Mare with enlarged ovary

[YellowPonyEventer]

So my mare has had low level chronic back pain for years and recently it’s taken a turn for the worse and it’s impacting her way of going (shorter strides, not tracking up, not wanting to use her hind end). In addition she’s always cycling all year long and when she’s in heat she’s terrible. Calling to any other horse who will listen, peeing all over her legs, just being disgusting the vet came and did a lameness exam/flex test to rule out any issues with her hocks or stifles and they both look good.

Did an internal exam and found that her left ovary is larger than the right, and feels “lumpy” so may be some tumors as well. She did blood work to check her hormone levels and we are awaiting test results to see whether the treatment will be to put her on Regumate or at worst case, remove the ovary.

Anyone else had something similar happen with their mare? What did you do to treat her and how long did it take before you saw improvements?

[Highflyer]

If she is not a broodmare candidate would probably look into spaying.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=Highflyer;8687804]
If she is not a broodmare candidate would probably look into spaying.[/QUOTE]

She was a rescue, got her when she was 7 and she had already had 2 foals by then before the SPCA seized all 50-some of the horses on the property for neglect I am not planning to breed her, she’s my sweet little adorable Eventer pony these days

[cayuse]

I had amare who had ovary issues. She coliced and they found her ovary to be very enlarged and an ultrasound showed that she had retained a follicle and it ruptured and she bleed into her ovary. I hope I have that right, it was awhile ago.
Anyway, during the ultrasound they found other areas that looked like scarring (or some abnormality) She was started on Regumate and was a much happier pony. Her ovary always remained a little large and easily palpable during a rectal.
Spaying her was discussed, but she was older at the time and it was decided it probably was not in her best interest. If the Regumate had not worked we would’ve revisited the option.
The Requmate worked very quickly. She did not come into heat the next month.
I hope you get your mare straightened out.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=cayuse;8687887]
I had amare who had ovary issues. She coliced and they found her ovary to be very enlarged and an ultrasound showed that she had retained a follicle and it ruptured and she bleed into her ovary. I hope I have that right, it was awhile ago.
Anyway, during the ultrasound they found other areas that looked like scarring (or some abnormality) She was started on Regumate and was a much happier pony. Her ovary always remained a little large and easily palpable during a rectal.
Spaying her was discussed, but she was older at the time and it was decided it probably was not in her best interest. If the Regumate had not worked we would’ve revisited the option.
The Requmate worked very quickly. She did not come into heat the next month.
I hope you get your mare straightened out.[/QUOTE]

Thanks so much! Glad it helped your mare! Mine is 15 and now that they can do the removal laparoscopically in some cases, it may be a good option for us - but we will see what the blood tests reveal. I’m just happy to have finally found the issue! Well, I hope anyway…I’ve been battling her back soreness for years. It’s never enough to make her lame but just enough to affect her general way of going. I’ve tried everything from hock/stifle/SI injections to massage, chiropractic, acupuncture with vitamin B12 and serapin, supplements, muscle relaxers, anti inflammatory meds, 2 saddle fittings which resulted in the purchase of new saddles & flocking, and of course I’ve always worked with reputable trainers to ensure that we were developing the proper fitness and muscling for her to do what I ask of her. (which is low level Eventing - BN level)

Some of the things we would try would help temporarily, but the back soreness would always come back, mainly in the lumbar/sacral regions. The hormonal route is the one route I hadn’t gone down until now…and I could kick myself for not checking this earlier!!! :no:

[csaper58]

A full spay is not necessary, you can remove just the abnormal ovary. I have known two mares that had this done. They were happy and healthy.

Both had the surgery where the ovary was removed thru the flank. I believe it was done standing.

Look below under Similar Threads. There are 3 that may have useful info.

[S1969]

I would have an u/s done before I made any decision (and am assuming your vet would agree). There could be lots of reasons one ovary is larger than the other - normal or abnormal. Obviously the treatment would depend on why the ovary was enlarged (if it really is abnormally large.)

Any kind of abnormal cyst or tumor would definitely mean removal; but if she is just a very fertile mare and produces multiple follicles…hormone regulation could be a perfect solution.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=S1969;8688227]
I would have an u/s done before I made any decision (and am assuming your vet would agree). There could be lots of reasons one ovary is larger than the other - normal or abnormal. Obviously the treatment would depend on why the ovary was enlarged (if it really is abnormally large.)

Any kind of abnormal cyst or tumor would definitely mean removal; but if she is just a very fertile mare and produces multiple follicles…hormone regulation could be a perfect solution.[/QUOTE]

My bet is that the vet will want to try the Regumate first, but hopefully I’ll find out today when the test results are back! (She said they’d probably be back by today or Monday at the latest) cross your fingers it’s today!!

[YellowPonyEventer]

So just curious…for those of you with a mare who’s had ovarian issues, did you notice any back pain issues with her? What other symptoms did she have? The more I read about it, the more I hear about the mares turning aggressive and mine is not aggressive at all…in fact, she’s still one of the sweetest, calmest mares I’ve ever known! If you’re standing nearby her, she grooms your hair, face, arm, or anything else she can touch :lol: She’s a total sweetheart! She never offers to kick or buck or do anything else bad - her main issues are the hard heats she always has and the chronic back soreness.

I mean, the vet did the rectal exam and could feel that her left ovary was larger so I know there’s definitely something going on…but I’m trying to figure out if her back pain she’s always had for years is due to this, or something else. When the vet showed me about how big each ovary felt, the circle she made with her hand for the small ovary was about the size of a large walnut. And the big ovary was more the size of a peach.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=YellowPonyEventer;8688274]
My bet is that the vet will want to try the Regumate first, but hopefully I’ll find out today when the test results are back! (She said they’d probably be back by today or Monday at the latest) cross your fingers it’s today!![/QUOTE]

Hopefully someone else with actual experience will chime in; my ovary experience is all my own, not horse related. :lol:

But, if a mare has a tumor on an ovary, I’m not sure Regumate would be the right treatment. Alternatively, if the ovary looks normal but is enlarged, or has a cyst(s), maybe it would be appropriate. I’m not sure just knowing that the ovary is enlarged is enough to make a decision.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=S1969;8688402]
Hopefully someone else with actual experience will chime in; my ovary experience is all my own, not horse related. :lol:

But, if a mare has a tumor on an ovary, I’m not sure Regumate would be the right treatment. Alternatively, if the ovary looks normal but is enlarged, or has a cyst(s), maybe it would be appropriate. I’m not sure just knowing that the ovary is enlarged is enough to make a decision.[/QUOTE]

Oh it’s definitely not…she is doing the blood work to see what’s going on with her hormone levels. My guess is that if she sees anything off, ultrasound will be next to get a better view of what we’re dealing with. She also took a culture of her cervix to rule out any infections or anything funny going on there.

[HunterJumperGin]

So just curious…for those of you with a mare who’s had ovarian issues, did you notice any back pain issues with her? What other symptoms did she have?

Hoo boy. I had a beautiful once in a lifetime warmblood mare that we spayed in attempts to alleviate painful symptoms stemming from ovarian issues. Long story short, surgery was not as effective as we hoped, but I do believe she had been dealing with it for so long, it was just too much to unravel, even after the root cause was removed. The dangerous evasion tactics (aggressiveness, rearing, not going forward) were very learned. I gave her away for next to nothing, and to my knowledge, she is still chilling in a pasture somewhere with a local acquaintance.

Symptoms included:

Coming into heat appx every two weeks (violently)
Kicking
Ramming into anything within reach
Biting
When mounted, rearing
Refusal to move forward
Extreme reaction to any aids applied
Extreme sensitivity in the flank/back area to touch (when in heat)

We tried Regumate for several months with no marked difference. We did not care about breeding her, so elected to have an ovariectomy done at Auburn. When they initially ultrasounded and palpated, they did not see anything blatant that would cause the above issues, but when both were removed, they found many many cysts and said they had seen few cases like it.

I was heartbroken when the symptoms did not go away enough to use her as my main jumper/competition horse. In the small windows of time where she was able to work unimpeded, she was BRILLIANT and absolutely the most talented jumper I have sat on. Scope for days, and incredible mover. I DO believe she was better off after the surgery as far as her day to day happiness during turnout, but her behavior was just too dangerous to be worth it when she had to go to work.

It sounds like your mare is NOTHING near this level yet, thank goodness! I just wanted to personally vouch for the “horror stories” you hear - they absolutely can be true.

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=HunterJumperGin;8688593]
So just curious…for those of you with a mare who’s had ovarian issues, did you notice any back pain issues with her? What other symptoms did she have?

Hoo boy. I had a beautiful once in a lifetime warmblood mare that we spayed in attempts to alleviate painful symptoms stemming from ovarian issues. Long story short, surgery was not as effective as we hoped, but I do believe she had been dealing with it for so long, it was just too much to unravel, even after the root cause was removed. The dangerous evasion tactics (aggressiveness, rearing, not going forward) were very learned. I gave her away for next to nothing, and to my knowledge, she is still chilling in a pasture somewhere with a local acquaintance.

Symptoms included:

Coming into heat appx every two weeks (violently)
Kicking
Ramming into anything within reach
Biting
When mounted, rearing
Refusal to move forward
Extreme reaction to any aids applied
Extreme sensitivity in the flank/back area to touch (when in heat)

We tried Regumate for several months with no marked difference. We did not care about breeding her, so elected to have an ovariectomy done at Auburn. When they initially ultrasounded and palpated, they did not see anything blatant that would cause the above issues, but when both were removed, they found many many cysts and said they had seen few cases like it.

I was heartbroken when the symptoms did not go away enough to use her as my main jumper/competition horse. In the small windows of time where she was able to work unimpeded, she was BRILLIANT and absolutely the most talented jumper I have sat on. Scope for days, and incredible mover. I DO believe she was better off after the surgery as far as her day to day happiness during turnout, but her behavior was just too dangerous to be worth it when she had to go to work.

It sounds like your mare is NOTHING near this level yet, thank goodness! I just wanted to personally vouch for the “horror stories” you hear - they absolutely can be true. [/QUOTE]
Oh my :eek: Yeah my mare is thankfully nowhere near that bad! Her main issues are the back soreness that doesn’t go away despite all that I have tried, and how bad she is in heat (and how frequent they are). But by “bad” I mean she’s calling for her buddies and lifting her tail at everything within a 10 mile radius. :lol: She never kicks or bites or pins her ears at anyone, and under saddle she never bucks and has never reared. She has great ground manners too, she’s an all around nice mare. But her issues are that she is trailing her hind end, not wanting to track up, hanging on my hands in the bridle, and just not wanting to be supple or round. Lately it’s gotten worse with her heats which is what finally led me down this path - and based on what the vet found I’m very glad it did!

[HunterJumperGin]

So glad you are receptive and proactive. I say do WHATEVER it takes to prevent further discomfort and the undesirable behaviors to become “fixed”. Best of luck!

[YellowPonyEventer]

This is what she looks like now…stiff and disconnected. Poor girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HtDbieoWzI

[YellowPonyEventer]

[QUOTE=HunterJumperGin;8688858]
So glad you are receptive and proactive. I say do WHATEVER it takes to prevent further discomfort and the undesirable behaviors to become “fixed”. Best of luck![/QUOTE]

Thank you! She’s my sweet girl and I want to do anything I can to make her comforable again…she’s SO stoic, which is both a good and a bad thing of course :no:

[YellowPonyEventer]

Sandie’s test results are partially back and her testosterone and inhibon were both normal - the rest will be in tomorrow and Monday. They are leaning towards there being no tumor on the enlarged ovary - yay!! so if the remaining results are pointing in that same direction, she should be fine just going on Regu-mate! I’ll know for sure Monday!

[YellowPonyEventer]

Alright final test results from UC Davis suggest NO TUMOR So she’s just going on Regumate, no surgery needed at this point!

These were her actual results, for those who are familiar with reading them…

Testosterone: 26.7 pg/ml (within normal range)
Progesterone: 13.5 ng/ml (presence of active luteal tissue)
Inhibin: 0.21 ng/ml (within normal range)

I’m not that familiar with the progesterone “normal range” though…anyone else know? I of course have sent a message to ask my vet as well

[js]

What worked wonders for my mare with ovary issues was I took her off all soy products including alfalfa which is also a phyto estrogen. She gets staight oats with a little Timothy pellets, orchard grass hay and I make sure her supplements have no soy products. I’ve had her off regumate for 3 months now and she has been great.

I was shocked to realize everything from feed to supplements I was using had soy hulls soy oil or soy as the first ingredients.

[YellowPonyEventer]

Oh yeah my mare used to be allergic to soy, among a bunch of other things! She went through a round of allergy shots and that worked for most of her allergies, including the soy allergy. The only allergy she continues to battle with now is to the cullicoides fly and another couple of species. So she has to go out for turnout in a fly sheet/hood and lots of spray!

I didn’t notice a difference in her when she was off the soy feed, for the period after we found out she was allergic. During that time I had her on oats and a multi-vitamin supplement for a bit, then switched over to barley + multi vitamin supplement. Several years later we slowly weaned her back onto a regular feed, she’s on Seminole Equilizer these days, a ration balancer. But I personally never noticed a difference with my mare with her behavior on vs. off the soy-based feeds.