IGG result "between 400 and 800". What would you do?

[Cassy_s_Mom]

My mare foaled last night!!! It was perfect and little Burlesque (Lux) was up quickly. However little Lux was not interested in the milk bar when she was born. She was too busy cantering and prancing around the stall She did drink after an hour and a half after birth but at that point mama was streaming milk for a little while. Not positive how long. Trying to avoid an after hours vet call we did the IGG at 11.5 hours after drinking. It came back “between 400 and 800”. The vet says their test isn’t any more accurate than that but they want to see it above 800. We’re pulling another IGG tomorrow at 11:30.

Would you be looking to do plasma? I just have NO experience with this and my vet is a decent vet but not a breeding vet or sport horse vet by any stretch.

Thanks for being there!!! I’ll post a photo in the foal announcement category now.

[Dressage_Diva333]

Under 800, yes I would do plasma. I will say however, that I normally do the test at 24hrs. Test again, it may be better.

[Dutch]

I had a foal last year register the same last year, 400-800. Foal was slow to find the milk bar also. Clinically, everything else was just fine. I chose to do a plasma transfer, just to be on the safe side. These antibodies from the colostrum need to last the foal 6 months. Plasma transfer doesn’t come cheap, but it is much less expensive than losing a foal. I also had the vet do another IgG a day or two after the plasma transfer. Wait until tomorrow’s test before deciding, in case the number improves.

[Tiki]

11.5 hours is too soon to test. I would test at 18 - 24 hours and then if it’s low I would do a plasma transfusion. It can be hard on the foal at first, but it can be life saving in the long run.

[LisaO]

I had a foal that started crashing at 16 hrs after birth. He was very strong at birth - was my fastest ever to get on his feet and motor around. I was shocked at his rapid decline. IGG later tested below 600. Ended up in the hospital for several days with plasma and IV antibiotics (can’t remember off the top of my head what the pathogenic culprit was). He is fine now, but that was a chunk of a vet bill and had we waited at all to take him in I think we would have lost him.

[ticofuzzy]

11 hours is early to test. I would wait a while longer and test again. You should have better results closer to 24 hours.

[TrueColours]

Any vet that Ive used wont test before 24 hours. I agree that 11 hours is too soon. If it still reads low at 24 hours, I’d go the plasma route

Good luck!

[elizabeth_Callahan]

If it is between 400 and 800 at 12 hours, it will probably be fine, as you have another 12 hrs for absorption. Retest @ 24, prob fine

[clint]

I would retest at 24 hours and if the IgG value is still under 800, I would do plasma. I have had this situation before, and for the second test we did the more comprehensive blood test rather than the field test for IgG. When the results showed low, we immediately did the plasma transfusion.

[JB]

I would test well before 24 hours, especially if you can quickly get some outside colostrum. Getting more colostrum and giving that if she’s low still gives you a great chance at getting high enough before the window closes. If you wait til 24 hours to test again you can only do plasma at that point, which is more $$ and a bit riskier.