no suck reflex

[snapdragons]

Had a foal born yesterday who was 2 weeks early He does not have a proper suck reflex,he can get his mouth over the teat but does not latch on just curls his tongue a bit and licks,milk runs into his mouth and we are milking mare and giving him about 40ml every hour or so !! vet said carry on as we are and the suck reflex could kick in when he is around 48 hours !!! has anyone had this with a foal ?? whats the chances of this turning out ok ? he is strong at the moment but will need to take in more milk soon !!

[gilbertgrape]

Had this with a colt years ago. He just wouldn't latch on and suck. We tried everything including milking the mare. Eventually night fell and we had to leave them together. The vet announced they'd have to sort it themselves through the night( we had no electricity) and they did. If foals are strong its going to sort iteslf. It's the weak ones that fade away.
Good luck.

[gillwales]

Could be Barkers and Wanders.

Milk the mare and syringe milk down foal's throat, not tube but into mouth. That will help get milk into foal and help mare produce milk, needs to be done at least every 4 hours preferably more to start with

good luck

[gillwales]

Could be Barkers and Wanders.

Milk the mare and syringe milk down foal's throat, not tube but into mouth. That will help get milk into foal and help mare produce milk, needs to be done at least every 4 hours preferably more to start with

good luck

[gillwales]

how is foalie?

[turtlespooch]

I had one 5 yrs ago...It kicked in like vet said but we had a very good mare who encouraged foalie all the time....Good luck

[Louise Dixon]

Hope your foal is OK - I don't know much about it, but 40ml of milk sounds like a very small amount - I know they are not directly comparable, but I give newborn lambs in a similar situation 150ml. Hopefully is he's strong, he'll cotton on quickly.

[snapdragons]

Little up-date,vet has been to check him over today and thought he was doing well.We had stopped with the syringe and teat as couldnt be sure it was going to the right place and as he is trying to suck dont want to end up giving him a chest infection. Vey said that was the right thing,he is now curling his tongue and trying to suck but not quite latching on but the mare is running loads of milk and as he is 'nearly there' it is going into his mouth and he is swallowing it.he is strong and bright and vet thinks he has a good chance and will probably latch on properly in the next day or so. fingers crossed,and thanks for replies.

[gilbertgrape]

You are right about the milk possibly going down the wrong way and causing a problem! Looks promising as he's doing well now and still trying to suckle. being early can cause various problems but you have been very pro-active in helping him.Lets hope its all sorted very soon.

[gillwales]

Glad to hear that things are progressing

[Louise Dixon]

That's sounding good.

[geegees]

I helped out with a foal who had no suck reflex, in the end we put milk in a bowl and he drank it no problem and continued to do so until he was weaned, was very hard work feeding him so often as he never did latch on to the mother but he grew up to be a big strong healthy foal, the owner used a milk replacer and goats milk after a while though and the mares milk dried up but she was still there to be his mum. Good luck with your foal hope he does latch on but if not try the bowl as this colt took to it right away.

[snapdragons]

little update,foal has still not latched on properly but seems to be getting milk by cupping his tongue over end of teat and sucking/slurping it in !! he was a little knuckled up behind this morning so with vets agreement we put them out for a few hours to work his muscles/tendons.He is quite wobbly but still managed a trott and canter around the paddock. We have turn him out for short spells but still give him lots of in time as his feeding method requires mum to stand really still !!!! hopefully he will be able to take in enough milk to progress forward,vet said he may never latch on ,he might be happy with his own way !!......fingers crossed

[gillwales]

all sounds positive, if your mare will allow foalie to share her feed, feed from the ground, the more options he has of feeding the better

I hope things carry on progressing well

[bedtime]

We've had this with foals previous, put down to being a barker, they usually come right within 48 hrs. Good luck!!

[snapdragons]

Total crap day today had to send the little man to rainbow bridge,he just lost all his strenth in his back end,couldnt get up,couldnt really walk when lifted and was just not really with us if you know what i mean !He was tube fed by the vet for is last 48 hours but just didnt gain any energy,we think he had some sort of nurological damage.I have registered the mare with the national foaling bank,it would be nice if we could find her another little baby for her to look after.

[Louise Dixon]

I am so sorry to hear that, hope you are able to help another foal.

[viking]

So sorry snapdragons. Sounding as if there could have been a neurological problem somewhere.

[haggismarmite]

Oh no I"m so sorry Snaps - I was watching for an update and had really hoped it was good news x

[snapdragons]

Thanks for replies,we haven't got an orphan foal for her so will bury the little man tomorrow.Hi haggis and viking,i really miss friendly chat !!! i typed out a long message for dazycutter about the foal but not sure if i actually posted it !!! whats happened to this site is all so wierd,i am crap on a computer so it dont take much to confuse me . Do you all talk on facebook now instead ???How is brindle ,is she still naughty lol thanks kerry cooksley

[dazycutter]

Hi Lovely, so so sorry, no, you didn't send me one, but that's fine... we miss you too XX

[amumwithapony]

Oh snaps. How sad for you all. Big hugs darling. Xx

[viking]

Snaps, Sagey has asked me to pass on the message, that she is very sorry to hear of your loss.

[brindlerainbow]

Snaps im still here, biggest hugs to you.Having lost a foal I know exactly what you are going through xxxxxxxxxxx

[gillwales]

So sorry, it is heart breaking having to put a foal down. You know you did everything you could, hoping for a happy outcome next time xx

[kayjayem]

Only just seen this thread. So sorry Snapdragons, it's soul destroying to lose a foal, nature can be very cruel sometimes. At least you did all you could but I know sometimes that is more difficult than when there is no hope from the outset.

[Deleted]

So sorry Snaps - thinking of you xxxxxxxx

[hatman]

Really sorry the little man did not make it RIP little boy big hugs snaps xxx

[snapdragons]

Thanks ladies for your replies,its nice to be in touch with you all again just a shame its not a happy topic.

[stormyskies]

So sorry to hear this. Hope your mare is ok