Do you give your foals a routine antibiotic shot after they are born? If no, why not?
No…they just arrived from what should be a sterile environment and got colostrum from mom which is absorbed, with the antibodies to the environment the mom has been in, within 24 hours. Antibiotic use for no proven infection is just not a good policy in my book…a single dose is useless and only gives any bacteria a little tickle…making for more resistant bacteria. If you aren’t going to give enough long enough to KILL bacteria you are wasting antibiotic AND building up resistance in the ones you tickle.
Not unless they are born outside in the wet muck when I planned on having them born inside a clean, dry stall. Knock on wood it hasn’t happened to me yet.
Giving antibiotics when a foal doesn’t need it can build up a tolerance. Then when your foal really is ill - it won’t work.
I have NEVER in 25 years of breeding ever heard of giving a “routine antibiotic shot” when they are born. I don’t even know of any antibiotic that is administered in a one shot dose. Who told you this?
Overuse of antibiotics is the reason behind all the new strains of bugs that are resistant to antibiotics. Emphatically NO to routine antibiotics for foals. Reserve them for when they are needed.
[QUOTE=Home Again Farm;5553774]
Overuse of antibiotics is the reason behind all the new strains of bugs that are resistant to antibiotics. Emphatically NO to routine antibiotics for foals. Reserve them for when they are needed.[/QUOTE]
That!
what everyone has said. This goes double for people. Antibiotics are WAY over prescribed by American MDs.
My vet likes to give a “routine” selenium/Vit E shot to foals, since our area is so deficient, but I’ve had mine go without it and done fine.
There are single-shot antibiotics often used post-surgery for longer-term protection.
If the mare as given her inoculations at least 30 days prior to foaling and the resulting foal had a good IGG blood test done 12 hours post nursing for the first time - what Vet would want to start antibiotics? And without knowing if there even was a pathogen and what it was - what would they use?
This is so idiotic and puts the animal at risk in the future.
The reason for the question is that a breeder in Holland i know who consistently produces very high quality foals that develop into problem-free horses gives a 2 day antibiotic dose to every newborn foal, which also was recommended in “Blessed are the brood mares”. I was curious as to why this seems different from what seems to be US standard practice not to provide a preventive dose.
Giving a shot of PPG at birth, along with tetanus antitoxin is about 40 year old medicine. You may be seeing a long time breeding family doing something because “my grandfather did it, so I will”. Some very old vets are also not with modern medicine, but my old vet who is now about 90 didn’t do either, and I am thankful for what he taught me, and that he kept up to date with 20th century medicine.
[QUOTE=Home Again Farm;5553774]
Overuse of antibiotics is the reason behind all the new strains of bugs that are resistant to antibiotics. Emphatically NO to routine antibiotics for foals. Reserve them for when they are needed.[/QUOTE]
Agree, we never would give a foal a round of antibiotics unless specifically indicated.
Madigan et al. published giving Gent/ PPG antibiotics for the first 3 days of a foals life. It greatly reduced problems in foals for a broad spectrum of infection related issues, esp. septicemia. I have done it in the past with some foals without complication. If I have ANY foaling issues I institute the protocol (difficult birthing, retained placenta, long time to nurse, poor specific gravity of milk, etc). If I have a normal birth in a clean environment and good IgG levels at 12 hours I usually do not. I always have the injections ready to give though if needed as it is important to give asap if worried.
I may be slightly off in this quote but I remember learning that a study was done (in Japan maybe??) where foals were not allowed any colostrum but given the 3 day antibiotic protocol and all survived.
Bluehof- I agree in giving it if there are ANY foaling issues as a preventative measure. So no, maybe not to all foals, where everything went perfectly well, but definitely to a foal where there was any kind of pregnancy/foaling issue.
My vet has several times suggested that I do a tetanus, and a vit E/selenium shot for the newborn.
I have resisted, as my mares are on a good diet, and receive pre-foaling shots, making good colustrum.
He also advises a single shot of long-lasting penicillin, given within the 1st 48 hours of life, to almost any foal, to guard against naval-ill.
Any thoughts on either of these procedures??
[QUOTE=Sunnydays;5555130]
My vet has several times suggested that I do a tetanus, and a vit E/selenium shot for the newborn.
I have resisted, as my mares are on a good diet, and receive pre-foaling shots, making good colustrum.
He also advises a single shot of long-lasting penicillin, given within the 1st 48 hours of life, to almost any foal, to guard against naval-ill.
Any thoughts on either of these procedures??[/QUOTE]
If the mare receives tetanus in her pre-foaling vaccines, then there is no need to vaccinate the foal. In fact, the vaccine probably will not do any good, b/c you will have interference with the maternal antibodies.
I also have a real problem with prophylactic antibiotics. Antibiotics have been so overused that most of the general population see them as completely benign and safe. However, you always run the risk of causing diarrhea with any antibiotic use. Also, kidneys of newborn foals are easy to injure, and some antibiotics are hard on the kidneys. Plus you can have reactions at the injections sites, etc. Are these rare issues; for the most part, yes. However they can and do happen, so why risk it if the foal is otherwise healthy? Not to mention the big picture of causing antibiotic resistance in bacteria populations, etc.
As far as navel ill, dipping the umbilicus immediately after birth is the number one thing you can do to prevent those types of issues.
Pray they aren’t allergic to penicillin.
Can someone give additional information on the selenium/Vit E shot for foals. I am sure that is something ours could use as we lack grass on the farm. Know risk?
First of all I don’t believe anyone who says - “and that breeder has never had any problems with their foals or horses”. That’s just plain hooey. If you are in this business for any length of time - statistically you will face issues. PERIOD END FINISH
[QUOTE=ise@ssl;5555287]
First of all I don’t believe anyone who says - “and that breeder has never had any problems with their foals or horses”. That’s just plain hooey. If you are in this business for any length of time - statistically you will face issues. PERIOD END FINISH[/QUOTE]
DITTO.
He isn’t going to tell YOU that he has issues. That’s just bad business sense. Guys sounds like a stone age loon. He needs to undate his “book knowledge” a bit.
