Please hold our newbie hands!

[madamlb]

amastrike- that’s just it. I actually meant to put that with my post, she’s definitely bigger in the flesh. Photos just don’t capture it or do her justice! In everything I take she also looks downhill with her big belly, you’d swear she was a quarterhorse in some!

Ruby’s udder is unreliable. She’s been bagged up since 290 days and leaking milk on and off since 305 (hence the drugs) it seems slightly bigger and is quite hard. She LOVES it being touched/scratched whatever. i think the prospect of being milked would send her into a frenzy. Hussy!

And that’s adorable about the cat. A friend’s labrador jumped onto my pony once … seriously … I was riding at the time, and I would have been about 12, doggy comes out to say hello jumps up to lick me and pony, then jumped up! Shows the value of my beautiful pony. He just took it in his stride.

Laurieace- that was very very scary to watch, what an amazing job you did. And amazing teamwork. Praying for a healthy bub for you, and that there are no dystopic births for anyone this year. The prospect is my worst nightmare

[JB]

@amastrike;5444228

Tonight I was petting and fussing over the mare, and next thing I know, there’s a darned cat clinging to her blanket and climbing his way up to sit/walk/roll/lay on her back. WTF?? Good mare didn’t object, not that I would have blamed her if she did. But that’s a first. I’ve never seen that cat climb onto a horse before.

:lol::lol::lol:

Would SO loved to have seen that!

[amastrike]

Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll do it again :rolleyes:. He’s a very strange little cat. A few days ago I was cleaning the stall and he jumped up and grabbed onto the back of my jeans . I’ll have to keep my camera handy.

[JB]

Is he young? All the kittens I’ve known/had were masters at climbing up legs (even when you had shorts on :eek:), and continued that habit until the got to the year-ish range.

Catnip update, Day 327/328 today
Yesterday the left boobie was a little filled in. This morning the right one caught up :eek: But they were so flat and floppy before that “a little filled in” isn’t much LOL Yes, I know it doesn’t have to BE much to mean something.

Her vulva was, for the first time, looking a wee bit slack. Nothing alarming. Still light pink inside, just a wee bit slack.

[amastrike]

I’m not sure how old he is… maybe 8-10 months?

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=44530875&l=5ff59cabd9&id=15700421

Mare says “I hate you.” Kitty says “What?”

[ponygirl]

What a cute photo and a cute kitty!

[amastrike]

Today’s topic: Deworming.

My ponies are due for an ivermectin product in March. Now here’s my issue… Baby is due in April, and you’re suppose to deworm with ivermectin around foaling time, right? So is it bad to use two ivermectin products a month and a half apart? I used pyrantel in January. Also, I’m not sure about PowerPacking with a nursing foal. I’m planning on calling my vet tomorrow, but I figure I’ll get some extra opinions :).

[JB]

No, don’t do ivermectin 6 weeks apart.

Do a FEC before you deworm. You’ll want to target tapeworms anyway in the Spring, so that would be a good time for Equimax.

You want the FEC before you deworm to see what sort of load, if any, the mare has after that Jan Pyrantel (which was mostly a waste unless you double-dosed it for tapeworms). It won’t really affect the Spring deworming, but it’s very useful for comparison with the next FEC.

After she foals, you’ll be in the Spring deworming position - plain ivermectin if you double-dosed pyrantel in Jan, or Equimax if you didn’t. You can then do it right after foaling and kill 2 birds with one stone.

[JB]

Oh, I forgot about the kitty pic! I can’t see FB from work, which is when I read about him, so just saw it. Cute!!!

[About_Time1]

Amastrike… I have read that you should deworm within 12 hours after foaling. Have you heard this? I read in The Complete Book of Foaling that this will prevent the foal from ever getting certain worms in it’s whole lifetime. You may want to ask your vet about this to decide when the best time to worm next is…so as not to overdo it.

[amastrike]

Video of the kitty! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31NA6TmnSnc

I think owning a horse was a lot easier 50 years ago. So much less stuff to worry about back then.

[JB]

No, it doesn’t prevent them from getting certain worms ever

The deworming with in 12 hours is to prevent the passage of intestinal threadworms via the milk.

[amastrike]

281 days

Pictures don’t show how fat she is. One of these days I’m going to find my real camera. Also… OMG. 281 days. So basically, in three weeks blind panic sets in.

Kitty contemplated climbing up her sans blanket. I told him no, so instead he climbed up my shirt.

[JB]

:lol: :lol: at kitty

I can’t find the usb cable for my camera But we have a pretty large udder now that does not go down from walking around all day :eek: Her vulva is still not particularly elongated/relaxed, but it’s a wee bit droopier than normal. However, I honestly have no idea how much of that is due to “relaxing” from the Caslick’s being removed

Absolutely no hint of milk though, even when I try to express some.

Day 333 now :eek:

Friday is a New Moon. That sounds like a good time to get this party started

[Auburn]

I have heard of several mares finally letting go when bad weather had passed.

We had a tornado warning, while I was sleeping in the barn, the night before Belle foaled.

The next day, my Vet checked her about 1 PM and said that she still had not bagged up or waxed, so probably had about a week to go. By 4 PM that same day, she had waxed up, her vulva was relaxed and her croup had started to sink a bit. She started the getting restless around 1 AM and had her colt on the ground and nursing by 3 AM.

Last night, we had some bad storms here. Did you?

[JB]

No storms here last night, but what you got last night is headed here today! VERY windy now, clouds coming in, calling for severe t-storms later today and somewhat into tonight.

[madamlb]

good luck everyone still waiting!

The stunning Ruby delivered a small colt on Saturday at 2am. I hope you all get the birth experience I got- just me and my mare, everything going perfectly, I opened the amnion and cleared his passages then sat back to watch as my mare did everything perfectly. She passed the after birth immediately after the foal and whole, and the two of them bonded immediately.
He’s a beauty.

The flip side:
He was born at 324 days and she had no colostrum for him. We tubed him with 300mls then bottle fed a further 200mls before running the IgG which came back very low so he had a plasma transfusion yesterday and will have another IgG this morning and probably another plasma transfusion. Otherwise he’s really wonderful. He’s quite small but he’ll catch up. He was born outside in the foaling yard but will be inside his nice warm stall for the first week or so just because of his little immune system and he is quite prem. This is supposed to be an Australian summer but it rained all night when he was born and hasn’t stopped raining since so I’m glad he and mum are cozy inside.

She’s the best mother you can imagine and doesn’t mind anyone touching him or hugging him (or putting needles in him) but is so wonderful with him herself.

This has been the most stressful exhausting few days of my life and I wouldn’t have made it without my vet and my amazing friends who have done everything from stay up all night with me, to bring dinner over for us to bringing her kilos of apples.

It’s an experience and a half and was just magical patting and kissing my mare as she gave birth. So good luck everyone!!!

[JenRose]

[QUOTE=madamlb;5454554]
He was born at 324 days…[/QUOTE]

The sentence above really got me…my mare is at 323 days today! :eek:

After waiting anxiously for so very long, blind panic has now set in and I am not ready for the foal to come. I secretly wish that I will sleep through the foaling and wake up just as its all over with momma and foal healthy and bonding.

I have my stall cam up but am hesitant to put it on mare stare because I have visions of running around the stall in a nightgown and rubber boots while looking up at the camera with a “deer in the headlights” gaze. Not sure if I want to put that out there, ya know?! :o

Once I recover from this one, my 2nd mare is due mid April. LAWD help me!!!

Madamlb - so glad your mare is well and will be jingling for the little one. Sounds like you have everything under control. :yes:

[cripplecreekfrm]

my mare is at 340 days today and looks like she is in no hurry to pop the little one out. Hopefully it will happen soon as I really want to get a full nights sleep!!

[JB]

jen, you can make your cam private, and just share the link with only those you want watching That’s what I’ve done. I MAY change it to public but not sure.

madam - I’m sorry you had to go the plasma route, but happy to hear things are great now!