Tell me about udders and the pregnant mare

[back_in_the_saddle]

How can you tell the difference between edema and the begginnings of a bag?

If it’s edema, should i beable to squeeze clear liquid out?

When (how many days along in the pregnancy/how many days prior to foaling) should clear liquid be there?

What does clear liquid mean at day 294?

Should I be concerned if the udder is enlarged (not a lot) at this stage?

I’ve had the vet out 2 times last week and she was on banamine and a higher dose of regumate, the swelling went away.

She went off the banamine and was taken back down to her normal dose of regumate (10ml) Wednesday and the swelling is back.

The foal seems to be very very active.

Thoughts?

[coloredcowhorse]

[QUOTE=back in the saddle;5536275]
How can you tell the difference between edema and the begginnings of a bag?

If it’s edema, should i beable to squeeze clear liquid out?

When (how many days along in the pregnancy/how many days prior to foaling) should clear liquid be there?

What does clear liquid mean at day 294?

Should I be concerned if the udder is enlarged (not a lot) at this stage?

I’ve had the vet out 2 times last week and she was on banamine and a higher dose of regumate, the swelling went away.

She went off the banamine and was taken back down to her normal dose of regumate (10ml) Wednesday and the swelling is back.

The foal seems to be very very active.

Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

The only truly consistant thing about pregnant mares and udders is that they are truly inconsistant…some bag early and then just sit there for weeks. Others go up and down daily…up while sleeping and down when active. Others do almost nothing until just days (or sometimes hours) before foaling. So…there’s no way to adequately answer your questions. MOST mares, IME, begin to fill in some about a month prior to foaling, fill in more noticably about a week before and then drive you nuts day by day for the next week. I don’t get in a sweat until the nipples begin to point either straight down or slightly outward and the center crease of the udder begins to fill in (usually back to front). Keep in mind the nursing (or expressing milk) tends to increase oxytocin levels and contractions so if you have one that is threatening an early delivery I’d leave alone.

[Kyzteke]

Just as in all things mareish, there IS alot of variation.

And I can’t tell you if the drugs are contributing to anything. I’m not sure why she is on Regumate this late in the pregnancy…if I can recall my mare pharmacology correctly, she shouldn’t need it after 180 days,but then I’ve never had a mare of Regumate, so I may be wrong.

As far as the clear liquid – if she isn’t a maiden, it may be there all the time. I had a broodie who always produced clear liquid, even when she wasn’t pregnant.

However in general if the liquid is clear, foaling is not imminent.

And just edema is not going to produce liquid, because edema by definition is liquid in the circulatory system or outside the cells.

[alexandra]

I would just leaver her alone. As mentioned above, milking is not good.
The only thing my longtime breeder friends do is check the udder everyday by looking with a good light and thats it. Not squeeing touching let alone analyzing liquid. They have had about 10 foals per year in the last 20 years and I do not recall any issue. The only other thing they check is whether the mare is soft and sunken in the area of the tail.

Why is she on Banamine ? I would not want a pregnant mare on such drugs at all.

Do they fear she has Mastitis ? If, so than the cause is Bakteria.

No one can do a diagnosis on your mare from far away and every mare has different signs and behaves differently.
I would just leave her alone, would not put her anywhere in a new environment with new bakteria, virusses etc in this stage of prgenancy.

[Equsrider]

My maiden mare did this 3 years ago. Lots of edema in her milk vein from between her front legs back to midline…she also lost her cervical star about a month before foaling…They put her on SMZ’s and Regumate, to help prolong gestation.Thought she may have palecentitis. We took her off Regumate 2 weeks prior to her due date.She delievered a healthy, active, large foal, with a perfect placenta…at day 336.I will add however, she dripped milk for several days and ALOT, and foal had low immunity at birth and was given a blood transfusion due to that mare had already lost her colustrum…He is a happy Healthy 3 year old now! Good Luck!

[JB]

May I ask why the regumate? What made the dosage go up, then back down?

Edema and starting to bag are normal at this time. It will go up and down, usually coinciding with less and more activity, respectively (ie bigger in the morning after being stalled at night, small at night after walking around all day). That’s when you know it’s mostly edema.

[back_in_the_saddle]

She had a touch of loose stools/mild colic like symptoms last week. So she was put in a low dose of banamine and they upped her regumate for a week to be safe. This mare has a history of salmonella/founder and when the symptoms start it’s a balancing act to keep that under control so IF it is salmonella again, it won’t cause another founder.

No, I won’t squeeze anything from this point forward. The vet told me edema will leave an indention milk won’t. I squeezed too hard and certainly didn’t intend to milk her. Lol.

[Jeff_Brown]

Hello,
Hi, my dad got me a mare Appaloosa who is about 15 years old. She may be pregnant is there any way to tell without a vet. My dad will not pay to have a vet come out because he does not beleive she is pregnant. But her udders look differnt then my uncles horses. Sandy has never foaled before. She lives with my uncles horses who are all mares but one day there was a stallion across the fence then Sandy became on to heat with him. Well what do a pregnant mares udders look like. Sandy, and baby white one (one of my uncles horses my baby cousin named her) both never foaled but Dolly and Wheenie both have foaled before. They are all different breeds too. Baby White One, Wheenie, and Dolly’s udders all look the same. The teets drop down a little. But Sandy’s udders are kind of puffy, they have been waxy for months, there are two things sticking out outside the teets. But the teets dont drope down like the others. COuld you send some pictures are a pregnant mares udders and some of a none pregnant mare. If you can. Thank you

[Laurierace]

Somebody want to help Jeff out, I can’t bring myself to do it? Not sure if it’s the refusal to get vet care or the signature. Either way, I am not playing.

[back_in_the_saddle]

I think he should post a picture. Easy enough with a free photobucket acct and a cell phone.

[Laurierace]

Looking for some free horsey porn perhaps? That signature is a clickable link. Maybe the mods should take a look?