2024 veterinary news in review: #15

The dvm360 editorial team is counting down our Top 20 news stories and articles of the year, from January 1, 2024, to November 15, 2024. Rank was determined by measurable audience interest and engagement.

A spotlight is shining on 1 article each day through New Year’s Eve, when the No. 1 dvm360 story of the year will be shared. The following article is No. 15 on this list:

University veterinarians save newborn foal

written by Sydney Yankowicz

Originally published May 15, 2024

Photo: Jason Nitsch/Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

The newborn foal, Vicky, was cared for by the Large Animal Teaching Hospital team.

Soon after birth, a German warmblood foal nicknamed Vicky, became separated from her mother, Queenie, after rolling into an adjoining stall. Just a few hours apart creates serious consequences because Vicky could not receive the special care a mother horse typically provides in the initial hours of a foal’s life.¹ Because of the situation's severity, the foal was rushed to the Texas A&M Large Animal Teaching Hospital (LATH) by owner, Gavin Britz, MD, MBBCH, MPH, MBA, FAANS, a human neurosurgeon for Houston Methodist in Texas.

Britz purchased Queenie while she was pregnant. Because of transportation delays, Queenie didn't arrive at Britz’s stable in Chappell Hill, Texas, until about 2 1/2 weeks before her due date. Unexpectedly, Queenie went into labor earlier than anticipated, resulting in Britz missing Queenie giving birth. According to a news article from Texas A&M,¹ the barn manager found Vicky in the adjoining stall hours later, but the foal had already missed out on colostrum, which is a preliminary form of milk that contains extra nutrients, antibodies, and antioxidants that is normally passed from mother to baby in the first few hours after birth.

“If a foal doesn’t get colostrum in the first few hours of life, developing sepsis is a huge risk, because they are born without an immune system, so they can’t fight off any insult to their little bodies unless they get important antibodies from the mare,” Amanda Trimble, BVMS, MS, PGCertVetEd, DACVIM (LAIM), a clinical assistant professor of equine internal medicine at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said in a news release.¹

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Britz has close relations working with graduates and veterinarians at the Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and felt comfortable putting his horse’s care in their hands. “When we found her, the baby was not doing well,” Britz said in the release.¹ “We contacted the local vet, who said to bring her down to their hospital. After we took her there, they said she probably wasn’t going to survive, but we could try and take her to Texas A&M.”

When Vicky first arrived at the hospital, she was reported as extremely weak, not nursing well, and showing an abnormally lethargic demeanor. Her mother, Queenie accompanied the foal to the hospital.

For information on this story, including treatment used on the foal, continue reading the full article: https://www.dvm360.com/view/university-veterinarians-save-newborn-foal