Just when you think things are looking up!:(

[rja]

Just read your post! We had to have our mare put down about 3 weeks age due to laminitis, which she had had prior to foaling in January, we tried everyting possible to keep her as she was one in a million, but sadly it was not to be! We put our foal on D and H creep pellets at about 3 weeks, she was not interested in milk from a bottle or a bucket! When she was 10 weeks, the mare was put down, and we loaned a mini shetland to keep her company. Believe me, the foal adapted very well, the vet gave a sedative when mare put down, and she didnt look back after that. The shetland and her are great friends, and the foal is now 16 weeks and growing daily!! she is now on a combination of creep pellets, mare and youngstock mix and Hi Fi light, and she loves it! and is a real greedy pig. But the main thing to remember is foals are resiliant things, and it will thrive without its mum, unfortunately its you like me that will suffer from the loss of the mare. Remember you have a lovely foal to remember the mare by. Hope everything goes as well as it can, and I am thinking of you! Again if you want a chat let me know and i will pm my number.

[keepsake]

Hi,
I lost a mare with foal at foot last year. He was 3 months old when she was pts so older than your wee one. The most important thing is to get the foalie eating hard feed, I was really worried about my foalie being lonely etc, but I was lucky that one of the other mares who was there when the mare was pts seemed to take on role as Auntie, which was a huge weight off my shoulders And made the process of losing my beautiful mare a little easier. I think it helped as I had a couple of other foals so after a couple of days turned him out with the foals and their mummys (and of course his new auntie) But, leave your foal with your mare for a few hours, although heartbreaking to watch it will help the foalie understand.
Thinking of you, its always a difficult decision but made even harder when they have a foal at foot, its still very raw to me as it was only a year ago....

[ollie120984]

really awful for you, i have a mare that had foal in feb, i weaned her foal this week, she has milk and you could borrow her? pm me

[Deleted]

Biggest hugs from your understanding friend xxxx

[anotherdeal1]

ollie have pm'd you xx

Lp xxx

To everyone who has shared their experiences thankyou so much xx

Baby hasnt taken to milk replacer so we are putting it off for a few more days want to be sure he is ready to cope with the transition.

Now im starting to have doubts about how to do it - i apologise in advance to anyone that doesnt want to hear this - but i was going to have the local hunt come and put her down and now im worried that she wont stand still, ive decided to take the foal off her and then do it straight away, i dont see the point in putting her through the stress of weaning and then putting her to sleep it really isnt going to make any difference to him i dont think. but that will mean taking the foal and her stressing resulting in them not being able to do it properly. So the lady i spoke to at the kennels suggested getting the vet out to sedate her first and maybe giving the foal a little bit too to make the whole thing a little less stressful but then if the vet is coming out to do that he may as well do the whole lot?? Cost im afraid is a major issue here with all the disasters this year im realllllllyyyyyyy skint!! But the hunt charge £200 and then if i get the vet for sedation that is going to be another £100 +.

I really dont know what to do, all my other foals wander around and play with each other he has nothing to do with anyone he NEVER leaves his mothers side ive been trying to feed him further away from her but he just frets and wants to be right next to her all the time preferably touching not even just standing next to her, i swear he knows that there is something wrong with her. But all this is just making the practicalities of this harder and harder, ive come to terms with what i have to do but i just dont know HOW to do it should i let him see her after it is done so that he knows or should i just treat it as a normal weaning just a little early?

OH god i dont know what to do please someone give me some answers

[holiday]

Anotherdeal, I know how difficult this is for you at present. My thoughts would be........

Baby isnt hungry so wont be overly bothered about his milk replacer so dont panic about that, you will probably need him to "be hungry" after your mare is PTS before he turns to thinking maybe the replacer is a good idea. However I found our orphan wouldnt take some types of replacer as we had to muddle through for the first few days on a bank holiday. At this moment in time its not just the biggest worry. There is also the option of getting him some milk pellets to add to his feed or adding the milk replacer powder to his feed so he gets the taste.

He is still quite a little person so maybe hasnt just got the idea of going off an playing with his friends just yet, some dont until a little later, especially if she isnt just moving round the field to help him think about playing. I wouldnt fret about moving him away from mum to eat I would just make sure he is eating well and to be honest they are quite tough little people and he will adapt once she is gone.

My thoughts on putting your mare to sleep, the hunt kennells are usually very experienced at dealing with both horses and unfortunately owners and are usually sympathatic to everyone involved. I personally would check again anyway on the sedation as if they are using the flesh (sorry) to feed to hounds to what you are able to give the mare. There are two schools of thoughts on whether or not baby should see mum. Some think it is imperiative that they do and then they understand they have gone, others think it stresses them to see a dead animal. I personally think it stresses more for them to see them move rather than the actual death.

Personally I would maybe give baby a little sedalin and keep him near to mum in a safe place, or she will stress if you take him away this could then cause the kennelman problems. I personally would decide at that point whether you take baby back to mum afterwards or take baby away.

I feel for you having such a difficult decision to make and wish I could advise with all the right answers, however I can only give my thoughts. Im so sorry xxxxxxxx

[sparkle]

Anotherdeal1 - I have no answers for you and I really wish I did but just wanted to say my thoughts are with you and I'm so sorry xxx

[mcw]

that's awful, hope you feel better soon x

[anotherdeal1]

had a really good chat with the vet yesterday and have decided to go with having her injected ive had the horror stories from friend whose horses have fought the injection but have been assured by him that she wont he said he always gives them a little sedation first and then does it -im not sure she has much fight left in her anyway!! Doing it this way will mean i wont have to actually remove him from the scene whilst its done i think its the kindest way for both of them.

Holiday i put his milk replacer in with his dinner last night and although he took a while he did manage to eat it all. So i will keep doing that for now.

Now all i have to do is find the courage to pick the phone up and book it.

Thanks for all your support im not getting any at home my husband just wont talk to me about it in fact i think he hates me right now!! Not sure if he realises i hate myself but with life comes death and i HAVE to deal with it

xxxxxxxxxxxx

[holiday]

Im personally pleased you have decided for the injection, I wont have anything shot and have on the few occasions had horses PTS have used the injection with no problems. Im so sorry to hear you have little support at home, people deal with things in different ways and obviously your husband is finding it all very difficult. My OH doesnt deal with similar either very well. I think probably this year has been so trying for you both this will just seem like the final straw.

If you need to talk just give me a ring its fine!!!!!!

[Guestless]

Aug 24, 2010 9:00:37 GMT anotherdeal1 said:

Thanks for all your support im not getting any at home my husband just wont talk to me about it in fact i think he hates me right now!! Not sure if he realises i hate myself but with life comes death and i HAVE to deal with it

Bl**dy men sometimes!! You have absolutely no reason to hate yourself - what you are doing is the most selfless thing any owner can do for their beloved horse by putting her welfare first.

<<hugs>>

[lisa]

dont panic if foal wont drink milk to start with they are very resiant ruby took a good 48 hours before she started drinking her milk properly now she cant get enough of it ! if there is anything i can help with please ask