AVC Equine Club March 2011 FOALS

Some basics  Gestation length: ~356 days ( days) & variable from one gestation to the next  Premature: <320 days  Dysmature: >320 days but physically immature  Neonatal period: ~ first 2 weeks of life

Normal foal  Size: 10% of mare’s body weight  Sternal <1-2 min  BAR <5 min  Standing <1 hour  Nursing <2 hours  Placenta passed <3 hours

Rules of thumb  “1-2-3” rule  Stand by 1 hour  Nurse by 2 hours  Placenta passed by 3 hours  “2-4-6” rule – call vet if  Not standing by 2 hours  Not nursed by 4 hours  Placenta not passed by 6 hours

Normal foal  Heart rate: beats per minute  Respiratory rate: breaths per minute  Temperature: 37.8 – 38.9  Meconium passage ~24h  First urination ~8-9h  300mL/h  Recumbent ~30% of the time  Nurses 5-8x/hour (~80mL/feeding)

Signs of prematurity  Small  Short, silky hair coat  Floppy ears  Lax tendons  Unregulated homeostasis

What is the most important thing?  Colostrum  ~10% of foals’ body weight  20mL/kg in first 6 hours (1L) Maximum absorptive capacity by 8h Absorption of immunoglobulins decreased >18-24h

No colostrum...  = failure of passive transfer of immunity (FPT)  Problem?  Increased susceptibility to infections  Sepsis = most common cause of morbidity/mortality

How to diagnose FPT?  Measure immunoglobulin levels in serum  Various different tests  At AVC: Glutaraldehyde coagulation test Enzyme immunoassay (SNAP test)  When to test?  18-24h after birth

“I saw my foal nurse...” “... therefore it won’t have FPT...”  True or false?  Other causes of FPT?  Mare dripping milk prior to foaling  Poor colostrum quality Specific gravity <1.060

Treatment of FPT?  Bottle/tube feed colostrum  Plasma :http//

What is also important?  Disinfecting the umbilicus  0.5% chlorhexidine solution  Vitamin E / selenium

The majority of foals... ...do well and do not need assistance

Foals presented to the AVC  Are usually neonates (<2weeks)  End up being intensive care cases  FPT → sepsis  Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (‘dummy’ foals)  Other  Accompanied by mare of varying temperament  May need veterinary attention as well

Good management... ...relies on TEAM work  1-2 people for foal restraint  1-2 people for technical procedures  1-2 people to assist  1-2 people to take care of mare  Ideal for work-up: up to 8 people  Ideal for ‘foal watch’: 2 people

What would you be doing?  Restraining  Physical exams  Running blood work; testing for FPT  Administering drugs  Running IV-fluids  Feeding (bottle, nasogastric tube, monitoring nursing)  Monitoring oxygen  Physiotherapy

What you would not be doing  Taking blood  Exception: measuring glucose  Placing catheters  Passing nasogastric tubes

Do you have guidance?  In-house  Try to team you up with a 4 th year student  Floating night technician  Possibly dedicated technician  Resident/intern  On call  Coming in if crisis

What do we expect?  We know you probably don’t have experience... but this is a good way to get some...  We expect you  To be reliable

How is it organized?  Depends on the number of interested people  Lots of people  Make teams (team leader; # of people per team?)  Assign specific dates (Day? Week?) to a team  If team signed up, responsible for coverage!  Only a handful of people  Depends on willingness to commit Sign up for specific dates – responsible for coverage! Get called randomly and we take a chance...

So what happens if a foal comes in?  Most help needed between 11pm - 7am and Saturdays/Sundays  Usually ‘heads-up’  4 th year students on rotation involved  Work-up  Usually hectic  Once stabilized  Make plan

What’s in it for you?  Money? No.  Sleepless nights? Likely.  A good time? Hopefully.  Experience? Yes.  Coffee in the morning? Could be arranged

Not just interested in foals...?  We’re often looking for help with other cases  Colic cases  Other newborns (crias)  ‘Downer’ animals ...

Thank you