Essentially Normal Foal, ZERO IgG @24hrs!

[selah]

I have a foal who was born 3/08 afternoon, essentially term gestation (330 days), correct presentation, uneventful delivery (this mare's 2nd), foal stood & nursed within 2 hrs. and nursed frequently & apparently well. The mare bagged up well, and did not leak or lose colostrum prior to foaling.
My vet checked the foal immediately after birth, and came out to do an IgG snap test @ 24hrs. It showed no color whatsoever in the test dot...not even a faint tinge of color. My vet repeated it...still nothing! I transported the mare & foal to Ohio State shortly thereafter. We thought there very likely could have been something "wrong" with the snap test, but weren't taking any chances. The vets at Ohio State thought the same thing in view of a very normal physical exam, and a very normal CBC (including normal serum protein). They ran a serum IgG assay, and the results were truly zero! 2 liters of plasma raised it to 756...so a third was administered.

I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen. The vets said they have certainly seen levels of zero, but exclusively in foals where there is some other underlying problem, such as sepsis, prematurity, failure to nurse, mares with pre-foaling colostrum loss...
Sometimes it truly amazes me that these critters have survived as a species...I am grateful!!!

[Iron Horse Farm]

Thank God for the snap test! And an owner who was willing to take the foal to a teaching hospital!

Sometimes, for whatever reason, the mare just doesn't make any colostrum.

[Sugarbrook]

Yes, bless you for doing the igg test. I go balistic when one of my customers mare foals and they say it looks good so no use getting the vet out to ck it. At least the snap test is done right then and you know.
Hope your foal is going to be perfect. Let us know.

[Oakstable]

I had a foal five years ago with similar IgG results. Vet did two bags of plasma.

This foal as a yearling got caught on fencing and ripped off a big chunk of skin off his shoulder. Vet would not come out at 7 pm so it was 10:30 am the next day when the yearling was seen.

He survived this trauma just fine and I have always been amazed since his IgG test was so poor.

[Equilibrium]

Yes, bless you for doing the igg test. I go balistic when one of my customers mare foals and they say it looks good so no use getting the vet out to ck it. At least the snap test is done right then and you know.
Hope your foal is going to be perfect. Let us know.

I went into a psycho stint a couple of weeks ago when our foal was born. Was waiting for the vet to come out and do the igg test. Husband says, is this really necessary, I mean the foal is healthy as can be. Well, let's just say he won't be asking really stupid questions again!

We don't have snap tests here. I'm finding we don't have quite much of anything over here to be honest.

Anyway, I'm so glad your foal looks to be ok and that you got him and mom to vet clinic straight away. We need pics too, when he's finished his ordeal!

Terri

[Quinn]

Oliver was born April 24/99. Completely normal pregnancy, uneventful delivery and a 0 IgG score. Did 2 bags serum and he is now a beautiful 10 year old without any problems at all. After that experience, I would always insist on an IgG. I'm sure yours will be fine as well.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ballyduff

[Tiki]

I don't remember the numbers, but I have one mare (now retired and 24) who had 2 foals for me. Both had FPT and had to have transfusions. Interestingly, although both looked fine, they were very quiet foals. After the transfusion, they came to life!

[selah]

Thank you so much for your words of support, and affirming that your "zero" youngsters were fine with an artificial boost! I was wondering if anyone had it happen with more than one foal in a season (I hope not...I have one more coming...I'm a nervous wreck!!!)
Tiki, I also noticed that the transfusion seemed to give him an extra "boost"!

I hope this photobucket link works...this is my first experience with it! We named him "Bishop" due to the Bishop's Mitre-shaped star on his forehead. His dam's 2y.o. colt is jealously running the fenceline in the background!

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww246/Selahwayfarm/Bishop024.jpg

http://s724.photobucket.com/albums/ww246/Selahwayfarm/?action=view&current=Bishop025.jpg

[shea'smom]

Glad to hear he is feeling better! He is a cutie, too!

[YankeeLawyer]

This foal as a yearling got caught on fencing and ripped off a big chunk of skin off his shoulder. Vet would not come out at 7 pm so it was 10:30 am the next day when the yearling was seen.


I know this was not the point but I would fire that vet.

[NancyM]

I had one a couple years ago, normal presentation, no problems during birth, normal, apparently healthy, active foal. Mare has a SMALL milk bag. At nearly three weeks old, foal presents with slight hind leg lameness. Perhaps a slight strain? Next day, worse, but no visible source of pain or swelling. Called vet. Snap test done as a long shot possibility. Not zero, but way too low, with NO signs of infection OR problems for THAT long. Amazing. Knocked him down, and ran plasma into him taken off one of our other horses. And antibiotics of course. Full recovery.

Sometimes I do a snap test, sometimes not. But it's a risk to not do one, because one can never tell for sure. Since then, I supplimented that mare's foals with colostrum off another mare who has lots, as a pre-emptive move.

[Kyzteke]

I'm sure most of you are aware of this, but I figure better safe than sorry.

When giving the plasma it must be given VERY slowly...1 bag over 30-45 minutes. A good friend of mine and fellow breeder lost a lovely colt during the transfusion when he suffered a reaction.

I'm assuming all vets know this, but some get complacent (her's did). I had to give plasma to one foal and we took 40 minutes to run one bag. Just like a blood transfusion for people, I guess.

[Jesse'sMom]

Wow! thats crazy! I never heard of that!
How is he doing?

[alliekat]

Glad to hear he is doing better. He sure is a cutie!!!

[Jessi P]

What a cutie pie!!

[camohn]

My only zero did have pre foaling milk streaming/colostrum loss......thankfully there are the wonders of modern medicine! The same mare streamed milk again in 08 but not as badly and that foal snap tested as borderline on the IGG....so it's a mare we need to watch for sure.

[Equine Reproduction]

It does happen. It can be because the mare didn't produce any colostrum or that the foal just failed to absorb the antibodies. Mares that were on fescue and have been treated with domperidone will have poor quality or no colostrum, so be aware of that if you are dealing with a mare that has been exposed to fescue.

With regards to IgG tests, Exodus Breeders has a stall side assay that is quick and easy. It is a simple pass or fail, so there's no way to know if the foal completely failed passive transfer or if it received any antibody coverage, but it at least will alert you if there is a problem. And, it's CHEAP! http://www.exodusbreeders.com/SearchResults_1.jsp

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
To subscribe to our Newsletters, go to:
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?p=oi&m=1102379037302

[foggybok]

is now 21 years old :)

Same story, nothing abnormal except the IgG test. Had 2 transfusions in the first days of her life and did fine.

[selah]

It occurs to me that I used "Bio Sponge" for the first time this foaling season, after reading about it here on this forum in the thread about "what is in your foaling kit?". I followed the instructions, and administered the first dose between 6 & 8 hours after the foal first nursed the mare.

Now I find on the "Bio Sponge" website, on page 2 in small print, that "This delay is necessary beccause the results of recent in-vitro studies indicate that "Bio Sponge" can reduce the concentration of IgG in mare colostrum. It is important to note, howver, that no adverse effects on colostral antibody transfer have been reported in 11 years of clinical use of Bio Sponge"

http://www.equineservices.com/images/files/Bio%20Sponge%20for%20the%20Intestinal%20Health%20&%20Well-Being%20of%20the%20Foal.pdf

Now I'm wondering if it's possible that I unwittingly created this problem myself by trying to fix that which was not broken:(

[Tornado Run Farm]

I only give Bio-Sponge when it's needed, not routinely. At 8 hr, I'm still crossing my fingers everything is coming "out" okay. :)

With my last foal, at about 12hrs I was administering a mild soapy 2nd enema because the filly was still straining a little bit. I don't think I've ever had to give Bio-Sponge within the 1st day. For me, most of the time needing it corresponds with foal heat -- more like day 7-12.

[AdAblurr02]

Kathy, the link is invalid - can you please let us know the name of the product?
Kate

<SNIP>
With regards to IgG tests, Exodus Breeders has a stall side assay that is quick and easy. It is a simple pass or fail, so there's no way to know if the foal completely failed passive transfer or if it received any antibody coverage, but it at least will alert you if there is a problem. And, it's CHEAP! http://www.exodusbreeders.com/SearchResults_1.jsp

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
To subscribe to our Newsletters, go to:
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?p=oi&m=1102379037302

[can't re-]

See if this one works:
Exodus IgG (http://www.exodusbreeders.com/SPD/420--4820000-1096379265.jsp)

It's called IMMUNO-CHEK-G