lutalyse

[Vic_007]

Just wondering if people can give some good tips on being successful with Lutalyse for breeding?

I am hoping to breed my horse in a month. Our weather has generally been cold and crappy still and i’ve had a hard time pin pointing a cycle. She has had 2 internals and was closed at both. Although the last one she was showing some signs, her cervix was a bit soft and she was winking etc. I have a harder time because she is boarded and the BO doesn’t notice, but she is out with all mares too.

She’s successfully been a broodmare and last foal was 2006.

Anyways, my vet said just to give her the shot and it will work… I’ve heard other people say you can only give the shot at certain times of it wont work.

[Callaway]

It WILL NOT work if she’s already in heat! Your timing will be off. I normally either have an ultrasound done to see where my mares are in their cycle, or do 2 weeks of regumate, followed by lutalyse.

Good luck!

[pony_grandma]

The recommendation on here has been (correct me if I’m wrong) that you divide the shot into two days. Giving it as one dose makes for a very drastic reaction in the mare. They sweat and tremble and it will not be pretty. And, yes you have to be past an ovulation. Also call the SO and give them a heads up on your timing.

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

Prostaglandin will not work if the mare was recently in heat. If given within 5 days after she ovulates it will have no affect; it must be given after that time.

[Signature]

She has to be at least 5 days from ovulation to have it work (so you have an active CL), and she should start to come in to heat within 3-4 days.

We always give ours on Thursday and check them on Sunday or Monday so we can plan for the week. Then there is less chance of needing semen on the weekend or a Monday, too. We usually end up ordering Wed or Thurs with this method, occasionally Tues or Fri depending if it’s a quick or slow mare.

When you are ready to breed, I would do what Callaway suggested and do at least 10 days of Regumate and then give lutalyse. Start on a Monday and give the lutalyse the next Thursday, then check her Monday morning.

[Jos]

Check out our article “I gave my mare prostaglandin but it didn’t work” which should provide the information you are looking for.

As noted above, you can avoid the unpleasant side-effects in your mare (sweating, cramping etc.) by using 1/10th of the standard dose two days in a row. Presuming all other factors to be in place (see the article) she will return to estrus in the same time frame as she would with a full dose, but without the side-effects.

Hope this helps.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Yes, I wasn’t warned about the side effects and thought my mare was dying. It was like an invisible hose was running down from between her ears–she was literally dripping steady streams of sweat. Quite unpleasant. And the vet said it was a micro dose (although only one).

I was not happy.

[propspony]

My vet used something called (I think) estra-mate. Worked perfectly, and there were no side effects. Some mild cramping the next day, but then my mare is known for getting a bit crampy when she comes into season anyways. No sweating or anything.

[Vic_007]

My vet did tell me she would become colicky so to stick around and walk her. I do have syringes and needles that I could try and devide it up with, of course she gave it to me loaded in a syringe already, I dont really like the idea of that because then it wont be sterile.

The SO knows I am planning to short cycle her, we did it this way to hopefully make things easier.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Honestly, my mare reacted so badly I wouldn’t have wanted to walk her! I wouldn’t have had her cooped in a stall, however, had I known. She was not a happy camper, and I could tell she was cramping like no other. I had her foal in the stall next to her (had them up in the barn to work with the foal) and I just kept her separate until she stopped reacting. Of course, remember, I really didn’t know what was going on until I got a hold of a vet. I thought she really could be dying.

It only lasted about 15 minutes. 30 minutes later and she was fine. Poor girl.

I was very annoyed. At least you are forewarned!

[Kyzteke]

I haven’t used lutalyse in years. Only Estrumate.

Any reason people prefer lutalyse?

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

We only use Estrumate, as well. However, I would guess that most people use Lutalyse b/c that’s what they’ve always done. As well, Lutalyse is labled for use in horses and I don’t believe that Estruamte is. Estrumate is also a little bit more expensive.

[Jos]

As Hillside observes, Estrumate is not labelled for use in horses (it’s a bovine drug) and it is more expensive than other prostaglandins such as Lutalyse.

Do not presume that Estrumate will produce no unpleasant side-effects in your mares! Estrumate can and does produce exactly the same side-effects as other prostaglandins - sweating and cramp-like contractions. Remember that Estrumate is used by some post-breeding to cause uterine contractions to assist in uterine clearance. It will not produce side-effects in as high a percentage of mares as other prostaglandins, but it will still have the same effect in some mares.

One advantage of Estrumate use is that one can use the same 1/10th dose as with Lutalyse to avoid the unpleasant side-effects, but it is only necessary to give a single treatment, not the two-days-in-a-row required of Lutalyse (cloprostenol - the active ingredient in Estrumate - has a longer half-life than the native prostaglandins). As it is more expensive however, and as the 1/10th Lutalyse dose avoids the side-effects (I have never seen sweating in a mare receiving the 1/10th dose), and as Estrumate use is off-label use of a drug that has an equine parallel (albeit slightly different), I personally don’t see a real advantage to using Estrumate for luteolytic purposes in most cases (although with mares that try to kill you when giving an injection, there is a distinct advantage to giving only one jab!! :)).

Regards to all,

[Kyzteke]

@Jos;5617519

I personally don’t see a real advantage to using Estrumate for luteolytic purposes in most cases (although with mares that try to kill you when giving an injection, there is a distinct advantage to giving only one jab!! :)).

Regards to all,

Ah, well, that’s a good reason, IMHO! I have one mare that is a 3 person job to give shots to and her half-sister is only marginally better.

I’ve never had a problem with any side effects with Estrumate and it seems to work just fine.

[system]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, however, does anyone know where estrumate or estroplan (same thing; cloprostenol) can be ordered at an online pharmacy if we do not have an active prescription? Our vet has gone on sabattical and can’t be reached and as y’all know, this isn’t exactly something that can be tabled until he gets back from Chamonix. Ughhh.

[Jos]

As prostaglandin could potentially be used to cause an elective abortion in a human, I doubt very much that you are going to find any legitimate company in the developed world that is going to market it without a prescription…