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  Discussion on FPT and death of foal?
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 31, 2002 - 10:33 pm:

I am the owner of a TB mare who has given birth successfully to many foals. Earlier this month my mare foaled out a colt. Prior to the delivery I requested on two occassions that the attending DVM analysis my mare's colostrum to predict the timing of the delivery. The first test showed that the mare had a 80% probability of foaling within the next 24 hours. At that time my mare was a week away from her predicted foaling date. I advised both the DVM and the farm attendant that my mare foaled out like clock work and that we should have another week or so to go. Exactly one week later I requested that her colostrum be tested again. This time the test results showed that she had a 40% probability of foaling within the next 24 hours. Since I had in the past performed these tests myself I called the DVM and asked how could this be an accurate result since I had never had the levels lower before. At that time he informed me that in his opinion my mare had at least another week to go. He also informed me that my mare's milk was runny with no signs of colostrum. Later that evening I received a phone call from the farm manager telling me that my mare was indeed foaling out that evening. She gave birth to a colt. After living for nine days my colt passed away and the autospy concluded that the cause of death was from colisepticemia.

Here are my questions: 1) Since the test results showed that my mare didn't have sufficient if any colostrum present should not the colt have been muzzled from the mare and not allowed to nurse? 2) Wouldn't a reasonable course of treatment have been to use colostrum from a colostrum bank or other supplements?

The attending DVM was not on site at the time of birth and did not attend to the colt until the 19th hour of his life. When the blood drawn was completed his IGG's were extremely low (166). No hematology or serum chemistry was done at that time. The colt was given two bags of plasma but his IGG's still only rose to a little over 500. On the morning of his fourth day of life he was taken to the local equine hospital and several days later passed away.

Thank you for answering my questions.

Karen

Posted on Monday, Apr 1, 2002 - 7:11 am:

Hello Karen,
I am so sorry to hear about your foal. Let me see if I can help with your questions:

1) The test commonly performed to predict foaling is not a test of quality of colostrum but of calcium concentration. The subjective evaluation that it was not good quality is just that, subjective and not very accurate. I have seem large variations is the appearance of colostrum in color, opacity, and thickness that resulted in healthy foals. I would allow the foal to nurse and then check the IgG.

2) This would be a resonable course if the mare was not producing enough colostrum to keep the foal fed or if I was sure looking at the colostrum that it was inadequate but as I state above, this is a difficult subjective evaluation to make. Usually if she is producing adequate volume you allow her to nurse and then check.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 1, 2002 - 11:05 am:

DrO,

Thank you for answering my questions above. I misrepresented myself when I didn't mention that it was the calcium level in my mare that was low. It was after the second test results came back and while speaking to the attending DVM that I was informed of the watery milk my mare was producing and lack of colostrum present.

So what I guess I should of asked is: Since the results came back with a low calcium level in the mare's milk and little to no signs of colostrum being present would not the reasonable standard of care have been insuring that colostrum was available at the time of foaling? From the time that I spoke with the attending DVM to the time of birth less than 4 hours had gone by.

Thank you again for your help

Karen~

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 2, 2002 - 8:24 am:

Hello Karen,
I cannot judge the standard of care in your particular foal, since I was not there. I also cannot tell what my exact reaction would have been in this situation, as there are so many factors that figure into such decisions: goals, medical, monetary, and even distance and time.

If you are asking would it have been better to give the foal some banked high quality colostrum postpartum since the quality of the colostrum had been questioned, obviously the answer is yes. Would this have been required to meet the standard of care as I understand it, not from the information you have provided so far. I think one of the keys is that the veterinarian was not there at birth to make this decision.

This was not an unreasonable decision to make by the vet when adequate amounts of colostrum were present at birth and the foal nursing well even if it did not look exactly right on visual inspection approximately 12 hours prior to delivery. The important fact is that by around 20 hours postfoaling the foals IgG concentration was determined and adjusted to above 400 mg/dl. In some places 166 is not considered that horrible and the Equine Research Centre of Canada says that 200 mg/dl is acceptable. I do not agree with this but I do realise that the predictive value of a low serum IgG is poor for future disease problems. There are just many other important factors.

I know you are frustrated and angry Karen. It would help if you understood that the most aggressive care in the world frequently does not alter the outcome for septic foals. Foals who get adequate transfer die of sepsis also.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 2, 2002 - 12:16 pm:

DrO,

Thank you again for answering my questions. This situation has been heartbreaking for me but I am a firm believer in "Something positive always come from a negative experience".

Have a nice day,
Karen

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 3, 2002 - 7:03 am:

You sound a little better all ready and I am looking forward to hearing about next years beautiful foal.
DrO
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