Foal Diarreha

Our three week old Filly has been having a moderate amount of diarreha that goes down her leg and seems to be irritating her skin. She is active and nurses frequently. She has been chomping moms hay for a week or more now and we just want to make sure she is ok. Is this normal? Do we need to call a vet? We are a little concerned as this is our first foal. Thank you!

At three weeks since birth - the mare could likely be in heat. That can cause scours in the foal.

Foal scour isn't uncommon, but I'm not really sure she should still be having it. The diarrhea can scald her legs and buttocks.

Some foals are allergic to their dam's milk, which can cause recurring scour. You might want to get a vet to check her out, just in case.

I've seen hundreds of foals, and almost all of them had some amounts of diarrhea. It can happen when the mare comes back into heat, or just adjusting to the new foods being offered. If it doesn't clear up in a week or so I'd get it checked out, or if it looks like an unusual color or consistency. We used to give the foals some 'magic pink goo' if they had diarrhea for more than a week or so, this is all that your vet would do (most likely). But it never hurts to get checked out if you feel in your gut that it's serious!

Foal diarrhea is common and can have different causes. When did it start? Foal heat diarrhea is most common and usually starts at about one week and resolves by about 2 weeks. It's not a cause for concern. Other types, parasitic (was the mare dewormed immediately prior to foaling?), nutritional (what's the mare eating as well), viral or bacterial all tend to show up later are are more urgent to get on top of. The foal's attitude and eating pattern are important to monitor. If there's any concern, you should be having this conversation with the vet.

Wash the baby's bum and slather on some Desitin to prevent scald

OK, I know a little is normal, with her transitioning to hay from milk and everything. Her temp is 101.2 I have a call in to my vet to hopefully come out and look at her today. I know foals can go down hill fast and we just want to be sure that she is ok.

Glad you're waiting on the vet! If you don't have desitin handy vaseline will work on her bum too. Definitely want to keep it covered with something, scours can cause permanant scarring.

My foal had scours for several days (or more, I don't remember) and I would wash his butt and put diaper rash ointment on it. That helped A LOT. His skin was getting irritated and started to peel (even the underside of his tail bone), and as soon as I started washing and applying diaper rash ointment, he has no more skin issues.

My vet said there was something better for them than the Pepto Bismol. I *think* it was liquid Imodium A-D. But would check with your vet first of course. And I don't remember the dosage. But I called the vet about it because my foal started having a little BLOOD in his diarrhea, and that freaked me out! But by the time I heard back from the vet, a day or so later, he seemed to be over the diarrhea and I didn't buy the Imodium.

My guy got both diarrhea and constipation as a foal- I remember I was out there one night about midnight, all alone because I didn't want to wake anyone up, giving him an enema because he couldn't poo! I was using straw as bedding and he was eating it and it was clogging him up. I think that was within a week or two of him being born, but I don't remember. But luckily the constipation only happened one time.

I spoke to my vet and described what is going on. He said as long as she is nursing,eating and lively all is well. I put some Desitin on her and will keep watching her. As far as giving her some Pepto, does anyone know how much she should get?

He also told me not to worry about the 101.2 as he said that is in the higher range but still a normal temp.