I had written another article for this issue of the Journal but at the last minute I decided to write this one in response to the many, many calls I’ve received in the last few months about certain problem issues of the newborn foal. In the past I have written about prenatal infections, diarrhea and joint ill of foals. One can look up these subjects in back issues of DHJ.

This spring, more than ever before, people are asking me to help them with foal problems, which can generally be lumped into three classes. They are: How to take care of the navel and how to handle the “leaky” or “wet” navel; the constipated foal; and the foal that is slow to nurse and the mare which will not take its foal.

Let’s start with the navel problem:

If the foal is born normal and healthy, the proper care of the navel is very essential for the continuing health of the animal.

It is very nice to be present at the birth of the foal. It is best to leave the mare lie, if she has delivered lying down, for at least ten minutes. The placenta contains a lot of the foal’s blood and it will drain back into the foal through the intact umbilical cord. If you are present you will see a section of the cord, about 2 to 3 inches from the body wall, begin to shrink. Eventually as the mare and foal go apart, the cord will break at this area. At that time the part of the cord left on the foal should be dipped in iodine or some other suitable antiseptic.

There has been a movement afoot today not to use the 7% tincture of iodine that has been used for many years for this purpose. I believe you are making a mistake if you subscribe to this non-use of tincture of iodine. I pour an amount of 7% tincture of iodine into a styrofoam cup and place the stump of the navel into it and push the cup up against the belly of the foal. I soak the navel for 30 to 60 seconds. You need the bacteriostatic and cauterizing effects of the tincture of iodine. Yes, I said cauterizing! We all know that iodine will destroy many species of bacteria. The tincture of 7% iodine will also cauterize or burn which is very instrumental in preventing and treating the “wet” or “leaky” navel. Another name for the same condition is more scientific and it is called a Pervious Urachus or Patent Urachus.

The urachus is a small tube which runs from the fetal bladder out through the navel cord into the allantois. The fetal kidneys are working and the urine is excreted by this process. When the umbilical cord is severed, the little tube usually closes. However, in some cases, it remains partially or fully open. Therefore the end of the navel cord may be wet or soiled with urine. If the tube is quite open, urine may drip from the end of the cord or in some cases, the foal will openly urinate from the navel cord.

This “leaky” or “wet” navel is relatively common. The first good dipping with the tincture of iodine will prevent many of them. Some of the navels need to be cauterized once daily for several days with the iodine solution, silver nitrate or a powdered alum paste. Pickling lime is a form of alum and can be purchased at almost any pharmacy as well as silver nitrate sticks.

The worst cases are the urachi which remain open so as to allow the constant dripping of urine or the passage of a stream as the foal actually urinates through its navel.

Do not tie off the remnant of the navel cord in these cases. Daily cauterizing with either the iodine, silver nitrate or alum will take care of many that drip. The worst ones that pass a stream of urine will have to be cauterized with Nitric Acid or a very small red-hot wire or iron applied just to the tip of the cord.

If these treatments fail in the most severe cases, the animal must undergo surgical repair of the navel stump. I do this operation routinely on the premises of the clients and has been successful. The operation takes about 20 minutes.

If the newborn foal has a “wet” or “leaky” navel it should be placed immediately on antibiotic therapy to reduce the chance of so-called “navel” or “joint” disease syndrome. Keep the patient on antibiotics for a few days after the navel returns to normal.

The constipated foal:

Newborn foals will generally be constipated with a meconial mass, which may be just in a small area of the rectum or may extend several feet into the colon.

If the foal passes normal appearing feces soon after birth it may still be constipated and show symptoms of tail switching and straining 3 or 4 hours later.

I advise everyone to give their newborn foal an enema as soon as the animal is up and about. Any of the disposable enemas will work but the best is to employ the use of the human enema bag with its connecting tube to the part which is inserted into the rectum. These can be bought reasonably and can be washed and used many times. A warm soapy solution will work very well. Repeated enemas may be needed to get all of the impacted material free and out of the intestine.

Occasionally drugs have to be administered orally to relieve a very bad case. One should leave that therapy in the hands of a competent veterinarian.

Now let’s take up the foal that is slow to nurse and the mare which may not want to nurse or “own” its foal:

A normal, healthy draft foal will generally nurse within 3 hours after it is born. I have noticed mule foals seem to be much faster about nursing, usually accomplishing the feat in 20 minutes or so after “hitting the ground.” If the foal has not nursed in 3 hours it should be checked as well as the mare.

If no problems are found with the foal, and the mare is willing, the foal should be hand fed. It is very important to get the colostrum into the foal by the time it is 6 hours old. I advise using a lamb nipple on a bottle. Punch a larger hole in the end of the nipple so milk will run out of it or drip out of the opening very fast. Milk the mare into a cup or jar and pour that into the bottle with the nipple.

The foal is fed and when it realizes the milk is coming from the nipple, the nipple is then placed near the mare’s teat and an effort is made thereby to coax the foal to grasp the teat. This is painstaking work but it will pay off in the end.

If one is milking the mare and feeding the foal with a bottle it should be fed every hour, day and night. If you are using any one of several mare milk replacers, the foal can be fed every two hours and the feedings gradually reduced to every 4 hours. Follow the directions closely on the product you buy.

Goat’s milk is the only natural milk which can be substituted for the mare’s product.

The following formula is one I have used and had my clients use:

* 4 ounces of evaporated milk
* 4 ounces of warm water
* To this add 1 teaspoon of Karo light or dark syrup.
* If the Karo syrup has too much of a laxative effect on the foal, substitute a teaspoon of limewater in its place for several days.

How much do you feed?–All the foal will drink. That would be the same as if it were nursing the mare.

What if the foal can nurse but the mare’s udder is swollen and painful to the touch. A mare with this problem will often kick at the foal when it tries to nurse. I like to give these mares 4 cc of oxytocin and, after a few minutes, milk them out. Usually due to the swollen udder the teats appear to be small and it is difficult to milk them. I use a human breast pump which can be purchased for a small fee at any pharmacy. It works wonderfully well to milk out a mare. By using this pump you reduce the trauma and irritation to the teats. Generally, after the mare has been milked out, the udder swelling will go down and the foal can nurse.

Occasionally, and this is rare, a mare will not “own” or take its foal. It will ignore it or try to keep it from nursing. To overcome this state of the mare’s mind, I used to restrain the mare next to a wall so she could not move forward or back. A pole placed along her side kept her next to the wall. The foal could then nurse and after about three days the mare could be turned loose and all parties were happy with the results.

Now I have a different way to accomplish the same results in a much shorter period of time. I place the mare and foal in a large box stall, pen or small building. I put a dog in there with them. The mare regards the dog as a predator and will chase it. Leave the door open because the dog will make a run for it at the first sign of aggression by the mare. With this simple treatment that costs nothing, I have found these mares will accept and protect their foals almost immediately. If not, the dog is reintroduced right away.

So there you have some answers to problems that plagued a number of people this foaling season. A breeder waits almost a year for a foal and when it arrives, all things must go well or the whole affair is a terrific let down. The solutions I’ve provided will work.

Just remember–leave the door open–for the dog!