I have a mare that was checked at 14 and 16 days and was said to be not in foal , very good well known repo vet practice.
Since she has come back home she has been super mellow(normally a high energy horse)
It has been 3 months since she was bred and I swear she has gained some weight. She had a Foal last year and seemed to fill out early and was very mellow. Has any had the vet miss their mares?
My vet missed a pregnancy at the 14 day check this year. Said her uterus had the tone of a pregnancy, but couldn’t actually find the vesicle. Was going to re breed the mare as it was fairly early in the season, but she just would not tease to the stallion - but she is a difficult mare to read at the best of times. I decided to get her rechecked before I gave her a shot of lutalyse around say 25 or so, and sure enough there was a nice pregnancy there!
More than anything a recheck would probably ease your mind - I would go for it!
You can laugh, but this week I ordered one of the FoalGuard pregnancy tests for my mare. She was bred in May and the vet said not in foal, although she never came back in heat. It was $33 with shipping (exchange rate works in our favor). I figure it’s less money and effort than I’d spend hauling her 90 minutes away for second opinion. Especially when she’s most likely open.
I too have had a mare pregnancy missed after two checks. Doesn’t hurt to re-check for peace of mind…
Thanks everybody.
Has anybody else used the foal check kit? This mare has to be tranqulized for any to be checked so if that kit worked that might be the way to go.
IMO and experience with breeding lots of mares and or managing mares being bread off my farm. NO vet worth using would call a mare not in foal on a 14-16 day check only. Why would they even bother checking 2 days latter?
The standard in the TB industry is 15-30-45. If we don’t “see” anything on a 15 day check pretty much SOP is to check again at 20+ just to make sure the little bugger wasn’t “hiding” somewhere. A number of times they were.
We had 2 mares this past season that showed nothing at 15 days, but were found in foal when checked around 20 days.
If a breeder wants to save some money on a vet check count the days from when she “went out” and run her by a teaser for a couple of days.
Granted there a lot of breeders that don’t have the luxury that we have with having plenty of vets right around the corner and preg-checks are pretty cheap.
[QUOTE=DQ Foxhunter;8326126]
Thanks everybody.
Has anybody else used the foal check kit? This mare has to be tranqulized for any to be checked so if that kit worked that might be the way to go.[/QUOTE]
I’ll let you know what happens when I receive mine. I’ve read that the kit for post-110 days test is pretty accurate when used correctly.
We only have one equine vet in the area. He said not in foal at 14 and 30 days post ovulation. I believe him… but… since she never cycled again after breeding, I keep having that little window of doubt! I figured I could stand to spend $33 to hopefully get rid of that doubt once and for all. Plus, this way I don’t have to listen to my vet say “I told you so!” :lol:
Updating:
I finally got around to doing the Wee Foal Checker test on my mare’s urine. She was bred 133 days ago, and not totally surprisingly, it came back negative. It was fresh urine that I had caught within the hour, and the vet had already said not in foal, so… there goes my last hope!
Just an FYI if you decide to order one. It took about 2 weeks to arrive. The packaging said to refrigerate the kit, but it was not sent refrigerated or cooled in any manner, so I just left it out at room temp. It’s supposed to be room temp when you use it. It’s very easy to use, but the urine absorbs/progresses SLOWLY! They say to wait a few seconds between drops… try a few minutes.
Thanks, Texarkana,I am going to look into one of those kits.
I had my vet out to do fall shots and he palpated her and said he felt something but it felt small for 3 months so he was not sure.
Now my vet will be the first one to tell you repo is not his strong suit, he refers his clients to a repo vet.
This mare hates to trailer so if she is pregnant I don’t want to stress her by taking her to a strange clinic .
Thanks for the tips on the foal kit, I will try that next
