Umbilical hernia

[buzzles]

Has anyone any experience of umbilical hernias? My colt who's nearly a month old has one. The vet said to apply iodine on it daily and when he's older he may have to put a ring around it or if that doesn't work possibly surgery. Now my vet is great but he is bit of a pessimist and it's always a worst case scenario with him. Any advice/experience/thoughts on umbilical hernias much appreciated as I'm not sure how serious they are or how worried I should be.

 

[goldfish]

Hi (I'm a newbie!)

I have a 16 year old mare who has an umbilical hernia; it's never needed any treatment at all and causes no bother.

My youngster (now nearly 2) also has one (as did her full sister). When my vet looked at it last year she advised to leave it alone unless it got larger and started to cause problems.

HTH

 

[henryhorn]

We had a yearling done last year, took a few minutes only and she has no sign of it now.
I've got another to do this year but never had any previously, so i'm not sure why two in a year

 

[dotty1]

My filly foal has one, it makes her look like a little boy!!!. Its not raw or sore and is getting smaller so I hope it won't need any treatment. She is 4 weeks old now

 

[spottysport]

Unless unusually large, they normally disappear of their own accord. I wouldn't be too pessimistic with a month old foal - you might just find it gone one day!

 

[moneypit1]

We had a filly with one. If you can fit up to two fingers into it it should be fine on its own, any bigger and you might need to have op. Fairly straightforward I am told.