A good day for a little foal

The morning started with an odd status report from the vet. She felt the foal had taken some steps back and the frustration was evident in her voice. “He is not responding to his mother at all. He has resorted to running from her again. He is not feeding well from the bottle.” The whole thing was pessimistic and not helpful. I started looking for answers myself. What would I do if Tech kicked him out because he’s perfectly healthy, but still needs “physical therapy”? How could I take care of a foal with a nasal tube for feeding? I worried all morning.

I returned the vet’s call about 11am and spoke to her personally. This was a totally different attitude. “He’s doing great!”, she said. “He is drinking well from the bottle now”. The vet had a new plan – skip a meal, and get him really hungry. Then feed him on the bottle and move the bottle closer to mom. The plan was for a 1pm feeding. I headed over at 12:45.

In a nutshell, this plan worked very well. The foal was very hungry and pounced on the bottle. Looks like the ability to suck is improving exponentially! He drank 400ml and was very happy. The vet student and vet techs held the bottle down by Cori’s teats. At first he avoided her, but the lure of the milk was too great and he got pretty close, without distress.

After work I headed over again, and told the evening vet tech of the tip I got from Regine Brockway. Put syrup on the nipple so the foal would associate the smell with milk. Once he is conditioned, put syrup on the teat and see if he transitions the association from nipple to teat. The vet tech was enthusiatic to try this. He said the foal had consumed 500ml of milk at his last feeding and even licked the teat a little. Excellent! I think our little foal is on the right path.