Day 336 false labor, 354 FOAL...PICS!!!

[chrissymack]

This is the first time we have seen this from our mare, just wanted to check in and hear similar experiences/throughts/perspective.

Mare has been progressing like normal, went to day 340 past 2 years, body seems to be on similar track in comparing milk/bag/shape/vulva changes, etc.
Then this past Thursday seemed to fast forward- bag was huge, vulva gaping open and red inside, her overall shape seemed to slide back and up/ fill in front of her hips, got multiple squares on the predict a foal.
She showed all signs of foaling- sweating, biting stomach, laying down/getting up, no appetite, pawing lightly, shallow breathing, etc. About an hour later, she went down and went into what seemed to be contractions, stretched flat out on her side, legs stiff, pushing and groaning, but only a small amount of yellowish clear liquid would leak out with each push. She continued that way for a good straight 20 mins or so, lifting her head and relaxing her legs between “contractions”, then back sprawled and stiff, pushing again but producing nothing. Then after resting, she got back up, went to sleep in the corner, seemed normal…then about an hour later, up/down again, restless, pacing, went down and did the same thing, down stretched out pushing for 15 mins or so, then halfway rolled, then back up/down for a couple hours.

We did not witness water breaking, although there is a slim possibility it could have happened without anyone seeing it.

This mare does not sleep laying down, and seemed to be genuinely contracting/pushing vs. just colicky.

Later that night and since then, she returned to normal, her belly seemed to drop back down, she got her appetite back, normal behavior, staying up, etc. Her udder still easily produces milk, but is not huge with full teats as it was that day, and her vulva is back to being wrinkled. Test strips have reverted since that day back to being one square only.
Today’s day 341, she seems completely normal, and nowhere near foaling.

Thoughts?? Repositioning the foal? False labor? Or just keep Christina exhausted on round the clock potential foal watch for an anticipated imminate foaling, with weeks to go???

[dressurpferd01]

Heh, my mare did the same thing the day before she foaled. As far as we can tell it was the foal getting into position. Never seen a mare have that kind of false labor before, but mine did. She was down with what seemed to be contractions for about an hour, vulva gaping, red, etc, but no water breakage, etc. She got up after about an hour, started eating hay, and did nothing the rest of the night. Foaled a beautiful baby filly the next evening.

Granted, I just noticed that this happened several days ago, so YMMV.

[Sugarbrook]

ChrissyMack’s mare did that 5 days ago. What did your vet say? If she were mine, I would be concerned. Is she dripping milk? Was she then?

[chrissymack]

YMMV? (I don’t know that one- what does it stand for)

Yes, I figured the same thing, and have been watching her like a hawk since then (5 days now)…and nothing!!! :mad:

[chrissymack]

She is not dripping milk now, nor was she then. She did have white droplets at the end of teats on day 330.

Milk color has changed around depending on day between whitish opaque to creamish opaque to yellowish opaque, all still watery consistency.

Vet said probably false labor, still early, she shows no fever/discomfort, and is otherwise still seeming on track with previous years in her progress, to let time play out.

However, we struggle with repro vets in our area beyond the basics; I’d love more opinions

[dressurpferd01]

YMMV=Your Mileage May Vary

Did your vet palpate rectally to check for twins?

[not_again]

I hope everything is okay…

[chrissymack]

No rectal palpation was done to check for twins; just two ultrasounds early that showed only one.

[Sugarbrook]

Keep us updated as she progress toward foaling (again) We do care.

[chrissymack]

Thanks sugarbrook!! Will do.
So nice to have good friends; you are a great support

[tuckawayfarm]

Have you had your vet check her? Sounds like she could have just been repositioning the foal.

I had a similar experience that unfortunately did not have a good outcome, but my mare was dripping milk. Hopefully the fact that yours is not is a good sign.

Jingles for a safe foaling

[chrissymack]

No, the vet has not been out to check her since then. Waiting on a call back of when he can come up.

What was your outcome tuckaway? What did the streaming milk indicate?

My concerns were possibly trying to foal w/ the foal being positioned wrong stopping her from doing so, or signs of abortion due to problems with the foal…something along those lines.

In reading other posts about stillborn foals, it seems as though there is not a clear way to tell if that is the case or not. Fairview I recall had a vet check her mare twice and determine both times the foal was dead, only to induce a perfectly healthy foal. Others said that there is no room for a larger foal to move much during final weeks of pregnancy, so you can’t even rely on that… And Kathy is always saying that there is no such thing as a due date, and she’s still early within the gestational period, so I don’t want to be having undue (:lol: get it?) concern at this point if all other signs point to her being normal…just am not sure what this was, or if it changes things at all, and I should be concerned??

Anyone else with similar experiences?

[acottongim]

Jingles for safe foaling from FL too! I will say that it has been an ODD year for foalings all the way around. Mares have been giving their owners heck all the way across the board.

It always makes me nervous when mares do strange things and seem to take forever getting the foal in position prior to foaling.

[Laurierace]

My mare did the same sort of thing this year. I thought for sure she was foaling then out of the blue she stopped and went back to eating her hay. She did foal the next night however so there wasn’t a huge gap between the fake foaling and the real one. She had a really tough time positioning this foal and spent a lot of time with her knees on the ground and her butt in the air. The vet eventually had to reach in and grab the head that was turned back. By that time she was too exhausted to push so we had to pull him out. It was way more dramatic than I would have liked but it all turned out ok. Jingling for a good outcome for you too.
Here is the replay if you are brave enough to watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRyuugSga2I

[Sugarbrook]

I saw this birth. It was quite scary to say the least!! It was such a good effort on that entire team. GOOD JOB!!

[Slewdledo]

It sounds like the foal was turning.

[Somermist]

Update?

[Sugarbrook]

Yes, we are worried. Updates?

[tuckawayfarm]

I wasn’t as worried about the streaming milk as I was about what I suspected was a very prolonged first stage labor. It was my mare’s 5th foal and she had dripped milk for 2-3 days with each prior delivery.

When she finally did try to deliver, it was a hind limb dystocia. Sadly, the on call vet was not very experienced and by the time we were able to transport her to the clinic, we had lost the filly. Thankfully they were able to save my mare.

I think it’s possible the foal was already compromised and unable to assist in her delivery, but I was so distraught and focused on my mare at the time that I neglected to request a necropsy.

If your mare continues to have contractions without foaling, you might want to have a vet check to see if the foal is still viable. The odds are very much in your favor.

More jingles!!

[chrissymack]

The repro vet did not yet get back to us about when he can come out. Our regular vet said was strange, but wasn’t overly concerned, as she has been normal since and hasn’t continued to go into contractions or otherwise show that it was true labor.

Her behavior is still very normal and non-chalent…rare stomach bite, leg lift (as she does the last month or so of gestation), otherwise nothing.

Her belly was seeming fuller in front of the gaskin area yesterday, as thought possibly things are moving back and up into position. Or I could just be imagining things, I’ve been studying her so closely :lol:

I’ll keep you posted!!