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  Discussion on Foal bloating
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Member:
Mtca

Posted on Monday, Apr 12, 2004 - 9:06 pm:

Dr. O,

We have a foal that is 9 days old. He is a "Malajustment SynDrOme Foal". On day 2 he had seizures and we took him to our clinic immediately at 1:30 a.m. He did not have any more seizures at the clinic but had about 7 prior to us getting him there. They lasted about 15 seconds. All of his bloodwork is normal and he is coming along but is slow. He runs a temperature between 101.4 and 103. His stomach is bloated and our veterinarian is unable to figure why. He is not showing distress as far as colic but did the day he had seizures. Oh, he is eating very well but the bloated stomach is gas, it makes a pinging sound. Any ideas? I have enamized him to try and help and the clinic did a high enema, he seemed pretty packed up. He now moves feces but still not like a normal horse.

Is there a chance he is having problems digesting his dam's milk? His feces are a yellow/orange color but I have not found any blood. He has started eating him dam's feces like a normal foal at this age as of today.

Any thoughts on the bloating?
Member:
Canyon28

Posted on Monday, Apr 12, 2004 - 11:32 pm:

Linda, did your vet xray this foal to see if he has a urine leak? I had a foal born last year that started bloating, at first it seemed like impaction colic and he was treated for that with a high enema, exactly like what you are saying. This was not the problem, the urine leaking into the body cavity was causing the bowel problem. This is a highly fixable problem if you get him to a vet right away that can do surgerys,before he goes down hill, and should be much less cost than a colic surgery. It wont be cheap but I would have him xrayed to see if the is full of fluid, asap. My vet first tried to US my foals abdomen, but it didnt seem to work very well, the Xray showed the urine easily. My foal was 3 days old when he had his surgery and he came through with flying colors. His bladder was almost completely split when he was born because his dam was straining so hard to get him out. If you wait until the foal is down , it will probably be too late.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004 - 7:09 pm:

For more on leaking urine see Equine Diseases » Foal Diseases » Patent Urachus and Diseases of the Umbilical Cord. However the fact the foal is getting better and the "ping" suggest intestinal gas. There have been reports of foals reacting to their mares milk but it is very uncommon. Perhaps a bit more time and things will settle down, I cannot think of any treatments at this point that might not worsen the problem.
DrO
Member:
Mtca

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004 - 1:31 am:

DR O,

WE had the 10 day old foal ultrasounded today and could not find anything abnormal. All that could be found was lots of gas in the intestines. Now our veterinarian also says that we just have to watch and see. When he sucks on his dam you can hear him gulping air with the milk so we think that is what is happening. He was also thoroughly checked for ta cleft pallet and he is fine. (Like a horse that cribs and sucks air.) With everything else he has been through I hope he makes it. His CBC was perfectly normal again today and his blood test from serum I cannot remember what it was called. We hope as the days go on he stops filling up with air. We are trying yougurt for his stomach.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004 - 9:43 pm:

I have thought a lot about your foal and the one thing that occurs to me is if the problem persists or worsens removing the foal from the mare and milking the mare and feeding the foal a calculated amount of milk and perhaps mixing it is with water to dilute it might give the gi tract time to adjust. I don't think sucking air can be measured easily by the noise made while nursing.
DrO
Member:
Mtca

Posted on Thursday, Apr 15, 2004 - 1:29 am:

Dr.O,
We had another veterinarian come out for a second opinion on the foal. While he was here the foal had a "Seizure" which wound up to be hypoxia. When he is sucking he stops, walks around with his mouth open, his tongue turns blue he falls down and thrashes around then he passes out. Once he relaxes he can breath and he usually winnies and he comes out of it. What has been explained is that since he is a Malajustment Foal things are not working properly in his throat and the valves that control swallowing and air passege are not coordinating so he chokes. He also has been swallowing lots of air. Our vet has put him on a different anitbiotic, put him on gastroguard and we have chose to muzzle him and we are going out when he gets up and we are milking the mare out some so there is not as much milk then letting him drink. We are told that once he gets coordinated, which seems to be improving, this should stop. I sure hope so we are going to have maybe some very long nights ahead. This veterinarian has seen this before so he is encouraging. He also feels that the gas could be do to bacteria and that was why he changed the antibiotic.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 15, 2004 - 7:35 am:

Clinical studies are fairly clear, antibiotics are more likely to upset the bacterial flora than promote normal flora, this step should be questioned as gi upset from antibiotics is a common event.
DrO
Member:
Mtca

Posted on Saturday, Apr 17, 2004 - 10:36 pm:

Dr. O,
Our colt which I thought was having seizures is not. We had a different vet come out for a second opinion and when the colt sucks milk his epiglottis closes and does not open so he can breath and he walks around till his tongue turns blue he falls, panics then passes out from lack of oxygen. As soon as he passes out he comes out of it. A trachea tube was put in on Thursday and we are IVing him 2xs per day with fluid. This foal is not Impressive bred and we have no HYPP. Since he is a malajustment foal do you think there is a chance things will start working properly? I guess the feeling was to put the trachea tube in so he can breath and to let things start coming around. He is now 14 days old. He has swelling in one hock and after it was tested it was septic so he is on anitibiotics and a small amount of ulcer medacine to ward that off.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Apr 18, 2004 - 10:17 am:

Yes I think there is a chance Linda but all the secondary complications are potentially serious in themselves and there are possibly more setbacks ahead.
DrO
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Sunday, Apr 18, 2004 - 3:37 pm:

Linda, I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time with this foal! Poor thing...and, poor you!I hope you both make it o.k. If your foal makes it, all the sleepless nights and worry will be worth it. If he doesn't, you'll at least know you did everything possible for him. Hang in there.
Member:
Mtca

Posted on Thursday, Apr 22, 2004 - 2:05 pm:

Dr.O

We are still handing in there with our now 20 day old foal. Now he seems to have an impaction. We have high enemad him through the night but even with 24" of tube in him we did not feel a blockage. SO whatever is blocked is further in. Our vets have us giving him 1000 units IV fluid every hour. He is still bloated but being a trupper. I think even though he wants to live we may be near the end. The vets said oiling him would probably cause more problems so we are just IVing him. He is also on antibiotics, gastroguard, (tagamet to try and get the stomach down) and I am suppose to give him 3 1/2 ccs Gentomiacine one time per day. He is STILL EATING from his mom but I suppose he is trying to get comfort from her. Any other ideas for impaction? We discussed surgery but as young as he is and the scar tissue that would arrise feel it is not the way to go. I have been reading all the information you have suggested and then some.

Member:
Liliana

Posted on Thursday, Apr 22, 2004 - 2:44 pm:

Linda

I am very very sorry to read about your foal, and I admire your determination to help him!
However, perhaps it is time to let go, as horrible as it may sound, perhaps it is time to think long and hard about the future of this foal, how long will he live?, will he have a normal life? what are really his chances?

My heart and my prayers go out for you and the foal,

Wish you the best of luck
Liliana
Member:
Bethyg2

Posted on Thursday, Apr 22, 2004 - 3:02 pm:

OK- this is a real long shot, but my vets said they had great sucess with DMSO injected in a saline solution (10%???) right into a vein, in foals for a variety of serious problems. It dramatically- and quickly- acts to lessen swelling and irritation-Sometimes. It totally helped my 8 month mini foal when he couldn't get any air due to swelling in the throatlatch area from pneumonia. I was very skeptical but it worked. He went from total distress to eating in abount one hour. He will smell like garlic/ onion, so maybe you'd want to do the mom too? You may want to ask your vet and try this, or find a vet with experiecne using DMSO intraveinously. I know I asked some other vets about it at the time and no one else had heard of this use for DMSO. Its a thought. -Beth Gordon
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 23, 2004 - 6:55 am:

Linda, the blockage could be caused by the bloating. Have the vets considered discontinuing oral feeding, providing the neccesary nutrients through the IV? This might be the best chance at getting the bowel to normal. Though the IV DMSO as an antiinflammatory may have been logical in Beth's case, I don't see the indication in the case of bowel gas and impaction.
DrO
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