Scone Equine Hospital saves Girl in a Storm
Consistent and attentive expert care saves mare and foal despite complex emergency surgery.
When Holbrook Thoroughbreds’ mare Girl in a Storm needed emergency surgery, Julie Harris put her into the care of an experienced team at Scone Equine Hospital. Surgery, in any situation carries risk but with heavily pregnant Girl in a Storm, it was complex and urgent.
In August 2010, Girl in a Storm was referred to Scone Equine Hospital showing signs of colic. Jane Axon, Director of Scone Equine Hospital’s Clovelly Intensive Care Unit, says the mare presented with a high heart rate and following an ultrasound examination, there appeared to be a problem in her small intestine. “We could see from the ultrasound that Girl In a Storm had a surgical lesion and this was causing the colic,” she said.
For manager Julie Harris, this was terrible news. “We were all anxious about the situation and determined to do all we could to save the mare and foal,” she said.
What followed was a difficult and complex surgery where Dr Paul Adams discovered and removed a dead piece of 60cm knotted small intestine. The two ends of the intestine were then sutured together. The mare recovered from surgery and was admitted to Intensive Care Unit, Clovelly for post-operative care and monitoring. With part of her small intestine removed, Girl in a Storm could not eat and this had implications for her foal. She was supplied intravenously with a mixture of amino acids, glucose and fats to provide her and her unborn foal with nutrition until she started to eat.
Dr Jane Axon says pregnant mares who undergo surgery, are starved and under stress and often lose their pregnancy. To combat this risk, the intravenous nutrition was necessary to help the unborn foal. Ultrasound was used to monitor the foal for stress or compromise and the mare recovered after the surgery and was gradually reintroduced to small feeds of concentrate and green grass. Although Girl in a Storm continued to progress well and was discharged 10 days later, the care she received did not end there. The mare had a special diet for weeks after the surgery and was bandaged around the abdomen to protect the incision until she foaled. A team from the Intensive Care Unit, Clovelly was arranged to be present and assist with the foaling.
Dr. Jane Axon says Girl in Storm foaled very quickly on the 22nd of September and produced a live colt foal. Both the foal and mare were then admitted to the intensive care unit for observation. On admission, the foal was unable to stand and needed intranasal oxygen. Several hours after arrival the foal was able to stand with assistance however he was unable to nurse from the mare. A normal foal should be able to stand and nurse from the mare within 2 hours after birth. “After examination, it was obvious that the foal was a ‘dummy’ foal with clinical signs associated with a lack of oxygen and blood to his brain, most likely as a result of the compromise he’d experienced during the mare’s surgery,” Dr Axon said.
So to assist feeding, a stomach tube was inserted and the foal was fed the mare's milk every 2 hours. The foal was also given intravenous plasma to improve his immunity and was placed on antibiotics. Four days after his birth the foal began to nurse from the mare. “Once he’d worked out what to do, there was no stopping him and he was discharged with the mare back to Holbrook Thoroughbreds,” she said.
Four months later, Girl in a Storm is in foal once again and Julie Harris is very happy with the whole process and the level of information and communication provided by the veterinary team. “We received a high level of care from the team at Scone Equine Hospital and now have a healthy mare and foal in the paddock.”
