of it soon ,big hugs to you both x
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Spottyappy said:
Hope he's perked up this morning, and you didn't have the past hours as worse ones.
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Tiddlypom said:
Glad to hear hear that he's brighter. All fingers, hooves and paws crossed here, too for a full recovery. You've given him Jakki's colostrum, haven't you? Was he a bit too old to absorb it properly, I remember there being a window of efficacy but can't remember what it is?
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Mariposa said:
So pleased he is brighter this morning! Hope he continues to improve ( and hope you're not too knackered after your all nighter!)
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EventingMum said:
I hope little Max continues to improve, are you having to fund all the vet costs yourself? If so I'd like to give a small donation x
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Hopefully not. He's here on free livery as doing Jakki a favour but owners have said to send the vet bill to them. Thank you though, what a lovely thought. Xx
 
GG you're a star. I've been through something similar, foal didn't get enough colostrum and it didn't end well, unfortunately.

It's tough being up all night nursing them. Get that MIL to make some use of herself and cook a good meal like a casserole, that will keep you going over a few days.

If you don't have a rug the right size I made a smashing one out of a sack by snipping off a corner for the head and neck and ripping one side - it fit so neatly. That little guy is so tiny maybe a pillowcase would work...just a thought in case you don't have one that fits.

Hopefully now he got just enough of the colostrum or he would be on the way out by now...Fingers crossed for you guys xx
 
I've just caught up on all the Max-ness and I hope he continues to get better, so sorry about Jakki's foal though ): Poor girl. But Max is very very cute and you're doing such a great job!
 
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