Dummy foal

[Sonja]

Hi all,

Maybe you've seen the topic at my message board, but last week Grace gave birth to a filly and the vets think this is a dummy foal...
Well, she isn't smart, that's a fact, but I was wondering how your experiences are with dummy foals?

Faith, as I've named her, has been in the clinic the last week, she is now able to drink without help, she walks and stands without help, but she is still very weak and very slow in her behaviour...

Did one of you have a dummy that survived? And how long did it take to see some real progress?

Faith is now 1 week old, she is doing a lot herself though she is very very slow in her moving.. At the clinic they helped her to get up and nurse, when she had to go somewhere they lifted her and carried her to the place she needed to be...
My feeling is that she didn't need to learn it herself because they did it all for her, and now that she's home I try to stimulate her and try to get her stronger since she is still very weak and moves and acts like a newborn....

Does somebody have any advises or maybe some other thoughts?

Thanks,
Sonja

[twosuperstudponies]

I found this on a website I hope it helps you some!

Treatment of dummy foals is heavily reliant on good nursing and supportive care. There is no single injection or treatment that will "fix" the foal. A number of medications are used in an effort to combat oedema and inflammation (DMSO, mannitol) and to provide immediate energy sources for the brain cells or for their anti-oxidant properties (thiamine, magnesium, vitamin E). The mildly affected foal may simply need assistance to stand and nurse from the mare. Some may have no idea how to nurse. Be cautious if bottle feeding these foals - they often do not swallow well and are at high risk of aspirating milk and developing pneumonia. Foals that cannot nurse need urgent veterinary attention - some foals need to be fed via an indwelling stomach tube for the first few days until they are strong enough and have worked out how to nurse. Foals that do not drink enough within the first few hours will often have failure of passive transfer due to lack of colostrum and are at increased risk for infection and sepsis. These foals may require supplementation with colostrum or a plasma transfusion by your veterinarian.

Here is the link to the web page...

www.cyberhorse.net.au/cgi-bin/tve/displaynewsitem.pl?20060525dummyfoal.txt

Bless your heart! I am praying for you and your foal!

[kitcat0601]

My colt was a mild case of Dummy foal syndrome. He was born in the hot sun and was not nursing. He acted like a newborn for sometime. He was tubed with colostrum and finally started nursing at 11pm. He was born sometime around 3pm. He acted almost like he was blind and wanted nothing to do with nursing. It was really difficult and scarey. Mom wouldnt stand still, kept following him around as she was worried about him. Is your filly nursing ok now Sonja? My colt didnt really "dig in" for several days. He nursed, but it took awhile for him to really figure it out. Just watch how much she is eating and how often. She should get stronger soon. Just keep a close eye on her. Good luck and let us know how she is doing.

[Sonja]

Thank you so much for your reply's...

It sometimes is so hard, there is not really much ro find about the dummy foals, and since english is not my own language it is hard to understand a lot of medical terms that are often used...
Faith now is on antibiotics since she had a cold, she is doing well and I think we started the medication in time to prefent her from getting really really sick...
She is also getting vitamin E, that is what they gave us at the university clinic where she was during the first week..

There is some progress, but she still looks like a 90 years old when she walks... She nurses very well though still needs help getting on her feet.. I have her out as much as possible, and when the weather permits it, she wears a little foalblanket since she was very cold in the beginning.. Guess she was used to the clinic's stalls who are heated and here at home they have outside stalls without any heating..

I have the feeling she is not "dum" like, it's hard to explain en english.. But she follows you, she investigates all kind of items she sees outside, she sees where she walks, wants to play with the dog though is not able to run...
My feeling is that there is more physical (body?) damage in how to control her body and muscles then there is something wrong in her thinking...

And her skin is very strange, she has very curly hair and no hairs on her noose.. Her backside is pretty normal but her neck and shoulder are really curly with what seems like to be a very very dry skin..
Does anybody know what that could be?
At the clinic they keep saying that everything has to do with lack of oxygen, but do the people that had dummy foals recognize this?

Any info and advise is very welcome, I really appreciate it...

Thanks,

Sonja

ps Faith will be 2 weeks this coming thursday...