Pregnant mare not hungry - first month

[Mersidoats]

I’ve got a middle-aged maiden mare - she’s confirmed pregnant. She had some uterine edema, so she’s been on banamine (vet’s orders). Yesterday she ate her breakfaste and lunch, ate all her hay, and we had a good ride. Last night, she wasn’t hungry, and I found her laying down at her pasture gate during dinner time. I brought her in, gave banamine (and her dose of regumate) orally. She refused her mash, but an hour later was eating her hay. Today she didn’t have an appetite at breakfast - she ate some, but not all. She pooped and has healthy gut sounds.

She is in work, so I’m giving her time off until she feels better. Vet is scheduled to come out for another pregnancy check this Friday. What can I do to make her more comfortable?

[bingbingbing]

Treat for ulcers?

[Mersidoats]

@bingbingbing

Treat for ulcers?

Already been treated. She’s now off her feed for two days. Vet decreased banamine. I’m having vet out for an exam.

[bingbingbing]

@Mersidoats

Already been treated. She’s now off her feed for two days. Vet decreased banamine. I’m having vet out for an exam.

Hard to give advice without all of the info.
Let us know what the vet says.

[Mersidoats]

@bingbingbing

Hard to give advice without all of the info.
Let us know what the vet says.

Normally she’s a healthy eater and healthy drinker. She lives out most of the time, and prefers the cheap coastal hay to the nicer timothy. She gets oats/pellets and barley fodder or beet pulp for breakfast and dinner, and a handful of beet pulp for lunch.

We treated for colic, so she was tubed. She had a fever, so I had them draw blood, but her bloodwork came back normal. The vet gave 10ml IV banamine and her fever went away and stayed down. Gut ultrasound was “okay” - she had been sedated for the tubing, so it was hard to tell if her gut was quieter because of an issue or because of the sedation. The vet manually extracted a large amount of dry manure, so she was dehyrdrated. In the past 24 hours she has passed manure 3 times, enthusiastically hand-grazed a few times, and begged for food, but refused bran mash and beet pulp. She wants hay. She’s still not drinking a lot, but she sure is perky and vocal.

So I just don’t know - was the fever due to something else, or a symptom of the colic? Is her system out of whack because of the pregnancy? Was the banamine over the course of 5 days for uterine edema too much for her? We did have to pinch off a twin, as well. Her uterus as normal sized and there was no discharge. We have an additional fetal heartbeat ultrasound tomorrow.

Could it be a fluke or will I be dealing with a colicky preggo mare for 11 months? I hope not.

[Laurierace]

Obviously there is no way for any of us to answer those questions but if I were to guess her colic issues have nothing to do with her pregnancy. I have never experienced a fever with colic but it can happen so that doesn’t tell us much either. Hope she recovers from whatever is ailing her quickly.