[QUOTE=Sugarbrook;8720815]
This decision to put the baby down makes no sense to me AT ALL!!! They did not even give the baby one full day to try to live. I am sorry for you, OP, but this vet seriously needs to find another job.[/QUOTE]
I totally agree. I sure would have given it a bit longer. Lots of babies are born contracted, it takes some time to access what is going on.
we had a mare foal with no udder/milk whatsoever this year–it did come in right after she foaled but we were EYES ON. I sat with her the day she foaled and seriously was not giving much physical indication she was ready–her behavior though was all there but subtle–very subtle.
I am so sorry to learn they put down the foal. If you get any information on why they made that decision, please post an update.
How is the mare?
I doubt I will find out anything more. I got the text around 9am this morning. All it said was that he was tired from trying to stand all night and that his legs weren’t working so they put him down. I do not know if they ran any tests on him to determine any other issues or how bad the contracted legs were at all as no one informed me of anything. I am very sad that my stallion’s first baby ended this way.
I was disappointed no one called to tell me or explain further so I could have a better understanding of everything.
From what I was told of the mare… she is fine but distressed as she does not have her foal and was calling for it frantically. I do not know how they handled putting the foal down with her at all.
That all sounds so awful and bizarre. I am so sorry for you, the foal, and the poor mare 
Wow. This all would probably make me want to move. far far away. I agree awful, and bizarre.
So sorry for the heartbreak for you and for sharing the timeline with us. We all learn from shared experiences. Maybe the MOs will able to tell you something more specific. I sure wish that there would have been a better vet somewhere to be able to give both of you a better explanation of the situation.
I don’t think it was necessarily a bad thing that they euthed the foal after only one day as it sounds like there were likely other problems going on beside the contracture. I do think if everything really transpired as the OP claims then the vet is incompetent and/or deceitful. Locking a mare in a stall for weeks to prevent fescue exposure is not the standard of care by any stretch and if they did not have suitable facilities where they could provide the standard of care they should have referred her elsewhere. The whole thing stinks of a money grab to me.
The order of events did transpire in the way I have described them. I did my best to remain objective as this is my first experience with foaling and I did not know what was normal and what wasn’t. I came here to get feedback on how everything was being handled and if everyone here had been “oh yea… that is how things are normally handled…” then I would have felt much better but from what everyone here has said… this is very much a messed up situation.
This is not the first bad experience that I personally have had with this vet. I do not care for this vet and do not use them for myself. The mare’s owner, however, only really uses THIS vet. I was not in a position to tell her what to do with her own horse so I was left with just having to go along with whatever she decided to do. I was willing to trust things with her thinking well she has been using this vet for a long time and they have a relationship that maybe things will work out. I feel that the situation turned into a control issue and that the vet was maybe too pessimistic with everything which never gave the owner a chance to have hope.
Personally… I think I would have packed up my horse and baby and gone to get a second opinion at least and given the baby AT LEAST a full day to sort itself out. It probably only got about 16hrs tops. I have not been told anything other than his legs were contracted and he was unable to stand up as to what was really wrong with him. I would imagine if they had found something more concerning I would have been told this as the reason why he was put down. I feel like I have been stuck in a nightmare I can’t wake up from.
All I can do now is move on. I am very sad and disappointed in how things turned out. I can’t do anything about it but learn from it. I have my own mare to focus on for a healthy birth next Spring and that is what I am going to choose to focus on from here on out.
This is just utterly infuriating! When a foal won’t lay down and is exhausted (it happens, they don’t know that they can get back up) you LAY him down so he can sleep and rest.
I think the costs of having to tube the colostrum at $200 a feeding was just too much on top of everything else.
Such ignorant incompetence! Colostrum should NOT be $200 a feeding! Feed the right amount ONCE, get the IgG test done, do another feeding if it’s too low, and be done with it! O. M. G.
I hope you have all this stuff written down, and the owner as well. I think this vet needs to be written up and pressed to be disbarred or whatever it is that happens to them for sheer negligence. Good grief :no: 
I read that as tired from trying to stand. Like he never could not that he wouldn’t lay down. I know the OP thinks she knows everything but I have to imagine there are some things she hasn’t been privvy to. The whole dished head thing sets off alarm bells in my head.
i’m sorry for your ordeal, OP, and for the sad ending.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8725160]
I read that as tired from trying to stand. Like he never could not that he wouldn’t lay down. I know the OP thinks she knows everything but I have to imagine there are some things she hasn’t been privvy to. The whole dished head thing sets off alarm bells in my head.[/QUOTE]
You’re right, I re-read her post and yes. But still, damnit - how many people have spend hours and days helping foals up to stand, given tet to relax those tendons, and at least given the foal a fighting chance?
Maybe he was dysmature, dummy, etc, but it sounds like the vet was already so incompetent even if she’d wanted to help she wouldn’t have or wouldn’t have known how. Makes me furious :mad:
I had a foal born with no eyes who also had a very dished head but that dish appearance was actually more of a domed forehead. I didn’t do a necropsy but something definitely wasn’t right inside that head. It was heartbreaking to put him down but was necessary in my guys case.
[QUOTE=zoehesed;8721799]
All I can do now is move on. I am very sad and disappointed in how things turned out. I can’t do anything about it but learn from it. I have my own mare to focus on for a healthy birth next Spring and that is what I am going to choose to focus on from here on out.[/QUOTE]
I am so sad to learn of the outcome for the foal. Like many, I have been following this while scratching my head, puzzled by the recommendations the vet was making. It might not make the loss of the foal any easier, but it does sound like he had several issues. Contracted tendons alone are treatable but with the small size, malformed head, perhaps he had other congenital defects. I am truly sorry, though, as I know there is so much excitement and anticipation with a first foal.
Best of luck to you with your own mare and I am glad you have another vet to help with her care.
Just out of curiosity as I have no experience with costs for things like this… what is the ballpark cost for colostrum in general?? What SHOULD it cost?
One can purchase Seramune for oral administration for $112 from Heartland Vet Supply, just as an example.
http://www.heartlandvetsupply.com/p-4214-seramune-igg-oral-liquid.aspx
I had this on hand for each of my foalings.
So sorry about the sad outcome. :no:
I am still puzzled about the fact that the foal was so small - and yet it took 3 people to get him untangled and delivered?
I am sure there were other factors involved in the decision to euth as those contracted tendons can be worked with and loosened up… I have sat in the straw many a night over the years working on tight tendons… massaging, slowly bending…
For the other extreme, I foaled out a colt who had been laying at an odd angle in the uterus - his back legs were so badly windswept that I had to help him up and down and hold his hips so he could be steady enough to nurse. After a couple of days he had figured out how to manage his wonky back end… and by 2 months he was straight and correct. Legs can be resilient.
[QUOTE=zoehesed;8725743]
Just out of curiosity as I have no experience with costs for things like this… what is the ballpark cost for colostrum in general?? What SHOULD it cost?[/QUOTE]
We collect and store our own colostrum, and have provided it free of charge to foals in need through our veterinarian. That said, the Kentucky colostrum bank offers colostrum at $125 a pint.
Not the updates I wanted to hear. I am so very sorry.
[QUOTE=zoehesed;8725743]
Just out of curiosity as I have no experience with costs for things like this… what is the ballpark cost for colostrum in general?? What SHOULD it cost?[/QUOTE]
It’s been 5 years, but I’m pretty sure I bought a pint from R&R for about $200, and my vet administered it right off the bat before my foal even stood up, and that was that. IgG test about 10 hours later was perfect, and that was that.
There was enough left over that if the IgG had been low, he could have had more. In fact, there was enough left that she bought the unused portion from me for her own use.
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