Placentitis?

[Somekindawonderful]

Placentitis?
Day 309 today. My mare started to get a bag last week, but last night she has a full hard bag and has dripped milk on her legs. She is not streaming milk, I suspect a squirt of milk is coming out when she stomps/kicks her legs at the flies. Enough to see that she has dried milk down the front of both hind legs. Vulva, tail-head look normal, great appetite, does not appear to have “waxed”, otherwise seems fine. I can feel the foal moving but has not really changed her shape since last week. No vaginal discharge, udder is full and hard - she’s a heavy milker and has a rather big udder.
Last year she had an easy pregnancy and foaled without complications at 343. How much would you worry? Treat? I have called the vet, she started her on Regumate and TMS.

I have a lot of questions!
Would you expect a mare to “bag-up” this early? If she is leaking some milk/colostrum should I milk her now and save some colostrum? If she leaks a bit now, how much will it impact her at foaling? Is there any chance her udder can reduce in size at this point, or is it a lost cause?

How at-risk do you think she is at foaling now? Early? Is it possible to calm things down in there and let that baby cook? With placentitis, if treatment is working should I expect her udder to reduce?

Your thoughts?

[tucktaway]

Hopefully your vet has been able to answer some of these questions for you by now.
Is there any chance you could be off on the breeding dates? 309 is early, but not impossible. A friend of mine just had one go at 305 and all was well!

Such a nerve wracking time, best of luck to you and your mare!!

[Somekindawonderful]

This is foal #7 for me, and the earliest I have had has been 328 but this morning the mare is looking like she is getting ready. She’s quiet and sucky, her tail is lax and her vulva is peeking open. Her udder streams/drips after she kicks at a fly and she has a few beads on her nipples. If she wasn’t so early, I’d say she is getting ready to go in the next 48 hrs.

Sadly, my regular vet has not been of much help = she has developped an “attituide” since I started using a therio for my repro work but she doesn’t do frozen anyhow. My therio (who was fantastic) retired this past fall, but he helped me out over the winter when this mare needed somewhere to go for stall rest and care to recover from surgery after a large laceration on her hock was repaired. Again, regular vet was no help there and I took the mare to a referral clinic. It hasn’t been the best year for us! My therio is not doing any on-farm work anymore, but I might have to call and see if I can bring her over to his place again…

[NoDQhere]

It sounds like your mare is going to foal but 309 is not impossible. We’ve had a couple that early who did fine.

[khall]

US placenta, yes treat if placentitis, SMZs, banamine, pentoxyphyline and regumate was what I used with the two that I had. Successfully.

[Cindy_s_Warmbloods]

I would be concerned about placentitis if it was me. She went from starting a bag a week ago to a full bag streaming milk. That is a very quick progression (not saying mares can’t progress that quick but most do no) and due to how early she is I would highly suspect placentitis and start treating her. If it is her bag should reduce/stop streaming milk within a few days of starting meds (if she holds out that long). Good luck, you are so close I hope it all works out.

[freshman]

If your regular vet doesn’t offer the services you require and gets offended when other professionals step in as needed, then you have a problem. Can your trusted therio vet recommend someone else in your area that might be a better fit

[siegi_b]

I would load up that mare and get her to your trusted vet ASAP! Paying a few days board is much cheaper than going through a bad delivery without any competent help nearby.

Good luck!

[tuckawayfarm]

^^^ This! 100%

I would also start making calls to be sure you have on farm emergency care available after you bring her home. Some vets want to have a current working relationship before coming out after hours. Your current vet does not have your horse’s best interest in mind and needs to be replaced ASAP.

Good luck!

[Somekindawonderful]

Agree, I keep feeling guilty re:vet and not moving on but this is it! I have been researching, checking references, etc and will be moving to another vet who happens to live <2Km from me. For right now, mare is holding on. Fingers crossed, we can get this one to cook a bit longer. She is taking her meds and otherwise acting like nothing is wrong now, and last yr pre-foaling she was miserable. I will hope we can get this pregnancy back to the original plan. Thanks for all of the support!

[FalseImpression]

Would CEH be of help? there were a few mares and babies when my mare was at the clinic and my daughter’s friend was a tech vet and helped deliver many babies. So I am sure they could be of assistance!