Sticky purple-tinged discharge on day 319 - vet is perplexed

[hungryowl]

Mare not exhibiting any symptoms of discomfort but I find a glob of mostly clear with a pink or purple tinge very sticky something under her tail, so I call the vet out. Rectal exam goes ok but doing vaginal exam she finds a ? mass ? Near the cervix which is still small. Feels cylindrical and looks to be full of fluid on ultrasound. And more of the sticky goop which is now distinctly purple. Also now finds that placenta is thickened. Prescribes lots of smz’s, little purple pills and Regumate and suggests trip to Va Tech, thankfully just 2 hours away.

Any ideas out there ? Mare poops and pees without apparent straining. Foal is moving.

I am already exhausted from trying to stuff all these drugs down her throat, so the idea of leaving her at Tech is very enticing (i wasn’t going to foal her out at home anyway). But what could that purple goop be?

[fairtheewell]

Mucus plug? Undeveloped twin?

[half_pass1]

I can’t comment on the goop, my first thought was also mucus plug but surely the vet thought of that… but at 319 days I would want to already have the mare where she is going to be foaling down.

[horsechick]

that happened to my mare a couple years ago…we never figured out why or what it was, but she had a normal healthy foal and easy delivery. Good luck!

[Laurierace]

I vote mucus plug. Jingles for a healthy foal.

[rodawn]

[QUOTE=hungryowl;7506483]
Mare not exhibiting any symptoms of discomfort but I find a glob of mostly clear with a pink or purple tinge very sticky something under her tail, so I call the vet out. Rectal exam goes ok but doing vaginal exam she finds a ? mass ? Near the cervix which is still small. Feels cylindrical and looks to be full of fluid on ultrasound. And more of the sticky goop which is now distinctly purple. Also now finds that placenta is thickened. Prescribes lots of smz’s, little purple pills and Regumate and suggests trip to Va Tech, thankfully just 2 hours away.

Any ideas out there ? Mare poops and pees without apparent straining. Foal is moving.

I am already exhausted from trying to stuff all these drugs down her throat, so the idea of leaving her at Tech is very enticing (i wasn’t going to foal her out at home anyway). But what could that purple goop be?[/QUOTE]

Request Uniprim instead of SMZ - it’s the same thing, but in encapsulated granules. Stir in the granules into a wet mash literally seconds before you feed her. The encapsulated granules are tasteless and they dissolve in her stomach which is where you want the medicine to go anyway. Far easier than trying to melt SMZ pills and syringe down her mouth. Pills of SMZ taste really, REALLY bitter by the way and the taste lingers with an even fouler aftertaste. Uniprim is 100x easier.

Don’t leave the uniprim in a wet mash too long because once they dissolve, then you’re back to the ugly, foul bitter taste again.

Rinse her feed tub out thoroughly after each dosing too. Otherwise, again the bitter flavor will taint the next feed and could make her suspicious and fussy with feed.

[Cindy_s_Warmbloods]

My guess would be mucous plug as well and I have had mares lose them up to two weeks before foaling so probably wouldn’t worry unless vet feels it can not be that.

[Anne]

You should generally have the mare at her foaling location by about 310, in order to give her immune system time to adjust before foaling.

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

The sticky, purple tinged discharge is absolutely, 100% totally normal. This is ism ost often thought of as the cervical “plug” , and it is described in the breeding literature as being “rose quartz” in color. It can be passed anywhere from weeks ahead of foaling, to immediately before foaling, so it isn’t neccessarily a sign of an imminent birth. It is also absolutely nothing to worry about, either.

[Sonesta]

Concerns me that your vet didn’t recognize a mucus plug…

[hungryowl]

Many thanks to all who chimed in. Guess what - vet at Tech didn’t say mucus plug either - she thought since she found some large veins on the internal exam maybe one had hemmoraged a little. Also she had no idea what the fluid filled mass could be but didn’t want to mess with it so as not to cause any problems. So I drove my poor fat mare four hours in truck traffic to hear the same thing.

You guys are more helpful. And next stop is definitely foaling farm.

Again, many thanks.

P.S. Baby is okay, good heartbeat, did NOT like ultrasound. Lots of kicking.