I’ve been through placentitis with another mare, so I am worried. This mare is 260 days along and I noticed this evening that her bag was more noticeable and also had white drops of milk on each teat. Of course I have called my vet, and she will come out shortly, but in meanwhile I am looking for reassurance really. Here’s the whole picture: foals were weaned in November (3 months ago), and the two mares were in a paddock that was adjacent to the foals for a couple of weeks before I moved them across the farm from the colts. I check the mares daily for bags and discharges all throughout their pregs, and both mares had not really shrunk their bags all the way back, but tonight I noticed the re-development going on with this mare and my heart sank when I saw the drops on her teats. There is no discharge from her vulva. My vet said it could be something other than placentitis and asked if there had been any feed changes lately. I feed a ration balancer (has soy), ground flax, vitamin E and just started adding some wheat bran per the nutritionist two days ago, but other than the wheat bran, she’s been on this diet for months. The grass has not come in yet. The other event that has me hoping might be a factor is that I had her colt turned out in the arena close to her field yesterday for a couple of hours. She’s a very maternal mare, and he did call to her and hang by the fence. They were separated by about 35 feet of road between each other. Any chance that could be a factor? Any thing other than placentitis or twins??? please horse Gods!
I guess it is technically possible that played a factor but I would be having the vet out tomorrow to take a look even if that meant an emergency call. Jingles!
I do hope it’s that. I have been threw the twin thing, and I wish that things had turned out differently but lost them at 10 months gestation. Than the following year I did have a filly with the same mare who delivered at 318 days, due to placentitis. According to the vets both were tied to each other, or at least I’m hoping they were because I’m finally brave enough to rebreed this mare again for 2013. Best of luck and all my prayers are with you. I know it can be very very scary!!
Prayers to the Horse gods from Kentucky. Hang in, Indy-Lou!
Peg
Jingling that is is placentitis that can be treated and not twins. I went through undiagnosed twins years ago and it was a sad situation. Please keep us posted.
Fingers crossed Indy-Lou.
jingling from Michigan! Hang in there.
Vet came and everything other than the lactation is WNL. The foal is alive. We can’t do a trans abdominal u/s without hauling to the closest facility with such equipment, which is Davis and a 5 hour haul from here, but she could visualize the amniotic, allantonic fluids as clear and the placenta thickness as being normal close to the cervix with her equipment here. Discussed the haul to Davis, and both of us feel that without a clear idea of risk to benefit , this mare in particular would be highly stressed by the haul. I’m opting to treat as placentitis at this point, as there is the potential that if placentitis, we’re hopefully early.
Also, the equine nutritionist does not feel that the current ration could be contributing to the lactation. I was curious about the soy and flax.
Behaviorally could the calling of colt when he was close have caused hormones to flow? Nobody knows.
Even though she couldn’t visualize the entire uterus, we still don’t think twins. We checked the mare 4 times after breeding up to 60 days.
I still hate this though. If anybody can share their experience with good outcomes, I’d love to hear about it.
Same situation here. My broodmare is 272 days and started bagging up and dripping milk earlier this week, happened over night. I had the vet out immediately, everything upon exam looked as it should, but we are opting to treat with regumate and SMZ’s in case of early placentitis. Any other suggestions welcome. Good luck to OP.
My foundation mare is pregnant with her ninth foal. She never entirely dries up anymore. Had a massage therapist manipulating her hind legs a couple of months after her 8th foal was weaned and the therapist got squirted in the face! I wouldn’t say she has a bag now, but she still has a bit of milk dripping from her teats at 210 days. Her teats hang down like a milk cow’s. Last year, she did not have a foal. All of this mare’s deliveries have been normal with healthy foals and she has lots of colostrum. This mare is a heavy milker, for sure.
Good luck with your mare. You likely know her better than anyone, so if she appears normal otherwise, and the vet check is clean, I wouldn’t worry too much.
[QUOTE=bartender;6150560]
Same situation here. My broodmare is 272 days and started bagging up and dripping milk earlier this week, happened over night. I had the vet out immediately, everything upon exam looked as it should, but we are opting to treat with regumate and SMZ’s in case of early placentitis. Any other suggestions welcome. Good luck to OP.[/QUOTE]
If you catch it soon enough and the SMZ have a chance to kick in. As well as following the recommendation with the regumate and not increasing it too much (which was our problem and I will always go with less than more with that stuff, especially now). You should be okay just hope for reaching 320-325d. Also, be prepared to need colostrum.
Just throwing something else out…White Clover!! Three years ago we had a mid winter thaw and white clover came jumping out in the pastures. One mare started SPEWING milk - 4 foot streams in both directions. White Clover produces hyperestrogenism. We pulled the mare out of the main pasture and started Regumate for 30 days and everything resolved. Normal baby delivered at term 2 months later. Just a thought. Good Luck.
Thanks for the jingles and good wishes. If only the heavy dose of what I call “STAREoid Tx” (prolonged, frequent and agonizing checking or staring at a horse) was actually therapeutic for either the mare or me, we’d both be in good shape!
Bartender: best wishes to you. Keep us posted. Thanks Martha. Your input about Winnie was most welcome. My mare hasn’t done this before, but never say never 
when it comes to a mare. I hope that mine has decided to become a Jersey maid too.
Well, probably not twins, if you’ve checked that many times, but I’ve still had them with three checks. Twice.
If it’s a twin, it could be decomposed, mummified and the size of a rat. With a broken open placenta recently, which is causing the inflammation and milk flow. If this is the case, and she can make it through to foaling time, the chances are the live one can still be normal. Get colostrum. Good luck.
I appreciate the advice about the colostrum if we are lucky enough to make it that far. Knock on wood, she’ll be the 1st to foal this year, and I’ll have to scout some out.
Check with the pharmacy at Davis. The pharm at Hagyard’s keeps plenty on hand. I’m feeling your pain…
Jingles,Peg
Thanks Peg, that’s good advice. We’re only a couple of days into treatment here. Wish I could say I felt positive. This is a much anticipated baby, and my heart is quite heavy.
Sending you best wishes and positive thoughts!
Jingling for you and your mare and foal!
Two good outcome stories for you! One mare dripped milk for over two months before foaling a very large, extra strong foal who just needed colostrum and Seramune. Other mare also dripped milk for two months. Foal was born undersized and weak and needed plasma twice. Once we got through the first difficult day, there hasn’t been a sick day since. Best of luck Indy-lou!
