For the maladjusted “dummy” foals, there are big risks to their immune system but a simple procedure that can be learned and applied by anyone helps to speed up recovery
By KATELYN BURNS— science@theaggie.org
With foal season underway, foals have been popping up all over social media — including the UC Davis Horse Barn’s Instagram, a good space to see some of these adorable foals.
Often the general guideline used for assessing new foals is the one-two-three rule, which suggests that foals should stand within one hour, nurse within two hours and the mare should pass the placenta within three hours. Nursing is particularly important for the foal’s immune system.
Foals don’t receive immunity through the placenta, leaving them with no immunity upon birth. With bacteria everywhere, it can be increasingly risky the longer foals go without any immunity. Foals can get immunity from colostrum, the early milk produced by the mare which is nutrient-dense and full of antibodies. Nursing early enough to get that immunity is important.
Dr. John Madigan, a globally renowned veterinarian and a professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, commented on foal health.
“If your foal doesn’t reach that benchmark, then you have to milk the mare out, tube the foal, give it plasma or put it on treatment or glucose,” Madigan said via email. “There’s such a shortage of equine veterinarians to be able to make that call, get there and do that in a timely fashion.”
When new foals aren’t meeting those benchmarks, it could mean they have maladjustment syndrome. Maladjustment syndrome has long been considered a symptom of hypoxia, a lack of oxygen. While this is a part of it, maladjustment syndrome is now being looked at as a failure to transition out of their in-utero consciousness and physiology. This includes foals’ ability to thermoregulate, metabolize energy and maintain other systems they weren’t responsible for while in-utero. These foals, called “dummy” foals, are notably disoriented, unable to recognize their mother, nor suckle or swallow, ultimately failing to demonstrate the expected behaviors of a healthy new foal.
Madigan developed a procedure, dubbed the Madigan squeeze procedure, for foals with maladjustment syndrome that could be learned and applied by anyone — not just veterinarians. The procedure is praised for its simplicity and accessibility, as it doesn’t require any special training or tools. All you need for the procedure is a rope and the instructions, which can be found for free online. Ultimately, a rope is wrapped around the foals and squeezes them into a slow wave sleep for 20 minutes. When they wake up, in the majority of cases, foals completely recover.
Madigan’s research group is currently conducting a worldwide survey of anyone with experience using the Madigan squeeze procedure.
“The reasons for the survey were several fold,” Madigan said. “We wanted to know the extent of use of the procedure worldwide.”
So far, they have results from over 35 countries supporting that the procedure has improved the survival of newborn animals worldwide.
“We [also] wanted to know other details like how effective it has been when used by veterinarians and when non-veterinarians do the procedure, and if there are any side effects or problems,” Madigan said.
While the survey is still active, Madigan noted that so far an overwhelming majority of respondents saw no adverse effects from the procedure. Furthermore, regarding the success of the procedure, in a study published in 2017, they found that 37% of foals that received the squeeze were nursing within an hour whereas only 4% of foals that received conventional treatment were nursing within an hour. Despite the successes and few adverse effects, many veterinary hospitals still use conventional ways of treating the maladjustment syndrome.
“People don’t like putting rope on things, they don’t like tying knots,” Madigan said. “They would rather put an IV catheter or nasal catheter and treat them the way that we used to.”
That’s not to say that there isn’t widespread use — and not just amongst equines. Besides equines, the procedure has found success in calves, lambs and more. There continues to be research on the Madigan squeeze procedure and its broader implications for consciousness and health.
Written by: Katelyn Burns— science@theaggie.org
