Posted 2015-05-07 10:33 PM Subject: Placentitis- mare in foal issues
Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
I have a mare that is due july 2nd. 3 weeks ago I was feeding grain and she faced away from me and I saw something under her tail. It was a cloudy white mucus like discharge. I took her in and had her ultrasounded. There is no thickening of the placenta wall and the fetus is still alive. My vet used a speculum and noticed her cervix was tight, which is good. Her vaginal canal was very irritated and that is where the discharge was coming from. He said it seems to be localized and has not reached into her uterus.... She has to be on regumate and smz tabs (antibiotics) until she foals... He is worried she may get placentits (the infection spreads into the placenta. Once this happens the nutrients will slowly stop to the fetus and the mare will abort).
Has anyone delt with this? I am so nervous. She goes back in for a recheck on may 20th... But after 3 weeks on smz tabs she still has a slight discharge draining...
Posted 2015-05-08 12:48 AM Subject: RE: Placentitis- mare in foal issues
Expert
Posts: 1229 Location: Royal J Performance Horses, AZ
I have an older mare that was bred as a maiden at 17 years of age. her first pregnancy went perfect. her 2nd one we lost the foal prematurely. At that time we did all the tests available to us,. Plush we flushed the mare and had her on antibiotics.
the next year she did the same thing and bagged up early. we put her on SMZs immediately. Not 5 days into the regimen, the bag decreased in size and everything looked normal.
She did the same thing this year as well so we repeated the SMZs for about 10 days with the same thing and we had a beautiful buckskin filly born.
In my experience SMZs twice daily is a huge savior for a mare that starts to bag up a bit early. Since you caught it well before her foaling I would think (unless something else goes a wry) That the mare should carry to term for you.
You may have to run her through with SMZs about once a month until her 320th Day ( Safety Day).
This is just my experience with placentitis and how SMZs worked for us. I hope your mare holds on for you. Many good thoughts your way for a healthy foal.
Posted 2015-05-08 10:33 AM Subject: RE: Placentitis- mare in foal issues
Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
tThank you both for the information. My vet did not culture because her cervix was tight and he did not want to pass a swab through or near it. He said that when she comes back in for a recheck if the discharge has not stopped he may have to culture because then the SMZS may not be helping. She is on Pentoxifylline for 14 days to help decrease inflammation and help improve blood flow to the placenta. He did not mention a red bag delivery. I am sure at the vet appointment on may 20th he will fill me in. I did Google it and now I am freaking out even more! I'm wondering if I should have her at a foaling center when she foals so someone can watch her 24/7. I can't be out by her except during the night a few times to check because of work during the day. Yikes. Can it just be July already!
Posted 2015-05-09 2:09 PM Subject: RE: Placentitis- mare in foal issues
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 428 Location: God's country
Two years ago my mare had a premature delivery from placentitis. We were unaware of this at the time because we were new to breeding. The baby lived but had to be put down as a yearling because of a deformed shoulder joint. This same mare just foaled two weeks ago with a healthy baby. However, I was almost anal about having her ultrasounded every couple of months measuring the placental thickness. Also, in her last month we put her on regumate and an injectable antibiotic. It wasn't SMZ's. Maybe Succeed? Something like that anyway that had good uterine penetration. I feel for you, it's a scary situation. Also, more than one vet has told us that there's a 60% chance of them having placentitis in subsequent pregnancies. Also, we had a caslicks put in after breeding last year and I think that definitely helped. I wish you the best and prayers for you and your mare!
Posted 2015-05-09 3:25 PM Subject: RE: Placentitis- mare in foal issues
Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
Thanks again everyone for the information. I'm taking her back in for a recheck. I'm going to ask about a culture. I talked to my vet and he was concerned that she still has discharge.
Placentitis- mare in foal issues
