[QUOTE=Donella;6910425]
So, I have an 11 yr old maiden mare. I got her this last fall from a friend who hasn’t had any success with her and she thought that I should give it a go. She was bred the last three years (fresh cooled) and caught right away , first try every time. She lost all of the pregnancies, one at 30 days, 45 days and then at 10 months. The previous owner did not have access to a good vet so wasn’t able to do a biopsy ect. I did one when I got her, as well as a cytology and a culture. Cytology was normal, Biopsy score IIB due to endometriitis. Culture showed some bacterial growth but not much, vet thought maybe from contamination. Vet thought we should flush her with an antibiotic anyways, which we did. This was about four months ago.
I go back and forth between just breeding her (and doing everything I can to help her conceive and carry) or just doing an ET. I am thinking obviously flushing post insemination and following the oxytocin protocol as well as a caslix. Is there anything else I can do? My vet thinks she should be on antibiotics and regumate the whole pregnancy but honestly that seems a bit extreme to me. Wwyd if this were your mare? I guess I am hoping that with a bit more management she will be able to carry to term?
I was planning on breeding her via frozen (deep horn) with a smaller than normal dose of frozen to try and prevent post breeding inflammation though obviously catching doesn’t really seem to be the problem. Or should I stick to fresh?
Hard to make a decision here, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Kathy, would love your opinion!![/QUOTE]
Donella - a DMSO betadine flush may improve her chances or may not. I now own a mare where the previous owner did this and she still aborted at month 9. Prior to the DMSO/betadine flush, she had suffered multiple 3rd trimester losses and scored grade IIB biopsy. The DMSO/Betadine does not always remove all the fibrosis.
I got the mare and spent a little while researching and figuring out what I could and could not do with her. Then I decided, there were still things we could do to possibly make her successful. We learned from Kathy St. Martin and Jos that some mares are more successful on 7 days of antibiotics each month of their pregnancy. Discussed this with the Therio and the other things we planned to do (mentioned below) and he concurred that as a very good plan of action!
So, we bred her and let her carry the pregnancy. We decided to go with Unipim 7 days out of every month starting at month 5. She also gets 4000 mg of Omega-3 oil caplets and 2000 IU of vitamin E. I use human-grade even though it is a bit more expensive, but the dosages are exact and the O3 is purified free of heavy metals and PCBs. (She still got Hoffman’s minerals in addition). They dissolve readily in a cup of hot water. The Omega-3 will be discontinued at day 320 as well - note Omega-3 is thought to improve vascular perfusion, have antiinflammatory effects, and increase clotting time, so you should discontinue a couple weeks before anticipated delivery! It doesn’t take me hardly any time to boil a kettle, pour it in a cup, drop in her oil caplets, stir, and drizzle it over her feed. And all of 20 seconds to drop a scoop of Uniprim in. She seems to quite like the taste, actually, and eats her feed with more gusto with the Uniprim in it. In the scheme of things, this 5 minutes of my day is negligible.
Naturally, she also has a Caslicks in place, and we made good and sure she was clean before breeding. Prior to breeding I did P&E on her to help increase uterine perfusion, and we made optimum use of oxytocin protocol for 48 hours post insemination, adhering to a strict every 6 hours round the clock.
She’s hanging on so far. She’s at day 267 and has about 10 weeks to go and as far as I’m concerned, this was a very do-able and valid option to try before going the more expensive ET route. In the grand scheme of things, 7 days of antibiotics per month and a few bucks on O3 and extra vitamin E is mere pennies versus losing a valuable foal. We use Uniprim (SMZ), costing only $27 a month. She’ll finish her last dose of Uniprim at day 320.
We did not start her on Regumate because we could not prove she had cervical incompetence. Personally, I would not start your mare on Regumate unless you knew she had an incompetent cervix, but this is best decided between you and your vet. It may be that Regumate could be the thing that keeps the cervix more tightly closed and keeps your foal cooking until it’s duely appointed time.
I figure, if we took the time to do everything possible for her and she was successful, then this was optimum. If we do all of this and she still loses it, well then we know we did everything and can go on with the much more expensive ET route.
Our mare is also extremely fertile. When she was bred, she ovulated a second time 4 days after the first. She produced 2 viable embryos despite only being inseminated in time for the first ovulation, and the twin had to be reduced. We put her on several days of banamine following the reduction.
We chose to use fresh semen with her. We explained the situation and our plan of action to the stallion owner and they were fantastic to work with. We were just charged booking and collection and will owe the stud fee if she lands a viable foal who stands and sucks. We’re in her critical time, so now we wait and see and pray.
). One insemination. On 30 day foal heat bred her with one dose and she was preg for 2008. Had 2009 off. Bred one dose for a 2010 filly. Had 2011 off. Bred her (on a whim since she was in season and I was breeding one of my other mares and had an extra dose of my stallion’s semen on hand - no scans to see where she was in her cycle, nothing, just put it in her AND she was 21 years old) for a 2012 colt, one dose. This is obviously a very “loose” accounting - we did tests along the way, tried various lavages, etc. The biopsy was the first we did, but we did cultures along the way, but they were inconclusive. I credit the DMSO lavage with her getting in foal. 
