squitty foal! should I be worried

[whizzica]

My 4 week old foal has the squits!! he has had it for a few days now, he is a bright as a button, no temperature, feeding from Mum well, not dehydrated, is this something I need to get the vet out for or is it better to let it sort it's self out?(obviously keeping a close eye on things) I have being washing him down and greasing up his bottom so that he is not sore.

 

[Bennions Field]

I think this will be due to the mare being back in season possibly?, perhaps some of the more experienced breeders on here will confirm.
My worry would be that he got de hydrated, they can so quickly get worse and without much warning, so perhaps a phone call the vets or even your stallions stud may be worth a try. they may be able to suggest something that can prevent him getting poorly due to the squits. Hope you manage to sort him out.

 

[Springs]

Hi, It's worth giving him some Pepto Bismal and some natural live yogurt that will help clear it up.

eg for our 2 week old foal we gave 10ml of PB and as much Yogurt as he would have about 100ml through mouth feeding.
All good pharm will have the PB.

Good Luck

 

[JanetGeorge]

Was the mare wormed at foaling? There are some nasty little blighters who are passed to foals through the milk. Worming on the day of foaling (or next day) has virtually ended problems with 'foal heat scours'. Four weeks is a bit late for a foal to be getting squitty due to foal heat so I would suspect some worms.

If in any doubt at all about mare's worming status - or 'cleanliness' of pasture - worm now. Use something like Equimax (which is safe in foals from 2 weeks) every 8 weeks. But do be careful about estimating foal's weight - while there IS a margin for error, over-dosing in foals isn't good for them!

 

[whizzica]

Hi, Thanks for the advice everyone. re worming the mare was wormed a week prior to foaling(although has had clear worm counts for a number of years now), kept at home on pasture that has always been cleared up everyday (only have 2 other horses on it - separated of course from Mare and foal - and they both belong to me, so also wormed and worm counted regularly - and both have clear counts also)
Do you still think that it is possible for the mare to pass worms on to the foal? or should I just worm to elimate that possibility - I am always a bit cautious of giving drugs to animals unecessarily., am going out now to get the wormers just in case though and the pepto Bismal and live yogurt xx

 

[Maggie2]

Yes she could, the worming needs to be done immediately after foaling to make the difference. I'd worm to be on the safe side, and get the Pepto too, Baileys do a fine powder prebiotic that mixes with water very easily and can be syringed down, less messy than yog. and that will help remove the bad bacteria that are in there.